GOD SAVE THE TEEN

In the land of youth culture, there are many slashes.

You have Kate Bosworth or Mischa Barton, the model-slash-actress.  You have Mary Kate or Sienna, the actress-slash-designer  You have actual Slash, the guy from Guns 'N Roses.  And now, you have Aliyah Hussain and Emily Deyn, the artists / models / DJs / designers that don't really care about rules.  Or titles, for that matter.

The duo met at Machester Metropolitan University in the UK, and started making... stuff.  Anything creative was on-limits, from a silkscreen pattern to an art film, a wire sculpture, or a "silent" rave in an ancient building.

Last year, Emily took an internship with NYLON, where she quickly saw that art usually needs some commerce behind it.  Back in Manchester, she and Aliyah made their first t-shirts for the collective, with a silkscreen print of Queen Elizabeth superimposed with a photograph of sunglasses and a Marilyn Monroe grin.

"The shirts are part of an ongoing project called 'Long may she reign' about British patriotism and our lovely Queen Liz," explains Aliyah.  "By updating her image... we are trying to reaffirm her status as the queen of cool, and not just Gran Bretagna."

"Remember," adds Emily, "Our monarch is the original ganster!"

The shirts debuted backstage at Anna Sui last month, where Emily's sister Agyness (yes, that Agyness) modeled the design.  Now they're finally for sale, with profits going to fund the next Hussain Deyn project.

But what will it be?  "Still thinking about it," admitted Emily when she visited our office last week, "But we have to finish school, too!"

Add another slash onto their label:  "college senior."

Get the shirts at the HussainDeyn blog.

Emily with her first batch of printed fabric

Agyness Deyn in a HussainDeyn tee

A Hussain Deyn pinwheel project.

Kisses from Aliyah!