New Friends Honor Munro And Konker Malual On Sharing, Intimacy And Undies

Few tangible things are more intimately shared than underwear. Be it a tissue-lined box filled with lace that’s been sewn together in a very impractical manner, or the year’s supply of fresh cotton classics that your nan gives you every holidays — which you’ve come to depend on and look forward to more and more each year, and will unequivocally miss when they stop coming.

Together with Bonds, we’re getting in on that tender feeling. And with a new collection that features dream fabrics like the metallic and lurex situations and piping bright cotton blends, they push past the practicality of a four-pack of classics for Chrissy and into a realm that’s fun and personal and intimate — between lovers or mates. A bonding gift, if you will 😉

We caught up with a couple of new mates, Sydney-based models and creative legends Konker Malual and Honor Munro, to chat with them about opening up, sharing real and unreal things, dream-gifting and different types of intimacy. Cast by photographer Chloë Nour, who has an affinity for capturing brilliant young people and vivid self-expression, the pair were shot personally and informally in the bare essentials.

Honor wears Bonds Originals Racer Crop top in Mango Salsa ($24.95) and Originals Hi Top pant in Mango Salsa ($16.95) in Mango Salsa, Ebonny Munro earrings 

Names:
Konker Malual
Honor Alexandra Thistle Munro

Nicknames:
KM: Mush, as my middle name is Mamuch.
HM: Call me Honor or don’t call me [laughs].

Star signs:
KM: Virgo.
HM: Sagittarius, obviously.

What type of person are you?
KM: I guess I have the typical Virgo personality.
HM: This is a very vague question, but I’m type 4 on the Enneagram Test if that helps. I’m an ENTP on that other test [the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator], my rising sign is Scorpio and my moon is Cancer.

Where were you born and where do you live now?
KM: I was born in a small village in South Sudan called Kakuma. I grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, and moved to Melbourne as a refugee in 2003.
HM: I was born in Aotearoa, New Zealand, more specifically, Auckland. Now I live in Sydney, Australia, and have lived here almost exactly a year.

What does ‘home’ mean to you — is it a place, is it being surrounded by certain things or people, is it a feeling?
KM: When I went back to Sudan — which should have felt like home — I felt like an outsider. People treated me like a foreigner even though I looked like them and spoke the language fluently. It’s the same over here in Australia, I don’t really quite fit in, so for me ‘home’ has become a feeling. I feel it most when I’m with my family.
HM: For me, home is a feeling of ease and comfort, which I create for myself and which is amplified by having those closest and dearest to me around. Home is also wherever my siblings are, as I’m the eldest of six and, because I live so far from them all, whenever we are together it feels like home.

Konker wears Bonds Guyfront Trunk in Martian Glo ($24.95 or 3 for $59) and Crew Tee in Cotton Gumball Pink ($29.95 or 2 for $39)

And what do you do with your life, for work and for pleasure?
KM: I do a bunch of stuff! If I’m not modelling, I fill my time making music or learning new crafts. Lately been obsessed with film.
HM: Currently I am modelling full-time in Sydney, which has been an absolute riot. I’m about to turn 20 and the last two years since turning 18 and the past year living in Sydney have been incredibly growth oriented — attempting to find some sort of clarity within my art practice and some sense of what I want to do with my life. So, I guess what I do is figuring out what I want to do? And for pleasure I love to spend time with my friends in nature. I’m obsessed with the ocean and the bush. And of course I love to party.

Konker, when you’re making music, what part of your self and what kinds of ideas are you sharing?
To be honest, I don’t have one method of making music. I just mess around with sounds until it makes me feel something. My music is very raw and I guess it’s a reflection of the honesty of my emotions.

What about you, Honor, when you’re making art, poetry or putting together outfits?
I certainly have a very performative side to my personality, a sort of caricature of myself who I express through my costume and makeup. I like to think of each outfit being a new expression of myself and a character that I have created.

Konker wears Bonds Guyfront Trunk in Martian Glo ($24.95 or 3 for $59) and Honor wears Bonds Lurex Bandeau top in Flamingo Shine ($19.95) and Lurex Hi Top pant in Axul Shine ($19.95)

I want to talk about intimacy with you both. For you, personally, is it about the physical or the emotional?
KM: I think both are very important, but you could have one without the other.
HM: Both are equal parts important! I’m certainly a highly emotional person, so in my intimate relationships that is certainly important, but in the same breath I am also highly physical. They play an equal role in all my intimate relationships.

Do you think that intimacy can exist between relative strangers? Or do you think true intimacy can only happen when you really really know someone?
KM: I’ve met some strangers who I’ve instantly connected with. It’s all about their energy.
HM: Wow! This is a hard question as I feel being only 19 I haven’t experienced enough to truly say… although, from personal experience, I have always been more intimate with people I have gotten to know quite well.

Who on this earth knows you the best?
KM: My family!
HM: [Laughs] Wow, who knows? Only myself, I guess. I feel there are number of people in my life who each know me best in different ways.

Where, when and with who do you feel most comfortable?
KM: My family!
HM: Around my closest and dearest friends, playing dress ups in my room.

Konker wears Bonds Fit Trunk in Cotton Tulip Pop ($26.95 or 3 for $59) and Honor wears Bonds Originals Triangle Crop bra in Pom Pom Pink ($24.95) and Originals String Bikini pant in Pom Pom Pink ($16.95 or 3 for $35), Ebonny Munro necklace 

Do you open up quickly, or would you say you’re hard to crack?
KM: I would definitely say I’m a bit more reserved. That’s slowly changing, though.
HM: I’d like to think that I have a good balance of both. I enjoy opening up to people, but trust is definitely something that is earned in most circumstances.

Now we’ve got to talk about underwear — are you a never-nude or are you always flashing your duds?
KM: Depends on the environment.
HM: I’m going to skip this question.

Who was the last person to see you in your undies (not counting this shoot)?
KM: My housemates.
HM: Myself, in the mirror!

Honor wears Bonds Bodies Hi Neck Rib Tank top in Gumball Pink ($22.95) and Originals Short in Gumball Pink ($34.95)

What type of undies look best or worst on your significant other?
KM: I Would prefer no undies, but I won’t judge what draws they got on.
HM: I don’t have a significant other. But I’m sure if I did nothing would look bad on them.

How does it feel to slip on a pair of Bonds?
KM: So fresh and clean!
HM: Honestly ah-mazing. Most comfortable underwear ever. Spending three days wearing just Bonds in the Blue Mountains, shooting the latest campaign, was a dream.

If you could gift anyone in the world a pair of bonds undies (and of course be able to see them on) who would it be?
KM: Lisa Bonet, always.
HM: I’d give them to myself, because… ya know, treat yourself.

Finally, what’s the best gift you’ve ever been given, tangible or abstract?
KM: I can’t think of anything to be honest… can I say ‘life’ or is that too corny?
HM: Huge call, but I would have to say probably my life? And the opportunities I have been given throughout.

Honor wears Bonds Lurex Bandeau top in Flamingo Shine ($19.95) and Lurex Hi Top pant in Axul Shine ($19.95), Ebonny Munro earrings