{"id":1012546,"date":"2025-12-10T10:31:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T07:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1012546"},"modified":"2025-12-10T10:31:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T07:31:00","slug":"inside-michaela-starks-provocative-leigh-bowery-inspired-2026-calendar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1012546","title":{"rendered":"Inside Michaela Stark\u2019s provocative, Leigh Bowery-inspired 2026 calendar"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Michaela Stark, Spread Across London, 2026 calendar<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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\"Michaela<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
\"Michaela<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
\"Michaela<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
\"December<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
\"October<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
\"Back<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Gallery \/ 13 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Historically, the \u201csexy calendar\u201d has presented us with a very specific, standardised idea of beauty. The pin-up. The <\/span>size zero<\/span><\/a> fashion model. Even the famed Pirelli calendar, which underwent a forward-thinking rebrand in the mid-2010s, has primarily featured male photographers in the years since, continuing to filter its progressive ideals through the male gaze. These calendars are filled with images and ideas that Michaela Stark<\/a>\u2019s work \u201cjust isn\u2019t about,\u201d as the Australian, London-based designer tells Dazed. So, for the last few years, she\u2019s simply made her own.<\/span><\/p>\n

This year, the Michaela Stark calendar was inspired by a visit (actually, two) to Tate Modern\u2019s Leigh Bowery <\/a><\/span>retrospective<\/span><\/a>. \u201cI couldn\u2019t help but relate, in some ways, to Leigh Bowery \u2013 a queer who moved over here to work in art and fashion,\u201d she says. \u201cHe could have been a friend, he would have slipped easily into the queer scene in London today.\u201d As she looked at his work, she adds, \u201cI was thinking, it looks like he was just having so much fun. He didn\u2019t care if a film he was making was pixellated, because it wasn\u2019t about that. It was about the performance in the moment, and embracing his queerness, and his body, and his humanity. Perfectionism sometimes really kills the joy in the work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"October<\/span><\/span>
Photography and concept Michaela Stark, stylist and concept Jessica Temple, hair Tasos Constantinou, cinematographer Nora Nord<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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In case you\u2019re somehow unfamiliar, Stark\u2019s own work spans performance art, fashion design from couture to ready-to-wear lingerie, photography, modelling, and styling, all under the catch-all of \u201cbody morphing\u201d. When she\u2019s focused on couture, she says, the work is serious and, yes, perfectionist \u2013 \u201cevery millimetre, every stitch\u201d \u2013 but the calendar allowed her to tap into the more fun, free-spirited side of her creativity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The result also takes inspiration from Bowery: specifically, a story about him getting arrested after dancing in the street, illuminated by car headlights, naked except for a <\/span>merkin<\/span><\/a> and a headpiece. From January to December, Stark poses in spots across London \u2013 her \u201cstomping ground\u201d \u2013 in a similar state of undress. Aptly titled <\/span>Spread Across London<\/span><\/em>, we see her sprawled on a double-decker bus, bound by a De Beauvoir Town telephone box, posing on a Lime bike, stalking through Bank, and throwing a middle finger up to the Houses of Parliament.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Below, she tells us more.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"March<\/span><\/span>
Photography and concept Michaela Stark, stylist and concept Jessica Temple, hair Tasos Constantinou, cinematographer Nora Nord<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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What was your approach going into the calendar, and how did Leigh Bowery come into the picture?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michaela Stark: <\/strong>There\u2019s this feeling I have in my work at the moment, where everything has to be perfect. I was so inspired by entering Leigh\u2019s world, seeing the fun that he was having, and the joy in the creation. I got this sense that his work was so much about the <\/span>moment<\/span><\/em>, and I really wanted to embrace that within the calendar. I wanted to create all of these moments around London, which is my stomping ground, the stomping ground of my community. So I asked the stylist <\/span>Jessica Temple<\/span><\/a> and a camera operator, <\/span>Nora Nord<\/span><\/a>, to come with me around London to film these little moments. We went from the South Bank to Westminster to Hackney, Bethnal Green, Victoria Park, all around.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Michaela<\/span><\/span>
September (Victoria Park)<\/span>Photography and concept Michaela Stark, stylist and concept Jessica Temple, hair Tasos Constantinou, cinematographer Nora Nord<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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What was it like to shoot in these public spaces?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michaela Stark: <\/strong>You could really feel the difference between areas in London. In Victoria Park, Hackney, and Bethnal Green, I was naked, and no one batted an eye. Shooting the bus one, it was an empty bus going from Bethnal Green to Clapton, so it was just three of us trying to get the scene. Nora was dropping the camera because the bus kept bumping. I kept falling smack bang down on the ground. I was trying to clench the bus seat between my bum cheeks to try to keep myself upright. And so we thought the bus was empty the whole time, but when we got off, we realised it had filled up in the time that we were shooting, and there was the little screen downstairs, so they were all watching the full performance. Clearly, no one wanted to come upstairs, for some reason…<\/span><\/p>\n

Another funny one was overlooking Westminster and Parliament House, giving the middle finger. We accidentally picked graduation day, and so to the left and right of me were people with their families, graduating. There was a girl getting married next to me. There was a girl in front of me doing her own photoshoot in a ball gown. And then, obviously, the work commuters. And then me, topless, giving the middle finger to Parliament.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Back<\/span><\/span>
Photography and concept Michaela Stark, stylist and concept Jessica Temple, hair Tasos Constantinou, cinematographer Nora Nord<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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There\u2019s a political aspect to this kind of public performance, given increasingly retrograde views on women\u2019s bodies. Were you thinking about this issue directly when making the calendar?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michaela Stark: <\/strong>Yeah, there was definitely a political aspect. T<\/span>wo political aspects. First, there was the feeling of being offline. Obviously, being censored online is becoming more and more of an issue. Almost every one of my pictures… I honestly think in the last two weeks I\u2019ve had 14 images deleted for \u2018sexual solicitation\u2019. Instagram, and the wording that [its] users use, is so intense, it feels like just showing your body as a woman is something that can incite sexual acts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So doing this offline meant that I wasn\u2019t subject to that censorship, and I felt completely free. It felt really empowering to do this in public without that unfair censorship or trolling that we get online. Of course, we did have some comments. We did have people who were a little bit upset. I mean… I was butt-naked in the middle of central London. But most of it was encouraging, honestly, on the street.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It felt like we were sort of reclaiming the streets. We were reclaiming our bodies in public, allowing ourselves to celebrate the female body, and to take up space<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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When I\u2019m wearing my art, specifically, I almost have a shield on. It\u2019s funny, because when I\u2019m not in my art and I\u2019m walking down the street, I get so much harassment from men. And London is starting to feel more and more dangerous. I think the far-right is gaining confidence because they\u2019re finding peers online, trolling and leaving negative comments, and that behaviour is coming offline. For women, for queer people, for trans women, for Black and brown women, it\u2019s becoming more and more unsafe. So it felt like we were sort of reclaiming the streets when we did this project. We were reclaiming our bodies in public, allowing ourselves to celebrate the female body and to take up space. And it\u2019s funny that being on the street as a naked woman, or showing your body, even if you\u2019re wearing a corset, is political. It was never intended that way, but I\u2019ve had to fight for my rights on- and offline more and more. So I guess, yeah, it was political, for sure.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"December<\/span><\/span>
Photography and concept Michaela Stark, stylist and concept Jessica Temple, hair Tasos Constantinou, cinematographer Nora Nord<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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What appeals to you about a calendar, not just as a seasonal gift, but as a way to display art?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michaela Stark: <\/strong>I mean, the first time we released the calendar, it was to raise money for my ready-to-wear brand, <\/span>Panty<\/span><\/a>. But it became a thing where I was able to share my work offline, for people who really wanted to see it and who maybe couldn\u2019t afford my prints, or didn\u2019t have access to see my work. To be able to share an entire year of my work, uncensored, is really special. It kind of rebels against that online censorship, and also the way that the industry works online. It brings it offline and makes it slower.<\/span><\/p>\n

And I also think it\u2019s really fun to be able to reclaim [the] sexy calendar. August is quite a sexy month this year. But it\u2019s, you know, me photographing myself. So it\u2019s me taking ownership of my body, and taking it away from the male gaze. Or, if men are into it, I\u2019m still in full control.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If men are into it, I\u2019m still in full control<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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The final aspect is that every year, I\u2019ve been able to collaborate with different people and do projects with my friends around London, creating work that we would never make the time to do otherwise. It\u2019s really nice to be able to carve out that time every year and collaborate with different people in your life. It\u2019s about making those really special moments that mark a relationship, and mark a moment in time that when I\u2019m older, I\u2019ll be able to look back on, and really appreciate the community of London and the work that we were able to create together.<\/span><\/p>\n

Are there any dates you’re already counting down to in 2026?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michaela Stark: <\/strong>Yes! At the moment, I\u2019m working on a really special project for the Met that I can\u2019t speak too much about, but I\u2019m really looking forward to that being released, which will have, happen in the first six months of the year. Aside from that, there are a few other fun things that I\u2019m looking forward to \u2013 performances and stuff that I can\u2019t wait to tell you more about.<\/span><\/p>\n

Michaela Stark\u2019s 2026 calendar, <\/em>Spread Across London, is available to buy here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Source URL: https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/fashion\/article\/69259\/1\/inside-michaela-stark-london-provocative-leigh-bowery-inspired-2026-calendar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michaela Stark, Spread Across London, 2026 calendar Gallery \/ 13 images Historically, the \u201csexy calendar\u201d has presented us with a very specific, standardised idea of beauty. The pin-up. The size zero fashion model. Even the famed Pirelli calendar, which underwent a forward-thinking rebrand in the mid-2010s, has primarily featured male photographers in the years since, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1012547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-1012546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1012546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1012546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1012546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1012547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1012546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1012546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1012546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}