Alegría is always asking “why”

We spoke to one of our favourite creators, Alegría — known on TikTok for her whip-smart takes on digital and pop culture, from the false nostalgia of Y2K to the art of self-surveillance. She’s even pioneered a theory at the intersection of hair colour and identity, and it doesn’t hurt that she’s totally chic and has a voice that doubles as ASMR. Read on to find out more about Alegría’s process, her current inspirations, and the key elements she references in her personal style.

Your perspective and analysis on digital and pop culture is so interesting, where does it come from/how have you developed it?

I would be lying if I said I knew explicitly where it comes from but I do sometimes feel like an outsider; and not in the sense that there aren't people who are probably just like me but I feel I spend most of my time curiously observing and recognising patterns. All concepts and truths are just things we have said, "Okay, this is this" as a societal consensus and for some reason — it doesn't feel that it applies to me in a way where I feel wedded to following the status quo because it's how it's always been done. I will always ask "why", and then challenge myself to even understand the perspectives of someone who might hate me. I guess, at its core I understand that people are what make society and ideologies and understanding the birth of "the individual" and our wider societal rules makes me want to keep unearthing what is happening around us. Hint: usually trauma or power.

What book are you currently reading and what books would you recommend?

I've been reading a lot of biographies; currently I'm ripping through Andre Leon Talley's The Chiffon Trenches, but actually prefer to watch as a method of learning. I'm not sure that it's "better" but I find I need to see information for it to truly penetrate. A fantastic documentary usually leads me to do more digging. Of late I have watched Crime of the Century about the American opioid crisis and Los Angeles Plays Itself, a video essay doc about how LA is a meta stage. This all sounds so heady and boring, ha. If I am to practice radical honesty I treat my specific interests such as fame, power obsession, morality and fashion as trampolines for other things to learn about. Everything, even the most random things, are connected. So that always helps if looking for the next thing to excite your brain with. 

What era/decade is your biggest fashion inspiration and why?

Currently, I think the ‘30s, ‘80s and ‘90s. I have a personal love for the late ‘60s - ‘70s disco and Space Age vibes but I wouldn't say it guides my fashion sensibility. The ‘80s to me was about ego and self-exploration, especially with women playing with colours. I like it because it isn't really my personal style but what fashion was doing then is really interesting to learn from. It started to feel 'cultural' and like a uniform in the truly commercial sense. There was the frivolous and then there was the super tailored. I dress based on shape, texture and colour. The ‘30s is where shape really started to happen with women's clothes and the ‘90s saw a lot of textured raw materials like leather and denim really start to get sexy. So when I like a decade I look to those factors.

Your TikTok on conceptual hair colour resonated with so many people on the app. Can you explain the idea behind it??

It's the idea that hair colour is actually just coded language for a type of attractiveness and because we associate varied hair colour with the concept of whiteness it excludes entire swathes of people who are literally "your type" but aren't literally blonde, red or brunette, but they do have the essence of that hair type. This might be conventionality, modelesque, ethereal or earthy, sensual and strong. It also means we can remove race as a marker of attractiveness. I also break down the essence of "black hair" as a colour and not a texture and how this also impacts many in the Global South who are "black haired" in the literal sense but denied what people want most — which is to be an individual because of that.

How important is subversion in relation to conceptual hair colour?

Integral. When you can push past paradigms you're told are set in natural law, you realise that everything is just a consensus. Then you can have fun with how you identify but more interestingly, free yourself from the need to label yourself as something or some type or person in the first place.

For more content like this, explore the rest of the Digiverse, or connect with us on TikTok or Instagram. If you’re a brand or business and want to inspire your audience in innovative ways, reach out to our strategic & creative lab eve@thedigitalfairy.co.uk.