Me and You: the duo from your most ethereal dreams
We meet BFFs and collaborators Mayan Toledano and Julia Baylis.
[P]icture the prettiest aesthetic you can, full of pinky pastels and sun drowned glittery faces whilst the lilts of Nancy Sinatra echo around, and you’ll be nearly close enough to the atmosphere of the magical works of Mayan Toledano and Julia Baylis, self-proclaimed “real life BFFs”.
Their aim? To “bring out the girl in everyone…through video, installations, and photographs”, and their mission is blossoming: with the likes Petra Collins, Tavi Gevinson and Arvida Bystrom working to get across their feminist message of celebrating being a girl.
Me and You create shoots, art, as well as an extensive collection of fashion pieces from underwear with a bold and vibrant “FEMINIST” emblazoned across the booty, to sheer pastel printed made-to-order dresses. After a recent collaboration with Deer Dana, featuring a limited edition Rihanna bandana, we caught up with Mayan and Julia to hear all it…
Allegra by Monica Moraru
Me and You, as you explain, celebrates the nostalgia of being a girl. How do you feel the meaning of being a girl has changed for our current generation? And how do you think this will change for the new generation?
The hope is that “being a girl” or gender in general can be treated less rigidly, we see celebration of girlhood/girly aesthetic as almost like a performance. Our approach to feminism was to create a space that celebrated every definition of what it meant to be a girl — whether you like wearing dresses, or shaving your head! It is cool to witness a generation that is so open and willing to trying new things and taking on new identities. We are blessed to be part of a community that is open to accepting individuality and not about conforming, we hope this attitude can continue for generations to come.
By Petra Collins
By Petra Collins
If you could summarise the Me and You aesthetic in 5 words, what would they be?
Empowered, unapologetic, nostalgic, inclusive and supportive.
Who or what would you cite as the ultimate inspiration for Me and You?
All our girls – Barbie, Diana, Lulu, Ali, Gabby, Salem, Mars, Adi – all extremely strong, confident and unique individuals who are amazing both inside and out.
Best Friends by Petra Collins
Boygirl by Mayan Toledano
How do you find running your company as best friends?
It’s definitely an incredible bonus, being able to work with someone everyday who makes you laugh, drives you crazy but most importantly you trust more than anything. Our friendship from day one was the basis for Me and You, and always will be no matter what we are creating.
You've shot with some incredible photographers and figures, from Petra Collins to Arvida Bystrom, is there anyone else you'd love to work with?
We both love Elaine Constantine, Katy Grannan, Rineke Dijkstra: strong female photographers who combine documentary and portraiture in such an incredible way.
Rihanna collaboration with Deer Dana 2
What would you most like to include in your shop that you don't already sell?
We would love to expand into homewares – like, pillows and blankets etc. Just super busy with other projects at the moment – there’s so much stuff we wanna do!
What can we expect next for Me and You?
We just released Bad Girl Bandanas with our friends Deer Dana. We have been obsessed with Riri forever, and this seemed like the perfect collab to do in her honour. Also some amazing new collaborations coming out soon: so stay tuned!
Sylvie by Chloe Shepperd
Check out Me and You at itsmeandyou.com for merch and more, and follow them on Instagram @its_meandyou, as well as new collaboration partner deerdana.com.
Click through the gallery below to see our favourite Me and You collaborations.
Gallery
