WAH interns & style bloggers from East London tell us what life is like when you were born in the 90ies (instead of rocking them in belly free tops and neon rave hair like our old souls…)

Interview by Posy Dixon, photography by Sam Ashley

Rae: Dora and I met in nursery. I invited her around to my house to play and bossed her around so much that she asked to lie down. After that we were basically B.F. forevz.  I moved to America for a bit and when I came back to London she taught me useful stuff like how to use the bus and how to climb into next door’s garden when there was nothing to do.
Dora: Then there’s the alternative meeting story – Rae’s Mum reckons we were drawn together as friends because of our exceptionally big foreheads.

D: We met Sharma (the force behind WAH magazine and WAH Nails) at a Nike shoot a while back and complained about how unproductive our lives were. Luckily she sort of adopted us and gave us opportunities to get involved.
R: Now we share a blog on the WAH site about stuff we do, I write and Dora takes pictures. The WAH shop is our hangout. It’s full of familiar faces, amazing nails, clothes and magazines and there’s always juice to drink, it’s like the ultimate clubhouse. Before it opened I couldn’t paint nails for shit, but now, not to toot my own horn, I do a mean leopard print.
D:  I recently did the Halloween shop front, with loads of cobwebs and bats, tried to make it real spooky. I’m really into stuff like that. We sort of incorporate our interests within the magazine and shop and try and take on loads of different things, try stuff out, get stuff done.

R:  I think for a lot of people “the 90s” is a comfort zone, it’s not like it was that long ago, so we know everything about it. Today everyone is busy as hell and stressing out about having no money and a million other things. So there’s a massive appeal in just being chilled, listening to Biggie, getting your nails done and wearing cheap-ass door-knockers in your ears.  Harking back to the 90s is like an oasis in the (recession) desert.

D:  Being “the young ones” definitely has its advantages, me and Rae are constantly surrounded by older women who are doing interesting things and going interesting places, so we definitely look up to them as role models.
R: From Sharma and Grace to my Mum, there are all these women who want me to believe I can be successful. We take if for granted but I guess it’s kind of empowering.

R: I think that most teens don’t actually grow up fast in London, they just think that they have. We’re still all total kids, but in some senses we seem grown up because we’re getting ourselves out there and just doing stuff.  There’s a pack of kids out here that are moving on with ideas and working away just cause it feels like second nature and you wanna achieve things in your own style.
D: I think teenagers will always do the “rebelling” thing, every generation grows up in their own teenage style.  Me and Rae tried hard to pull ourselves out of the teenage rebel stereo-type, by getting on with stuff that we really want to achieve, stuff that kinda matters to us.

R:  I used to be totally down with winning the Olympic female figure skating when I was a kid. These days I still like scrunchies but the beige tights are so off my radar. Now I just want to be able to say I was part of, or created as many amazing, beautiful, clever and inspiring things as possible. I want to write, style, direct, curate.
D:  I wanted to be a vet and I definitely don’t want that anymore. I’d really love to a set designer, try my hand at graphical stuff and illustration, find some kind of work that lets me travel and meet interesting people. When I’m really old like 30 I’d like to have a talk show for troubled people, like Jeremy Kyle but better.  Then one day, maybe I’d like to director a short movie, Woody Allen is a great influence.

R: London will always be my original home, even though I’ve lived elsewhere, and probably will live elsewhere. It’s an amazing place to grow up and an amazing resource to learn from. I love the diversity. I love the weather. I love that everybody (except me) rides a bike. There is every type of person here and so much opportunity and if I wasn’t here I have no idea who I’d be.
D: I’ll always have a strong love for this city no matter how many thugs and tramps there are, no matter how shit our government is, WE LOVE YOU LONDON.

To read more Dora & Rae visit wah-magazine.com