Off The Cuff Magazine| Issue 13 | What is War? by Off the Cuff Magazine

letter from our editor in chief In your hands, you are holding not just a print magazine. You are holding hours upon hours of work. You are holding a love of fashion, a world of creativity and passion built by a staff of almost 200 students. You are holding the late nights spent editing, the early morning call times. You are holding the foundation from which we have built a culture of support and trust. You are holding the foundation of our tribe. Off The Cuff has gone through many changes, and this year, Issue: 13, has seen the latest most significant of them all. Externally, we are living in one of the most divisive times in history. The theme of this issue was chosen to give our incredible staff the space to connect, to explore their innermost thoughts and struggles and then provide them with the chance to put them onto paper and into our print. As a staff, we are continually pushing each other to dive deeper and to think bigger. Issue 13: What is War? has urged us to look deep within ourselves, to understand our own daily struggles, and to find the commonality within them all. From internal war, such as the war is self, to the external such as war is time, we at OTC have all found ourselves within each other and have begun to work to lift each other up. This semester the executive board is saying goodbye to some old faces and welcoming some new ones! We welcomed Photography Director Wes Bodkin, who supported photographers throughout the semester. Creative Directors Julieta Rakover and Sarah Cummings gave the staff an incredible theme to jumpstart ideas and built an open and welcoming space in which to explore them. They also trained Zoe Allen as Assistant CD. Managing Editor Melissa Dellarosa worked tirelessly with the writing staff to create consistent online content, as well as beautiful words to fill these pages. She also trained as Assistant Editor-In-Chief. Tianze Huang recreated a stunning website to show OTCs past, present, and future. Rachel Parker joined our Eboard as Assistant Finance and was trained by David Neary, the Finance Director, who makes this all possible. Wallis Perry and her PR team revitalized our social media. Wallis also trained Caroline Faville as Assistant PR. Mili Hurtado and her Brand Outreach and Events teams created a beautiful launch party. Saumya Chugh, Senior Art Director, supported her incredible team and put this magazine together. Giancarlo Lobo, Online Content Director, has worked to expand our work from print to online. This year we must say farewell to many old faces. Issue 13 is the finale for Tianze, Juli, Sarah, David, Wallis, and my own time on OTC. I cannot speak for them but I must add, what an amazing way to end our time on this team. I truly cannot believe I have had the honor of this position for two years. Off The Cuff has been my home for these past three years. Starting as a stylist in my sophomore year, I was blown away by the talent and passion that I had no idea existed on campus until then. Since then, I continue to be awed by this incredible staff. OTC attracts a different breed. A type of person who is looking to do better and reach further. With a shared love of fashion, culture, and art, we have grown from a magazine to a collaborative community. A community I am so thankful to be a part of. OTC has taught me to never stop pushing the boundaries of what you think is possible, to do what you love, and to encourage others to do the same. I am honored to have been your Editor-In-Chief, and I am grateful for the entire staff, and their capable and talented hands that I can confidently leave OTC in. I know they will go above and beyond, and they will do the work and take it even further and higher in the years to come. For the last time, Maya Green Silver Editor-In-Chief

WHAT IS WAR?

MONEY Art time

evolution self self

self/love love

money

6 8 6 26 38 50 62 74 84 96

WAR IS MONEY

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TRY HARD

WAR IS ART

Woodstock WAR IS ART

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WOODSTOCK

WAR IS ART

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WOODSTOCK

WAR IS ART

Woodstock: Three Days of Peace, Love, and Music By Aaron Halford As America became increasingly driven by strict social norms and conservative values, baby boomers across the United States in the late 1960s began challenging the status quo. Already outraged by a war in Vietnam that served no purpose, Americans feared that the prospect of four years under Richard Nixon would be the straw that broke the camelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s back.

A new counterculture sought to withdraw from mainstream society and protest political injustices, regardless of consequence. And while posters for the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, NY, advertised three days of peace, love, and music, they provoked a question as well: How was a music festival to bring together a nation fractured by war, race, and class? Drugs, man. And a handful of the most iconic performances music has ever seen.

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WOODSTOCK

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WOODSTOCK

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Looking at Woodstock’s lineup card in 2019 is like a trip to the Cheesecake Factory. You’re intrigued by the first few names on the list, and by the time you reach the 32nd artist, you need to re-read the menu. Woodstock hosted many of the world’s most coveted artists, including Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, rock icons who both overdosed and passed away at age 27. The festival also served as a platform for both performers and audience members to voice their distaste with the country’s political climate and the Vietnam War. This piece looks at Woodstock as a window into American culture in 1969, and the lasting impact the festival has had on society’s relationship with art ever since.

While artists like Joan Baez, Country Joe and the Fish and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young performed songs of protest against the Vietnam War at Woodstock, the most influential protest song of all contained no words. Nor was it an original. Using just his Stratocaster, Jimi Hendrix challenged the nation’s anthem, performing a raw and distorted version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Since the tune was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814, no artist ever dared to perform the anthem in a way that strayed from the sheet music.

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WOODSTOCK

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“Our program is cultural revolution through a total assault on culture, which makes use of every tool, every energy and every media we can get our collective hands on... our culture, our art, our music, our books, our posters, our clothing, the way our hair grows long, the way we smoke dope and fuck and eat and sleep-it-s all one message-the message is freedom.”

–John Sinclair (1969)

WOODSTOCK

WAR IS ART

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WOODSTOCK

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WOODSTOCK

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Hendrix, however, was making a statement.

Anthem. Not only did Hendrix protest the

He had no intention of performing the song

anthem, but he did it in a way that chal-

anything close to the way it was written.

lenged the way protest songs were traditionally performed.

Originally slated to close the festival on Sun-

day night, Hendrix was backed up to 9 a.m.

For performers and audience members,

on Monday before delivering one of rock’s

Woodstock provided an escape from the

most memorable performances. Drea-

real world and an escape from the Vietnam

ry-eyed members of the audience re-

War. Rebellion had become the dominant

mained onsite to witness Hendrix deliver two

force in society, and the audience rejoiced

hours of music, one of the longest sets of

in and became empowered by its cheer-

his career.

ful defiance. Above all else, Woodstock gave people the feeling that they were capable

Distinct in Hendrix’s playing are sounds of

of creating real change for the first time in

war: oncoming planes, explosions, machine

their lives.

guns, and people crying. Through his rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Hendrix

Music festivals before Woodstock and mu-

portrays the idea that war had dug as deep

sic festivals since are merely transaction-

into the nation’s fabric as the anthem itself.

al: audiences pay to see quality live music, and artists are paid to deliver the product.

And among the hundreds of songs per-

Woodstock, however, represents one of the

formed over the three days, none were

only events in history in which both parties

more representative of the countercul-

were at the festival for the same reason.

ture than Hendrix’s rendition of the National

ISSUE 13 Woodstock served as a 600-acre space for love, drugs, and music to flow free of judgment and restriction. If the members of this counterculture did not already feel validated by the hundreds of thousands of others in attendance, all they needed to do was look to the stage. Festivalgoers celebrated the nation’s differences and protested its unjust similarities in a way that sparked significant social change in the ‘70s and beyond. Woodstock provided a platform for both musicians and attendees to the right of the country’s wrongs through song and illustrated the power of protest on a national stage and its ability to make a difference.

WOODSTOCK

Art Direction Riley Lane, Charlotte Kershaw, Alii Sharpley Article Aaron Halford Creative Direction Sarah Cummings, Julieta Rakover Featuring Stephanie Ortega Trujillo, Shelby Aguliar, Bricen X, Rosy Gu,Tatyana Khashoggi, Allegra Kevorkian, Krissi Schaefer, Ruby Schwat, Kelsey Brown Hair & Makeup Saumya Chugh, Mili Hurtado Photography Wes Bodkin, Sarah Cummings, Sima Halwany, Connor Kelley, Julieta Rakover Staff Manager Tatyana Khashoggi Styling Ana Lucia, Ariela Levy, Ruby Schwat

WAR IS TIME

Stuck in time WAR IS TIME

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STUCK IN TIME

WAR IS TIME

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i n

“Sometim

l o s e

m y s e l f

t h e

prese nt

becaus

there’s

so much

going on.”

STUCK IN TIME

WAR IS TIME

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STUCK IN TIME

WAR IS TIME

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STUCK IN TIME

WAR IS TIME

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STUCK IN TIME

WAR IS TIME

Stuck in Time by Christian Jaeger Welcome to “Stuck in Time” — an idea, a feeling, a place, and a lifestyle. The team traveled to deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, MA, where members positioned stylized models throughout the sculpture garden to reflect the ever so familiar feeling of being stuck: in life, in society, in time. The project’s leaders, creative directors Sarah Cummings and Juli Rakover, as well as video and media director GianCarlo Lobo, explored several of the many massive art installations within the garden. The models — Luc Belder, Bradley Noble, Amy Bocos, and Marisa Marino would sit, stand, lay, and climb, becoming additions to the enormous artworks scattered throughout the park.

“Sometimes I lose myself in the present because there’s so much going on,” Sarah Cummings said. “It seems like the semester flies by, and I want to get so much done, but I don’t have the time to do everything I want to.” Evidently, Cummings isn’t alone; many feel stuck in time. Off The Cuff’s crew brought this shared feeling to life at deCordova. “I love the idea of surrealism… juxtaposing certain things,” Cummings said. “That’s why we have these people in suits carrying sticks and holding clocks over their faces.” “Stuck in Time” captured models playing with space and time, using random objects to create an abstract vision of ordinary, repetitive life. After all, we live in a shared society that demands us to be conscious of time — always rushing, always moving, stuck.

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STUCK IN TIME

Art Direction Angela Sung, Ken Rudolph Article Christian Jaeger Creative Direction Sarah Cummings, Julieta Rackover Featuring Bradley Noble, Marisa Marino, Luc Belder, Amy Bocos Hair & Makeup Ava Wilkness Photography Meghan Cronin Sculptures Saul Melman, DeWitt Godfrey, Nancy Winship Milliken Staff Manager GianCarlo Lobo Styling Rebekka Fulton, Kelsey Brown, Sannah Kim Set Design Nina Miller

WAR IS EVOLUTION

War on nature WAR IS EVOLUTION

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war on natrue

WAR IS EVOLUTION

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war on natrue

WAR IS EVOLUTION

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war on natrue

WAR IS EVOLUTION

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war on natrue

WAR IS EVOLUTION

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Art Direction Charlotte Kershaw, Sarah Cummings Creative Direction Sarah Cummings, Julieta Rakover Featuring Sarah Cummings, Julieta Rakover, Christian Jaeger Photography Sarah Cummings, Julieta Rakover Staff Manager Charlotte Kershaw

war on natrue

WAR IS SELF

surveillance WAR IS SELF

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surveillance

WAR IS SELF

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surveillance

WAR IS SELF

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surveillance

WAR IS SELF

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surveillance

WAR IS SELF

Surveillance and Subversion: The Eyes of the State by Sebastian Porreca Surveillance in the 21st century is a strange, utterly unique phenomenon. 10 Billion glass eyes stare at you from perches well above your head, from the corners of buildings to the ceilings of stores. Your face and identity are compartmentalized into the small green boxes of facial recognition technology and stared at on a grainy computer screen by a half-dead cop in a room full of computer monitors. Surveillance, especially by the state, is anything but new. Still, since the introduction of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the late 20th century, surveillance has taken on a strange, impersonal character. Up until then, surveillance existed as person to person. Agents would stalk restaurants, coffeehouses, meeting spots, and dark alleys like you see in some old black and white spy movie. Now it is an inhuman, machine-based hive mind, with mindless, black eyes posted on every stoplight, every corner, every storefront. While I think it is easy to feel dejected and fearful of this strange technological dystopia, I would argue it is not complete. We are not entirely trapped, and while I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any real, concrete answers on how to escape, I think and hope that another reality is possible.

I have grown to be wary of surveillance. Everywhere I go, I always subtly take note of the many security cameras around me. Almost a methodical ritual. It is a precaution, a fear. It is also a vulnerability that I have internalized. Coupled with my belief in subversion and direct action against systems of oppression, and in observing both the growth of surveillance and current social movements, I notice a lot of differences between the riots, direct actions, and revolutionary acts of today and those of yesterday. The repression of today is harsher and swifter than that of yesterday. Take the anti-authoritarian riots in Honk Kong, for example. I have noticed that destroying CCTV cameras has become a symbol of revolutionary action. This is true not just of Honk Kong but also of many other fights against repressive governments, from the Arab Spring uprisings to the Yellow Vest uprising in Paris. In the far long gone revolutions of the late 20th century, such as the May 1968 uprisings in France and the various 1970s-1980s German/Italian Autonomen riots, individual identification was much harder for the state. Demonstrators only sometimes wore masks, and if they were not immediately arrested at a protest, they were relatively safe from state repression. Today, however, the state follows you. It deploys facial recognition technologies, pools CCTV footage, tracks the IP address of your phone, and tracks you back to your house. Every movement is tracked. Not just by the CCTV cameras, but also by daily, seemingly insignificant actions in our everyday world. As I mentioned, cell phones and computers are tracked by IP addresses, which record data of where and on which device an individual is posting from. Almost like a permanent internet footprint that remains despite deleted accounts and username changes. This has been used by governments across the world to repress anti-state dissent. From Russia to Hong Kong to Turkey, political dissidents and everyday people alike use encrypted messaging apps like Telegram to avoid draconian state repression methods. An especially freakish but somewhat different example of this is the underworld internet created by

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white supremacists and neo-nazis. As an anti-fascist researcher of the extreme right, I have observed the creation of a heavily encrypted underworld internet in the past several years that thrive on the activity of white supremacists. Sites like Bitchute, VK, Gab, Discord, and even the aforementioned Telegram mimic sites like Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, and online chat functions. However, with the critical difference that these encrypted sites, rarely ban users, and preserve the anonymity of violent neo-nazis. Obviously, in this instance, this evasion of surveillance is used not to fight repressive, authoritarian governments, but rather to incite violence and plan racist and bigotted activist. Still, I think it provides a chilling example of these underground, alternative internet networks created to circumvent state surveillance and identification. Surveillance is more significant than just that of the state. Recently, events like the Cambridge Analytica scandal have brought to light how personal data is often co-opted as a marketable commodity. I wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pretend to understand the technological intricacies of how this data is gathered, sold, and implemented. Still, the overall result is that the preferences, products, and pages viewed are used to create personalized advertisements fed back to your computer. This strange pseudo-surveillance goes beyond the state and into the freakish underbelly of capitalism. We are not only excessively surveilled by megalith data companies, but we are twisted and distorted into commodities only to be sold back to ourselves by third-party groups like Amazon. It is inescapable, and by living in the modern world, we involuntarily submit to it. It is a seemingly unbreakable cycle, that is often cynically ignored. It makes social interactions seem commodified, abstract and tightly scrutinized. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to understand that these modes of surveillance target everyone, but give way to disproportionate discrimination to marginalized groups of people. Facial recognition technologies represent a unique danger to undocumented individuals, and facial recognition surveillance technology has been used in several states by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to unjustly target undocumented individuals using their driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s license photos. Automated Intelligence technology has also been linked to issues of racial and gender discrimination that manifests itself in discrimination bias in policing and other surveillance tactics. While we are all targeted by surveillance, historically oppressed groups often bear a greater and more terrifying burden from the oppression that comes from excessive surveillance. Surveillance hovers over each of us like a silent, looming ghost. It does nothing but watch and only strikes violently when it is ready. It is an unshakable shadow. It is driven home by so many facets of our social system. Yet, inescapable as it may seem, it is not a given. There is a world that still exists in shadows. Not the shadows of pain, exploitation, immorality, and hate, but shadows into which the gaping eyes of surveillance cameras do not peer. They are beautiful, freely formed shadows colored with autonomy unobserved interactions. They are not stripped bare by a camera and exist not in stark, video monitors, but in subtlety and subjectivity. This place exists and we all deserve time free from the overbearing, identity-stripping surveillance systems imposed on us. Break the chain.

WAR IS SELF

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surveillance

WAR IS SELF

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surveillance

Art Direction Sarah Cummings, Julieta Rakover Creative Direction Sarah Cummings, Julieta Rakover, Nick Guadagno Featuring Giulianna Telvi, Elizabeth Flagg, Savannah Jooste, Nikki Allen Photography Nick Guadagno Writing Sebastian Porreca Styling Nour Nabhan, Lena Camille Otalora Hair & Makeup Ava Wilkniss, Erin Kahaly Staff Manager Nick Guadagno Set Design Nina Miller

WAR IS SELF

CONTRAST WAR

IS SELF

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contrast

WAR IS SELF Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;VE NEvER PUT ToGETHER A PUZZLE ON MY OWN.

I BORROW PIECES FROM OTHERS AND HOPE THEY FIT.

THE INTIMACY OF GETTING TO KNOW MYSELF AGAIN.

THE PERFORMATIVITY OF IDENTITY.

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SHARDS OF LIGHT CUT THROUGH THE GAPING HOLES OF MYSELF AND ASSERT THEIR PRESENCE.

contrast

WAR IS SELF

COME OVER. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;M FORGETTING WHO I AM.

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I NEED SOME REMINDING.

contrast

WAR IS SELF I TRY TO FILL THE GAPS

WITH THINGS I BELIEVE TO BE CERTAIN.

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WRAPPING MY ARMS AROUND MY OWN BODy

contrast

IN SEARCH OF MY EXISTENCE.

WAR IS SELF

70 I’VE NEVER PUT TOGETHER A PUZZLE ON MY OWN. I BORROW PIECES FROM OTHERS AND HOPE THEY FIT. THE INTIMACY OF GETTING TO KNOW MYSELF AGAIN. THE PERFORMATIVITY OF IDENTITY. SHARDS OF LIGHT CUT THROUGH THE GAPING HOLES OF MY SELF AND ASSERT THEIR PRESENCE. COME OVER. I’M FORGETTING WHO I AM AND I NEED SOME REMINDING. I KNOW THAT IT’S LATE AND WE BOTH NEED TO GET HOME, BUT DON’T LEAVE WITH THAT PART OF ME. I TRY TO FILL THE GAPS WITH THINGS I BELIEVE TO BE CERTAIN. WRAPPING MY ARMS AROUND MY OWN BODY IN SEARCH OF MY EXISTENCE.

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contrast

Art Direction Abigail Kolnik, Wes Bodkin Article Nadia Al Khunaizi Creative Direction Wes Bodkin Featuring Brianna Boardman, Nadia Al Khunaizi, Nick Goadagno Photography Wes Bodkin Staff Manager Wes Bodkin Styling Ruby Schwat

WAR IS SELF/LOVE

we refuse to walk in shame WAR IS SELF/LOVE

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WE REFUSE TO WALK IN SHAME

WAR IS SELF/LOVE

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WE REFUSE TO WALK IN SHAME

WAR IS SELF/LOVE

We Refuse to Walk in Shame by Sophia Pouzyrev

For a while, I forgot what it was like to know every inch of my body. To let someone touch me was to commit treason, punishable at the highest extreme. Sex was akin to sin, and intimacy became frightening. For about four months, I found myself at the tail end of a long-distance relationship that was stifling me. There was no fault involved on either side, just a book that was meant to close. My independence had shriveled, leaving me in a pool of my own anxious tears. Every week was a prepa-

ration for the day that I could hop on a bus and finally be held. My partner became more than just my rock, but my caretaker. I craved an end to the sleepless weeknights and days of stuttered speech. What they don’t tell you about love growing up is that it changes. You may love someone wholeheartedly, but that love can evolve into toxicity. I finally had love with someone else, but I lost the love I had with myself. Needless to say, we stopped having sex. I didn’t realize the toll that took on me until we finally broke up. It was one

of those overly-dramatized, cinematic-wannabe breakups. On News Year’s Day at around 8am, I found myself crying on a bench somewhere along the High Line in Manhattan. For two hours, we talked through the intricacies of everything that was wrong with us, and that conversation ended with the ability to finally breathe again. Suddenly, I didn’t feel like I was dying anymore. Shortly after, I boarded a plane and flew to London, where I’d live for the next five months on study abroad. Little did I know, I would leave Europe with so much more than just

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a cultural immersion experience. I explored my study abroad through sexuality. Overwhelmed with the prospect of freedom, I chose brief stints of romance as my mode of getting to know London. I can distinctly remember the first time I fell in love with my body again. It had nothing to do with the person I was with, but instead, my own reconnection with intimacy. I strode through the nicest borough of London, one fateful “morning after,” with Doc Martens in one hand and glasses in the other: the vision of promiscuity. However, my walk was anything but

shameful. The sun reflected on glass window panes of idealistic Chelsea homes. Bright flowers crinkled in the light, and shiny red double-decker buses glided past me as I strolled. My smudged plum lipstick and clumped mascara could do nothing to hide the smile on my face. I was, well, proud; I grew to fall in love with these beautiful personal moments that I’d experience the morning after a hookup. They were my walks of personal debrief, my walks of internalized music videos, and my walks of sightseeing. They were my walks of anything but shame. They were, ironically enough, my salvation.

We Refuse to Walk In Shame is about negating the societal pressures that come with hookup culture. We, the generation of youth today, refuse to feel shameful about our sexuality and the choices we make with it. The walk of shame holds historical stigma that begins in pop culture representation and ends in patronizing smirks or catcalls on the street. The following photo series displays how Off The Cuff refuses to walk in shame, proposing an exciting revitalization of an archaic stereotype instead. Let us redefine the narrative and own our struts of glory.

WE REFUSE TO WALK IN SHAME

WAR IS SELF/LOVE

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WE REFUSE TO WALK IN SHAME

WAR IS SELF/LOVE

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Art Direction Abigail Kolnik, Saumya Chugh, Julieta Rakover Article Sophia Pouzyrev Creative Direction Zoe Allen Featuring Kassidy Green, Elizabeth Flagg, Ava Wilkniss, Marisa Marino, Amy Bocos Hair & Makeup Erin Kahaly, Rory Weinstein Photography Cassandra Rodriguez Staff Manager Julia Bertelli, Sophia Pouzyrev Styling Nadia Al Khunaizi, Izzie Collier

WAR IS LOVE

tug of war WAR IS LOVE

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TUG OF WAR

WAR IS LOVE

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TUG OF WAR

WAR IS LOVE

ISSUE 13 Rough Magic by Shifa Rajwani No one tells you about the growing pains. Or that sometimes they become permanent. No one tells you that absence doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder. That sometimes it just grows resentful. No one tells you that it’s not the having, it’s the getting. That the mind games that come with the getting grow old quickly, and sometimes the having means quitting the daydream and facing reality. Everyone tells you that you’ll be rooted in adoration. But no one tells you that the adoration turns to vexation just as quickly. Everyone tells you to pick yourself. But no one ever actually seems to mean it. Everyone says opposites attract. But no one

ever tells you that they don’t stay together. But you should run. Run when the sweet talk is too saccharine. Run when your pastiche romance feels like you’re playing an imitation game. Run when the arms you used to find comforting now constrict. Run when the magic feels too rough around the edges.

TUG OF WAR

WAR IS LOVE

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Door Ajar by Andrea Wetzler A down jacket has become too much.

My sternum contracts on itself into my lungs and I’m forced to gasp just to continue to exist. I’m forced to pause just at the thought of him. I hate this feeling of dread at every corner, every door. I hate feeling stupid at myself for wanting him more. I stay awake at night thinking what it was like and my stomach churns at my thoughts. I toss and turn just to shake them off. I want to cry and sing. I feel conscious, and self-conscious and everything. I feel stares down my spine like the western wind and I shiver at the thoughts of him. I wish I knew how to articulate the pain. Not the pain, that’s not right—the ache. The ache like sore muscles that stays with you for weeks. One that you’re reminded of with every step, and it’s not the feeling that’s the problem it’s the fact that you cannot laugh without noticing, you cannot talk without remembering: it’s that everything becomes a part of that—a part of him. The fact that everything I had told myself before was left at the door and ignored. That everything I knew to be true happened and I was naïve enough to think it would just be you. That I was naïve enough not to see the truth. I thought I was old but I’ve never felt so young. Never felt so dumb. And I know I’m being hard on myself but who do I have other than me? Who else to correct, to learn from, to constantly see? To share time and space with, to constantly address? I know that this is not what kindness looks like but I feel like a rag and a dirty one at best. Like a rotten sponge, mildewing on the counter. Like acid is at my center. I wonder what it looks like to be kind to oneself because that’s never been my truth. Trained to correct—I’ve been like that since youth. Trained to pick at myself like an old scab I’ve scratched through the surface and now my wounds cannot congeal. TUG OF WAR

When will I be selfish enough for self-preservation?

I wonder what it’s like to like oneself. I don’t think I could try. That’s too much faith in myself and I like better to hide.

WAR IS LOVE

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TUG OF WAR

WAR IS LOVE

WAR 92

IS LOVE

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TUG OF WAR

Art Direction Chloe Qin, Mayuri Nagpal, Eun Kyo Hong Article Shifa Rajwani, Andrea Wetzler Creative Direction Sarah Cummings, Julieta Rakover Featuring Michelle Chocron, Gabe Beckford, Luc Belder, Julian Shapiro-Barnum, Ava Wilkniss Hair & Makeup Kat Jeronimo, Rory Weinstein Photography Lauren Mo, Julieta Rakover Staff Manager Lauren Mo Styling Samantha Hartley, Giulianna Telvi, Ariela Levy

WAR IS MONEY

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TRY HARD

Art Direction Julieta Rakover, Sarah Cummings, Saumya Chugh Creative Direction Sarah Cummings, Julieta Rakover Featuring Riley Lane, Marisa Marino Photography Julieta Rakover Styling Ava Wilkniss, Samantha Hartley, Rory Weinstein, Ruby Schwat Hair & Makeup Ava Wilkniss, Rory Weinstein

executive team

Editor in chief Maya Green Silver creative directors Sarah Cummings Julieta Rakover assistant creative director Zoe Allen Senior art director Saumya Chugh managing editor & assistant editor in chief Melissa Dalarossa photography director Wes Bodkin online content director GianCarlo Lobo Events director Mili Hurtado finance director David Neary marketing director Wallis Perry Project Manager & Consultant Stevie Maizes web editor Tianze Huang

contributors

Art directors Chloe Qin, Michelle Chocron, Abigail Kolnik, Charlotte Kershaw, Riley Lane, Cecelia Dixon, Eun Kyo Hong, Mayuri Nagpal, Kenneth Rudolph, Angela Sun, Alexandria Sharpley, Guen Dunstan, Nina Miller Brand outreach & events Deeksha Kandan, Alicia Shamji, Allegra Kevorkian, Kaya Randall, Amanda Berman, Angie Wijaya, Krissi Schaefer finance Annette To, Mahima Masetty, Shelby Barthelemy, Lara MacIntyre, Rachel Parker Makeup artists Erin Kahaly, Kat Jeronimo, Saumya Chugh, Rory Weinstein, Anna Marroni, Ava Wilkniss models Stephanie Ortega Trujillo, Amy Bocos, Shelby Aguliar, Bricen X, Eve Worobel, Rosy Gu, Nikkolette Gerald, Michelle Chocron, Gabe Beckford, Luc Belder, Xenia Gouras, Giulianna Telvi, Joel Aduba, Sarah Feather, Natalie Pienkowska, Haley Lerner, Bradley Noble, Tatyana Khashoggi, Gianna Ferron, Brianna Boardman, Kassidy Green, Elizabeth Flagg, Ava Wilkniss, Marisa Marino, Savannah Jooste, Natalie Pienkowska, Julian Shapiro-Barnum Photographers Trinity Smithers, Cassandra Rodriguez, Meera Sabeh, Meghan Cronin, Miguel Hernandez-Muniz, Asia Gordon, Nick Guadagno, Chika Okoye, Isabelle Yap, Bradley Noble, Conor Kelley, Sima Halwani, David Haetty PR Amy Bocos, Caroline Faville. Samantha Hague, Jacque Jakimowicz Stylists Kelsey Brown, Sannah Kim, Deeksha Kandan, Tatyana Khashoggi, GIulianna Telvi, Ana Lucia, Samantha Hartley, Nadia Al Khunaizi, Ava Wilkniss, Ruby Breier Schwat, Rebekka Fulton, Nour Nabhan, Lena Camille Otalora, Ariela Levy, Lori Mei, Julia Bertelli, Izzie Collier Videographers Shereen Kheradyar, Reed Falkner, Bricen X, Grace Handler, Meghan Cronin, Alex Lustig Writers Ella Morgan, Elsa Scott, Guen Dunstan, Allie Antonevich, Jailyn Duong, Zoe Allen, Christian Jaeger, Katarzyna Jezak, Ina Joseph, Niki Hamann, Dane Persky, Amanda Berman, Sophia Pouzyrev, Sebastian Porreca, Aaron Halford, Kyle Kelly, Andrew Kline, Andrea Wetzler, Nadia Al Khunaizi, Alexa Salimpour, Lexy Pickering, Elaina Bernstein, Shifa Raswani, Nicole Galioto, Jack Thornton