Give all the trans workers in Cape Town their own activistic fashion magazine

Photographer Jan Hoek, fashion designer Duran Lantink and trans sex worker organisation SistaazHood present Sistaaz of the Castle, an ongoing project about the colorful looks and lives of transgender sex workers that roam the streets of Cape Town, South Africa.

The project

Sistaaz of the Castle is an ongoing collaboration between Jan, Duran and the girls from SistaazHood that started five years ago.

Most of the girls are homeless, living under a bridge near Cape Town’s castle. The Sistaaz are eager activists, proud to be trans, proud to be a sex worker, and even prouder of their stunning sense of style. And they want it to be acknowledged.

Together we created a series of photographs and a fashion collection based on the girls’ appearance and their ability to turn whatever they find into the most exuberant outfits. This has already resulted in a fashion show at Amsterdam Fashion Week (a show in Cape Town in still on our wish list) and a photo exhibition in Foam (Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam).

The publication

We are now ready to show the world who its true fashion icons should be, and the girls need their own activist fashion magazine todo so.
The publication shows their daily lives and expresses their dreams. It shows how fiction and reality are one fluid universe. You will get to know Gabby, who dreams of owning her own Victorian brothel; Joan Collins, a sixty-year-old sex worker who always wanted to marry; Flavi who is a refugee from Burundi and wants to become anAfrican supermodel, and many more girls and their stories.
The publication will also feature texts written by the girls in collaboration with Gerda van Glind: stories about their lives, dreams and the struggles and successes they’ve met with.

Why we need u

The activist fashion glossy is almost ready to conquer the world and teach everyone about the lives and styles of the brave and beautiful woman of SistaazHood.

All the hard work has been done; we just need money to print. Please make our dream, and the dream of all the girls of SistaazHood, come true and pre-order your copy of the magazine now, or contribute in any other way possible.

Who are we?
SistaazHood is a trans sex worker support group in Cape Town that is run by the trans sex workers theirselves.
Jan Hoek is a photographer/artist from Amsterdam in whose work the outsiders are the real super hero's of this planet.
Duran Lantink is a fashion designer who turns all the rules in fashion upside down.
Gerda van de Glind is a freelance journalist who writes about contemporary art for magazines as Mister Motley, Vice and Metropolis M.

The publication is designed by Merel van den Berg.
The crowd funding movie is made by Laura Rijnties

This projects is supported by AFK (Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst), The Art of Impact, Stimuleringsfonds, Mondriaanfonds, MIAP (Message In A Photo) and Stichting Varda.