SS23

editor in chief

allen morton

assistant editor in chief

lantz coffeen

pr coordinator

cross ayala

shoot directors

lalo ambris

tobi arubuola

erin booker

isabella davila

isabel gonzalez

layla mathews

anastasia marie mcgill

rafael oliva

michelle poreh

anthony piccolo

courtney yurkon

digital directors

isabel choi

ella denny

marshall waters

kaya youngquist

casting agents

eve adan

isabella almella

daniela astralaga

victoria bile

creative director

gracyn holloway

assistant creative director

nia alexander

shoot assistants

alexis brown

sid brown

paige burrow

emily carrier

priscilla chierico

leah christie

kayla crooks

madison dailey

zoe dobbins

emma edy morris

audrey gil llan

lauren hamilton

lindsey kaplan

vallerie kolczynski

jade lazar

emily montarroyos

annabel owen

emily pakula

mattie peters

aiven rylee davis

caroline schwartz

rachel spurgeon

mackenzie taylor

tanya thatayatikom

abby warnock

angelika ziemecki

photographers

lalo ambris

widad muhammad

joshua owens

alejandro suarez

kaya youngquist

videographers

kevin farley

joshua owens

kaya youngquist

stylists

lolly colton

kate d'amario

marriana gutierrez

laura gutierrez

dalton lain

nelson sawyer

tiasia smith

carson tyll

stefanie urban

simone wanamaker

camryn williams

beauty

brynn lewin

liana ocampo

hope pumphrey

sales

samantha lucas

anna perez

lauren sickels

graphic designers

isis benjamin

katie boucher

lana nassir

cammie peebles

sebastian w. rafuls

doron yablonka

kaya youngquist

writers

camile cabrera-ramon

katerina dardha

julia garab

shelby grason

ashley king

mckenna lineberry

daniel londono

marlowe mitchell

jayna o so a restrepo

karla serrano

gabi wright

directors of events

sarah amster

isabel gonzalez

bella rose hart

event planners

janelle forte

katherine newman

gracie rong

Hair and makeup by:

experime ntation

directed by : assisted by: beauty by: shot by: featuring:

isabel choi gracyn holloway

gracyn holloway

lalo ambris

rilan jensen

By Camile Cabrera-Ramon

Do not smash the mirror of your mind for it is a one-way window into the universe of your life which spins on its axis daybreak to nightfall. Once blooming with hope and compassion it has grown disdainful scorning every season. In summer’s solstice and winter’s last breath, the dying sun consumes souls of long-lost lovers, falling leaves fragment their ailing hearts. For mother nature is a malicious monster who unveils reality?

creative assistants

Gracyn Holloway

Isabel Choi

PHOTOGRAPHED BY: LALO AMBRIS & KEVIN FARLEY

ASSISTED BY: ISABEL CHOI & GRACYN HOLLOWAY

Heavily inspired by the underground NYC club-kid scene in the 90’s, always breaking boundar- ies of what can be done with creative self-expression, this scene evolved from the queer individ- uals’ desire to escape and have a safe space to fully be themselves and dance in the most vision- ary, groundbreaking looks until the sun comes up. Artists like Thierry Mugler spark my creative process, by being able to not only cohesively combine music/theatrics with fashion but also add an “out of this world” futuristic epitome of sex appeal. My heart and soul lie in my passion for music and fashion; I am so eternally grateful to be a part of these spaces that allow people like me thrive and have a sense of community for us creatives.

Ind myself zoning out. A stream of consciousness without reach in hoping for an answer. A consciousness that spirals into a place of darkness in which there is only light at the end. The light that prospers through laughs and that warm feeling you get in the pit of your stomach that radiates up to your heart. So how do I get there? These thoughts swarming my head make me doubt this light and doubt my ability to acquire the feeling it emits. In a prison of my own thoughts with a lock of self doubt with a key being something I have yet to nd. In a blackhole there is no end and there is no beginning — just a tunnel, which is fueled by darkness and is not visble to the eye. Not visible to anyone, only me.

model: ashley malave

creator: mia gonzalez

sent from the heavens, your latest obsession has made it down to earth. from ephemerality to eternity, a forever flower, crocheted from me to you.

FROM DUST

‘FROM DUST TO LUST’

SHOT BY MILA GAMARRA

DIRECTED BY iSABELLA DAVILA

MAKE UP BY VICTORIA RINALDI

MODEL SUREL VEra

TO LUST

“may their passing cleanse this world”

glass bead bow chokers with 100% bamboo silk crochet chain

bamboo silk crochet fingerless gloves with glass bead detail

L: How would you describe your room in three words?

A: My room is part of a dollhouse setting, vintage through-and-through, and overly ornate. In three words, it would probably have to be flowers, frogs, and flying creatures.

in my bedr m

Directed By isa choi

Shot by Gracyn Holloway

interview by lantz coffeen

featuring Ab Thielen

L: How would you describe your personal style?

A: I would describe myself to be a paper doll, and my outfits are just layers to add to my frame. I like to experiment with several different styles, but I mostly wear vintage. Recently, I have been leaning into 70s western wear. I adore dagger collars, campy fabric patterns, and fringe. Also, textures scratch a certain itch in my brain, so I love design details like ruffles, beading, ribbing, lace, pleats, and quilting. Overall, I like my outfits to become costumes for an imaginary period piece film.

L: Who inspires your style?

A: I don’t think any one person inspires my personal style. I am constantly inspired by the outfits of my friends because they all dress wonderfully. I also like to reference movie characters. Recently, Jane Fonda’s costuming in Barbarella has been eating my brain, so I have been playing with Space Age mod fashions of the late 60s.

L: What is your favorite piece of clothing you have in your closet?

A: Currently, I have been reaching for my 70s chocolatey brown fringe jacket. I love the way it lays on my frame and the fringe makes me so happy. Also, I notice that it makes people smile when they pass me by and my fringe is swinging to the rhythm of my walk.

L: When you are getting ready are you putting on some music? If so, what is your go to getting ready playlist look like?

A:I am almost always listening to music throughout my day, so getting ready music is a must. I cycle through different playlists, genres, and artists throughout my day, but right now my go-to playlist for when I am going out with friends is called “mis tacones” and features a lot of Isabella Lovestory and Tokischa. When I am just getting ready to run errands or go to work, I have been listening to my playlist titled “la primavera” which primarily features songs by Traditional Venezuelan artists Magdalena Sanchez and Alfredo Sadel. Their voices and lyrical imagery bring me so much peace and joy.

L: You have many windows in your room where the sun is able to shine through, what is your favorite time of day to be hanging out in here?

A: My favorite time of the day is in the late morning when something magical occurs. I call it the morning disco, but it’s really just the time when the sun shines on my crystals hanging in the window, casting rainbows throughout the room. During this time, my roommate’s cat Murphee likes to mosey in and sunbathe at the edge of my bed and corner of my carpet. I like to join him and tidy up around my room, pick out an outfit for the day, and listen to music.

L: How does your current room reflect you when you were a child?

A: My room when I was a child was equally ornate. My mama loves to decorate and have a cohesive room theme. Our family friends run a drapery business in Hialeah, so she decked out the room with pink and purple ruched satin bedding, a pink lamp with beaded fringe, and lots of stuffed animals. My room now pays homage to my childhood with a fluffy comforter, plush animals, and knick knacks that make me smile. Of course, it is more mature than my childhood room, and I decorate with vintage art, posters, magazines, and random art pieces found at the thrift store.

L: When are you the most inspired?

A: I am most inspired when I am brainstorming with creative friends. Being part of Stitch Fashion and Design Club inspires me to not only create on my own, but it also inspires me to create more opportunities for other creatives to express themselves through art and fashion. I am also inspired when I am alone in my bedroom listening to music or watching old movies with fun costume design. My internship as a fashion conservation assistant at the Historic Costume and Textile Collection inspires me endlessly because I am surrounded by decades and centuries old apparel.

L: What is a book that everyone should read?

A: Everyone should read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Reading it is like giving yourself a big ol’ hug.

L: What were your main inspirations when it came to designing your room?

A: My love of vintage brass furniture and decor inspired me the most. I found my brass vanity at a thrift store for 40 bucks back home in South Florida and warned my parents that I would have to bring it up with me in a moving van. From there, I kept collecting more brass pieces, and I now house a near-complete collection with the exception of my bedframe and side tables. I love the texture of smooth metal and the luxurious look of vintage brass designs. I am also inspired by my grandmother Barbara, who has her entire house covered with gallery art walls. I try to fit in as much art in my room as possible because it inspires me to create. I am also inspired by museum spaces and want visitors to have things to muse over.

L: Tell me more about your favorite books to read

A: I don’t get to read as often as I would like to, but recently I reread the essays in Camp: Notes on Fashion by several fashion historians including Susan Sontag, Amanda Garfinkel, and Andrew Bolton. I was writing a paper on LGBTQ fashion history recently, and I had so much fun in the research process. I also love the novel Beebo Brinker by Ann Bannon, which is a lesbian pulp fiction about a highly attractive androgynous lesbian who moves to New York and is highly unaware of her charms with several love interests. I found the book while I was exploring the Museum of Fine Art exhibition on the work of Naiad Press, a lesbian book publishing group operated in Tallahassee from the 1960s-1980s. I want to explore more LGBTQ literature, specifically by Latinx and Black authors.

L: Where is your favorite place to get clothes in Tallahassee?

A: My favorite place to shop is the Goodwill Bins. As a fashion stylist who is also a broke college student, the most cost effective way to find

interesting and unique pieces to play with is by thrifting by the pound. With a pair of gloves, some reusable bags, and my headphones to support me, I could dig through bins of clothes for hours. I like to discover vintage clothing items that I can alter or restore.

L: Is there a current skill you are working on mastering?

A: I am working on mastering embroidery and beading on printed textiles. I want to incorporate unconventional materials on garments. I am currently working on applying lenticular photos from a children’s book about animals to a tote bag using colorful embroidery floss.

L: What does your perfect day look like?

A: My perfect day looks like a bright blue sky, popsicles, thrifting, having a picnic at the park, playing Guitar Hero with my friends, and falling asleep to a movie with Murphee snuggled by my side.

childhood friends

As a child I’ve always had so much hope. I watched others' dreams come true as I prayed for mine. Believing in this destiny, I had to try. To know we’re connected. Strangers as friends, to a man’s best friend. We’re one to each other on this planet, earth, our home. What a dream it is to live, to wonder, to love. So why not dance like we’re childhood friends at our home?

by shelby grason

mystery of life

Stretched amongst the cosmos bounded by axes of time and space are frivolous points on the astral plane.

Points which pulse together like a metronome who lost its tempo thumping tutti pianissimo. Some points battle an inevitable war while others surrender on cold shores, none of these points foresaw their fate.

by:

Camile

Cabrera-Ramon

Yet it is unknown and unknotted by an unfathomable energy in this vast cosmic arena: The mystery of life.

Slumber

Party

Directed by: Ella Denny

Shot by: Ella Denny

Featuring: Camile Cabrera-Ramon and Sid

Layout by: Katie Boucher

Prima

If I close my eyes and think about it, I can hear the song in my

I admired her straight legs and pointed feet, her soft yet stiff arms. The way she

Ballerina

mind. I watched the girl; the ballerina, who was trapped in the box.

looked so graceful, spinning, stuck in a pirouette position. I danced with her.

My Jewelry Box

After hours of searching through my hot, muggy attic, I finally found it. It was the middle of July, sweat was dripping down my face, but I couldn’t help but smile. My jewelry box, there it was. My prize possession from ages four to nine, the beautiful pink paint was still intact. The nostalgia flooded my emotions. It was tucked away in a little box. Hidden between boxes in the attic, all full of other childhood memorabilia. There laid tutus, dress up dresses and tiaras. All from when my mind was constantly taken elsewhere. A time of my life when my imagination consumed me. I would come home from school, put on a tiara, ballet shoes, pick out a pink tutu and dance away. I would open that delicately pink painted jewelry box and listen to the song it played. I probably listened to it a million times. If I close my eyes and think about it, I can hear the song in my mind. I watched the girl; the ballerina, who was trapped in the box. I watched her confined to a hot glued stick that twirled in place. I admired her straight legs and pointed feet, her soft yet stiff arms. The way she looked so graceful, spinning, stuck in a pirouette position. I danced with her. I would open and close the jewelry box, to continuously watch her dance and hear her song.

Sitting on the ground of the attic with the box in my hand, I had to open it. I had to see if after nearly ten years if my ballerina still spun. I unclicked the gold lock. Slowly opened the lid of the box, almost as if I was scared she would be damaged. The song that was normally a soft quiet chime, was muffled. It was an elegant song, easy for any ballerina to dance to. The static of the old speaker consumed the song. The ballerina however, still danced. Sure, she had some dust on her, but her paint was still almost perfect. Her brown hair was still dark brown. I always loved this characteristic of her. I assume this is why my mom picked this one out, the brunette ballerina, because it looked like me. Her pink ballet shoes, tutu and leotard all still shined. She still danced how I remembered. I couldn’t help but smile, seeing all of my old jewelry I once loved. The old “Justice” friendship necklaces and the plethora of dangling earrings. These were once such a big part of my everyday life- now they’re just a mere distant memory.

Seven-year-old me would be sad for the ballerina, seeing how she still danced so perfectly. She was everything I once strived to be when I would dance in my room. Younger me would equate her to a real thing, I would picture that she had feelings. She would feel sad that she has been trapped in a box, for all of these years. Hopelessly waiting to have someone to dance for. My life has moved on, days have gone by, not even thinking about the ballerina I once loved. All whilst she was there, waiting. Just waiting. Waiting for an audience, waiting to dance.

by Gabi Wright

shot by: Lalo Ambris & Alex Suarez

featuring: Sophia Lutinski

McGill

directed by: Erin Booker & Anastasia

Burrow

assisted by: Lauren Orie, Annabel Owen & Paige

layout by : Cammie Peebles

INDULGE

TITLE: INDULGE

DIRECTED BY: ELLA DENNY

ASSISTED BY: KAYA YOUNGQUIST

SHOT BY: ELLA DENNY

FEATURING: ANDREA SAAVEDRA AND ELLA KAVANAGH

LAYOUT: KATIE BOUCHER

Directed

by: Assisted

by: Shot

by: Featuring:

Photoshoot Director: Lalo Ambris

Photoshoot Assistants: Emily Carrier, Leah Christie, Lauren Hamilton, Mattie Peters, Angelika Ziemecki

Photographer: Lalo Ambris

Model: Marriana Gutierrez

Dress Made by: Marriana Gutierrez

MUA: Brynn Hallie

Nails by: Liana Ocampo

Wig Styled by: Isabel Choi

MELTING

how-to-save-mother-earth

by camile cabrera-ramon

1. Listen when people say mother Earth is dying:

a. “Have you read the Paris Agreement?”

b. “The ocean is boiling!”

c. “Another hurricane?”

d. “Millions of species are at risk!”

2. Accept that your normal existence is not sustainable

3. Educate yourself on the undeniable facts:

a. Global temperatures are rising

b. Ice sheets are sinking

c. Oceans are getting warmer

4. Go on a nature walk

a. Ponder if your great grand grandchildren will ever do the same

5. Watch the Disneynature movie Earth

a. Cry when baby elephant gets separated from its mother and dies

b. Cry some more when chetah devours peppy little gazelle

c. Sob when the father of two adorable polar bear cubs bleeds to death

6. Wonder about the balance between cuddliness and reality

7. Wipe your tears, go online, donate half your paycheck to World Wildlife Fund

8. Wonder about the futility of it all until you fall asleep

a. Be haunted by screeching sea turtles strangled by plastics

b. Wake up and tell yourself it was only a nightmare – or was it?

9. Purchase reusable bags and begin to reduce, reuse, and recycle

10. Wait and hope for the best…

Angelika Ziemecki

DIRECTED BY: ISABEL GONZALEZ AND MICHELLE POREH

ASSISTED BY: LINDSEY KAPLAN, JADE LAZAR, EMILY MONTARROYOS, AND RAFAEL OLIVA

CAPTURED BY: MICHELLE POREH AND ALEX HUYNH

DESIGNS BY: AMANDA MARBAN, RUBY MAYERANDERSON, CAMERON PAUL, AND CAMRYN WILLIAMS

STYLED BY: NIA ALEXANDER, GRACYN HOLLOWAY, LIANA OCAMPO, MAYA WEST, AND CAMRYN WILLIAMS

BEAUTY BY: JULIANNA GAYOSO, BRYNN LEWIN, HOPE PUMPHREY

NAILS BY: LIANA OCAMPO

FEATURING: FAITH HARRIS, ADDISON NANCE, OLIVIA OGLES, GIANNA PREVITE, AIDALIS SANTANA, JOHN MICHAEL SHIRCLIFF

LAYOUT: KATIE BOUCHER

allen morton