AUTUMN / WINTER 22

“I was told that each time a praying mantis would visit my house, it was a symbol of good luck. Till this day, I believe it.

My fascination for praying mantis started when I was a teenager. Matter of fact, I had one as a pet at some point. The female mantis, beautiful, tall, and elegant, is portrayed as this unapologetically strong and ruthless being, because she bites off the head of the male after mating. We might think that she does not want to leave any evidence that it happened. My fascination for praying mantis led me to researching about shrimp mantis who can throw one of the fastest and most powerful punches in nature. How incredible!” -Mimine Agbantou

The “Mantis Behaviour” is an attitude of fearlessness and elegance.

Some of the silhouettes in this collection are directly inspired by the shrimp mantis. The structured pieces are referring to its physical features whereas the fluid ones refer to their movements under water: effortless. The images for this collection have missing heads on the purpose as a funny twist of events.