Little Mix: Girl Power

                                                                                Photography: Ken Leanfore

15 November 2012

by Poppy Reid

Boisterous femininity, unbound self-awareness, patriarchal resistance and sensationalised depth within each cliché; in other words, Girl Power is back. Leading the way are the four adorable twenty-something-year-olds sitting on a couch at Sydney’s Luna Park, ready for consumerists to collect them all.

“Little Mix stands for everything,” says Perrie Edwards, the group’s only blonde and only member dating a fifth of fellow X Factor UK phenomenon One Direction. “We’re a mix of girls, we’re a mix of personalities, we’re all little, we’re a mix of races...”
“And musical influences,” interjects the gregarious Leigh-Anne Pinnock.

With Sydney’s Harbour Bridge an active backdrop behind the myriad of versicolour (some actually coordinated with one another), the layers of makeup, lip gloss and the pairs of six-inch heels, Edwards, Pinnock, Jesy Nelson and Jade Thirlwall aren’t completely dissimilar to the MGA-manufactured Bratz Dolls. Although they may have been assembled as a marketable, profit-producing commodity–perhaps with both Bratz and the Spice Girls in mind–Edwards assures TMN that you won’t catch them in a mini-skirt.

“When we first got together we knew straight away that we didn’t want to dress in skimpy outfits, mini skirts and bras and go onstage. We’re all into the music and bringing all the old-school elements back rather than a lot of sexiness... As cheesy as this sounds, the girl power.” She looks to the other three: “We’re all about that, aren’t we?”

While it’s easy to form comparisons to The Spice Girls, Little Mix couldn’t be more flattered, even from those collating the two on a superficial level. “It’s about time for the return of the girl group,” says Nelson, the most wide-eyed and open of the bunch. “For me personally, when I was younger I loved that I had somebody to look up to. The Spice Girls were great role models: they had strong opinions; they were all different shapes and sizes; they weren’t perfect. I think that’s real, I feel that’s what we’re all about.”

After auditioning as solo artists, the four were put together by X Factor producers during the show’s bootcamp stage. However, all four had actually formed a contingency plan after looking at the soloist talent, and began marketing themselves as a group. “One day me and Jesy [Nelson] were looking at each other in the mirror,” laughs Pinnock. “And we thought, ‘we’d look really good together in a group wouldn’t we?’” “The talent [level] was just so high,” adds Nelson. “So we were just trying to keep our options open in case we didn’t get through on our own... We just stuck together and were hoping for the best.”

Interestingly, along for the televised ride and climacteric win last December, were thousands of international fans who followed the journey online. With over a thousand Little Mix-dedicated (and utterly devoted) Twitter accounts, it’s no wonder Australia has been quick to jump on the wagon. “There’s nothing better than coming off that plane and seeing like two hundred girls there supporting you,” says Thirlwall, the group’s most pensive member.

“The amount of fans here is just ridiculous,” adds Edwards. “It’s a massive compliment, they’re having to work hard to get us, do you know what I mean?... We’re the luckiest girls ever.” “Obviously we want to be known for our music and not as that group off The X Factor,” adds Thirlwall, “and that will change when the [debut] album comes out, but we’re so grateful for the show.”

Edwards’ relationship with One Direction’s Zayn Malik could have easily been detrimental; when Malik asked Nova Radio receptionist Anna Crotti on a date during their last stint in the country, the young woman received death threats via her personal Facebook account. However, the group does admit it was a stratagem of theirs to gain female support from the beginning. “When we first got together we were like ‘we have to get the girls on our side’,” says Nelson. “They’re the ones that vote.”

“A lot of our fans were One Direction fans anyway,” says Edwards. “So as we grew as a group they’ve just supported us.” Despite the negativity that surrounds manufactured groups, the resurgence of boy bands is well and truly underway; regardless of whether or not Little Mix become global stars, if they can stop young girls from idolising women who view their ‘ogle areas’ as foodstuffs, then the rebirth of Girl Power will be cause for celebration.