As the Argentinian designer unveils her new zine in collaboration with photographer Angela Hill, Lucila Safdie shares with us the inspirations, references, and visual worlds that shaped the project. 

It was inevitable that womenswear designer Lucila Safdie, whose work explores the complexity of girlhood, and photographer and IDEA Books co-founder Angela Hill, would join forces on Every Girl for Herself, a collaborative zine and exhibition presented and sold at Dover Street Market London as part of Photo London DSM 26. 

Shot in Angela Hill’s signature intimate and nostalgic style, the series captures the intricacies of female youth, friendship, and coming of age, featuring Hill’s regular subjects and family friends, Rose and Viola, on a damp English afternoon, wearing Lucila Safdie’s polo tops. Referencing the uniform details of a mid‑noughties British comprehensive school, the project reflects on the intensity of female friendship, after-school meet-ups, and the private performances of girlhood. 

Below, Lucila Safdie, an avid cinephile with her own film club screening only films by female directors, shares with us the worlds that inspired the Every Girl for Herself zine and DSM installation:

Hiromix 01 by Hiromix

“Everyday documentation of youth and girlhood.”

Palo Alto by Gia Coppola

“Its quiet suburban teenage feeling, awkwardness, and boredom.”

White Oleander by Janet Pitch 

“For its mix of loneliness, and becoming a young woman.”

Heavenly creatures by Peter Jackson 

“The intensity of teenage female friendships and girls creating their own world together.”

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

“The schoolgirl atmosphere, group dynamics, and slightly theatrical femininity.”

Pokémon opening scene 

“The opening scene was the original inspiration for the cabinet installation at DSM, using the idea of picking your Pokémon as an analogy for choosing your own avatar, represented by the headbands.”

Rookie Mag

“For the early internet teenage girl feeling of blogs, oversharing, friendships, and figuring yourself out online.”