Mina Galan Is Ready For Her Close-Up

There’s a video of Mina Galan from the last Paris Fashion Week standing like Joan of Arc readying for battle in a leather Ottolinger two-piece with a full-body fur thrown over one shoulder. She’s posing for a swarm of paparazzi who, she happily admits, had no idea who she was. That’s a star, I thought. It’s the magnetism, the assuredness, the style that could only be described as cunt. Until that point, I’d known Mina as one of London’s supreme dolls—the force behind Club Stamina, the night she built into something sexy, chic, and transgressive. She just dropped her new EP Bate, produced by electronic duo NEW YORK, and after a decade of knocking on doors, she’s ready to use her moment in the spotlight like a gun. It felt only right to mark the moment at Selfridges where she once sold iPhone cases. At 8.30am, on an unsurprisingly rainy London morning in an empty store, we went shopping.

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TUESDAY 8.30AM, MAY 19, 2026, LONDON

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BEN FREEMAN: Hi, Mina, how are you?

MINA GALAN: Hi, I’m fabulous. How are you?

FREEMAN: I’m good. What are we doing right now?

GALAN: We’re just browsing Selfridges while it’s closed.

FREEMAN: It’s quite early though. It’s not exactly late night shopping, is it?

GALAN: I mean, it’s not really my type of thing, not going to lie. At this time, I’m usually either partying or sleeping, but work is work.

FREEMAN: Work is work. You used to work here, didn’t you?

GALAN: I did, back in the day. I think it was eight years ago. I was selling phone cases.

FREEMAN: What sort of phone cases were you selling?

GALAN: Oh, we don’t talk about that, honey.

FREEMAN: Well, I’m glad you get to come and have your reunion with Selfridges. When was the last time you were here?

GALAN: Actually, a week and a half ago. One of my daughters works for Paco Rabanne, and I was just down the road getting my Botox done. Then I came to get some lip glosses from her, which are amazing.

FREEMAN: What are you usually shopping for? What’s your routine?

GALAN: I mean, I am from the online shopping generation, but I also love the art and the sport of shopping in person. It’s kind of lost. These kids don’t appreciate it enough. I’m also the queen of vintage and I love to get a really good deal. But if I go on a shopping spree, I don’t want limits on my budget and my time.

FREEMAN: Perfect. Well, we’re about to head up into the women’s wear section. Where do you want to go first? 

GALAN: Shoes.

FREEMAN: Shoes!

GALAN: I’m big on shoes.

FREEMAN: Okay, cool. Let’s go shoes.

GALAN: Period.

FREEMAN: Well, what are we looking at? Rabanne?

GALAN: Paco Rabanne, honey.

FREEMAN: Is that crocodile or…?

GALAN: This is crocodile.

FREEMAN: Beautiful. Do you have anything coming up that you need to dress for? You’re playing FOLD. 

GALAN: Yeah, we just announced it. 

FREEMAN: Oh, fab. Have you played it before?

GALAN: I haven’t actually, no.

FREEMAN: I love FOLD. 

GALAN: It’s the venue, right?

FREEMAN: It’s the venue. You’ve also just released Bate. I was listening to it on repeat on the way here. How did it come about?

GALAN: It’s basically music I self-produced and recorded on my iPhone four years ago. Now, I’m just redoing all the music properly at the studio with all the people that influenced my sound. For example, this one was produced by NEW YORK. They included me on their first EP and we had that song called “L.A.” Everybody that’s been there for me since day one and has shaped the Galan sound is going to be part of it, which is really exciting. It feels like a full-circle moment and I feel really lucky to have this amazing group of people be there as part of my first piece of work.

FREEMAN: I know you said lucky, but I feel like you’re one of those people in the scene where everyone’s just waiting for your big, big moment. I mean, you’ve already had so many of those big moments. I saw this video of you at Paris Fashion Week and you just had a swarm of paparazzi around you.

GALAN: And they had no idea who I was.

FREEMAN: Literally. I was like, “That’s a star. I don’t even know if she’s there for anything, but she knows exactly what she’s doing.”

GALAN: Well, for the record, I was sitting front row at Ottolinger and I was getting my check for it. But the paparazzi were so calm. They needed to take a picture.

FREEMAN: [Laughs] Thank you for getting that on the record.

GALAN: I feel like when you’re up-and-coming, you get used to it. Patience is a virtue. Fake it till you make it. One day you won’t have to explain yourself anymore.

FREEMAN: I completely agree. All right, what shoes are we thinking?

GALAN: I really want to try the Tom Ford heels with the locket. Is that possible?

SELFRIDGES EMPLOYEE: I can have the team try to have them ready.

GALAN: Ooh, Pucci! Is this Pucci? Should we do…Nasty with the Pucci outfit?

FREEMAN: It might not be summer outside yet, but it’s summer in our hearts right now.

GALAN: Maybe we can do a bikini moment with heels.

FREEMAN: Definitely. What’s it like being on the other side of the Selfridges experience, no longer working?

GALAN: It’s quite fun. Selfridges has this cool kid energy. Everybody really loves working here and looks forward to coming in. That’s how I remember it, to be honest. I was just on the shop floor making my coin.

FREEMAN: Getting your check. Now you’re in the front row getting your check.

GALAN: It took us a while. Listen, there’s work behind this. Nobody gave me anything.

FREEMAN: So you don’t feel like an overnight success?

GALAN: Absolutely not, baby. I’ve been around for 10 years. People are just giving me my flowers now. It’s taken a lot of hard work, but I feel so grateful because of having the background that I do. I used to be a stylist dealing with going-for-the-throat bitches, and that really shaped me to be a 360 superstar. You know what I mean?

FREEMAN: Absolutely. You need tough skin.

GALAN: It’s very tough. Especially London back in the day, when I moved 10 years ago. Now, I feel like this comes with a lot of love. There’s this new generation of girls from social media, and it’s a blessing that they can just build their own brand with an Instagram page and they just be getting jobs and doors open. I don’t come from that. I come from the internship, the paperwork, the knocking on doors, and nobody was really doing anything for me. That builds a lot of strength and power, at the end of the day. And I feel that now the kids are a little bit too entitled. I’m old school, but I’m only 27. 

FREEMAN: I love that.

GALAN: But they need to check and they need to respect the elders, or the people that actually walked so they could run.

FREEMAN: Absolutely. What are we looking at, Rick shorts?

GALAN: These are Rick Owens leather shorts.

FREEMAN: Gorgeous. Can you tell me how Club Stamina came about?

GALAN: When I started Club Stamina at The Standard, I was the one that was in charge of the guest list. You couldn’t get in if Mina Galan didn’t put you on the list. I wanted to bring back that exclusivity. We kind of lost it, or perhaps that was never really a thing in queer spaces. I feel like 2020 was this period of gender euphoria, right?

FREEMAN: Absolutely.

GALAN: Beautiful momentum, but things got a little bit lost in translation. I feel like weaponizing your identity constantly turned into getting away with…

FREEMAN: Being a cunt?

GALAN: Exactly. You said it, not me. I got tired of it. I was just tired of all these queer raves, and being in the middle of nowhere. Even if they were close to us, me and the dolls wear Ricardo Tisci-era Givenchy and Balenciaga. I’m not going to wear that to go to the rave.

FREEMAN: We’re not going to Canning Town in Givenchy.

GALAN: Exactly. But I still wanted the vibe of going loco in the club, and I wanted to really select the right people to do so. I feel like that’s one of the most important things when it comes to having a successful night. The right people need to be there. I wanted to bring the clashes, I wanted to bring the fashion kids, I wanted to bring my trans sisters that are sex workers. They never get to experience or perhaps go to a five-star hotel. All of that was such a moment for London because it was something so new. I was tired of it. Then, eventually, I just was like, “I need to do this ticketed because also I need to eat.” No shade. 

FREEMAN: Absolutely.

GALAN: For me, Club Stamina is not an event. It’s a cultural movement. Everything that I do is with a purpose and I think that’s why it’s working. I’m going to revolutionize everything. We used to be seen as goddesses and I’m going to make that happen again. It gives me chills, but it’s true. It’s about time. Look at my sisters. Look at Alex Consani, she was just walking for Gucci. The girls are taking over and we’re going to do it whether you’re ready or not, honey.

FREEMAN: Yeah, literally. I feel like Club Stamina and the places you throw it, that type of glamor should be accessible for girls like you.

GALAN: Exactly. Because we bring you the glamour. We’re all used to growing up with these superstars and these divas, but a big influence comes from Black femme queens. When you see all these rappers and all these girls out there popping, we love them. But who’s doing the makeup for them? Who’s doing the fashion? Who’s doing the hairs? Where is that coming from?

FREEMAN: Who’s on the mood board?

GALAN: Exactly. I’m tired of being in the mood board. I want to be in front of the camera too. The house.

FREEMAN: Exactly. 

GALAN: La casa. For real.

FREEMAN: No, I absolutely agree. There’s such an amazing scene of trans women and trans people in London. 

GALAN: My sis Alex Consani came to London a few years ago and she did this TikTok saying, “I’m in London. Where are the dolls? I don’t see the dolls.” And I used that TikTok to promote the first ticketed event for Club Stamina. And then we show that my girls are cunt. You know what’s amazing about the Club Stamina dolls? Each of them has their own thing going on. We have Alejandra Muñoz, she’s an amazing designer. We have Novaya Shey, who’s an amazing body movement director. We have Vita, who’s a professor at CSM and an amazing writer. The list goes on, and that’s what’s so powerful. When Pride comes, they’re knocking on the door and they want to use that trans tag. 

FREEMAN: Absolutely.

GALAN: So I use it to make my coin. La casa!

FREEMAN: La casa, la casa, la casa! No, absolutely. And also the dolls are better DJs, anyway.

GALAN: Honestly, I mean look at Arca. Mother. Every time she jumps on the decks, it’s like witchcraft. She’s opening new portals.

FREEMAN: I’ve never done an interview in a changing room before. I’m really loving it.

GALAN: I love how fierce this is.

FREEMAN: Lovely to chat, Mina. Let’s try some clothes on.

GALAN: Let’s do it. Thank you so much, Interview.