When La’Shaunae Steward stormed the Dazed 100 and eventually took home the crown in 2019, one of the topics she was most passionate about was fashion. Citing Vivienne Westwood as a fave, and going in on how she hoped the industry would get its act together and welcome more fat Black models to the fold, she also revealed she’d really, really like to design her own collection someday. “Any designers looking to collaborate, hit me up!” she told us in an interview soon after her win. 

Three years on and a pandemic later, she’s finally got her wish. Launching this week is a fully realised offering designed in collaboration with Tunnel Vision. The Los Angeles-based indie retailer specialises in slow and vintage fashion crafted with ‘deadbeats, lowlifes, and weirdos’ in mind, meaning when you consider Steward is alt-queen of the IG shitposters, the pairing sounds pretty much like a match made in heaven.

Drawing inspiration from “90s Tokyo fashion, snowboarding video game SSX Tricky, and her mum’s fashions in the early 00s, the collection is made up of cute Tank Girl-esque baby-tees, wide-leg camo pants, and slinky slip dresses bearing kitschy pastoral prints (goats, anyone?), as well as a dress that seemingly riffs on Princess Fiona from Shrek’s signature green gown. Perhaps most importantly, there’s also a mega pair of JNCO-inspired jeans after Steward was desperate to wear them growing up “but they never had my size”. That’s a problem that’s gone out the window here: the La’Shaunae x Tunnel Vision collection runs from XXS right the way up to a 7XL.

Here, Steward spills more details on the inspo behind the collection, plastering her tattoos over pants and tees, and why Enid from Ghostworld and Bladee would wear it. 

Hey La’Shaunae! It’s fab to see your dream realised in this new collab. How did it all come about? 

La’Shaunae Steward: Tunnel Vision have been longtime supporters of mine – Madeline, the owner, has been supporting me since I started modelling eight years ago as a teenager. One day I was stoned in my room, on the phone to my mom, telling her about my dreams. She told me I should look into ways to use my talent to make money. I told her there were things that were important to me in the fashion industry, but I’d been doubting myself and didn’t think anyone would listen to me or my ideas. She told me I’d never know unless I tried. So last year, I reached out to Madeline and asked her if I could work on some designs for her. She said yes, and the rest is history. 

What did you love about Tunnel Vision from the outset? 

La’Shaunae Steward: It’s an affordable, slow fashion brand for alt-fashion lovers, and it’s one of the few brands making clothes that go with my aesthetic in my size. Their regular line is already inclusive, ranging from XXS-5XL, but mine goes even further, to a (true) 7XL.

That’s so rare! So tell me about the inspiration behind the collection? 

La’Shaunae Steward: My inspiration came from 90s Tokyo fashion, the video game SSX Tricky – in particular my favourite characters, Kaori and Zoe. I was also inspired by my mom and her fashion in the early 2000s. The Theresa tops were named after her because she wore ones like them so often to work when I was still in school. And I also thought a lot about my dad’s DJing days, too. In general, though, I was inspired by myself, because my designs were mainly about making styles I never get in my size, like JNCO jeans. 

What was the design process like? 

La’Shaunae Steward: The design process was communicative and a lot of fun, actually. i didn’t go to fashion school, so there were a lot of terms and things that were new to me. One of my favourite parts was the fittings – seeing my designs on smaller bodies and a bigger body was totally surreal!

Yeah, it must have been wild seeing it all come together. Did you have a fave look in the end? 

La’Shaunae Steward: The Kaori juicy pants. These were and still are my favourites. They’re named after Kaori from SSX Tricky because the fit and cut were inspired by her personal style in the video game. I’ve always wanted cute pants in my aesthetics that were also my size. I got the ‘juicy’ heavy metal print from these pants tattooed on my thigh. That’s how special these are to me. 

If the collection was a song, what would it be? 

La’Shaunae Steward: “She’s a Genius” by the I.L.Y’s

And a movie? 

La’Shaunae Steward: Ghost World. Enid would definitely wear it all.

Who would you love to see wearing it? 

La’Shaunae Steward: Lizzo, Chloe Sevigny. And honestly, can someone get the pink Kaori juicy pants to Bladee? 

Cut to next season. Can we expect another collab or fashion line from you? 

La’Shaunae Steward: I feel like this is more of the fashion industry’s choice than mine. I can’t personally afford to, but I need so much more. Having something to look forward to literally saved my life.

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