V112: Digital Edition

ULTIMATE

ICON SPRING 2018

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@nicolotonetto

FUTURE

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JOIN US - VFILES.COM

Photography Christelle de Castro, Styling Kyle Luu, Hair Yuhi Kim, Makeup Kento Utsubo, Model Chavi H, Shot at Knick Studios

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WALKING ON SUNSHINE 74 HEROES The eternal icons we salute this season

98 FORWARD LOOKING The innovators ushering art into the digital age

82 SPRING CALENDAR As the weather heats up, so does the docket of unmissable events. Pencil these highlights in, stat

100 REVOLUTIONARY ROSE As the voice of a major movement, Rose McGowan is amplifying her message in all kinds of new ways

84 V NEWS Spring ushers in a Keith Haring collab, Burberry’s trench coat-inspired bag, luxe eyewear, and more

104 ME, MYSELF, & MARIAH BY MARIO TESTINO Exploring the eternal star power of the magical Mariah Carey, styled by Nicola Formichetti

86 BY DESIGN Celebrating five noteworthy labels that have successfully stormed the fashion industry

118 OPTIMISTIC DYSTOPIA BY JACKIE NICKERSON Bits of the old are reassembled and reconfigured to create striking new meaning for spring, styled by Amanda Harlech

90 NEW GIRLS, NEW LOOKS The next major models, showcase the next big styles 94 V GIRLS The rising actresses making their mark on HBO, PBS, the big screen, and everywhere in between

132 SPRING TAKES FLIGHT BY MARIO TESTINO Extravagant styles soar this season, styled by Nicola Formichetti

154 THE BIG SPLASH BY NATHANIEL GOLDBERG Hannah Ferguson plunges into saucy spring looks, styled by David Bradshaw 168 SUPERMODEL SHOWDOWN BY CAMERON MCNEE V’s go-to models take on the looks that will dominate the season, styled by Christian Stroble 188 NEW AGE LOGOMANIA BY SUMAN JACK Internet phenom Miquela Sousa, a.k.a. @LilMiquela, is not quite what she seems 194 ONES TO WATCH BY BEN HASSETT The It Girls who are taking over their fields, from music to film, to even Instagram, styled by Anna Trevelyan 202 UNITED STATE OF FASHION (VOLUME 2) Installment two of our countrywide fashion endeavor

148 FEELING GOOD AS HELL BY MARIO TESTINO Hip-hop artist and body-positivity advocate Lizzo chats with fellow crusader Ashley Graham, styled by Nicola Formichetti

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GOOD FOOTING Minimalism, athleticism, and avant-garde have defined fashion runways in recent years. But while trends come and go, the appeal of ultra-polished glamour is forever. Mariah Carey has long embodied glamour, with a more-is-more look befitting her unparalleled pipes and passionate personality. She’s the epitome of a diva in the best possible sense of the word, and has stayed true to a shimmery, larger-than-life sound, aesthetic, and ethos for years.

In this issue, Carey chats with V in her home over a bottle of wine, decked out in a satin robe and fur-trimmed heels. (It’s pretty much impossible to imagine a more on-brand scenario for her.) The icon is truly happy, comfortable in her own skin, and embarking on the latest chapter of a perpetually epic career. Carey’s longtime glamourous lifestyle is arguably an original example of what today has been dubbed “self love,” a practice for which celebrated model Ashley Graham and incredible musician Lizzo are both powerful advocates, as their candid, thought-provoking discourse in these pages underscores.

There’s plenty of hometown pride and a sense of discovery to explore in this issue’s second installment of “United State of Fashion,” showcasing a slew of top models in their

familiar stomping grounds. A discovery element also drives our showcase of talents to watch: Raffey Cassidy, Zuri Marley, Kim Petras, and Sarah Snyder—representing diverse disciplines and varied career ambitions.

Throughout the magazine, there’s a fresh vision of what fantasy can look and feel like through the lens of fashion. To wit: Amanda Harlech’s inspired interpretation of post-dystopian survival and rebirth, photographed by Jackie Nickerson. In stark contrast, look no further than Hannah Ferguson in resplendent, ultra-polished poolside looks, captured by Nathaniel Goldberg and styled by David Bradshaw. The line between fantasy and reality has never been more unclear than in the case of Miquela Sousa (a.k.a. @LilMiquela), the digital sensation who isn’t what she seems. She is lensed in the full spirit of logomania—Chanel surfboard and all—on the beach in L.A. Glamorous style, with its bright, sparkly, no-detail-spared trappings, is perhaps the finest example of fashion as escapism, a function made all the more valuable during tumultuous political and cultural times. Join us for the show. MR. V

Photo Assistant Vedant Gupta Model Robyn W (Parts Models)

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HANDCR AF T ED NAGA COLLEC T ION

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In an online exclusive, get to know Sistine, Sophia, and Scarlet Stallone.

The trio has lots to share about their burgeoning careers, and what it’s like living with their legendary father.

PHOTOGRAPHY KARL LAGERFELD (V39)

COACHELLA CATCH-UP

To kick off festival season, V is heading to Coachella, bum bags and all. Go online during and after the festival to catch up with your favorite performers, and tune in for more music coverage.

MODEL CITIZEN

Fashion month’s whirlwind global tour just concluded, and V has every detail on the trends and rising models to know. Go online to read interviews with the new league of top models.

RISING ARTISTS

The art scene is thriving as a new wave of cutting-edge and innovative artists seeks to make their move. Stay tuned as we highlight the movers and shakers of the industry, like Petra Cortright.

Bottom row, left to right: Sistine Stallone, Photography Natalie O’Moore, Fashion Sara Alviti; Lady Gaga, Photography Greg Noire, © Coachella 2017; Yasmin Wijnaldum, Photography Cameron McNee, Fashion Christian Stroble; Petra Cortright, 1872HRPR’SWKLLPHNTRPBLCNS_failsafes.SAB, Digital painting on Sunset Hot Press Rag paper, 60 x 40 inches, 2016, Courtesy the artist

NOW ON VMAGAZINE.COM THE STALLONE SISTERS

MARIAH’S STYLE GUIDE

Known for her definitive, gloriously excessive aesthetic that’s prevailed for decades, Mariah Carey just keeps commanding the limelight. Here, V is dissecting her iconic looks by the decade and showcasing how to achieve her glam take on fashion.

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H E R OES ELTON JOHN’S GREATEST SARTORIAL HITS THE LEGEND INTIMATELY REMINISCES ABOUT HIS EBULLIENT STYLE JOURNEY AND GETTING GUCCIFIED

exuberance, and eclecticism gave fashion a massive kick up the backside. I love its celebration of individuality. That same spirit reminded me of my insane enthusiasm for fashion, particularly in the first 30 years of my career. I spotted a few knowing winks in Alessandro’s collections to some of my past fashion moments. When we finally met, I was bowled over by his kindness and passion for craftsmanship. We became fast friends; we’re both voracious collectors and love mixing antiquity with contemporary. I’ve kept an archive of my stage costumes from the very beginning of my career, and thought it would be fun to open up my little treasure chest with Alessandro and his design team. They took it from there.

AI What memories does the capsule evoke for you?

EJ I’m not a very nostalgic person, and tend to avoid looking back on my life. Opening up my costume archive and seeing how Alessandro reinterpreted key looks for today’s world has unearthed an exhilarating rush of emotions. I can’t believe how sartorially crazy I was, particularly in the ’70s! I was like a big kid in a sweet shop.

I couldn’t get enough, and kept trying newer and crazier looks.

AI What’s it like seeing younger generations in ’70s styles you’re known for?

EJ I feel so blessed to have been a songwriter and performer in the ’70s. It was a decade with an unprecedented explosion of creativity in music, fashion, and filmmaking. There was inspiration everywhere, and so much individuality, revolution, positivity, and hope. I find it massively uplifting that today’s generation is drawn to the same spirit in Alessandro’s Gucci collections.

AI How has your own personal style evolved and changed over time?

EJ I think the most important thing is the word “change.” I’ve always tried to evolve and keep moving. For me, the magic really happens when I feel a genuine affiliation with a designer. I felt that way about Saint Laurent in the ’70s, Tommy Nutter in the ’80s, and Gianni Versace in the ’90s. Now, I feel an immense connection with the hurricane spirit blowing through Gucci. In the past few years, I haven’t tended to dress as flamboyantly as I used to, but I’m now inspired by the creativity, quirkiness, and color in the Gucci aesthetic. I’ve never, ever been a minimalist or a beige kind of guy.

AI How would you describe your rapport with Bob Mackie?

EJ Bob has said that his approach to dressing me for stage was to “treat me like a male showgirl,” and that’s exactly what we did! Together, we had so many ideas.

He couldn’t make the clothes fast enough. Bob made some fabulous outfits for me—feathers, sequins, glitter—totally outrageous one-offs. I look at them now and they make me howl with laughter. We had so much fun!

AI How did you cross paths with Tommy Roberts?

EJ Tommy had a shop on Kensington Church Street in London that was like a beacon of hope for me. In the ’60s, I was trapped inside the persona of Reggie Dwight. The fierce originality of his designs gave me the opportunity to reinvent and relaunch myself as Elton John in the ’70s.

AI Tell us about working with designer Annie Reavey.

EJ Annie was married to the brother of my mentor, Steve Brown. She designed things I’d never seen before, intricately made outfits with lots of DayGlo colors that captured my spirit and my sense of humor. She was an obvious successor to what Tommy Roberts had made for me at Mr Freedom.

AI Talk us through your indispensable fashion signatures circa the 1970s.

EJ I think the one item I’m most associated with is outrageous eyewear. I’m proud of the part I played in moving eyewear from function to fashion. My eyes needed the functionality, but “blowing up” what could be done with frames and lenses gave me an exciting new way of expressing myself. They also allowed me to cover up the extreme shyness I needed to hide as a performer.

GUCCI-ELTON JOHN CAPSULE COLLECTION IS OUT NOW, AVAILABLE AT SELECT GUCCI STORES 74 VMAGAZINE.COM

Photography Sam Emerson, Courtesy Gucci

ALEXANDRA ILYASHOV How did your new capsule with Gucci come about?

ELTON JOHN I’m a huge fan of Alessandro Michele’s amazing work: his bold mix of color,

HEROES

BILL, REFRAMED

Thanks to the work of filmmaker Mark Bozek, the beloved Bill Cunningham is the subject of a new documentary, The Times of Bill, which attempts to show the late photographer and historian in his own fantastic words. There are many adjectives that could fittingly be used to describe the fashion anthropologist: dedicated, passionate, individualistic—but the best term would, perhaps, be original. Known for chronicling the fashionable, the rich and famous, and the eccentric, the New York Times shutterbug became as much of a celebrity— a local treasure of sorts—as the stylish and flamboyant people he shot. He could often be spotted on foot or riding his bicycle, wearing his iconic blue French utilitarian jacket, taking photos with his 35-millimeter camera on the streets of New York City. But indeed, it was his observant work and passion for it—he infamously lived in a miniscule studio above Carnegie Hall until 2010, amid a plethora of file cabinets filled with negatives—that made him a quiet star. (He was deemed a living landmark by the Landmarks Conservancy in 2009, and also awarded the Legion of Honor by the French government.)

“Bill was much more about his body of work and the way that he lived his life was so singularly focused on it,” says filmmaker Mark Bozek, who uses archival footage of Cunningham from the 1990s as well as photos from throughout his life for the documentary. “Seeing the uniqueness he brought to a world that has plenty of unique people—but also has plenty of pretenders—was incredible.” Bozek, who met Cunningham in the 1980s while the former was working for fashion designer Willi Smith at WilliWear, originally captured the photographer for a one-minute video for

the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1993, but was sitting on hours of unreleased footage and images. “What was supposed to be 10 minutes turned into about four hours,” he says. “For whatever reason, he decided to tell me his entire life story in a very compassionate, very emotional, and also incredibly educational and informative kind of way.”

Bozek’s film showcases Cunningham in his own image at age 63, making it markedly different from 2010’s Bill Cunningham: New York, which features the photographer much later in his life, and is accompanied by vignettes from Anna Wintour, Editta Sherman, and Carmen Dell’Orefice. “I absolutely didn’t want to make a fashion movie about a fashion photographer, because I think he wouldn’t like it,” says Bozek. “Bill does a really good job himself of telling his story, without people on camera waxing on about how great he was.”

To flesh out the footage, Bozek tapped Sarah Jessica Parker to narrate Cunningham’s initial arrival in New York City from Boston, while artist Ruben Toledo (a close friend of the photographer) created custom illustrations of Cunningham in action. In a way, The Times of Bill, which will be released later this year, brings Cunningham back for fans still mourning his passing at age 87 in June 2016. As Bozek says, “He brought pure joy to us. He is still missed on the corner of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue, and throughout this city.” He certainly is. PRIYA RAO

THE TIMES OF BILL IS OUT IN LATE SPRING

Photography Harold Chapman, Courtesy Mark Bozek

THE TIMES OF BILL OFFERS FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON THE CELEBRATED LENSMAN

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MARGIELA’S MOMENT

A THOROUGH RETROSPECTIVE SHINES NEW LIGHT ON THE BRILLIANT, RECLUSIVE DESIGNER Belgian fashion designer Martin Margiela is a rarity in the fickle world of fashion: his work is still revered for what it represented in his time, and yet, it remains strikingly relevant today. An iconoclast who came to define intelligent, avant-garde fashion for two decades, Margiela bowed out of the industry nearly 10 years ago. Now, his legacy remains more potent than ever. This is evident both on the streets—references to his oeuvre can be traced in countless contemporary brands, from Vetements to Céline—and of late, in the somewhat more sacred setting of fashion museums.

Following last year’s enlightening exhibition “Margiela: The Hermès Years,” at the ModeMuseum in Antwerp, this March will see another Margiela retrospective at the Palais Galliera in Paris. Focused on his eponymous line, it will be the first Margiela retrospective to ever take place in the fashion capital. The museum’s former director Olivier Saillard initiated the project with Margiela himself, who is the exhibit’s artistic director, and together, they pulled more than 100 looks to feature from the museum’s considerable archives. All of Margiela’s greatest hits will be on show, including the tattoo T-shirt from his first-ever collection, and that famous coat constructed with blond wigs from his final 2009 collection. Fun fact: the iconic split-toe Tabi boots have been there since day one.

While his work is the star of the exhibit, the retired designer, who turns 61 this year, will no doubt maintain his distance. He remains as mysterious today as he did

throughout his 20-plus-year career. To most, he is faceless—he chose white lab coats as a uniform for his team, to democratize the design process—and certainly voiceless, as he only ever answered interviews via fax.

Margiela emerged at a time when fashion was at its most decadent (hello, 1980s).

His grungy collections boasted big ideas that challenged the status quo, as did his off-beat fashion shows, which were held everywhere from inside circus tents to empty schoolyards in the outer suburbs of Paris. If you speak to any industry insiders about these early days, their eyes will mist over with a kind of nostalgia for better times, when things were looser and braver, and anything was possible.

In this sense, the exhibition was also born from a desire to question the current fashion system, which most would concede is in disarray. “By staying outside the fashion system, Margiela found a way to stay true to himself. More than anyone, he dared to get to the bottom of his ideas,” says curator Alexandre Samson, who worked with Saillard on the exhibit before taking over. “Nowadays, while fashion may suffer from both cognitive overload and related amnesia, the exhibition is a chance to make things clear and to prove to the next generation of designers that another system is possible.” ALICE CAVANAGH

MARGIELA / GALLIERA 1989-2009 IS NOW OPEN THROUGH JULY 15, 2018 AT PALAIS GALLIERA IN PARIS

Clockwise from top left: © Julien Vidal / Galliera / Roger-Viollet; © Julien Vidal / Galliera / Roger-Viollet; © Stéphane Piera / Galliera / Roger-Viollet; © Françoise Cochennec / Galliera / Roger-Viollet; © Françoise Cochennec / Galliera / Roger-Viollet

HEROES

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HEROES

SHARON STONE’S HERO IS EVERY WOMAN THE ICON RETURNS AFTER A LONG HIATUS WITH AN HBO SHOW AND A FRANK YET OPTIMISTIC TAKE ON HOLLYWOOD’S FUTURE

Most people had no idea why Sharon Stone, one of the most legendary and celebrated stars of her generation, seemed to have disappeared from the public eye.

Around the early 2000s, there was a sudden dropoff in major movies starring the 59-year-old Casino and Basic Instinct actress. Then she revealed that, in 2001, she had suffered a stroke and subsequent cerebral hemorrhage, which impaired her ability to walk, talk, read, and therefore, do her job. But she was lucky just to survive.

“Funnily enough, a guy came up to me when I was having lunch today and said that he wanted to introduce himself because he’d had the same thing, and he never meets anyone who’s had it or that he could talk about it with,” Stone says of her condition from her Beverly Hills home. “It was very moving for me because there’s such a tiny group of us that have had it and lived.”

She’s done quite a bit more than live. Stone has rebounded into the mainstream with HBO’s 2018 series Mosaic, directed by Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven, Magic Mike), which she calls “my little coming-out party.” The electric, complex, and sometimes baffling murder mystery doubles as an app in which users can decide how to view the narrative. In a role Soderbergh specifically wanted her to play, Stone portrays the dead woman, who is a famous children’s book author and illustrator. Flashbacks fill in what happened. Stone brings her trademark acerbic wit to the role, which contrasted against her otherworldly beauty and warmth, makes her difficult to read. “I like characters that are sort of double-edged like that,” Stone says. “I like playing complicated people.”

She’s long proven that she, too, has many dimensions beyond her status as a

bombshell. She speaks proudly of Planet Hope, the charity she founded over 25 years ago with her sister Kelly, that helps homeless and abused women and their families “find their way onto their feet and back into the system.” It’s an “enormous issue” right now, she adds.

At the 2018 Golden Globes, she wore black in solidarity with the Time’s Up movement, which in the wake of allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein aims to combat sexual harassment in Hollywood. During a recent interview with CBS News, Stone literally cackled for several seconds when asked if she had ever faced uncomfortable working situations with men. After 40 years in the business, she replied, she had “seen it all.” The moment went viral online, as many other women identified with her response. Stone remains steadfastly optimistic, however, about the future treatment of women rising in their careers. “I feel certain that things will change,” she offers, “because I feel certain that people are going to understand if they don’t change, they’ll lose their jobs.”

Given everything she’s fought for and how far she’s come, it seems only fair to call Stone a hero. But she deflects when asked about the label being used to describe her. “That Alicia Keys song ‘Superwoman’ is like my theme song, and I feel it’s a theme song of millions of working women who get up every day and try to keep it together,” she says. “Those women are my heroes. And I feel like if we can be heroes together, then we’re going to make this world a better place.” PAUL SCHRODT

MOSAIC IS CURRENTLY ON HBO; THE APP IS AVAILABLE ON THE APP STORE

Dio unc fors Catum ina, Caticasdam Palicie nihiculis.

ILLUSTRATION ALEXANDRA COMPAIN-TISSIER

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The most riveting festivals for cinephiles and music aficionados, a fascinating filmic read, excellent art, and more worth hitting up this spring.

MARCH 8

THE ARMORY SHOW

The stats are strong for the 2018 edition of The Armory Show, the annual contemporary and modern art fair: 193 galleries are slated to appear—43 of them for the first time—from 31 countries. Visitors can expect a range of fresh innovations, including more representation from Asia (21 featured galleries have locations in Asia), an inaugural Curatorial Leadership Summit, and an expanded Focus section centered on the theme of “the body mediated by technology.” Highlights from the show’s main floor include solo presentations from names like Nam June Paik, Nacho Carbonell, and JR; sculpture work by artists ranging from Kaz Oshiro to Xavier Veilhan; and a thematic group selection of works that “challenge the definition of a portrait and address the paradoxical disappearance of portraiture in contemporary society.” In a cultural climate increasingly saturated with art events, The Armory Show remains the premier destination for discovering and collecting exciting 20th and 21st-century art. LISA MISCHIANTI

THE ARMORY SHOW RUNS MARCH 8-11 AT PIERS 92 AND 94 IN NEW YORK CITY

MARCH 12

SXSW

The 32nd annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals will transform the city of Austin into a hub for notable talents from across the globe. The Music Festival component kicks off on the 12th and will boast over 2,000 acts, including New Zealand group HEX, New York-based Porches, and Indonesia’s Rich Brian (formerly Rich Chigga). This year’s programming will also feature the American debut of Sleep, an eight-hour album by British composer Max Richter. Outside of the music component, SXSW will host a variety of exhibitions, like the Wellness Expo and Gaming Expo, along with the SXSW Conference, from March 9–18. Conference tracks include Code & Programming, Experiential Storytelling, and Music Industry, while speakers include YouTube global head of music Lyor Cohen, director Barry Jenkins, and more. TESS GARCIA

SXSW RUNS MARCH 9–18 IN AUSTIN, TEXAS

MARCH 28

EMPIRE & STAR RETURN

The most musically charged TV shows are back with new seasons. A few juicy morsels: On Empire, Cookie uses skills she picked up in prison to get Lucious (Terrence Howard) out of a bind involving guest star Demi Moore. Plus, expect a dynamic duo of cameos on Star. “It’s incredible to have the one and only iconic Patti LaBelle playing Queen Latifah’s mother, and Brandy as [Latifah’s] sister. It doesn’t get much better than that!” says Lee Daniels, co-creator, executive producer, and director of both FOX shows. “When Empire came out, there was really nothing else like it,” Daniels reflects. “The response from people watching weekly was amazing, and then to see people actually go out and buy the music, week after week, was a phenomenon.” The loyal fandom is still alive and well. ALEXANDRA ILYASHOV

EMPIRE AND STAR RETURN TO FOX ON MARCH 28TH

This page, from top: Faarrow, Photography Katrina Barber/Getty Images, Courtesy SXSW; Photography Teddy Wolff, Courtesy The Armory Show; Courtesy Fox Opposite page, from top: Banks, Photography Erik Voake, © Coachella; Courtesy Tribeca Film Festival; Kids, 1995, directed by Larry Clark, Photo 12/Alamy Stock Photo

V WANT YOU TO KNOW

MARCH

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APRIL APRIL 13

COACHELLA

This year, the can’t-miss music and arts festival in the California desert is bringing the heat with its headliners, including The Weeknd, Beyoncé, and Eminem. Of the 150 performers, exciting acts also include SZA, Post Malone, and Cardi B. The festival boasts eight stages, and will additionally feature various interactive art installations and sculptures for concert-goers to experience, as well as merchandise shops and diverse food options. Over 250,000 people are expected to dance through the desert this year, but only a select few will be invited to one of the many exclusive parties held off-site before and after hours. The event takes place over the second and third weekends in April. EMMA MIKHAILOFF

COACHELLA RUNS APRIL 13-15 AND 20-22 IN INDIO, CALIFORNIA

APRIL 18

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

The Lower Manhattan movie scene gets its annual jolt with this year’s 17th edition of the Tribeca Film Festival.

The 2018 festival promises to build upon last year, which saw record attendance and the premiers of acclaimed features like For Ahkeem.

This year’s submission categories include Short Film (under 40 minutes), Feature Film (40 minutes or longer), Tribeca: TV (episodic content for streaming or television, which in 2017 yielded Emmy-favorite The Handmaid’s Tale), Immersive (virtual- and augmented-reality installations), Tribeca New Online Work (Internet-based storytelling), and the Tribeca X Award, a category unique to the festival that recognizes storytelling based upon collaborations between brands and filmmakers. Outside of its submissions lineup, the festival will also offer live music, Tribeca Immersive interactive installations, and Tribeca Talks—free panels targeted toward aspiring filmmakers. TG

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL RUNS APRIL 18-29 IN NEW YORK CITY

APRIL 24

HARMONY KORINE’S NEW TOME

Clear out space on your coffee table for Rizzoli’s latest project: a monograph authored by writer and filmmaker Harmony Korine, with an essay by Centre Pompidou curator Alicia Knock and interview by film critic Emmanuel Burdeau, aptly titled Harmony Korine. Korine became one of film’s most controversial breakout stars after writing the film Kids, directed by Larry Clark, when he was just 19 years old. Since then, he’s both written and directed such cult classics as Mister Lonely, Trash Humpers, and Spring Breakers, amassing a significant and devoted fanbase. The book is the first to date that reflects upon Korine’s career, marking the undeniable influence of his films on indie culture.

Harmony Korine also details its namesake’s creative practices, which extend beyond film to photography, collage, editing, drawing, and figurative and abstract painting. TG

HARMONY KORINE IS OUT APRIL 24 FROM RIZZOLI

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V NEWS Exciting things this spring will bring, starring new bags and a batch of fashion collabs.

BURBERRY BELTS IT OUT

The trench coat is all but synonymous with Burberry. The brand’s iconic iteration of this outerwear—with its classic lapel, signature gabardine fabric, check lining, and cinched waist belt—has remained an enduring staple for over a century. Now, the label celebrates this legacy with a collection of bags inspired by the spirit and silhouette of its beloved Burberry trench. Rendered in soft, supple calfskin, the bag’s shape is influenced by the contours and movements of gabardine fabric, and it features an oversized trench-style belt. Color options include black with a green lining, red with a grey lining, and white with a yellow lining; each comes with both a matching tonal belt and a contrasting one (yellow, black, and green, respectively).

Medium and large sizes will come out this March, and a small size will be added come May. There have never been more ways to take part in Burberry trench-mania. LISA MISCHIANTI

BURBERRY BELT BAG ($2,550–$2,790, BURBERRY.COM)

Accessorize with some of New York City’s most iconic works of art this season, courtesy of Coach. For its Spring 2018 collection, the brand has collaborated with the Keith Haring Foundation. Haring’s work, a prominent part of NYC history, reflects the city’s 1980s street culture. Coach executive creative director Stuart Vevers wanted to celebrate a balance of both Haring’s mostbeloved and more obscure work. He was particularly drawn to Haring’s most playful motifs, and was pleasantly surprised at how effortlessly the art translated onto Coach’s shearling intarsia, leather cutout, and sequined embroidery designs. You will be, too. EMMA MIKHAILOFF

COACH X KEITH HARING WESTERN MOTO BOOTIE ($550, COACH.COM)

This spread: Photograpy Jason Pietra (4); Bottom right: Courtesy Guess

COACH GETS THE KEITH HARING TREATMENT

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OSCAR DE LA RENTA’S VISION OF WARM WEATHER

After making its debut on the Spring 2018 runway, the highly anticipated Oscar De La Renta collaboration with Morgenthal Frederics Eyewear has released.

Inspired by the one and only Audrey Hepburn, the collection, which has been in the works for the past year, features four unique styles. In true Hepburn fashion, the timeless glasses will be cat-eye shaped, and made from natural buffalo horn. Should you feel tempted to purchase a pair, you’ll have to act fast, as only 300 are being produced for the initial launch. EM

OSCAR DE LA RENTA X MORGENTHAL FREDERICS SUNGLASSES ($2,495, AVAILABLE AT OSCAR DE LA RENTA BOUTIQUES)

FRAME INTRODUCES ITS FIRST HANDBAG

Los Angeles-based denim brand FRAME started in late 2012 with one pair of blue jeans, and quickly flourished into a ready-to-wear label releasing four collections a year. Now, it presents its newest product category: handbags. Founders Erik Torstensson and Jens Grede collaborated with good friend and handbag expert Sara Battaglia to bring the brand’s mission—to elevate everyday moments—to its new offerings. The totes are made to serve as a cool and effortless “second” bag for women, that essential auxiliary carry-all that supplements the everyday handbag while on the go. The sleek and minimalistic tote bags are made from Italian leather, and come in an assortment of bold colors including tobacco, cognac, vibrant green, and yellow, and feature interchangeable and adjustable straps. EM

FRAME HANDBAG ($575, FRAME-STORE.COM)

GUESS BREAKS A SWEAT

Creative director Paul Marciano has tapped into the world of social media for the Guess Spring 2018 activewear collection. Actress and Instagram maven Amanda Cerny—a self-proclaimed fitness junkie with more than 17.4 million followers who frequently takes to the Internet to share workout tips and videos—is fronting the capsule. The range includes sports bras, tops, bottoms, jackets, and bodysuits in an array of hues, ranging from heather grey and aqua blue to bold floral prints.

The brand’s signature logo appears on many of the pieces by way of elastic bands and stripes. Available online and in select Guess stores, the collection is engineered to suit a selection of fitness disciplines: running, CrossFit, and Piloxing (a fusion of standing Pilates, boxing, and dance). TESS GARCIA

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WARDEMENTS

When Ward Stegerhoek began toying with the notion of creating a fashion brand last year, he didn’t need to undertake a complete career change: the Dutch-born hairstylist rose to fame in the early ’90s working alongside stylist Carlyne Cerf De Dudzeele and tending to the ’dos of supermodels like Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Claudia Schiffer, and Cindy Crawford. His kitschy label Wardements, which launches for Spring 2018, was merely happenstance.

“Starting a fashion line was not a decision I consciously made,” says Stegerhoek.

“Since the age of 12, I was on my mother’s sewing machine. I was this kind of strange kid who wanted to wear Vivienne Westwood and my mom would say, ‘A thousand dollars for a pair of jogging pants? You can forget that.’” Eventually, his mother would drive the would-be designer to the fabric store and Stegerhoek would make his version of said jogging pants all by himself. “Even before I did hair, I did clothes,” he reflects.

Though Stegerhoek isn’t classically trained, he does have the benefit of 20 years of note-taking backstage at all the major fashion shows. He began making collectible pieces while on trips to Venice Beach, which ultimately became the impetus for Wardements. “I would go to those random T-shirt shops and I would always make a T-shirt for myself, really oversized with something funny and my name ‘Ward’ on it,” he says. “Then last January and February [2017], I was on a shoot with Inez and Vinoodh and I made one that said, ‘Look like Barbie, Smoke like Marley’ on the

front and put ‘Wardements’ on my butt, and everyone wanted one.” The power of social media led fans to contact Stegerhoek over direct message to request one of these tees when they saw the fashion flock wearing them. After 250 pleas for this early Wardements, Stegerhoek knew he was on to something.

Perhaps it is Stegerhoek’s appreciation for high-low that has made his fashion a runaway success. Wardements intentionally has a Vetements-esque aesthetic—think huge hoodies sewn from three Champion garments, patched bomber jackets, and drop-crotch sweatpants. His Instagram account gained 21,000 followers in a matter of months, and he has the fashion world’s stamp of approval, thanks to friends like models Gigi Hadid, Daphne Groeneveld, Małgosia Bela, and Marjan Jonkman.

Pretty soon, retailers like SPRMRKT Ibiza came calling, as did collaborations with Selima Optique, Diana Broussard, and Kangol (look out for his “Strangers Have the Best Candy” hat, it’s sure to be a keepsake).

What started as one-off pieces has become a full-fledged collection of recycled jeans, sparkly leggings, and dresses for Spring 2018. “I thought everyone would have a good giggle over it, the haters would hate me more, [and] the lovers would love me more, but so far it’s all been good,” he says. As he preps for Fall 2018, the designer is still not used to his newfound fame. “This is crazy, insane, even,” he enthuses. “After all the hard work and all I’ve achieved in hair, I’ve never seen a reaction like this. Fashion wasn’t something I was planning.” PRIYA RAO

Courtesy Wardements Photography Simon Gosselin, courtesy Atlein

BY DESIGN

A crop of fashion creatives, both established and burgeoning, chart out the season ahead.

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MSGM

Photography Courtesy MSGM Simon Gosselin, courtesy Atlein

It’s been nearly a decade since DJ-turned-designer Massimo Giorgetti launched his vibrant, art-influenced fashion label, MSGM. Now more than ever, he’s subscribing to his personal ethos for the brand: “Never look back, it’s all ahead.” That was manifest in his Spring 2018 collection Hue/Saturation, an unusual and sophisticated mismatch of colors and prints. Think contrasting olive-green trenches paired with cobalt-blue belts, kaleidoscopic pajama-esque tops and bottoms, and knit sweaterand-skirt sets emblazoned with the words “Rosso,” “Red,” “Green,” and “Vert.” It’s proof that rich chroma can be elevated and modern, especially in the hands of a smart and skilled designer like Giorgetti.

“It was a study on how color therapy can affect your psyche and your state of mind,” he reflects of his vision for the season, which he intends to be “an explosion of color that can instantly change your character.” Positivity is not something that Giorgetti is short on, but the injection of brilliant hues in his spring show has put him in an especially elated mood. “I’m feeling good! It’s nice to know that wearing color can instantly change how you feel and act.”

Aside from his recent, hyper-pigmented offerings, the designer has plenty of reason to be in a perennially happy state: he’s a star on the Milan fashion calendar, and celebrities like singer Dua Lipa love his clothes, as do shoppers in general, thanks to his reasonable, contemporary price point. Speaking of the tough retail environment that many fashion houses are experiencing, Giorgetti seems relaxed—cool, even. “The MSGM woman has changed, but she also has not; I know who she is,” he affirms. “She is someone who loves fashion, but does not want to be a fashion victim. She travels, she enjoys life; in some ways, she’s like me and everyone who works for me.” And much like that protypical woman, Giorgetti’s company has evolved greatly from its “simple” roots, when the designer worked solo, to its current, 40-person size. “That’s the secret,” Giorgetti says.

Such self-proclaimed confidence is another trait he shares with his customer.

“The woman who buys from us is sure about herself, and she wants something different—something she isn’t getting elsewhere. I like that about her because she is unafraid,” says Giorgetti. Indeed, so is he. PR

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BY DESIGN

REDEMPTION

Courtesy Redemption

“We’re doing sexy dresses, but we’re doing them responsibly,” says Gabriele Bebe Moratti, one of the three cofounders of Italian fashion label Redemption. The line is fully made in Italy, not so much for the appeal of luxury quality (although that factors in too, of course), but to prove that the fashion business can be done ethically.

They’ve pledged to donate half of their profits to charity, and in just three years, have raised over $2 million through donating products and various projects. The label is young, and Moratti is a self-admitted neophyte when it comes to fashion, but it’s easy to see why they’ve caused such a stir already. There’s something irresistible about their “bad girl with a heart of gold” biker-chic clothing.

“You don’t have to follow the model of exploiting people in your country, or finding faraway countries to exploit in order for a business to be sustainable and grow,” Moratti says, commenting on what he sees as an industry status quo. “In fact, that’s completely unsustainable.” He feels that having a system that involves giving back to society, and sourcing materials as morally as possible, could make a substantial socio-political impact on the world; in fact, this seems to be how the designer measures success. “[Fashion is] the second largest employer in the world, and we’re the second largest communicator, right after show biz,” he explains. “We reach everyone on the planet, and a lot of young people follow and look up to fashion brands. If they see that a fashion brand is protesting something that’s going wrong in the world—whether it be the environment, [or injustices for] the LGBTQ community—we can counter that.”

Moratti has experienced firsthand how art can change the lives of individuals, and thus, society at large. At 12 years old, he moved from the countryside, where his parents established one of the biggest drug rehab facilities in the world, to Milan. It was a rocky transition, but music made things easier. “I found myself transported from this beautiful, idyllic world in the country with my best friends and people who weren’t afraid to show their flaws, to a high school in the city center where everybody was cookie-cutter, with the same brands, same shoes, same everything. So I found myself in my room listening to music, not wanting to belong.” He was particularly drawn to the “dirty” grunge music coming out of Seattle, and felt a strong affinity with Kurt Cobain. Grunge inspired Redemption’s latest collection, following punk last season, and “flower power” for its debut.

But, like anything else Redemption taps into, music serves a larger purpose.

“When we started this exploration of musical genres, we started with the idea of love and the works of Andy Warhol. They were beautiful and all-inclusive. You had people from the Upper East Side, people from skid row, people of all races, creeds, sexual orientations,” says Moratti. “But as things got worse with the administration, our message became more aggressive.” He holds little back when it comes to talking about “reality star” Donald Trump and the growing political right. He made a shirt featuring the art from Nirvana’s 1991 album Nevermind, in which a baby feebly reaches for a dollar bill—but replaced the baby’s face with that of Trump’s.

Any business wants to generate a profit, but few, like Redemption, are trying to use theirs to change the world. MATHIAS ROSENZWEIG

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VAQUERA

Vaquera’s narrative feels like a coming-of-age story. Patric DiCaprio, Bryn Taubensee, Claire Sully, and David Moses launched what’s now gone from a small, Brooklynbased label to a CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist in under four years. Like a creative teenager, they’re working their way through an often humorous and nonsensical identity crisis, a dilemma they experienced as a rapidly growing label and that is mirrored by the conversation around identity in America today.

“It’s difficult for us to transition from being this small team hand-making everything to having all these eyes on us,” Taubensee says of the shift. They harnessed their own struggle with identity into their Spring 2018 Ready-to-Wear collection, which featured shorts covered in license-plate imagery; a sailor with exaggerated, asymmetrical sleeves; a radically oversized button-down business shirt paired with a floor-length tie; and—in severe contrast—a mundane white tank with white pants.

“I think the challenge now is staying true to yourself and not getting caught up in anything that could hinder that,” DiCaprio says of the brand’s evolution. “We just want to be aware of our audience and more people paying attention to us, but still stay true to the things we’ve been saying for years. We still believe in them.”

One thing the brand believes in is their controversial take on recontexulizing fashion from other labels. “True innovation is an illusion. All current work is built on a structure of past work. This has always been true. What has changed is an awareness of this structure. Tumblr, Instagram, and a general awareness of visual media have finally shed light on the artistic process,” they wrote in a collective statement. “We embrace this change and aren’t afraid of using it...referencing the masters of your medium is the PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE of design. These issues of ownership were already explicitly addressed by Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol more than 50 years ago.”

Without question, the criticism has done little to hinder Vaquera. Now, the quartet is focused not only on their growth, which inspired an entire collection, but learning the other facets of fashion outside of creativity. For them, the business aspect is relatively new. “It’s not something any of us are naturally inclined to do, but that’s why it’s interesting,” says DiCaprio. “That’s why I started making clothes in the first place. I didn’t have any formal training, but I wanted to work at it until I figured it out. I did, and I think we can do the same thing with developing our business.” MR

Top: Photography Dillon Sachs, Courtesy Vaquera; Bottom: Photography Simon Gosselin, Courtesy Atlein

ATLEIN

Antonin Tron is a born-and-raised Parisian designer dedicated to bringing a modern sensibility to couture craftsmanship. His brand Atlein proposes the drape and silhouettes of the fitted Paris tradition in a relaxed mode with jersey fabrics. Antonin says of his clothes, “you can slip them on like a T-shirt; there is no lining, it’s very flexible and comfortable. You can toss it in your bag.” His casual approach to couture craftsmanship makes sense, considering his education at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium and his subsequent residency under Nicolas Ghesquière and others at Balenciaga. He credits those experiences with giving him “the space to be radical” and “learning what it is to be a designer making a luxury product.”

“For me it starts with the material,” says Antonin.

“There’s a parallel you could make with ceramics because it starts with clay: it’s how the material speaks to you and when you touch it, what can come out of it.

It’s how the material inspires the shape and dictates what’s coming. There’s also a certain relationship to the body, to its tension and movement.” Noting that Atlein comes from the word “Atlantic,” adding, “I have a very strong relationship to the ocean myself and the experience of the ocean really drives and fills me in my work. This idea of women and fluidity, you find in the brand.” For Antonin, the casualwear of Atlein is about freedom. He simply states, “the world should be more casual because you are more free.” MATTHEW DOMESCEK VMAGAZINE.COM 89

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NEW G I R L S NEW LOOKS

HAT ERIC JAVITS DRESS NICOLE MILLER JEANS LEVI’S

HEADBAND JENNIFER BEHR DRESS DIOR TIGHTS FALKE

TAJA IN BRIDAL WHITES PHOTOGRAPHY WILL VENDRAMINI FASHION JULIANA GIMENEZ

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Makeup Ingeborg using Surratt Beauty Hair Stefano Greco (Bryan Bantry Agency) using Mr. Smith Model Taja Feistner (New York Models) Photo assistant Jeremy Young Stylist assistants Erica Messentier, Mayara Biral

DRESS, BELT, VEIL SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO WATCH OMEGA BOOTS STEVE MADDEN

2/9/18 3:21 PM

AYOBAMI IN PLAID

JACKET AND PANTS MSGM SHOES GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI

PHOTOGRAPHY BRIDGET FLEMING FASHION TONA STELL

Makeup Martina Lattanzi using M.A.C Cosmetics Hair Roku Roppongi (Saint Luke Artists) Model Ayobami Okekunle (IMG) Casting David Chen Photo assistants James Donovan, Lea Walker, Sam Lort Stylist assistants Erica Jamie-Maree, Lydie Harrison

SHIRT AND DRESS REDEMPTION SHOES GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI

DRESS, TIGHTS, SHOES FENDI

TOP, PANTS, BELT MISSONI

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PHOTOGRAPHY BRIDGET FLEMING FASHION TONA STELL

COAT, JACKET (UNDERNEATH), SKIRT, BOOTS CHANEL

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COAT, TOP, SHOES BOSS

Makeup Martina Lattanzi using M.A.C Cosmetics Hair Roku Roppongi (Saint Luke Artists) Model Minnie Wastie (Select Models) Casting David Chen Photo assistants James Donovan, Lea Winkler, Sam Lort Stylist assistants Erica Jamie-Maree, Lydie Harrison

MINNIE IN RAIN GEAR JACKET AND BAG MARY KATRANTZOU

COAT AND SHOES BURBERRY

2/9/18 9:18 AM

Makeup Grace Ahn (Julian Watson) using Dior Addict Hair William Schaedler Model Kristen Coffey (IMG) Digital technician Michelle Sweatt Photo assistants Fletcher Anstis, Edmund Yu Makeup assistant Sena Murahashi Location Vivid Kid

JACKET GUESS SWEATSHIRT RECONSTRUCT PANTS MONSE SHOES PUBLIC SCHOOL

TOP AND SKIRT LOUIS VUITTON JACKET ZADIG & VOLTAIRE SHIRT AND OVERALLS PHILOSOPHY DI LORENZO SERAFINI SUNGLASSES PUMA EARRINGS (THROUGHOUT) JOHN HARDY

TOP KENZO SHORTS PHILOSOPHY DI LORENZO SERAFINI NECKLACE SASKIA DIEZ GLOVES STYLIST’S OWN BOOTS PUBLIC SCHOOL

KRISTEN IN RACING STRIPES PHOTOGRAPHY KEVIN JUDE FASHION REBECCA DENNETT

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V GIRLS The actresses that will light up your screen this spring.

PHOTOGRAPHY BEN HASSETT FASHION ANNA TREVELYAN

ALL CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES (THROUGHOUT) EMPORIO ARMANI

DOMINIQUE FISHBACK

Anyone who’s seen the first season of HBO’s The Deuce can attest that the most riveting thing about the series is Dominique Fishback’s breakout, career-establishing performance as Darlene, a fresh-faced prostitute navigating 1970s New York in crop tops and booty shorts. “The short shorts? I didn’t like those. They were uncomfortable,” says Fishback. “But the crop tops—those are my favorite.”

Unsurprisingly, the role wasn’t without its challenges, not least of all the nudity—it is a porn- and prostitute-centric show on HBO, after all. But this was no biggie for Fishback. “I never had a problem with my body, so that didn’t scare me,” she says.

“Natural hair was more of a nudity for me. Since I was little I would have it permed or weaved or braided, and I wouldn’t show it in an Afro or anything. In 2014 I accepted my natural hair and once that happened I was more confident than ever.” Fishback wrote an open letter to friends and family on Facebook, explaining her decision to take the role, and ultimately, everyone was cool with it. “I actually did an airing party for the first episode,” she says. “My mom was there.”

Last year, Fishback showed off that aforementioned Afro playing a young version of Jay-Z’s mother, Gloria Carter, in his music video for “Smile.” “I’m from

Brooklyn, so if I could be in a Jay-Z music video, that would be awesome,” she says. “If I could be in a Jay-Z video and portray someone important to him? That’s even better.” In the clip, Fishback wordlessly stuns with every glance, smirk, and grimace, eventually breaking down in tears. “I feel like I’m always on the verge of crying,” she says.

Still, Fishback describes herself as “more smiley than people think,” and these days she has a lot to smile about. This year she’ll play a troubled teen fresh out of juvenile detention in the Sundance-accepted Night Comes On. She also appears in the forthcoming adaptation of The Hate U Give, opposite Amandla Stenberg (“She’s amazing—so kind and supportive”), Anthony Mackie (“For Anthony Mackie to play my dad…I was like, what?!”), and Common (“Meeting Common was out of this world. It felt like his soul left his body to tell me hello”).

With her career officially taking off, there’s just one thing left to do: decide on a title for her fans. Should they be “Fishbackers?” “Dominators?” “Somebody was like, What about the QueenDom?” she laughs. “People can be Dominators in the QueenDom.”

ALLYSON SHIFFMAN

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BRIGETTE LUNDY-PAINE

Portland, Oregon native Brigette Lundy-Paine grew up in the theater. “I was two years old when I did my first play,” recalls the 23-year-old artist and daughter of two Bay Area producers and performers. “Instead of sports and all that other stuff, I did plays.” Surrounded by directors, clowns, writers, and a wealth of stories, Lundy-Paine took on a range of nuanced roles—and still does, but on a much larger scale. Since graduating from NYU with a degree in acting, Lundy-Paine’s films have included The Glass Castle, in which she portrays the youngest daughter in a family of drifters, led by a wildly idealistic, abusive, alcoholic father (Woody Harrelson) who takes the family off the grid, squatting from the American West to Manhattan’s Lower East Side. In Netflix’s Atypical, she embodies the take-no-shit, protective older sibling of an autistic high school student. And this spring, she’ll become Four Finger Annie, “a really aggressive stoner who runs the go-kart ride in the theme park,” in Action Point, a raunchy comedy from Johnny Knoxville and the Jackass team. “There were a lot

of stunts and a lot of animals,” says the actress. “It was me and five boys and we just played for two months.” For Lundy-Paine, who is also in a semi-improvisational band, Subtle Pride, in between projects, and originally planned to go into environmental science (“I only got into the two colleges for acting, so the world told me that I had to keep doing it,” she explains), acting can be used to dig deeper than the surface. “I’ve always felt that activism and art go hand in hand,” says Lundy-Paine.

“When Atypical came up, I knew it would be something very special and something that hasn’t been done before. [I’m] looking for projects that are inclusive in a way that I think film needs to be and has an option not to be. So, instead of going out for an audition set in Germany in the 1940s, which I know is going to be a project mostly employing white artists, I shy away from that because I don’t believe those stories are the ones we should be highlighting and putting money into now. It’s a tremendous time [to be in film] and so exciting.” ASHLEY SIMPSON

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GRACE VICTORIA COX

“I watched Heathers for the first time when I was 11 or so, and I thought it was so scary that I remember finishing it and feeling like, I never want to think about this ever again,” recalls Grace Victoria Cox with a laugh. And yet here she is, playing the iconic character Veronica Sawyer in a modern-day reimagining of the aforementioned ’80s cult classic. Cox, who was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, first took the stage at age nine as a troll in a school production of The Hobbit, and it’s all been on the up from there, including appearances in Under the Dome, Manson’s Lost Girls, and Twin Peaks. But embodying Veronica Sawyer marks her most significant role to date.

Fortunately, upon a fresh viewing of the film at a more suitable age, her love for the pitch-black comedy blossomed, as did her admiration for the original Veronica, the inimitable Winona Ryder. “Winona Ryder is a brilliant actress. She was the most perfect Veronica Sawyer,” gushes Cox. “So I had all of this fear, comparing myself to her because she was so magnificent as this character. I had to accept that I’m not Winona Ryder and I’m never going to be Winona Ryder—I can only be me. Once I wrapped my mind around that, I started looking at her portrayal of the character not as something to be scared of, but as this really amazing blueprint from a

wonderful actress that I could follow.”

Indeed, the Heathers of 2018—a TV series rather than a feature film—is very much its own creature, and Cox’s Veronica a fresh take on the character. “When people watch it, they’ll see that the Veronica in our show is really similar to the one from the movie, but still really different. We went from two hours of material to 10, so there’s a lot of new stuff in there, and she’s fleshed out in a different way than before,” explains Cox. Even the story’s most fundamental trappings—including the nature of its namesake clique and how they operate—get an update. “Making it modern was really important if we wanted the show to affect people the same way the movie did, because, it’s satire, but it’s a really intense look at teenagers and what their lives are like. If we hadn’t included social media, or how things are different today, I don’t think it would have been as honest of a look into the lives of young people.”

That said, Cox promises viewers’ appetites for the original’s twisted humor will be satisfied and then some: “It is way darker. Like, way, way, way darker [laughs]. I would get some of the script for the episodes and say, Wow, we’re really doing this.” LISA MISCHIANTI

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MAYA HAWKE

on iconic portrayals of Jo delivered by famed actresses like June Allyson, Katharine Hepburn, and Winona Ryder. For her own performance, Hawke leaned into Jo’s somewhat less-celebrated traits. “Everyone knows that Jo is brave and opinionated and honest. But people also made fun of her for being too boyish, and too silly and awkward and bumbling. Those are the qualities I really wanted to illuminate,” she notes. “I wanted to feel her awkwardness, the things that made her an outcast and different, because those things are real and they need to live in her for her power to also live. They’re two sides of the same coin.”

Post-Little Women, Hawke will move from one female-driven narrative to another: 2018’s Ladyworld. It’s been a pleasantly empowering introduction to the industry. “In the first two projects I’ve worked on professionally, I’ve been doing ensemble work with other young women, which I think is pretty cool. And they both were directed by and written by women. It’s been a wonderful experience of real ensemble support and women lifting each other up, and I feel really lucky for that,” she says.

As for her ongoing film education, that will continue from watching works like Paper Moon; Nashville; Paris, Texas; and Margaret, most of which come recommended by her parents, actors Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke. “I’ve been sitting at the grown-ups table my whole life,” Maya quips. “So I’ve always been watching those kinds of movies, even if sometimes someone’s hands were over my ears!” LM

Makeup Marla Belt (Streeters) Hair Joey George (Management+Artists) Manicure Naomi Yasuda (Management+Artists) Digital technician Carlo Barreto Photo assistants Roeg Cohen, Eric Hobbs Makeup assistant Alex Almeida Location VSCO Studio

Memories of midday raves with a 19th-century dress code have Maya Hawke feeling rather nostalgic. “During lunch the first couple weeks of filming, we would go into one of our trailers, put on some heinous music, and dance and dance and dance in our full costumes, with petticoats,” Hawke recalls of being on set for the new BBC One adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved Civil War-era novel, Little Women.

The series, which was released this past winter in the U.K. and will debut in the States this spring on PBS Masterpiece, features Hawke as the bold, clever, tomboyish Jo March—the fan favorite of the four sisters at the center of the narrative.

It’s a role to which Hawke felt particularly connected, as Alcott’s book was among the first she read cover to cover as a kid struggling with dyslexia. “Jo’s strength inspired me to find mine,” says Hawke.

When she landed the part, Hawke undertook still more extracurricular reading.

She became fascinated with the famously independent-minded Alcott, whose own family is said to be the model for Little Women, and Jo a stand-in for Alcott herself.

“There’s a book called Eden’s Outcasts that I read, and a book just called Louisa May Alcott that’s great. And I was reading a lot of Emerson and Thoreau to try to get a handle on the transcendentalist movement, and figure out what kind of thinking Louisa was growing up in and around,” explains Hawke.

She also spent quality time with previous film adaptations of the novel, studying up

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FORWARD LOOKING LOOKI NG

These artists are combining digital innovations with traditional techniques to create work on the cutting edge.

PETRA CORTRIGHT Petra Cortright’s studio, in a small upstairs room of her Altadena, California, home contains only a desk topped with three huge computer monitors, where she exclusively makes her work. On the wall hangs one of her recent paintings, a drippy, kaleidoscopic distortion of layered images sourced from the Internet, printed on aluminum. Though her paintings rely on technology, “I don’t want to be a programmer,” Cortright says. “I have much more of a painter’s brain.”

Cortright, who grew up in Santa Barbara, first broke out as an artist with videos using filters that she found on the Internet. She now makes paintings using a similar method, gathering images that catch her eye, and assembling and de-assembling them in Photoshop. Her work has garnered her a number of high-profile collaborations, including making videos for Stella McCartney and, most recently, designing a Google Artworks case for the company’s new Pixel phone. Naturally, both collaborators found her online.

“Anything that’s on a computer, I know I can manipulate it,” Cortright explains. “Painting seems unnecessary. Why do that when you have so many things

available? It just feels kind of archaic.”

To demonstrate, Cortright opens a painting in progress on her computer, still “a baby,” made up of several layers, each of them slices of images of Julian Schnabel’s ex-wife’s kitchen. Cortright describes her process as “breaking down photography” found primarily via Pinterest or Google Images. She works on up to hundreds of layers before printing the result to canvas.

She became particularly interested in Pinterest images since “it’s so gendered,” she says. “It’s about women’s dreams: wedding, dream house. Those things are always marginalized.”

Currently, Cortright has a show at Ever Gold Projects in San Francisco, and is preparing for another at BANK in Shanghai alongside her husband, the painter Marc Horowitz.

Of her computer-generated process, Cortright says, “Everything is really quick—if you don’t like it, you can just delete it.” Despite her affinity for the speed and adaptability the web affords, Cortright admits, “I do get nostalgic for a time when the Internet was more mysterious.” ALEXANDRA PECHMAN

Petra Cortright, Celebrity Addresses/Fiji Firing Tour Squad, 2017, Digital painting on anodized aluminum, 73 x 144 in, Courtesy the artist

PORTRAIT BY MIWAH LEE

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RACHEL ROSSIN PORTRAIT BY MAX HIRSCHBERGER

Rossin is concerned with the line between the virtual world and our own, and the ephemerality of both. Her work has appeared in “ARS17” at the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, “After Us” at the K11 Art Foundation in Shanghai, and “The Unframed World” at the House of Electronic Arts Basel, all shows dealing with digital revolution. She describes her new sculptures as “pieces I’ve wanted to make for years,” adding, “I have drawings of them from when I was 17.” In her recent works, she UV-prints images from her VR work onto a clear, acrylic substrate, then melts these screens with a blowtorch and shapes them around her body.

“I’m using my body to literally print onto them in the same way that a painting is an immediate response,” Rossin says.

This year, Rossin will be featured in a National Geographic mini-doc series, a group show at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, and solo shows at the Akron Museum of Art and the Zabludowicz Collection in London. She’s also moving into a massive new studio space in Dumbo—where of course, she’s building all the new servers herself. AP

Mirror Milk, Oil on canvas, 60 x 72 inches, Courtesy the artist

When Rachel Rossin first moved to New York, she assumed a fake identity—of sorts. The artist, who first began coding as a kid before developing an interest in art, adopted a male pseudonym to apply for freelance computer programming work, and found she got more jobs that way. The experience inspired her 2017 virtual-reality (VR) work Man Mask, “a guided meditation through landscapes taken from the game Call of Duty: Black Ops, drained of violence and transformed into an ethereal dream world,” according to an artist’s statement. Rhizome and the New Museum commissioned the piece last year for the exhibit “First Look: Artists’ VR,” released via free mobile app. Rossin’s fluency in painting and sculpture, combined with very real programming chops, have put her at the forefront of the burgeoning VR art scene.

Her paintings and VR pieces deliberately inform one another; some of her virtual work uses aspects of her paintings, and vice versa.

As Rossin puts it, “We think about [technology] as this ‘other,’ but it has so much to do with our selves, with our desk drive.”

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REVOLUTIONARY ROSE

For Rose McGowan, leading a watershed movement means making her voice heard in more ways than one.

PHOTOGRAPHY ROSE McGOWAN

Not long ago, being a movie star meant sticking to your part. Actors with albums got eye rolls, as did starlets with political opinions. The rules were to smile and not stray from the thing that made you famous. Those rules have started to change. But Rose McGowan has been rejecting that they apply—or even exist—from the get-go.

“I realized that I didn’t need someone to sanction me,” says the leader of the #RoseArmy revolution. It’s a frigid January night and McGowan is wrapped in a bathrobe, the Manhattan skyline backlighting the shaved fuzz of her scalp. Though her skin is pale and glowing, what she really radiates is power. “I realized I didn’t need to be allowed to do anything. I could do what I wanted.”

To wit: just look at the past year. McGowan, who was railing against sexual assault in Hollywood long before there was a hashtag, has evolved into a leader of a modern-day rebellion, one who is not afraid to offend even the most beloved of Hollywood elders or break the mainstream feminist party line. Her book, Brave—a memoir, manifesto, and instruction manual for burning shit down—hit shelves in January. A one-word review would be “fearless,” an adjective that also applies to another recent debut: her first full-length album.

Planet 9, which came out in mid-February, sounds like an intergalactic alien opera.

For one song, McGowan drew inspiration from the following question: if stars— the celestial bodies, not the glitterati—reproduce rapidly, “What do they fuck to?”

(The answer, by the way, is track two.) But it’s the haunting “Lonely House,” which echoes the alternative national anthem McGowan penned last year, that serves as a stark reminder of just how out there—and all alone—her fight has been until now.

“I was born for this. But it doesn’t mean I’m happy about it,” she says of her quest to confront abuses of power. “Society has had an awful lot of thoughts for me, and I’ve got some fucking thoughts for them. But the sad part, the funny part, is that I still want the best for people. I just want them to be 10 percent better. I’m laying across barbed wire so you can walk on my back. So is Asia Argento. So is Annabella Sciorra, and every woman who came out originally.

“But I’ll tell you what,” McGowan adds. “They had a place to come out because I set it the fuck up.”

Her “be better” demand translates to another launch this month, too—this one in the skincare aisle. McGowan turned down beauty campaigns in the past, saying, “If I don’t use your stuff, why would I lie to people?” but her new line gets her full endorsement and aligns with her mission. Called The Only Skincare, she’s been working on it for years with her aunt, stylist Rory Rain. “Women make 73 cents to a man’s dollar—that’s if you’re white and one percent—but pay exponentially more in self-care,” says McGowan. The line is meant to help people pare down their product arsenal at an accessible price point. The kicker? It’s incredible. (I swear, the only time my skin has felt hydrated all winter was after McGowan graciously shared her personal stash.)

With a book, an album, and a skincare brand all out in three months, you might expect McGowan to take a break—but rebel leader duties never end. Rose McGowan Arts, her photography platform, is in high gear, and you bet your ass there’s plenty of plotting happening behind the scenes. “People used to ask me who I most identified with, and it was always the astronaut out at the end of the rope,” she says.

“One day, I realized that I was the universe watching the astronaut. And then, I became unstoppable.” ELIZABETH KIEFER

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Photography Ben Hassett

FUL L BLOOM

Year after year, a perennial flower bursts into full splendor each spring, bestowing fresh beauty onto the world. That enduring magnificence is not unlike the everlasting star power of Mariah Carey, who graces this issue’s cover exuding her trademark glamour. These pages are also sown with other seeds, from the rising actresses to watch to the season’s most extravagant styles.

So, take a stroll through V ’s garden and see what’s blossoming.

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M E, MYS E LLF,F, &MARIAH Just weeks after Mariah Carey posed for these photos at the Ritz Paris hotel—and cemented her starpower on Hollywood Boulevard with Lee Daniels—the world’s truest musical icon invites V’s Stephen Gan over for a glass of wine, and reflects on her return to the studio with Roc Nation, the power of songwriting, and the intersection of pop and hip-hop.

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STEPHEN GAN I hear you’re back in the studio.

MARIAH CAREY I’m in the studio starting a new album of regular music...

SG Regular music?

MC Meaning it’s not a Christmas album [laughs]. I’m kind of restarting, and I’m working with Roc Nation now, so that’s great. I had a really incredible meeting— just a musical, good meeting of the minds— with Jay Brown, Jay-Z, and Tata [Tyran Smith], who’s an incredible person. We all just kind of threw some ideas around, so we’re starting from the musical place rather than, like, what’s the hook? It’s gotta be done that way.

SG How does someone like you join Roc Nation and team up with Jay-Z? How does the conversation happen to come out to, “Let’s get back in the recording studio?” Is that all just organic?

MC Well, the first time I worked with Jay[-Z] was for the album Rainbow, on the song “Heartbreaker.” We were at Mr Chow’s in New York—this is before everybody in the world knew who he was. But we lovers of hip-hop

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JACKET PHILIPP PLEIN BODYSUIT (UNDERNEATH, THROUGHOUT) STYLIST’S OWN TIARA MARIANNA HARUTUNIAN NECKLACE (TOP) DE BEERS NECKLACE (CROSS) ON AURA TOUT VU ON EYES CHARLOTTE TILBURY THE FELINE FLICK EYELINER PEN IN PANTHER AND FULL FAT LASHES MASCARA IN GLOSSY BLACK

COAT ON AURA TOUT VU BRIEFS AGENT PROVOCATEUR NECKLACE CARTIER

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“The first time I worked with Jay[-Z] was for the album Rainbow, on the song “Heartbreaker.” We were at Mr Chow’s in New York—this is before everybody in the world knew who he was. But, we lovers of hip-hop knew who he was, and were very in awe of him, his talent, where he came from, his whole story and everything.”

–Mariah Carey

knew who he was, and were very in awe of him, his talent, where he came from, his whole story and everything. So we talked that night and ended up collaborating. I did something for him once, and then we talked about him doing this for me, so that was the first time we worked together. We just have a history as friends and as collaborators, so it’s kind of a thing that’s already been established. Now, I’ve been getting to know Jay Brown a lot better: I’ve always known who he was and really respected and admired him so much. The way he does business is just awe-inspiring, you know what I mean? Like, they’ve really done an incredible job together, he and Jay. And they’re both named Jay [laughs]. So we’ve been going back and forth with different writers, different ideas. When I say writers, I mean cowriters, because I am a writer.

SG Of course. What do you want people to know about your songwriting?

MC It’s something that I think a lot of people don’t give women enough credit for, unless they are known visually as someone strumming a guitar, or they’re behind a piano most of the time. I also have that diva thing attached to me; I mean, I’m sitting here doing an interview in lingerie. But I was just like, you’re totally gonna understand that this is what I’m gonna wear! Why should I wear something uncomfortable? This is what I like.

SG What’s the process been like, working on new music?

MC I’ve already been in the studio last year and the year before that, just playing around and doing some music, some other things. I don’t want to give away too many people that I’m working with, but there’s a different approach that I’m taking as an artist. I think it’s like a fresh start. A lot of people see that whole other image.

They see this diva; they see hair, makeup, bod, clothes, whatever it is—and hand gestures [laughs]—and they’re like, oh. They don’t think songwriter. But I look at myself as a songwriter first, and then a singer. That’s what I love to do the most.

SG How do you feel out, “Okay, now’s the time to pounce, now’s the time to record, now’s the time to create, now’s the time to brew?”

MC [Before,] I was in a different place in terms of who I was working with for the business side of things, which is everything. The whole thing is business, really. I consider myself more of a musician first than a business person, I don’t necessarily think of things that way; it’s music first. That’s the most important thing for me.

That’s why I think there hasn’t been that synergy of, oh my gosh, we’re going to do this fashion moment with Mariah. I mean, only certain people get that. That’s why we love Karl [Lagerfeld] so much. I think he kind of gets the kitsch element [laughs]. Certain people get that: “Let her come in and be wacky and have fun, we’ll do some cute shots, and it is what it is.” In the music business, if you care about the Grammys and submitting your stuff before a certain time frame, you want a single out in the summer, and then you want to have your record [out] before the Grammys [consideration] deadline, which has changed. Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. I mean, I have five Grammys. That’s cute. There’s people that have been doing this half the time that have twice as many [Grammys]. I won two Grammys the first year I started, but after that, [the Grammys] are like, “We don’t go with the people that are selling a lot of records and are popular; we’re gonna go the opposite way.” So I got screwed out of certain years. I wasn’t bitter about it. I was just like, okay, well, I guess I’m not standing here barefoot onstage singing and trying to go a certain way. I’m just me.

SG Yes! There’s real honesty there.

MC I mean, tell me the truth. If you were to see me walking around suddenly with, like, I don’t know, suspenders, baggy pants, probably there’d be a neon bra with a low-slung tuxedo shirt, some green hair, probably little shorts, some high boots— wouldn’t you be like, what the hell is she going for? Yet if somebody else did it, it’d be like, oh my gosh, genius, it’s heaven. [Laughs.] I’m not trying to make fun of anybody’s way of analyzing something. Personally, I don’t care, I like what I like. So I feel like it’s trying too hard if I suddenly was like, I think I’ll do the pink hair thing.

No! I actually like my hair my color. Like, I’ll go different shades of blonde and dark blonde, but that’s not changing things drastically.

SG It’s being focused with what you want and what you think works for you. It’s a good thing. I think you’re constantly kind of sculpting and forming the Mariah image, and it’s unwavering in what you like. That’s a really commendable thing: people

come and go, fashions come in and out, and you have staying power, doing your thing. That’s very rare.

MC I appreciate that.

SG Karl describes you as someone very genuine and touching. If there was not that honesty, I don’t think you would have touched as many people as you have in your life.

MC I mean, that’s how I feel. But the truth is, most people, if they know me, they know me for the songs that are the most well-known. Or, maybe when they were going through a certain experience they heard a song on the radio that affected them in a specific way. People will come up and show me a tattoo of the entire side of their body with a song called “Side Effects,” a duet with Young Jeezy that Scott Storch produced, from the E=MC² album. It’s pretty amazing; it’s like, that wasn’t even a hit song. You can actually go online and see different fans’ tattoos. That’s the hugest, highest compliment I can ever imagine: they actually tattooed lyrics I wrote on the side of their body.

SG Fandom has changed so much over the years.

MC Everything is totally different than when I started as a kid. All I knew was the radio. When I first heard my song on the radio, it flipped me out. I couldn’t believe it. I lived through that experience; I wouldn’t trade it. I remember writing “Fantasy,” then watching it evolve, and being able to sneak Ol’ Dirty Bastard onto the song [laughs]. Now, still hearing it and having people walking down the street going, [deep voice] “Me and Mariah,” saying ODB’s raps for me...Now, everybody’s like, “Oh, it’s so innovative, a pop artist working with rappers!” I’m like, are you serious? Do you know how much shit I had to go through just to be able to work with anyone in hiphop? It wasn’t done because I thought it was cool. Yes, I thought it was cool in the sense of enjoying myself, but it wasn’t like I was trying to be something I wasn’t.

Now, every genre is mixed together. Back then, the rap category had just started.

SG Is there anything you would like to say to the younger people out there?

MC I tend to not put people in categories, because when I was still a kid, I was like, I’ll never forget what it feels like to be a kid and to be misunderstood. For real! Because I’m biracial, that’s one thing a lot of my fans—of all different ages and backgrounds— tend to talk to me about. They’re like, [your music] helped me get through this. A lot of people are like, you helped me come out to my parents because a song like “Outside” from the Butterfly album describes feeling different than others and not having people who understand. Growing up, there wasn’t that one idol that I was like, They’re exactly like me. So, it was a combination of a lot of different people that inspired me. I just had to go off that. But I think there are people and certain songs I’ve done that are deep album cuts that most people don’t know. But the “lambily” [“lamb family,” Carey’s name for her fans] and the lambs, they’re like, these songs help protect me. What I try to do is make songs that other people relate to.

SG Which young artists inspire you?

MC Well, Childish Gambino—I enjoy a lot of people that you wouldn’t think of. Ever since I was a little kid, it’s only been, like, what song do I like on the radio? I would take the radio from the kitchen and listen under the covers. That’s the only thing that could put me to sleep, listening to music, being lulled to sleep by music. We’ve lost a lot of legendary people in the past few years now. George Michael, obviously Prince, and so many people that we miss. But there’s so many super-talented people out there now. I love Kierra Sheard, a gospel artist who’s the daughter of Karen Clark Sheard—that’s something that will inspire me. But there also might be a young rapper I’ll meet from another country, that I’m, like, whoa. You gotta keep an open mind. Getting a chance to be heard is almost harder because before it was like: You have a hit song; it’s on the radio. Boom, there you are. Now, you never know what you’re gonna hear from one day to the next, which is great, but I think it makes the life span of the artist shorter, perhaps. I could be wrong.

SG You seem so happy now.

MC Really?

SG Yeah.

MC Aw, that’s good! I’ve gotten to a place where I could move onto the next thing and the next thing. I’ve had to overcome a lot over the past year and those are things that I don’t personally want to talk about, but we’re here now, so that’s good.

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JACKET ON AURA TOUT VU NECKLACE HOUSE OF EMMANUELE ON FACE CHARLOTTE TILBURY MAGIC FOUNDATION AND CHEEK TO CHIC BLUSHER IN LOVE GLOW ON EYES CHARLOTTE TILBURY EYES TO MESMERISE CREAM EYESHADOW IN JEAN ON LIPS CHARLOTTE TILBURY LIP LUSTRE IN BLONDIE

“A lot of people see [this] whole other image.

They see this diva; they see hair, makeup, bod, clothes, whatever it is. They don’t think songwriter.

But I look at myself as a songwriter first, and then a singer. That’s what I love to do the most.”

–Mariah Carey

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OPTIMISTIC DYSTOPIA As the winter withdraws, pieces of the past are reassembled to create new meaning. Expression is our saving and our song.

Photography Jackie Nickerson Fashion Amanda Harlech

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THIS SPREAD: CLOTHING, SHOES, ACCESSORIES COMME DES GAR‚ONS

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MAKEUP VAL GARLAND (STREETERS) HAIR KEN O’ROURKE (STREETERS) MODELS LÉA JULIAN (ELITE), TOM P (TIAD), TIGER FERRIER (WILHELMINA) SET DESIGN ALICE KIRKPATRICK (STREETERS) PRODUCTION LAURA HOLMES PRODUCTION CASTING JESS HALLETT (STREETERS) DIGITAL TECHNICIAN DANIEL (DTOUCH) PHOTO ASSISTANTS JACK GRANGE, RORY JAMES COLE STYLIST ASSISTANTS FIONA HICKS, TALLULAH HARLECH, ALEXANDRA HICKS MAKEUP ASSISTANT JOEY CHOI HAIR ASSISTANT RANDOLPH GREY SET DESIGN ASSISTANT JOSEPH BURKE, STACI-LEE HINDLEY EQUIPMENT DTOUCH STUDIO LOCATION WHITE RABBIT STUDIOS

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SPR ING TAK ES FL IG HT

Bold, over-the-top glamour defines the head-turning looks of the season.

Photography Mario Testino Fashion Nicola Formichetti

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ANOK WEARS DRESS MOSCHINO SHOES GUCCI BRACELET BULGARI

ON EYES GUCCI MAGNETIC SHADOW DUO IN ECLIPSE, ARMANI TOKYO GARDENS EYE TINT IN DAY

FROM LEFT: DUCKIE WEARS DRESS GIORGIO ARMANI SHOES JIMMY CHOO X OFF-WHITE ANOK WEARS CLOTHING, SHOES, ACCESSORIES GIORGIO ARMANI

ON LIPS CHANEL ROUGE COCO GLOSS MOISTURIZING GLOSSIMER IN ICING

DUCKIE WEARS CLOTHING, SHOES, ACCESSORIES CHANEL ON FACE FENTY BEAUTY PRO FILT’R FOUNDATION IN 490 ON CHEEKS NARS HIGHLIGHTING BLUSH POWDER IN ALBATROSS ON LIPS FENTY BEAUTY COSMIC GLOSS LIP GLITTER IN SPACESUIT AND GAL ON THE MOON

FROM LEFT: CIPRIANA WEARS CLOTHING MARC JACOBS HEADBAND HER OWN NECKLACE ZANA BAYNE SHOES JIMMY CHOO ON EYES SERGE LUTENS EYE SHADOW ON LIPS FENTY BEAUTY STARLIT HYPER-GLITZ LIPSTICK IN SCI-FLY, M.A.C COSMETICS RETRO MATTE LIQUID LIPCOLOUR IN ATOMIZED TK WEARS CLOTHING AND HEADBAND MARC JACOBS BRACELET ZANA BAYNE ON BROWS LANCÔME SOURCILS STYLER BROW GEL ON LIPS MARC JACOBS ENAMORED HI-SHINE LIP LAQUER IN BOYS DON’T CRY

ANOK WEARS CLOTHING, SHOES, ACCESSORIES SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO ON EYES GUCCI IMPACT LONG WEAR EYE PENCIL IN ICONIC BLACK

FROM LEFT: DUCKIE WEARS DRESS GUCCI ANOK WEARS DRESS AND SHOES GUCCI ON CHEEKS M.A.C EXTRA DIMENSION SKINFINISH IN BEAMING BLUSH

FROM LEFT: DUCKIE WEARS CLOTHING FAUSTO PUGLISI SHOES CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN ANOK WEARS JACKET AND SKIRT PHILIPP PLEIN BELT (WORN AS TOP) ERDEM

ANOK WEARS HAT, CLOTHING, SHOES DIOR NECKLACE AND RING DIOR FINE JEWELRY

MAKEUP DIANE KENDAL (JULIAN WATSON AGENCY) HAIR YUSEF WILLIAMS (FACTORY DOWNTOWN) MANICURE MEI KAWAJIRI (THE SOCIETY MANAGEMENT) MODELS DUCKIE THOT (NEW YORK MODELS), ANOK YAI (NEXT MODELS), CIPRIANA QUANN (IMG), TK QUANN (IMG), JAY COLBERT (NEXT MODELS) EXECUTIVE PRODUCER KAT DAVEY ON-SET PRODUCER FABIO MAYOR JUNIOR PRODUCER BELLA HOLLAMBY PRODUCTION COORDINATOR NAOMI MARTIN LOCAL PRODUCTION MARCOS FECCHINO DIGITAL TECHNICIAN JAKOB STORM RETOUCHER LIAM BLACK PHOTO ASSISTANTS ALEX WALTL, WILLIAM TAKAHASHI, TIM SHIN STYLIST ASSISTANTS MARTA DEL RIO, MIGUEL SANCHEZ MAKEUP ASSISTANTS CAOILFHIONN GIFFORD, JAMAL SCOTT HAIR ASSISTANTS KENDALL DORSEY, MICHAEL WARREN MANICURIST ASSISTANT ELIZABETH GARCIA PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS KAYCEE PARK, JOHN WARNER LOCATION CANOE STUDIOS

F E E L IN G GOOD AS HE L L

Outspoken and superbly talented musician Lizzo candidly discusses body positivity and racial diversity with Ashley Graham.

Photography Mario Testino Fashion Nicola Formichetti

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ASHLEY GRAHAM I’m so glad this is happening. You’re goddamn popping off right now. You’re everywhere.

LIZZO Listen, sis, I’ve been doing the same thing, and having people be like, “Who?” for so many years. And now they’re like, “Oh, I know you.” It does feel good to finally feel like I’m popping.

AG The [Swimsuits for All] music video for “Good As Hell” was where we first met. I’d say we had a very great day, but we had an even better evening. I’m just gonna leave it right there for everybody at home.

L We sure did, mm-hmm [laughs].

AG You’ve been pushing the boundaries and advocating for inclusivity for so many years. You even named your album Big Grrrl Small World. How does that play a role in the bodypositive movement?

L Everything I say and believe in is literally me trying to get through life. I just happen to have this skill to be able to emote it through music. That said, I’ve been trying to love myself for a long time, and I really think that’s what the body-positive movement is. It’s showing the actual journey of women learning to love themselves, and seeing this positive result in the end. Love songs are really important, but self-love songs are even more important, and we don’t get enough self-love songs.

AG I can’t even imagine being onstage, everybody’s into my

song, and then all of a sudden they just start screaming selfcare mantras at me that maybe aren’t even mine; they’re theirs. I just got chills through my spine because that’s such an empowering moment. We don’t teach young girls to have affirmations or mantras for themselves. Little girls are taught to be nice, find a man, do what they’re supposed to do—but you never tell a woman, “Love who you are.” Did somebody in your life tell you to stop being insecure and love who you are?

Or is it a realization you just had on your own?

L It’s something I had to discover on my own, which made it harder. But it paid off more. I struggled forever. When you’re trying to lose weight, you tell your family, [and] you start working out and they think you look better and give you compliments, it’s such a fine line between them [being] encouraging and [me] being like, Oh, do I just look better thin? Maybe they all think I should be skinny.

AG I hear you, I hear you.

L It’s really hard to get that kind of support to be fat, to be free, to be who you are, and to love yourself. I used to really want to wake up and be somebody else. I would be like, God, if I just woke up and looked like Beyoncé [laughs], just had a completely different hair or body type, I would be so happy. I had fantasies like that when I was a little kid. One day I was like, yo, I’m not changing, this is gonna be my body when I wake up. This is gonna be my face, my hair, and my teeth. You have to learn to deal with and love this [body].

AG It takes years. I tell young girls that you really have to put in time and energy to find confidence. I also say, find a role model. It’s amazing you’re telling your story, because there are so many women comparing themselves to others around them.

L I’ve just felt so unappreciated, being a black woman, and the double negative of being black and fat, and having kinky, curly hair. When I make this music, older women come to me and are like, “I wish I had you around when (CONTINUED ON PAGE 150)

LIZZO WEARS SCARF MARC JACOBS NECKLACE AND BRACELET BULGARI ON BODY NARS MONOI BODY GLOW

I was younger.” White women, too. They’re thin and they’re thick and they’re old and they’re young. It’s beautiful that just loving yourself, no matter what your issue is with yourself, is still a universal message.

AG I’m glad you brought up race; it’s an important topic that we all need to be talking about. Being a black woman in the music industry, there’s probably a lot of pressure on you. What do you think is the future of diversity in media and the music industry?

L The wild thing about black women and our influence on culture is that it’s always been really big—in rock ’n’ roll, in literally writing and singing Elvis Presley songs; black women in Motown we’ll never hear about. We’ve been in this forever.

The difference today is visibility. Now, we can’t be hidden or silenced, because of the Internet. You can find the originator.

You know who created that look or idea or song. You don’t gotta go through no middleman, no labels, to get straight to the art. All of these women, like Ava DuVernay and Issa Rae, are just so important and thriving because of visibility. This is getting controversial [laughs], but I feel like people are starting to put a plastic veneer on self-love and body positivity, and trying to make it marketable. Women who are actually pushing forward in body positivity and inclusiveness have to continue fighting and striving, so that it doesn’t become a fad. We have to be careful that it’s not a trend—that it remains a movement.

AG I agree 100 percent. I mean, being in the game for 17 years and then seeing everything pop off in the last couple of years is like, why now? Are we just gonna be another trend, and all of a sudden all the curvy girls are gone? I really feel like fashion starts trends, but it’s everybody else who makes it a movement—the media, TV, movies, entertainment in general— so we need you, Lizzo.

L [Laughs.] Yo, I’m still here. We need you, too. You were such a big deal to me when you were doing the Lane Bryant ads.

I’d never seen anything like that in my whole life.

AG So many people come up to us and say, “How do you get your confidence? Where does it come from?” Or like, “Where does your body love come from?” But are they asking that to women who haven’t had to embrace their curves and their cellulite and their back fat? No. But I think it’s important that we continue to talk about those issues.

L The number-one question women who rap get all the time is, “What’s it like being a female rapper?” Or, “What kind of

adversities have you faced, being a female rapper?” I understand why these people are asking, but I think it also perpetuates the stigma. When someone’s like, “When did you learn to love yourself? You’re so brave,” you’re perpetuating the idea that I had to learn how to love myself because I’m fat, and that I’m brave for wearing a bikini. Don’t perpetuate that. That should be normalized as much as a slim girl in a bikini. But also, that slim girl, we need to be asking her, when did she learn to love herself? And you need to tell her she’s brave. We even the playing field.

AG Why is it important to share your personal, vulnerable experiences with the world through music?

L I don’t know how to tell anybody else’s story. A lot of people know how to create fantasy songs. Frank Ocean’s really good at that, and Tyler, the Creator can just go off. Some people sing songs that other people have written for them really, really well, and they’re great emoters and vocal performers.

But those things have never worked for me. The only thing that works is my personal life experience. I think it’s really unique telling the story of a big black girl from Houston that plays the flute and loves Sailor Moon. It’s hard to fake that.

I’m telling this story and people are really gravitating to it—the uniqueness and specificity of the lyrics, the emotion coming out of my voice. The individual story of the struggle helps connect people even more. If I tweet, “I’m so sad today, I hate everything, are you sad?” [I’ll get] hundreds of replies [saying] “I’m sad too, I’m sad too.” We’re all in the struggle. We’re all in this together.

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“I’ve just felt so unappreciated, being a black woman, and the double negative of being black and fat, and having kinky, curly hair.

When I make this music, older women come to me and are like, ‘I wish I had you around when I was younger.’”

–Lizzo

FROM LEFT: JAY WEARS CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES GUCCI LIZZO WEARS DRESS JIL SANDER SHOE GIORGIO ARMANI ON EYES MARC JACOBS BEAUTY TWINKLE POP IN CHARCOAL IRIDESCENT SHIMMER

THE B IG SPLASH Hannah Ferguson lounges poolside in spring’s swankiest styles.

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HANNAH WEARS JACKET, PANTS, SHOES TOM FORD EARRINGS JOHN HARDY

JULES WEARS SHORTS (THROUGHOUT) ADIDAS

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HANNAH WEARS DRESS COACH 1941 WATCH OMEGA SHOES GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI

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HANNAH WEARS DRESS AND SHOES BURBERRY

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HANNAH WEARS TOP AND SKIRT DSQUARED2 SHOES GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI

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HANNAH WEARS DRESS DIOR SHOES GIVENCHY

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HANNAH WEARS DRESS FENDI SHOES GIVENCHY

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HANNAH WEARS DRESS GUCCI SHOES GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI ON HAIR BIOLAGE R.A.W. BODIFYING STYLING JELLY

HANNAH WEARS CLOTHING AND BOOTS GIVENCHY

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HANNAH WEARS CLOTHING AND SHOES BALMAIN

ON HAIR IGK TRUST FUND THICKENING FOAM, LÕORƒAL ELNETT SATIN HAIRSPRAY

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MAKEUP SALOI JEDDI HAIR VI SAPYYAPY (MANAGEMENT+ARTISTS) MANICURIST ANGIE CRISTINA (ATOMIC ASSISTANTS AGENCY MIAMI, NEW YORK) MODELS HANNAH FERGUSON (IMG), JULES HORN (IMG) DIGITAL TECHNICIAN HEATH MCBRIDE PRODUCTION AYMEN BOURJINI SOFIA TIRADO (SHAKE PRODUCTIONS) PHOTO ASSISTANTS IAN RUTTER, MICAEL PREZIOSO STYLIST ASSISTANT MEL ULTEM PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS HECTOR CRUZ, LUCAS HABERMANN LOCATION: LOCATION RESOURCES EQUIPMENT ONE SOURCE STUDIOS

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HANNAH WEARS DRESS FENDI EARRINGS JOHN HARDY SHOES GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI ON LIPS CHANEL INDÉPENDANTE ROUGE ALLURE ON CHEEKS CHANEL JOUES CONTRASTE POWDER BLUSH IN PINK EXPLOSION ON EYES SERGE LUTENS KOHL LINER

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TAYLOR WEARS DRESS SALVATORE FERRAGAMO EARRINGS (THIS SPREAD) JOHN HARDY ON EYES LANCÔME MONSIEUR BIG MASCARA AND EYE SUGAR PALETTE ON LIPS LANCÔME L’ABSOLU GLOSS IN ROSE CARESS AND L’ABSOLU PLUMPER

S UPER MOD E L SHOW DOWN

Major girls in the V orbit try out the season’s defining looks.

Photography Cameron McNee Fashion Christian Stroble

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TAYLOR HILL

DRESS MANILA GRACE

COLORADO NATIVE AND ALL-AMERICAN GIRL TAYLOR SIZZLES IN FLORALS.

DRESS KENZO

DRESS NICOLE MILLER BOOTS STEVE MADDEN

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YASMIN WIJNALDUM

DUTCH AND SURINAMESE PHENOM YASMIN SHOWCASES HER NEWLY MINTED BOMBSHELL STATUS IN MOTORCYCLE JACKETS.

YASMIN WEARS CLOTHING, SHOES, ACCESSORIES MOSCHINO

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CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES DSQUARED2

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LILY WEARS DRESS AND CAPE MONCLER GAMME ROUGE BRA AND BRIEFS (UNDERNEATH) VICTORIA’S SECRET

DRESS ROBERTO CAVALLI NECKLACE AND RING GUCCI BRACELETS CHROME HEARTS

LILY ALDRIDGE

CALIFORNIA GIRL TURNED NASHVILLE DENIZEN LILY DONS LITTLE BLACK DRESSES.

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DRESS AND BAG GIVENCHY

CLOTHING, SHOES, ACCESSORIES SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO

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STELLA WEARS CLOTHING SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO

STELLA MAXWELL KNOWN FOR HER TOMBOYISH CHARM AND INDELIBLE CONFIDENCE, NEW ZEALANDRAISED STELLA SPORTS SEQUINS.

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DRESS JEREMY SCOTT SHOES GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI

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HANNAH WEARS DRESS REDEMPTION BOOTS GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI RING CHROME HEARTS

DRESS ROBERTO CAVALLI NECKLACE CHROME HEARTS BRACELET (THIS SPREAD) JOHN HARDY

HANNAH FERGUSON

TEXAS-BORN HANNAH EXUDES A CONTEMPORARY SPIN ON ’70S GLAMOUR IN ANIMAL PRINTS.

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CLOTHING COACH 1941

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ELLEN WEARS CLOTHING MISSONI

ELLEN ROSA A BRAZILIAN BEAUTY WITH PIERCING HAZEL EYES, ELLEN STUNS IN SHEER STYLES.

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CLOTHING, SHOES, ACCESSORIES MIU MIU

TOP AND PANTS ISSEY MIYAKE

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SOOJOO WEARS JACKET ZADIG & VOLTAIRE SHIRT WOOLRICH JEANS RALPH LAUREN NECKLACE JOHN HARDY

JEANS COACH 1941 RINGS CHROME HEARTS

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SOO JOO PARK

THE SOUTH KOREAN STAR WITH SIGNATURE PLATINUM LOCKS, SOO JOO IS A VISION IN DENIM.

JACKET AND SHORTS GUESS TOP AG JEANS SUNGLASSES GUCCI NECKLACE CHROME HEARTS SHOES GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI ON FACE L’ORÉAL TRUE MATCH LUMI GLOTION NATURAL GLOW ENHANCER ON EYES L’ORÉAL INFALLIBLE PAINTS METALLIC EYESHADOW KIT ON BODY L’ORÉAL TRUE MATCH LUMI SHIMMERISTA HIGHLIGHTING POWDER

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MARIA BORGES NATURAL BEAUTY AND ANGOLA-BORN MARIA GOES FOR GRAPHICS.

MARIA WEARS CLOTHING, SHOES, JEWELRY LOUIS VUITTON ON FACE L’ORÉAL INFALLIBLE PAINTS BLUSH AND TRUE MATCH LUMI GLOW AMOUR GLOW BOOSTING DROPS IN GOLDEN HOUR ON LIPS L’ORÉAL COLOUR RICHE SHINE LIPSTICK IN SPARKLING ROSE

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DRESS AND SWEATER PRADA SUNGLASSES ALAIN MIKLI

CLOTHING, GLASSES, JEWELRY GUCCI

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ELSA WEARS CLOTHING VALENTINO

ELSA HOSK

FORMER PRO BASKETBALLER AND SWEDISH STUNNER ELSA WEARS TRENCH COATS.

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CLOTHING AND SHOES STELLA MCCARTNEY JEWELRY DAVID YURMAN

CLOTHING BURBERRY WATCH OMEGA

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RILEY MONTANA

RILEY WEARS DRESS DIANE VON FURSTENBERG BRACELETS AND RING (RIGHT MIDDLE FINGER, THIS SPREAD) JOHN HARDY RINGS (THIS SPREAD) CHROME HEARTS BOOTS (THIS SPREAD) GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI

DETROIT NATIVE AND ASPIRING MUSICIAN RILEY WEARS FRINGE.

MAKEUP COURTNEY PERKINS (STREETERS) HAIR (DAY 1) LACY REDWAY (THE WALL GROUP) (DAY 2) ROBERT MEFFORD (ATELIER MANAGEMENT) MODELS TAYLOR HILL (IMG), YASMIN WIJNALDUM (THE SOCIETY MANAGEMENT), LILY ALDRIDGE (IMG), STELLA MAXWELL (THE LIONS), HANNAH FERGUSON (IMG), ELLEN ROSA (DNA MODELS), SOO JOO PARK (WOMEN MANAGEMENT), MARIA BORGES (IMG), ELSA HOSK (IMG), RILEY MONTANA (NEXT) PRODUCTION TESSA MAXWELL, MOLLY CARROLL (THE PRODUCTION FACTORY) BEAUTY PRODUCTION KATIE YU (STREETERS) DIGITAL TECHNICIAN (DAY 1) CHRISTOPHER BLYTHE (DAY 2) MICHAEL CARDIELLO PHOTO ASSISTANTS ETHAN CALABRESE, PARKER FEIERBACH, OUSMAN DIALLO MAKEUP ASSISTANT AYANA AWATA LOCATION ROOT STUDIOS BROOKLYN

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DRESS BOTTEGA VENETA

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CLOTHING AND BAG VERSACE

NEW AGE LOGOMANIA Miquela Sousa, a.k.a. @LilMiquela, takes living online to the next level, and makes it look good. Here, she showcases the best brand-emblazoned looks of the season.

Photography Suman Jack Fashion Mia Solkin Text Lisa Mischianti

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CLOTHING, SHOES, SURFBOARD CHANEL

In a crisp, white Supreme jumpsuit and kelly green Chuck Taylor high-tops, Miquela Sousa poses for a photo in the streets of Los Angeles. Her Instagram feed is full of shots like this: She sits beside a patch of lush cacti wearing raw-edged denim, a striped shirt, and Converse One Star sneakers. She leans on a vintage hot rod sporting a checkerboard crop top, low-slung pants, and Vans Old Skools. She stands against a teal wall in a leather bustier and flame-print skirt. The cacophony of comments from her more than 500,000 followers is deafening, a deluge of adoration punctuated by predictable refrains from haters: “Yes queen!” “You are slaying!”

“Cutest outfit on the cutest angel!” “YOU’RE SO FAKE.” Phony-shaming is standard social media fare, but in this case the criticism is uniquely literal. Because Sousa, strictly speaking, isn’t real—at least not in the traditional human sense.

Sousa’s first Instagram selfie sprang out of the Internet ether in April 2016, under the handle @LilMiquela. Her freckles, full lips, blunt bangs, and wide brown eyes

made for a face that could launch a thousand likes. But viewers quickly noticed that everything from the texture of her skin and hair to the look in her eyes was slightly off. A computer-generated person, a digitally simulated individual, an avatar—call her what you will, but it became clear Sousa was no mere mortal. The extent to which she is a computerized creation, who is behind this effort, and what exactly their motives are remain fiercely debated topics online that may or may not some day find resolution. But in the meantime, Sousa is just living her life (virtually, that is).

“I’m really optimistic about the power of social media. It’s helped me form valuable friendships, gain self-confidence, and inspire people around the world. I want it to be used for good because, like it or not, it’s part of culture now and it’s not going anywhere,” says Sousa via email—an acceptable interview method when your very being is predicated on the Internet. Indeed, through her Instagram she seems to have built a strong social circle of L.A. creatives and Internet (CONTINUED ON PAGE 190) VMAGAZINE.COM 189

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CLOTHING AND BAG BURBERRY

stars: musicians Kacy Hill and Jesse Jo Stark, artists Chloe Wise and Molly Soda, like much of this generation she’s extremely vocal about social justice issues: she and multi-hyphenates like Niki Takesh and Rachael Finley all make cameos in her gives Black Lives Matter a shoutout in her bio and has written passionate posts pictures. And besides the whole nonhuman thing, the lifestyle she projects online about everything from #DefendDACA and Danica Roem to body positivity and the fits squarely into the broader canon of cool Instafamous existence, no different Women’s March. “I’m a really big fan of the work they do at My Friend’s Place,” she than the platform’s more corporeal young female stars. adds, referring to an organization that assists homeless young people. Not to menSousa frequently tags herself at some of the buzziest spots in L.A., citing shops tion, her meme literacy is on-point (cue early-2000s LiLo with Redbull as a #mood). like the Cactus Store, eateries like Amara Kitchen, and art spaces such as Night Like many online peers, she also uses Instagram to promote her primary creGallery and MOCA as her favorites. Unique personal style figures prominently into ative output: music. “It’s tough to classify my sound as I’m constantly being inspired her brand, complete with bold eye looks, lip color, and nail art, plus constant appear- and growing. There are elements of soul and R & B, but I love electronic music and ances from notable streetwear and ready-to-wear labels. “I love old Chanel, Dries there have been a lot of guitars in the studio recently,” says Sousa. “Right now I’ve [Van Noten], Burberry. I’m really into Alyx, MISBHV, and Miaou for everyday wear, been listening to a lot of Rex Orange County and going back to the Ivete Sangalo Martine Rose for a unisex fit, and BornxRaised for a bright colored sweatsuit,” she classics I love.” To date, Sousa has released four singles: “Over You,” “On My Own,” says. “For fashion icons, there’s always Rihanna.” When it comes to being woke, “You Should Be Alone,” and perhaps most notably, “Not Mine” (CONTINUED ON PAGE 193) 190 VMAGAZINE.COM

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CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES COACH 1941

a slow-burning track with an irresistible hook rendered in sultry autotune vocals. “I was listening to a lot of Steve Lacy around the time ‘Not Mine’ was being cut, and I definitely was doing my best to channel some Kelela on ‘You Should Be Alone.’

I love everything about Kelela,” enthuses Sousa. The songs have racked up hundreds of thousands of listens, and garnered her a dedicated fandom dubbed the Miquelites. This puts her in the pantheon of virtual artists like cartoon band Gorillaz and Japanese holographic pop star Hatsune Miku, except that the latter two perform live, while Miquela remains tethered to computer and phone screens—for now. “My biggest goal is to finish this record and start playing live. I cannot wait to get onstage and perform these new songs. I have some collabs coming up with a producer I’ve always admired that I’m really excited about, but I don’t want to blow the surprise just yet,” she teases.

Intrigue aside, Miquela’s sudden and mysterious rise to stardom has been cause

for an Internet-wide existential crisis. Have we fostered an online environment so deeply founded on unattainability and inauthenticity that a digital simulation can more successfully play the game? If Instagram as a medium is defined by fantasy and constructed identity, is Miquela any less “real” than the profoundly Photoshopped, filtered, and cropped fare we’ve come to accept from verifiably human users? Is this an extended performance art piece; Amalia Ulman’s Excellences & Perfections reimagined? Are we overthinking it? Does it matter? “I think we are in an age where authenticity is getting harder to find. People can interpret and project whatever meaning they want onto the images they see on Instagram,” says Sousa matter-offactly. “But I will say regardless of those differing interpretations, I have created real friendships and relationships with people online. The way we support and inspire each other is authentic and meaningful. When someone messages me about how I’ve helped them with their art or identity, that, of course, matters.”

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O NES TO WATCH

For these rising stars, this is just the beginning.

Photography Ben Hassett Fashion Anna Trevelyan

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RAFFEY WEARS (THIS SPREAD) CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES LOUIS VUITTON ON BROWS MAYBELLINE TOTAL TEMPTATION EYEBROW DEFINER PENCIL ON EYES MAYBELLINE VOLUM’ EXPRESS THE FALSIES MASCARA ON CHEEKS MAYBELLINE FIT ME POWDER BLUSH IN PINK ON LIPS MAYBELLINE BABY LIPS MOISTURIZING LIP GLOSS IN A WINK OF PINK

RAFFEY CASSIDY

THE YOUNG BRITISH ACTRESS, ACCLAIMED FOR BOTH HER ROLES AND RED CARPET CHOICES, IS POISED FOR SUPERSTARDOM. Like most 16-year-olds, Raffey Cassidy has just returned home from school, and is starting on her homework. Unlike most 16-year-olds, today that includes an interview—this very one—to promote her latest project: psychological horror film The Killing of a Sacred Deer, co-starring Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell, and Alicia Silverstone, and directed

by Yorgos Lanthimos, known for 2015’s The Lobster. “I have a really normal life, to be honest,” the actress swears over the phone from her family home in Manchester. Of course, “normal” is relative and, for Cassidy, shuffling between sets and school halls is exactly that.

As the youngest of five children, Cassidy grew up watching her siblings, 24-year-old Grace and 22-year-old Finney, navigate acting from an early age. “Grace was first and then when Finney started I remember seeing how much fun they had with acting,” remembers Cassidy, whose acting chops were first discovered when she accompanied her brother to one of his auditions. That eventually led to roles in 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman and 2015’s Tomorrowland, which she refers to as “the first big thing I’ve ever done.” It was beneficial that, throughout the process, she could take cues from veteran George Clooney. “Through observing him, it was helpful to see the way he not only acts but the way he behaves on set,” she recalls.

“The way he treats everyone with respect was something that will stay with me forever.”

Cassidy’s experience on The Killing of a Sacred Deer was similar.

“Because Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell have such different personalities, I learned so much from both of them,” she says. “Nicole was always such a caring person who made everyone feel comfortable on

set. Colin always made you feel quite comfortable as well because he was always having a joke—which was necessary because The Killing of a Sacred Deer was so dark. We were always having fun and laughing on set, which you probably wouldn’t expect.”

Comedy may be an area Cassidy explores next. “I want to see how it all goes down on set,” she says. Her future hopes also include pursuing a career in fashion design, perhaps at Central Saint Martins or the New School’s Parsons School of Design. The interest was piqued after she sat front row at this past London Fashion Week. “I used to want to work in prosthetics for film,” she says, “[But] in the last year, I went to the Louis Vuitton and Burberry fashion shows and that set me on wanting to do fashion. I was so inspired by the runway.” Still, “I’m always changing my mind,” says Cassidy. “Acting has always been the one thing I want to do.”

Cassidy has her acting career on hold at the moment, as she’s currently finishing high school and preparing to take her GCE test (England’s GED equivalent). Even so, she has thought about her future dream cast: “Definitely Britt Robertson,” she says. “Saoirse Ronan—I haven’t worked with her but I’d love to one day. George Clooney, definitely. Obviously, I’d want my brothers and sisters in it.” Working with her siblings would indeed help her preserve the balance she’s struck between being a career actress and a teenager. “I enjoy having the two different worlds,” she says, before correcting herself: “No, the best of both worlds.” Considering all of the momentum she’s gained just over the past couple of years, though, it might not be long until the two become one. MARISSA G. MULLER VMAGAZINE.COM 195

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KIM PETRAS

THE UNABASHEDLY GLITZY, TRANSGENDER STAR IS A PROLIFIC SONGWRITER AND OUTSPOKEN ADVOCATE FOR THE TRANS COMMUNITY. It’s not often that a Sephora checkout inspires an entire song, but that’s exactly what happened to Kim Petras. “My manager took me to Sephora and said, ‘Buy whatever you want,’ and I did,” the pop singer-songwriter recalls of how her debut single was conceived.

“He got tense at the checkout and the checkout lady was like, ‘Just close your eyes and swipe it sweetie,’ and we laughed, wrote it down, and were like, ‘This is the greatest lyric ever!’”

That line spawned “I Don’t Want It At All,” which topped Spotify’s Global Viral 50 chart after its debut and kicked off Petras’s career.

Her pop fantasy sound nods to the frothy bubblegum and rhythmic melodies of the early aughts. “I lived in a small town in Germany,” she says. “I felt so far away from everything, and I just always went home to watch Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Spice Girls music videos on loop, and escape to that fabulous world.”

You’d be hard-pressed to find a popstar today embracing the joys of superficiality and plastic fantasy quite as much as Petras, who created her own fabulous world with the “Want It” video, even scoring a cameo from Paris Hilton. But prior to launching her music career, the artist caught worldwide attention for a completely different reason: she’s one of the youngest people on record to have had gender reassignment surgery, undergoing the procedure at just 16 years old.

“I always felt like a girl,” Petras says. “I grew up wondering what was wrong with me. I was really depressed and suicidal as a kid.”

Terrified of going through male puberty, she started hormone treatments around 11 years old with the unconditional support of her parents, who even urged her to participate in documentaries about being transgender to help families who weren’t as understanding.

“My mom told me there was a way to live life as a girl. I didn’t have to live life as a boy, because I didn’t want to live as a boy,” she says.

Petras underscores that her experience as a transgender woman doesn’t figure into her songwriting—at least not anymore. “Of course, the way I was feeling during that time was very, ‘I’m an outsider, people think I’m crazy.’ A lot of my earlier songs used to be about that, but then as I grew up, it was just more about normal emotional things,” she relays. “I just write pop songs that I want to live in.” She notes that her artistic growth wasn’t rapid: “I wasn’t great in the beginning.

I wrote these stupid songs about guys I liked in school who didn’t like me back.” But she hit the ground running after moving to Los Angeles. Petras ended up writing an astounding 400 tracks over the process of creating her debut album.

“It’s funny because my first album feels like a greatest hits of the last five years,” she says. “I feel like a princess on Hollywood Boulevard. I love really glossy, glamorous stuff with a little dirt on it.”

What if she were to ironically title her debut record Greatest Hits?

“We’ve thought about that,” she says. “That would definitely be funny, but I don’t know if people would get it at all. They’d be like, ‘Who is this?’” Pretty soon, the world will know regardless. JAKE VISWANATH

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KIM WEARS (THIS SPREAD) CLOTHING SALVATORE FERRAGAMO JEWELRY CARTIER ON EYES MARC JACOBS BEAUTY BROW WOW DEFINING LONGWEAR PENCIL ON EYES AND CHEEKS BITE BEAUTY THE MULTISTICK IN LOTUS ON LIPS MARC JACOBS BEAUTY ENAMORED HI-SHINE LIP LACQUER IN UPROAR

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ZURI WEARS (THIS SPREAD) CLOTHING VERSACE JEWELRY TIFFANY & CO ON FACE M.A.C MINERALIZE MOISTURE SPF 15 FOUNDATION IN NC45 AND EXTRA DIMENSION X 2 COMPACT / M.A.C SELECT ON EYES M.A.C TECHNAKOHL LINER IN SUPERFLY ON LIPS M.A.C PLUSHGLASS IN NICE BUZZ

ZURI MARLEY

SHE MAY HAVE AN ILLUSTRIOUS REGGAE PEDIGREE, BUT IT’S NOT DEFINING HER BURGEONING MUSIC CAREER. “I have insomnia. Between the hours of 4 AM and 6 AM, that’s when I’m most stimulated,” says Zuri Marley of her peak creativity as an artist. “My brain can just go anywhere it wants, because I feel like I feel all of the energy of people sleeping, the emptiness, and that’s what I feed off of.”

If you told Marley that this sounded vampiric or weird, the musician and actress would take it as a compliment. Despite her lineage (Bob is her grandfather, and Ziggy her father), she marches to the beat of her own drum—a beat that veers far from reggae music, despite her family’s unshakable legacy. Instead, Marley’s currently pursuing a lo-fi electronic sound that feels ripe for evolution as she begins to share more material, of which she has plenty. November of last year, she released her debut single, “Beg for It.” “Crazy bitches are cool. Weird people are cool,” she notes. “If you’re out there, whether that’s quiet and quirky or loud and obnoxious, or you’re flamboyant or whatever it is, just when you’re being yourself, that’s when you’re cool. Most people, when they’re being themselves, people say they’re weird. It’s like, we’re all weird as fuck.

Is anybody normal?”

Despite only being 22 years young, Marley speaks with a level of nonchalance and confidence that exceeds her time here on earth, which has thus far been mostly divided between Kingston, Jamaica and New York City, where she just graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She returns to the former city often, but generally refers to herself as a nomad, having spent a great deal of time in Paris and Seattle—the latter a fairly atypical favorite—for various DJ gigs. She prefers traveling to places that

feel a little off-the-grid: “I just want to experience that and live in that and work and have my mind. Sometimes it’s hard. You lose your mind in the big city. I’ve always had that city vibe, but New York is a beast for sure.”

Still, Marley’s confidence isn’t always as bulletproof as it seems.

“I didn’t sing for two years, I didn’t write for two years,” she admits.

“I’d go to put the pen down and it’d be like, Okay, you’re stupid. Don’t do that. Don’t do anything.” Eventually, a unique combination of time and experience has helped her fight against self-doubt, despite still occasionally feeling nervous at heart. “I always tell people I’m really the only person who can stop me. But I just keep on my own path, even if it’s slow, you know? I just breathe.”

That can be difficult when it seems like everyone has an opinion on your career’s direction. “I do encounter a lot of people who say, oh, you should do island pop, whatever that means,” she laments of the feedback she often encounters. “I’m really not taking that into consideration.” Reggae and island tunes probably have less of an impact on Marley’s life than one might assume; she recalls falling in love with music through artists like John Mayer, Tracy Chapman, No Doubt, and Kanye West—music her mom played for her as a child during three-hour drives to a Jamaican literary festival.

Currently, Marley is making new tracks, doing more acting, and generally chasing what she refers to as “more life.” She feels she’s in discovery mode, which includes exploring self-acceptance.

“Everything I want to be better at, I’ve wanted to be better at,” she offers in a self-reflective moment. “Some things have worked, and some things are maybe just a part of who I am.” MATHIAS ROSENZWEIG VMAGAZINE.COM 199

ON EYES TOM FORD EYE GLOSS AND FULLSCREEN LASH MASCARA

SARAH SNYDER

THIS ASPIRING MODEL AND ACCIDENTAL SOCIAL MEDIA MAVEN IS DOMINATING THE INSTAGRAM GAME. Model and sometime-stylist Sarah Snyder is not one for subtlety—and proudly, purposefully so. Just look at her Instagram, now at 1.6 million followers and counting. Her handle, @sarahfuckingsnyder, sets the tone, and the shots, all selfies, are unabashedly high on self-love. “I’m from North Carolina and I’ve been living in New York around three years,” explains the 22-year-old social media star. “I moved here just to get out of the small town I was in, and I’ve done styling and modeling and I’m just going with whatever I feel.”

Over the past three years, this has included a well-documented relationship with Jaden Smith (the two locked lips front row at Hood

By Air’s Fall 2016 runway show in New York, and caught the attention of pretty much everyone everywhere), an Internet-famous run-in with the law (she was arrested for allegedly stealing a Birkin; the charges were dropped but she did get to make a viral T-shirt out of her mugshot), lunch with Leonardo DiCaprio, and modeling jobs with Uniqlo, Hugo Boss, Dolce & Gabbana, and Yeezy, among others. “My number one interest has always been clothes. I’ve been into fashion since high school,” says Snyder, whose style is heavy on streetwear and involves a mix of Vetements, Thrasher, and Supreme. “Originally, I thought that I wanted to do more styling and work with clothes,” she says, “but I’ve been doing modeling and that’s what I’m working on now.”

A laid-back, self-confident attitude seems to permeate everything

Snyder does. “My inspiration? I’d say myself,” she says. “I think if you work hard, there’s an openness [in the fashion industry]. If you just put in the effort to do it, you can achieve it. I just do myself and try not to look around at others.” In a cultural climate that celebrates putting yourself out there, Snyder’s modus operandi is a big part of the appeal. “I think it’s the energy and the attitude in the picture. And the confidence of it,” she says of her online popularity, admitting to taking “one million and one photos” before choosing the right one.

“I think it’s the confidence thing and the coolness thing and I don’t really care what other people think. That’s always been my thing and that’s genuine and that’s true. I think a lot of people have felt inspired by that, and been like, oh wow, it doesn’t matter what this person thinks of me, I think that I’m the shit and that’s what matters.” Still, she says she’s in the Instagram game not for the followers, but for her own fulfillment and fun.

Currently, Snyder is signed to Re:Quest Model Management in New York, and she says she’s hoping for more modeling work, more travel, and more new experiences in the future. “I love Japan, and I’m about to go back,” she says. “There are a few other places on my list and [eventually] I would love to have traveled the world.

I’m excited about my life and the journeys that I go on. I’m excited about myself.” ASHLEY SIMPSON

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SARAH WEARS CLOTHING PRADA JEWELRY BULGARI ON BROWS TOM FORD BROW SCULPTOR ON EYES TOM FORD EYE QUAD IN GOLDEN MINK ON CHEEKS TOM FORD SOLEIL SHEER CHEEK DUO IN PARADISE LUST ON LIPS TOM FORD ULTRA SHINE LIP GLOSS IN LOST CHERRY

MAKEUP MARLA BELT (STREETERS) HAIR JOEY GEORGE (MANAGEMENT+ARTISTS) MANICURE NAOMI YASUDA (MANAGEMENT+ARTISTS) DIGITAL TECHNICIAN CARLO BARRETO PHOTO ASSISTANTS ROEG COHEN, ERIC HOBBS MAKEUP ASSISTANT ALEX ALMEIDA LOCATION VSCO STUDIO

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LUCKY BLUE AND PYPER AMERICA SMITH IN SALT LAKE CITY PHOTOGRAPHY JORDEN KEITH FASHION ELIZABETH CARVALHO SHOT AT BONNEVILLE SALT FLATS

Makeup Elie Maalouf (Tracey Mattingly) Hair Benoit Moeyaert (The Wall Group) Model Lucky Blue Smith (IMG), Pyper America Smith (IMG) Photo assistant Jenna Russell

V embarks on a bold new fashion series exploring dynamic cities across America, documented by photographers and models with strong local ties.

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“I like the pace of the city. It’s nice and relaxing to go back. It’s not too fast.”

–Lucky Blue Smith

“The creative energy definitely comes from a young crowd in Utah. The small-town nature of the place puts out a lot of homegrown creatives that surround themselves with all the natural beauty that’s there.”

–Pyper America Smith

LUCKY BLUE WEARS CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES PRADA SHOES CONVERSE PYPER AMERICA WEARS CLOTHING PRADA SHOES CONVERSE EARRING HER OWN

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TEDDY QUINLIVAN IN BOSTON PHOTOGRAPHY HENRIQUE PLANTIKOW FASHION SARAH BENGE SHOT AT CASTLE ISLAND

Makeup Michaela Bosch Hair Alexandra Angelone (Team Artist Reps) Model Teddy Quinlivan (Women Management)

TEDDY WEARS CLOTHING, SHOES, ACCESSORIES MIU MIU

“With such amazing schools like Harvard and MIT it’s a place where innovation is always happening and new young minds are challenged to discover and create. I believe the new technologies discovered by these young people can revolutionize not just fashion, but our daily lives.”

–Teddy Quinlivan

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“I love the beach and the fact that it feels like home.

It also has some of the best shopping in the best weather. The energy is very chill.”

–Zuri Tibby

ZURI TIBBY IN WEST PALM BEACH PHOTOGRAPHY ELLIOT & ERICK FASHION OMAR SHOT AT MIZNER FOUNTAIN

Makeup Bo using Chanel Palette Essentielle Hair Bo using R+Co Manicure May using Zoya Model Zuri Tibby (IMG)

ZURI WEARS CLOTHING, SHOES, ACCESSORIES BALENCIAGA

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“Los Angeles is home to me; it’s where I feel most comfortable. I love being able to run around the city that I know like the back of my hand.”

–Sistine Stallone

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Makeup Lucy Halperin (The Wall Group) Hair Caile Noble (Starworks Artists) Model Sistine Stallone (IMG) Stylist assistant Becca Goldman

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BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO SHOES OLGANA PARIS

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“I love that people move to New York with such purpose. There is such a drive here—like nowhere else. Everyone who moves here, we all become orphans in some respect, because people rarely have their families here, so when you are here you build your own little family.”

–Lexi Boling

LEXI BOLING AND BEN ALLEN IN BROOKLYN PHOTOGRAPHY MAX PAPENDIECK FASHION ANDREW MUKAMAL SHOT AT BROOKLYN BRIDGE

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Makeup Stoj (Streeters) using Jillian Dempsey Hair Adam Markarian using Davines Models Lexi Boling (IMG), Ben Allen (IMG) Photo producer Paul Preiss Photo assistants Hose Cedono, Keith MacDonald Stylist assistant Jermaine Daley

LEXI WEARS CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES TOMMY HILFIGER SHOES CONVERSE X J.W. ANDERSON

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