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Vice Fashion - Swedish Girls Who Don't Look "Swedish"

I'm half French, half Sinhalese, and when I look at contemporary fashion shoots I can't relate at all.

I’m half French, half Sinhalese, and when I look at contemporary fashion shoots I can’t relate at all. Plus I used to model a bit when I was younger, and the only work I could get was sitting in lotus position in an “ethnic” shoot.

I wanted to take these photos so I could show some girls who live in Sweden but who don’t look at all like what we think Swedish girls “should” look like. All the girls who took their clothes off for me had completely different origins. Maria is half Moldovan, half Cuban, Hedvig is half Trini, half Swedish, Olga is half Italian, half Polish, Naomi is half Barbadian, half Swedish, Signe is German-Senegalese and Swedish-Norwegian, and Haddy’s parents are from Gambia.

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Photographer’s assistant: Patricia Reyes; hair & makeup: Nina Belkhir / Mikas; models: Hedvig, Olga, Yana/Elite, Haddy

F/Stockholmsgruppen, Maria D/Stockholmsgruppen, Naomi, Signe.

Thank you Patricia, Sebastian and los Reyes!

Cosabella underwear, Coming Soon by Yohji Yamamoto socks, Tanja Malo necklace

MARIA, 19

Vice: Where did you grow up?

Maria:

I moved to Sweden when I was seven, from Moldova. My mum is Moldovan and my dad is Cuban, and they met as Soviet-era exchange students in Ukraine. Moldova still feels like home.

How did you feel about your looks as a kid?

Growing up, there were very, very few dark people in Moldova. That’s changed a bit now, but it is a pretty racist country. I never felt like anyone was saying anything negative to me, but on the other hand I always thought I was white! If you grow up around light people, then that’s what you assume. I came up to my mum when I was three going, “Mummy, mummy, I’m white, aren’t I?”

What did you want to look like?

I’ve had different periods. Like the Beyoncé era, when I wanted a bigger ass. I’ve always been pulled in two different directions, the white direction and the black direction. It’s like that when you’re mixed. Or maybe not being mixed, because I always thought mulattos are pretty, but there are certain bits, like, couldn’t I just have gotten my mum’s hair? Couldn’t I just have gotten my paternal grandmother’s behind?

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Tanja Malo bracelet

HADDY, 26

Vice: Were you ever teased about your looks as a kid?

Haddy:

No. Oh, there was this one time, actually. I was playing handball and this girl said something like “You bloody Turk!” and I was like, “What? I’m not Turkish, I’m a Negro!” But apart from that, there was really no teasing.

How do you feel about your looks today?

Proud. In Sweden, I feel unique. I get attention anywhere I go. Usually, the clubs I go to are filled with Swedes. There are a lot of people who’ll find you exotic.

Do you think people get affected when one look is overrepresented in mainstream fashion, or are we all smart enough to make up our own minds about important stuff like that?

I was doing this runway show, and there were these little girls there, maybe seven or eight years old, and they were talking about how “Oh God, I can’t have any candy, because it makes me fat.” So weird! Where did they even pick that up?

Cosabella bra

HEDVIG, 25

Vice: What did you think of your looks growing up?

Hedvig:

I thought I was white. Up until I was six and got teased for my hair, I seriously believed I looked just like my mum.

What about racism?

That’s one of the good things about Sweden. There really isn’t that much racism here.

But does it exist at all?

Well, sort of. I’m studying media and communications, and every single business event that I attend, there are no people of color there whatsoever.

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How do you feel about your looks today?

I’m really happy about the way I look. Right now, mulattos are getting more common in Stockholm, but it wasn’t always like that. Most of the mixed people who are going out clubbing right now, they’re around 18 to 20. But around my age, 25 to 26, there aren’t that many of us! I love not looking like everyone else.

Do you feel like you’re stuck in between, for having mixed origins?

When I’m here, I always feel completely Swedish. But like, in the States for example, I will get approached like a black person. That was kind of a mindfuck for me when I first went. Suddenly people had lots of preconceptions about me. One guy that I met said, “If we bring it to a head: In a race war, what side do you think would welcome you?” And I was like, yeah, I guess the black side, and he went, “See, you’re black!”

What kind of guys hit on you?

I don’t think a Swedish guy has ever hit on me. I can go to the whitest club in town and if there’s one black guy there, I know he’ll come up to me. I think it’s my body type. It’s a cultural thing. If I turned up in Trinidad and Tobago with a stick body, people would go, “We need to feed you, girl!”

NOM*d dressing gown, Bijules NYC necklace

OLGA, 23

Vice: How did you feel about your looks growing up?

Olga:

Sometimes it would have been cool to be one of the cute blonde girls, but at the same time I had a lot of self-confidence. I got it from my mum.

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What’s your favorite thing about how you look?

I’ve got fangs, which I used to hate. I would go to the dentist when I was a kid and ask for a retainer, but since it was just cosmetic they wouldn’t do anything about it. It made me so angry. But now, people recognize me for my fangs.

How about racism, have you seen any of that?

In Italy and Poland people can make racist remarks openly. In Sweden it’s sneaky. It’ll be well-educated ladies who like ecology and go to the theater who’ll say that they like things that are “exotic” and “ethnical.” They’ll be completely racist and condescending about it and not even realize they’re racist.

Is there ever a clash between your two origins?

I actually have three origins. I look mainly Italian, but that’s the culture I know the least. I’m very Swedish, but in school I was always “the Polish Italian.”

Is beauty an advantage?

It’s definitely an advantage. I think I might have gotten jobs based on my looks because I look very neat, nice, and harmless. Looking like that, it’s easier to get certain jobs, especially if you’re a girl, unfortunately. People prefer girls to look like that. And sometimes it’s tempting to adjust to what they want, just because you know you’ll get something easier.

Agent Provocateur bra and socks, Fafafa necklaces

SIGNE, 19

Vice: How did you feel about your looks as a kid?

Signe:

I was totally aware of not being white. When I saw someone in the street who looked like me I would freeze. My sisters both look “white,” even though we have the same dad.

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How do you feel about your looks today?

I still have a completely different ideal. This isn’t how I want to look. It gets better with each year, but there are still moments when it’s not so fucking funny. Obviously, no one else cares, I know that it’s just in my head. I know that my friends love me for who I am and not for the way I look.

Do you ever wish you were white?

Totally. I feel white. My friends tell me I’m the biggest WASP they know. I’ve always felt totally Swedish.

What’s your favorite thing about your look?

I guess that it’s unique. People can never guess what my origins are. Some will think I’m half Asian, others think I’m Brazilian. I find it funny. Especially during the winters when I’m pale, people will ask me if I’m from France or whatever.

Do you have any beauty tips for us?

The weeks that I’ve been partying the hardest, drinking the most, and sleeping the least, that’s when I look my best. I think maybe the alcohol makes my face bloat enough to make me look full and lush or something. So yeah, you know, just party hard.

Bernhard Willhelm shorts, Fafafa bracelet

NAOMI, 24

Vice: Where are you from?

Naomi:

An area where there weren’t that many people of color or immigrants at all. So maybe, sometimes, I’d see some attitude. But I learned to bite back pretty fast. I’d just go, “That’s not an OK thing to say!”

Would you ever get teased about your looks?

No, but sometimes people thought it was fun to comment that I was dark. That was a weird thing about going to Barbados, where my dad is from. In Sweden I’m black, but in Barbados I’m light skinned. If I’d tell someone that I’m from Barbados, they’d correct me and tell me that my dad is from Barbados but that I’m Swedish.

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What do you think of racism in Sweden?

It’s hidden within more people than you’d think.

In what way do you encounter it?

The place where I grew up is known for being undercover racist. Once there was a TV program about our school. We were interviewed in it. You know, there would be swastikas spray-painted all over the school and there was white-power graffiti. The headmaster, all prim and proper in his suit, was asked by the reporter, “How do you feel about all this racism? What do you do about it?” The headmaster just said, “Racism? I really hadn’t noticed any.” I was like, What? It says “Hitler was a good man” on the walls of your school.

Who were the people writing that shit?

The sick thing is, it would be the people who would say hello to you in the corridor. To me they were all a bit like, “You’re alright because you speak perfect Swedish.” There would be adopted kids in school who had those views too. It was sick.