ON THE FRONT LINE OF FASHION

THE DOCUMENTARY WORTH STAYING IN FOR Alongside Miu Miu model, Twin Peaks actress and fashion writer, Hailey Gates can also add TV host to her CV. This month, she’s fronting a second season of the Vice documentary States of Undress. ‘This is a show about women,’ says Gates, who travels to areas of conflict to uncover subversive fashion against a backdrop of political unrest. ‘Most organisations won’t send someone to these places to cover fashion because they want hard news,’ she says. ‘I understand that but hope there is interest in talking about things other than conflict in these places.’ We spoke to Gates about what to expect… ‘Liberia Fashion Week was

a lot of fun. The women who organise it want to showcase

a new generation of Liberian culture. With so much conflict, fashion weeks are a way to show visibility — a marker of being on the world stage.’ ‘Romania is the hub of the European webcam industry.

I met some sex vloggers at the height of a communist protest – people can’t find a job to save their lives, yet there is this booming industry of “camming” and women can make eight dollars a minute at home. For the most part, men just call in to talk — it’s basically therapy.’ ‘We filmed an episode at a concealed gun show in Ohio.

There was a male-dominated industry making gun-concealing clothes for women until female entrepreneurs started making these pieces themselves, because they understood their bodies better than men. It’s amazing entrepreneurship, surrounded by complicated political issues.’

States of Undress is on Wednesdays throughout the month on Viceland