.jpg)
Self-presentation was always an integral part of Pussy Riot’s politics. When the group staged “punk prayer,” the guerrilla performance in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior that garnered international attention in 2012, they donned multicolored balaclavas and tights along with dresses in hues ranging from hot pink to a deep forest green. Whether they were simply wearing the headpiece to obscure their identities or making a statement à la the Guerrilla Girls, who paired fishnets with gorilla masks to, as they put it, “confound stereotypes of female sexiness,” the balaclava has become the group’s trademark. It even makes multiple appearances in the group’s music video, “Police State,” from last year.
It’s fitting, then, that Pussy Riot should launch a clothing line called Pussian Federation, which features those infamous brightly colored balaclavas as well as a variety of graphic T-shirts, pieces Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova says were inspired by the young people who have been protesting on the streets of Russia over the past year. The collection, which is a collaboration between Pussy Riot, the art community Kultrab, and 9cyka, was created to support the political art project’s independent news publication, MediaZona, which primarily focuses on criminal justice in the context of Russia. The online store declares: “In the current political situation where our country has no freedom of speech, clothing became an act of self-expression, a way of showing that we disagree.” So next time you’re tempted to purchase a political slogan shirt online, opt for something from Pussy Riot’s new subversive collection instead.
