Young, close-knit, colourful women moving through the world with a stride that is a hymn to the joy of life. Through the language of fashion, they share a determined search for their own identity. Their message? Life is for living without fearing what people think or expect of you. Sometimes it can mean being rejected or judged but, in the end, those who really love you find a way to come back to you. Should you be yourself or what others expect? Happiness is often only a decision away.
Being young also means experimenting, discovering, because if you don’t explore many things and try them, you don’t know who you are, what you like. So yes, try everything, just to know how you really are.
Thinking back to when we met, it’s easy to compare them to two butterflies. Young, colourful, they move in the space with a natural lightness, they smile, seemingly carefree, but they have an extraordinary ability to notice every single detail, focus it and process it in real time. The Guesstwins are a winning combination of zest for life and clear determination, proving that you can maintain a constant focus on your goals without being hardened by the desire to succeed. But how did their #sisterhood begin and what is their project about? We asked them to tell us their story.
What’s @Guesstwins all about?
“We started out four years ago as Instagram influencers. Today we have several collaborations and many projects (still secret), but @Guesstwins is still mainly, the medium we use to relate our identity and spread our motto “Be yourself. Don’t be afraid of people’s judgments”. We moved from Algeria to Paris just after graduating from high school. At the time we already enjoyed creating content for social media and we were passionate about fashion.
We took a lot of photos together, then we collaborated with some photographers and eventually we participated in a television show called Beauty Match, which was basically a styling competition. We had our own quirky, colourful style and people loved it. We won and from that moment on we started to be on social media as full-time content creators.”
That’s also what we’re trying to share on our social media: not being afraid of people’s eyes. And yes, we’re exposed to a lot of critics. But you know? It just makes you stronger.
Let’s talk about #sisterhood: you are twins, you would think you had an advantage. Is that so?
They look at each other, then look at us, and laugh. “Wooow . . . our sisterhood has definitely changed, it changes from year to year. We have had our ups and downs. For example, when we were little, we hated each other. Literally. We probably had some kind of trauma: for ten years we were identical, same clothes, same everything. We would look in the mirror and it was really hard to tell who was who. Then you become a teenager and you want to be yourself, you want to be just you, one person, you don’t want to always be two. So we started to have completely opposite styles, not even because we liked them, but just to be different. Different friends, different classes, we didn’t even talk to each other at home. But luckily we didn’t hate each other all our lives, at some point we became friends. It was when we were at high school, we always used to straighten our hair and the day we decided to leave it curly, we became friends.” They look at each other, and laugh again, Sabrina takes Sara’s hands in her hands, as she continues the story “I told her: join me, join me. And so we began to wear our hair curly”. The rest is plain to see: today they use the fact that they are the same to their advantage, they exchange words with that synchronism that only comes from knowing the person next to you inside out. “Join me” and so, a simple hairstyle becomes an urgency to claim one’s identity, one’s uniqueness. “Join me” because I recognise your battle, because your battle is mine, because together we can face the world: here in a nutshell is the power of sisterhood. Which does not descend from the sky together with the Fairy Godmother, but builds up, piece by piece, first of all overcoming its own prejudices.
When we were little, we hated each other. Literally. But luckily we didn’t hate each other all our lives, at some point we became friends.
So you discovered that you could be friends and, at the same time, keep digging to discover your individuality. And how did this journey continue?
“At that point we were accomplices, we did not yet share a style, but we had fun experimenting together. Yes, we explored so many styles before we got to ours, like maybe two years ago: very colourful, printed, very ’70s. That’s how I would describe it. I believe that being young also means experimenting and discovering your own true style, because if you don’t explore many things and try them, you don’t know who you are, what you like. So yes, try everything, just to know what you really are. We did it and discovered that we adore colours, sequins and unusual patterns.
You feel strong when you wear exactly what you want. Through our clothes and our style, we share our personality. Wearing your style is a powerful statement, because you are here and you say “This is me and you have to accept me as I am or just walk away.” When looking for our own style we found ourselves, our complicity but, above all, we discovered that we are not afraid of what people think of us. This is how you should love to live life: without fearing how people see you.”
Through our clothes and our style, we share our personality. Wearing your style is a powerful statement, because you are here and you say ‘This is me and you have to accept me as I am.
Freeing yourself from the judgement and expectations of others was a fundamental step in your journey. What was the trickiest moment?
“When we moved to Paris and started working with social media, we were just over 18. Our whole family was in Algeria and at the beginning it was not at all easy since all that exposure was not in line with their mentality. We were also slap-bang in the middle of our experimental phase, with very sexy and feminine styles, and it was difficult to move forward because our whole family was judging us and, you know, they wanted us to stop. We were faced with a choice: whether to be ourselves or to do what they expected of us.
We understood that we could not live life hiding who we really are, just to be accepted by our family members. Our mother supported us in every choice we made, telling us “Do what you want. Don’t worry about people’s judgments.” She was the one who gave us the strength to get where we are today. So we continued our project and today our family accepts it, they see that we are happy and they are happy for us.”
Our family wanted us to stop. We were faced with a choice: being ourselves or doing what they expected of us. We realised that we could not go through life choking back who we really are.
A project that speaks of fashion, but that in truth describes a path in which we can all recognise ourselves: the struggle to determine ourselves as individuals, the redemption from social expectations that often do not belong to us, the awareness that our uniqueness is worth more than the judgement of others. All mixed up with colours, feathers, glitter and sequins.
What is the message you are spreading with the @Guesstwins project?
“Be yourself, don’t live in a skin that isn’t your own just because you think people might not like you for who you are. Without a doubt, this is the most important message we hope to convey through what we do every day. And through this, we hope to see increasingly strong women, who no longer have to be afraid of men, and know that they can like and wear what they want, without fear of being attacked, harassed or judged. Women who can finally feel safe in their own shoes. Women who have the right to find their own identity.”
Be yourself, don’t live in a skin that isn’t your own just because you’re afraid people might not like you for who you are.
