LAYRA HARMONY

A SYMPHONY OF FASHION makes ITS DEBUT

BY JENNY WERTH

Layra Harmony is the predominant conductor of her own life symphony. With a quartet comprised of fashion stylist, photo shoot producer, creative director and brand consultant, Layra harmonizes to create stunning masterpieces including fashion editorial layouts, commercials, front covers and advertorials. And like a maestro of an orchestra, Layra ensures each instrument plays in melody with one another to create the final effect of a symphony. She finds inspiration in a myriad of places. She is as much part of a production team as she is a soloist who serenades with an endless variety of colors, fabrics and flair. It’s no surprise the enterprising Layra finds herself climbing toward the pinnacle of a creative empire. As a fashion stylist she uses the grace of a harp to create impressionable editorials that have graced that pages of magazines such as “Marie Claire” and “L ‘Officiel.” As a creative director she incorporates the dynamics of the flute and guitar to create impressionable platforms of memorable results.

While in her role as a photo shoot producer she commands both the drums and piano to produce each detail of what happens behind-the-scenes into a seamless success story of photographic heroism. “It’s amazing what we achieve as a team. I wouldn’t be able to do any of these images without the whole team.” Layra says she knows that each of her team players makes up the whole of any production. With that in mind, she often returns to a capable and reliable team that is often comprised of photographers, makeup artists, assistants, dancers, musicians, hair stylists and models to create each piece of photographic art. Naturally, together they are all visual artists. Creatively, each of them comprises one piece of an artistic puzzle that makes the entire mosaic fit together as a whole.

Indeed, she had a keen eye for fashion even as a youth. In fact, at ten-years-old, the future fashionista lived in picturesque Northern Caucasus designing clothing for her doll. “In the area where we lived, we didn’t have variety (of fabrics) and my sister and I had two dolls and we began sewing for the dolls.” Without realizing, it was the beginning of her career in fashion. “When I was ten or eleven, I saw a fashion magazine for the first time with paper patterns that allowed my sister and I to sew patterns for ourselves and so we began to sew… a suit for my sister and a dress for me.” It was the diversity of the ethnic region in Northern Caucasus that Layra attributes to her multifaceted interests in aesthetics. “I think the fact that I grew up (in Northern Caucasus) had a big impact on my personality, because there is such a great variety in everything. This is the most diverse ethnic region in the world.”

The desire simmered silently, but the passion faded until Layra found herself in the United Kingdom. Then, in 2010 she was invited to participate as a model in a photo shoot for a magazine from the United States that needed a professional dancer. Layra danced professionally, so

she waltzed directly into the spotlight. “I was so lucky to be part of a professional photo shoot. It was a concept story and was so interesting. I was impressed with the fashion stylist who created eclectic fabrics (to decorate) my head.” Not surprisingly, the next day her passion for fashion had been reawakened and she began to get clothes out of her closet to create some looks for what would become her first portfolio. The little girl had come full circle and the initial flames of the young fashion stylist had exploded into a fire.

From then on, London found Layra knocking on doors and conducting test photo shoots that step by step improved her portfolio. However, she realized there was something missing. So in 2011, she applied for a BA (Hons) Creative Direction For Fashion at the University Of The Arts London. However, the staff noticed her sample portfolio far exceeded the experience their courses could offer. They asked her to be patient while the other students caught up to her level of proficiency. But, Layra took this as a sign to keep on her own path without the influence of other’s. She ultimately decided to continue knocking on doors and negotiating her talent which has served her brilliantly without the assistance of anyone else. The irony of this decision is that in 2016 she was invited to be a Senior Lecturer for Art Direction at the London College of Style. It goes without saying that Layra defied the odds and ended up teaching concepts that were never formally taught to her. “I always had my own vision and my own future. I wasn’t influenced by someone else’s ideas. I am my own influence. I am happy with my unique journey and all its ups and downs.” She is her own muse.

Her newest inspiration is to become involved in the filming industry. “Earlier this month I was invited for a podcast interview about creative women in the entertainment industry. The director made a suggestion to use my services for styling and photo shoots for independent films they are involved with. I like the idea. I enjoy creating a cinematic feel to my fashion editorials.” For Layra, a “James Bond” movie would be a good start. And given her 007 direction, it shouldn’t be long before we find the self-taught inspiration behind the camera of a worldwide box office success. Harmony. Layra Harmony. LayraHarmony.com

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JOE EXOTIC The Tiger King By: Effy Bergstein

With a bleach-blonde mullet, a black mustache, and more tattoos and piercings than Tommy lee, out-spoken activist Joe Schrelbvogel might be my new favorite rockstar.

Schhrelbvogel is the owner of GW Exotic Animal Park, an animal sanctuary home to over a thousand exotic animals including miniature horses, wolves, camels and ligers. That's right, ligers -- Joe is breeding a mix of lions and tigers, and he has interesting reasoning behind it. "Animals of the world are proving to us that our view of how the world began is a little wrong," he says. Schrelbvogel's theory is that before the Ice Age, lions and tigers were one of the same. After the ice melted, the lions were stranded in Africa and the tigers were stranded in Asia, evolving into two separate species. "They're genetically the same animal otherwise they wouldn't breed. I've worked with several universities who've studied the science and DNA behind this. They're actually releasing a big article in January to prove they're the same species."

Many of the animals at GW Exotic, like the Alligators from Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch, are rescues from similar organizations that can no longer take care of them. Some are re-homed from private owners who can't keep up with little Simba once he transforms into Mufasa, king of the jungle.

Referred to in the press as a "literal Noah's arc in the middle of Oklahoma," Joe's forty-five acre land oasis would make for an incredible place to shoot a film. And at the center of it all is Joe himself, who appears to be a sort of modern day Mogli, (on Disney reference too many?), walking around the place and making sure the animals are happy on a daily basis. But just who is the charismatic man behind the GW Exotic Animal Park.

It all started at the tender age of nineteen, when Joe was crowned the youngest police chief in Texas history, and ready to dedicate his life to being a cop. But in 1985, his life was about to change: "My career ended one night when a drunk driver hit me on a bridge. I moved to Florida to do my physical therapy and my neighbor was the manager of Lion Country Safari at the time. He brought home all the baby tigers and monkeys to bottle-feed and take care of," he said. Joe was hooked.

Just a few months later, he and his brother became owners of an exotic pet store themselves. And so began the transformation from GI Joe to Joe Exotic, all he needed now was a name change.

"My last name is horrible," he laughs. "I started doing magic shows years ago and none of the kids could pronounce it." I couldn't help but think Siegfried and Roy when I heard that, the famous duo who performed a big cat magic show in Vegas years ago. "I had a magic act with a spider monkey named Little Ricky, I trained him to hold a microphone and we had a voice recording for him so it looked like him talking and he would 'talk' to the kids. We were teaching these little kids not to make fun of other kids who look different." A pioneer for anti-bullying before Lady Gaga even knew what bullying was: I love a man who's ahead of the curve. "Anyway, one of the little kids couldn't pronounce my name and started calling me Joe Exotic." Today, Joe has a large tattoo of Little Ricky, commemorating his friend on his left arm.

pet store and bought property in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, which became the GW Exotic Animal Park. The park opened its doors to the public on October 14th, 1999.

People come from all over the country to tour the interactive zoo and meet the animals, but for some it's Joe Exotic's celebrity status that's the draw. After all, the country bumpkin's ability to handle even the biggest of cats kinda makes Cesar Milan and his Pitfalls look pale in comparison. A tiger whisperer who's sassier than Honey Boo Boo, I think I smell reality star in the making.

And speaking of reality stars, is it just me, or does Joe bare a striking similarity to the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin? A fellow wildlife expert whose larger than life personality made him household name. Already profiled by PBS and National Geographic, to name a few, Joe's colorful persona seems to really resonate on camera in a similar way that Steve's did. As it turns out, the two were friends.

"Steve and I never met in person, but became good colleagues over the phone,

he says. "When I first started in this industry my first rescue was an eleven foot alligator with a severe eye infection and vets in the US didn't know what antibiotics were ok for alligators to take. I figured I'd give it a shot and call Steve's zoo in Australia. Instantly, Steve and his vets got on the phone and helped out vets. Soon after that I had another situation with a rescued Kangaroo who threw her pouch inside out. No vet in America knew what to do so I called Steve again and he was very helpful. His death was very heartbreaking me." To commemorate his friend's death, Joe built a large indoor alligator complex inside the GW Park and named it The Steve Irwin Memorial. The complex currently holds eleven alligators and two crocodiles, Steve would have been proud.

So, would Joe ever consider following in his old buddy's footsteps and doing a show himself? "I'm in the process of trying to do that now, I've been offered several contracts. My dream is to have a zoo makeover type show, where you go around the world and help under privileged zoos."

"We successfully did this in Missouri last year and rebuilt their zoo because the government was going to take their animals away. After three days with us the government came for a checkup and they received perfect scores." Kind of sounds like another peroxide loving' blonde who goes around doin' salon make

overs: Tabatha' Salon, anyone? "In today's world they're interested in taking away animals from people and sanctuaries like ours that are being overrun by animals. Some people just need a helping hand."

Most recently, a PBS documentary profiling Joe and his park featured footage from inside his home: a sanctuary for baby tigers to roam about freely, equipped with stuffed animals and chewing toys, (although they did seem to have an affinity for the furniture). At the center of it all was Joe, sitting on his living room couch, bottle-feeding one of the cubs.

One day these big cats may grow up to roam the jungle, but for now they seem rather content in roaming the zoo's rather enormous enclosures, posing for pictures and working hard as what Exotic calls, his "animal ambassadors." Like his spider monkey. And his ligers. Each animal has a story to tell. To appreciate their story can simply mean interacting with them, and if places like these didn't exist, kids and adults alike would not have any exposure to wild animals, hence a lack of appreciation for wildlife out there in the world and conserving it.

I wondered just how close Joe lives to the zoo in order to do what he does. "My home is in the middle of the park," he says. "I have a cage built around my house, inside the cage, which is my front yard, there are five tigers, a full grown lion and six wiener dogs." Weiner dogs, did you say Weiner dogs, Joe? "Oh yeah. It's amazing how well animals get along with other animals in a rescue situation. It's like they all know they're there due to similar circumstances, and they're grateful."

I told Joe about my own dog, the love of my life, a Yorkshire Terrier named Milo. And about how I put Animal Planet on for him whenever I leave the house. "I leave it on for my chimp, too, I even watch it with him sometimes," he told me. I told him it was good to hear I wasn't crazy, as my roommates are convinced I am, and we had a good laugh as he assured me I wasn't. I ended the call feeling inspired; he just has a certain way about him. Perhaps that's why the animals are fans. From one interview, he managed to turn me into a fan as well. Whatever big or small screen project he ends up embarking on, I have a feeling the rest of America isn't far behind.

Acceptance and Insecurities

Let’s be honest, the past couple of weeks have been terrible, especially here, in America. Hate has been spreading faster than the Corona Virus and so far, it seems like it will never end. Many of us are confused and shocked about what is going on in society, but I am not writing this article to talk about politics. I want to talk about acceptance and equality.

The sad truth is, people in America and almost everywhere else are separated into a number of groups. We are divided by race, sexuality, income, and basically every other difference that people can find. Even though this might not be stated out loud, it still happens. Whenever we meet someone, we categorize them and they categorize us into specific groups subconsciously, which will determine how our relationship will be moving going forward. Some people choose to notice this process and act on it, and others ignore it and continue on with their lives.

We need to remember that in the end, we are all just people. We all love, we all cry, and we all go through problems in life. Some may be harder than others, but they vary as we do. Without the significant or minimal differences presented in our species, there would be nothing to make each and every one of us special. What society claims to be flawed are the distinctions that make every single one of us unique. Even though everyone has their own preferences, it doesn’t mean we get to force them on to other people. Just because you don’t prefer something does not mean it’s not perfect in its own way. It is time to accept all differences because being different is being human and we all should be equal.

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Although accepting others for their differences is very important, it only makes up half of the entire process. Accepting yourself is the other half. Most of us are negatively impacted by the segregation that happens in our world. Even though we do not want to, we can’t help but feel insecure about the shame we get from certain of our features. Some natural characteristics are considered ugly and abnormal. When we accept everyone and their beautiful differences, it will allow ourselves to come to terms with any insecurity or problem we see when we look in the mirror. Many people aren’t only ashamed of how they look; some people don’t accept the way they talk, act, or even the way they dress. Sometimes, people take their dejection out on other people, creating a chain of harsh words, leading to a chain of insecurities. We all are or get nervous to show the world some part of ourselves, no matter how big or how small. We need to realize that everyone has insecurities and we need to spread the word that everyone is accepted and are perfect the way they are.

The word perfect itself has no meaning set in stone. Everyone’s definition is different, so in a way, we are all perfectly perfect. Acceptance and equality come together. We need to apply both of them to our world and it’s human beings. Right now, the American people are presenting what they believe is wrong to the world. The time has come to set aside our differences and stand as one behind the goal of unity. Instead of separating people into groups and categorize based on their characteristics, let us invite everyone with open arms. No matter how big, how small we are, no matter how light or how dark we are, and no matter who we love or what we like, we are all human.

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