I am Mila Sebastian, co-founder of The Collective Edit. I love smokey perfume, dark eyeliner and lip liner, oversized coats, and collecting graphic t-shirts. I spend time on Pinterest, listening to RnB, films and TV series. I love cowboy boots, trying new restaurants, and other people's cooking. I also love green BMWs or Toyota and Honda pickup trucks. And, of course, I never go anywhere without my handbag.

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I recently graduated from King’s College London with a degree in Ancient History. I also have experience working in print studios and in packaging mock ups, working in printers and with design software. My education in history has been foundational in how I approach editorial work, training me to read objects as evidence and to understand how, when carefully catalogued, a picture of a person can begin to emerge. This way of thinking extends beyond archives and into everyday life, where personal belongings function as intimate records of habit, priority, and identity. By turning this analytical lens toward my own possessions, the handbag becomes a site through which to examine how items, routine, and self-presentation are materially expressed. In this sense, what people carry is not incidental, but evidentiary. I will quickly go through a few examples of this as a further testament of myself (take from that what you will).

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The Handbag as an Archaeological Find

Its wear patterns indicate long-term companionship.

Object No. CE-MS-01: Scarf

Function: In case I get cold

Interpretation: Carried as a precaution against unpredictable weather and over-air-conditioned rooms. Evidence of forward planning and a refusal to be uncomfortable if it can be avoided.

Object No. CE-MS-02: Tea Bags

Function: In case I need a drink

Interpretation: Indicates that access to hot tea or coffee is a prioritized requirement.

A major influence on this project was also Gemma Bovery by Posy Simmonds, a graphic novel originally serialized in The Guardian. The story follows Gemma, the bored and restless second wife of Charlie Bovery, who moves from London to rural Normandy. Like Simmonds, I was inspired to contribute in a similar way through illustrated essays and editorial work that reveal the stories embedded in everyday objects.