issue 35 stripped down edition. issue 35 stripped down edition.
CLUTCH STAFF SPRING SUMMER `24
EDITOR IN CHIEF cross ayala
ASSISTANT EDITOR IN CHIEF
anthony piccolo
PHOTOSHOOT DIRECTORS
avery black
kevin farley
dalton lain
izzy manzione
jeanna snyder
lauren vives
abby warnock
angelika ziemecki
PHOTOSHOOT ASSISTANTS
ava aguiar
kara artz
dani astralaga mishalynn brown
pearson cappa
julia carr
jeral chang
gabriella chen
leah christie
kate d’amario
amaris falcon
mazzy flint
paula flores
chloe harbin
nicole jaroscak
sydney lyell
valentina martinez
samantha montero
onyinye onyia
samantha parrish
annakathryn shelton
merritt slaughter
gianna spadafino
rachel spurgeon
emma stanfield
PHOTOGRAPHERS
collin chen
landri gray
joey harbour
maria penalver
noor sattar
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
alyssa battle
ASSISTANT CREATIVE DIRECTOR
desa dragovich
DIGITAL DIRECTOR
sophia poole
VIDEOGRAPHERS
sophia ehrnst
kevin farley
STYLING DIRECTOR
dalton lain
STYLISTS
allison beltrani
kate d'amario
casey erickson
grace friedlander
rylee greenstein
laura gutierrez
allye hampson
isabelle medina
katie parrino
bella puleo
tracey thames
BEAUTY DIRECTOR
marisa vercamen
BEAUTY
carolina castano
onyinye onyia
GRAPHIC DESIGN
mia casalanguida
cole martucci
nicolina morra
paula valenzuela
VISUAL ART
mia casalanguida
taylor colton
skyla hendrickson
caity salter
annakathryn shelton
gianna spadafino
DIRECTOR
simone wanamaker
EVENTS/SALES
rebecca alizo
lauren bailey mia benshimon
nicole jaroscak
avery knoeck
victoria lebena allie logue
richa singh brooke stalcup emma tapp zane vannordstrand
amanda blakes
SOCIAL MEDIA
jeral chang
ariel lyden
gabriella reitman
richa singh
taylor trujillo
vallerie kolczynski
WRITING DIRECTORS
mishalynn brown
samantha getchell
WRITERS
cole baker
sarah bourloukas
mishalynn brown clara celedon
michelle chadwell
grace friedlander shelby grason
chloe harbin
mckenna lineberry
daniella novas
emma stanfield
Toothpaste on the mirror. A mascara-stained wash cloth. Your Levi’s rolled in a ball on the floor, kicked off to the side while peeling them off (Lord knows they feel a bit tight these days).
Coco butter covering your legs post bathroom sink dry shave. It lathers over your razor bumps and stretch marks.
Floss tangles between your bitten down nails. You get bored after the bottom row and toss the string into the overflowing trash can.
You slip on a pair of old plaid boxers and a Guns N Roses T-shirt (stolen from your dad). You remember to put in your retainer.
The aroma of the bedroom is courtesy of a clearance Bath and Body Works candle. Champagne Toast dances in your nose.
After letting the microwave beep for too long, you retrieve your warm glass of milk— a dash of cinnamon on top.
The taste of toothpaste still lingers as you sip it, leaving an ambiguous flavor on your tongue and a white line on your upper lip.
You go to bed with a smile.
Sarah BourloukasSalt drips from your skin, your lips pulse in dire need of hydration, but the sun kisses your limbs and the warmth on the outside matches the warmth from within.
Fuses are short under the sweltering heat— a Coney Island swan-dive.
Your brother’s breathing too loud. Your sister’s arm touches yours one too many times.
But the days end the same every time, smiles wide, heads back laughing.
Strawberry ice cream licked clean off every spoon—
The ice cream is pink. Your cheeks are too.
Your mother scolds you for this, but it is followed by a wink.
The wink is real. The love is real.
There
something in the water (that is worth drowning in)
directed by cross ayala & anthony piccolo assisted by mishalynn brown, jeral chang, & valentina martinez otto photographed by kevin farley featuring rilan jensen & malachi taylor Taylor Coltonknight in shining armor
directed by: avery black & angelika ziemecki photographer: maria penalver models: syrena young & abigail mckane shoot assistants: mazzy flint, paula flores & samantha parrishLike the moon, she basks in her fleetingness. Gets off on it. Confounded and confused by everything she isn’t meant to want. She does not give, she takes. There is nothing from her anyone wants. Hated and scorned, she bites and stings, only the face of her shows, the serpent hides behind the light of the sun. Behind the torch they put up to her face to scrutinize what is there, to find something, a mole perhaps, that would reveal her treachery. For the treachery she was accused of, she felt no guilt, they won’t find anything there. Try as anyone might, the armor built up around her, forged from the fires of her adversity, does not budge. It doesn’t even dent.
Enter Juliet. She does not try and break her shining armor but slips a delicate hand beneath and soothes the deepest parts of her soul. Caresses the callouses and traces her figure. She breathes easier, her muscles relaxing, and the chainmail that envelopes her body doesn’t feel so tight. She’s never before wished to bare her soul to another person. Juliet’s warmth could’ve melted even the coldest of her metal. She did not see what they were as treachery, as abominations. She walked the kingdom freely with her heart on her sleeve, taking the sticks and the stones that were thrown at her. She shone like the sun and touching her felt like touching the sky.
But the moon must wane, and the sun must set. There is no room for them under her father’s foreboding gaze. They’ll bear the brunt of the blame for the townsmen to sleep at night, both sides of their pillows cool to the touch. They did not belong. Perhaps in another life, another time. Perhaps Juliet wouldn’t be born a Capulet in the next life. Perhaps being a Capulet won’t be a crime punishable by death. Oh, her love, her wife, death has sucked the honey of her breath, but has not the power yet upon her beauty. She looked so radiant in Death’s embrace, she envied him. For death now had a hold on Juliet, her crimson lips, her fair skin, those slender hands that knew just how to undo her. Should she believe Juliet’s unsubstantial death to be amorous, that the lean abhorred monster keeps her here in dark to be Death’s paramour?
Here, she would set up her everlasting rest and join her lover and be reborn in the next life. Eyes looked her last. Arms took her last embrace. And lips, the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing death. She slips off her armor, she won’t need it anymore. She feels bare, her bleeding heart exposed. Bitter conduct, unsavory guide. And thus, with a kiss, she dies.
Michelle ChadwellElevated Realities
Directed by Lauren Vives & Izzy Manzione Photographed by Joey Harbour Assisted by Ava Aguiar, Dani aga,Astral Onyinye ONyia, & Emma Stanfield Featuring Annakathryn on,Shelt Cross Ayala, & Dylan Pietrus by Sam GetchellWe stop at a playground on the way home. Tossing my battered heels onto the ground, I slump into a rickety swing set. My friend offers to push me. I say no at first, but he just laughs. I feel two strong hands against my back, an unwelcome touch on the over-heated skin of my exposed shoulder blades. The world tilts, my center of gravity shifts, and I’m immediately gaining momentum.
‘It’s fun, isn’t it?’ he asks.
I don’t answer. I don’t tell him that I’m afraid of heights.
At some point, I’m as high as I can go, and suddenly I’m a kid again and I’m terrified, oh so terrified of the jump down. There was a reason why our parents told us not to leap from the highest point of the swing, right?
I don’t want to get down.
Please don’t make me get down.
Transcendalism
Directed by: Abby Warnock Assisted by: Karar Artz, Sydney Lyell, Sam Montero Photographed by: Josh Owens, Noor Sattar, Abby Warnock Featuring: Ava Anderson Writing by: Emily Schroedershe watches me bleed in the leaves she whispers to me through the breeze you're imperfectly perfect that's who you'll be just like your mother wants you to be and i couldn't breathe properly till you told me to be so simply all that you wanted a child so free all you intended is all that i'll be i'm yours forever yours