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For AW21, Ekaterina Bazhenova-Yamasaki photographed writer Anastasiia Fedorova in a range of Fleet Ilya pieces – pictured here wearing the Cut Out Underbust Corset. Reflecting on this intimate experience, Anastasiia writes about the pleasure of being photographed and leather as the most honest of sensory sensations.
Today, a considerable part of our life is about being seen a certain way. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that we have a physical body. Sometimes it’s easy to forget our authentic relationship to ourselves. For me, wearing leather is returning to being fully present, an act of self-love and pleasure. That’s why it was a joy to have it documented by Ekaterina Bazhenova-Yamasaki.
I have had a strange interest in being photographed (and especially being photographed with little clothes on) from a very young age. I’ve always had a complex relationship with my body: I have suffered from body dysmorphia, various eating disorders and general discontent in being in my skin for years. Growing up, I haven’t seen many women who looked like me in media or fashion – it was all about fitting into a very restrictive definition of perfection. I was often shy to look at myself in the mirror closely enough – but paradoxically very keen to take off my clothes in front of the camera. In that moment it felt like my body was finally acknowledged, worthy of attention. It felt like being seen.
(Anastasiia wearing theCutout Underbust Corset )
I am lucky to have been photographed by Ekaterina a few times. And that’s exactly how I would describe the experience – being seen. The process is just as important as the result: at some point in the course of that hour, my body turns from a surface which other people project things on – into my own experience, physical and mental. I feel like a liberated being with my own desires, my own ideas of beauty and self. I can just let go and be in my body.
Ekaterina is an artist working across different media, but her photography often focuses on the body as “a porous vessel for empathy and emotions”, as much as the notions of fetish, eroticism and self-determination in the expression of our sensual selves. Her upcoming book “Atom”, produced for Fleet Ilya, dives deep into all these topics. It’s a perspective which is crucial in times when the body, and especially the female body, is either censored or commodified. It’s about the empowering possibility of being sexual, owning your erotic energy, finding the embodied experience of joy.
(Anastasiia wearing the Cutout Underbust Corset )
Leather is a big part of my sexual identity. I am open about practicing BDSM and kink, and having a long-standing interest (personal and cultural) in fetish. Years ago, seeing Fleet Ilya pieces was part of my kink-awakening – and I’m sure a lot of people in the community would relate. I remember being mesmerised by collars and harnesses, the look, the smell, the texture – long before I knew that these were supposed to be the uniform of the BDSM community. I still believe that there is more to leather than just subculture – ultimately it’s all about your own visceral response to a beautiful object, it’s history and potential.
(Anastasiia wearing the Wing Collar,D-ring Harness,Layered Flogger &Chain Thong)
A quality leather piece is a multidimensional sensory experience. The smooth texture, the firm but comforting grip, the click of quality metal hardware, the cool touch of chains, the unique rich leather scent. It evokes a response in your subconscious – it might bring up the parts of yourself you never knew were there. Leather is honest. It’s pure energy: from the moment it’s designed and intricately crafted to every subsequent day of being worn. It’s something you can’t really fake – it echoes at the very core of your body and your being.
Anastasiia Fedorova is a contributing writer for Fleet Ilya and founder ofOther Kinds of Pleasures, a project exploring BDSM and kink in the context of contemporary culture.
Ekaterina Bazhenova-Yamasaki is an interdisciplinary artist based between London and LA, spanning photography, moving image and sound, she focuses on fetish, the body and self-perception.
(Anastasiia wearing the Sculpted Balcony Bra, Chain Thong & Classic Suspender Harness )
AW21: new designs and colours in the signature smooth exquisitely crafted leather. A range of sculptural pieces offer both comfort and control – moulding to your body while also accentuating its shape with a firm but pleasurable grip.
Leather can be completely transformed by the use of colour. With each of the Fleet Ilya pieces, you can choose the colour of leather and the type of hardware which makes for a number of unique combinations, each beautiful in its own right.
For AW21, we’re introducing an edit of classic and new designs in lilac – playful, tender, subtle and sophisticated. The light tone can look both pale and almost luminescent against the skin, accentuated with natural leather trim and metal hardware.
In the cultural imagination, leather is often connected to our after-hours alter-egos – and all the pleasures we can’t always experience as our daily selves. Since the early days of the label, Fleet Ilya has highlighted the liberating potential of leather, but also emphasised that it belongs in many contexts and settings.
The collection of classic and new designs in pale grey is a perfect opportunity to experiment with daytime leather – subtle and elegant, to pair with silk shirt or raw denim. Grey is an achromatic color, meaning literally that it is a color "without color” – it leaves endless space for interpretation, emphasising the warmth of skin tones and accentuated with light brown leather trim.