“Checking Invoices” The Masked Duo

@Checking_Invoices the Anonymous Instagram Account that is making fashion fun again!

The account with 69,000 followers was created by two anonymous Milan-based Greek women. The pair are roommates: a stylist who acts as the model, and a set designer and filmmaker who is the photographer. The duo started the Instagram page in 2016 after they had been repeatedly trying on samples that they had called in for shoots. “It’s like when you are at home and you are trying on amazing looks and clothing for fun. I would take pictures of my friend [the model], but she doesn’t like her face to be shown, so she’d put black fabric on her face,” says the photographer. “We at one point had so many [photos] on our phone that we were like, ‘It could be an Instagram page for fun.’ ” The name “Checking Invoices” pokes fun at the industry, as well: “Being a stylist is about checking invoices of the [requested] items all the time,” says the photographer.

Living in an era obsessed with unrealistic beauty standards and raised with the concept of marketing ourselves as products, anonymity is perhaps the most powerful tool for those seeking to escape the shallow trappings of social media and the Internet culture. Going incognito can relieve the pressure of getting liked for how we look and stop us from seeking approval. Which is why Checking Invoices’ comedic take on these issues is so refreshing and unexpectedly necessary, in particular for those working in the fashion industry.

Instagram is by far the social network of image: the home of the selfie, fashion, image, etc. In such a world, what motivates you to mask yourself?
Today, everybody is so worried about their looks and makeup contouring! Furthermore, in these times of endless exposure, anonymity becomes by far more appealing. You probably wouldn’t interview us if we had the exact same Instagram but with models. So finally, also if we didn’t plan it, masking ourselves became also a strategy. – Checking Invoices in an interview with Metal magazine