Trace 80

Transcultural Styles + Ideas

True beauty

us $5.99 can $7.99 uk £3.95 Fr ¤5.50 Photography MARC BAPTISTE

contents

photo CHITO YOSHIDA

MAIN

6

MASTHEAD

8

CONTRIBUTORS + LETTERS

54

INTRO

10

EDITOR’S LETTER

58

SHE’S COME UNDONE

CODE

74

ROUNDTABLE ON BEAUTY

82

TRANSCULTURAL BEAUTY CASTING CALL

94

TOKYO UNDRESSED

14

MODEL BEHAVIOUR JESSI

18

BEAUTIFUL

22

ART ETERNAL VANESSA BEECROFT

26

SCREENTEST HOLLYWOOD BODIES

32

INSIDER 24 HOURS IN NYC BEAUTY

44

FASHION DAVID LYNCH & CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN’S FETISH

CITISCAPE 104

NEW YORK The city that never sleeps bares it all

OUTRO

ISSUE No.

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photo MARC BAPTISTE

126

STOCKIST

128

LUCKY SEVEN ALEK WEK

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HUMANITY IN ACTION

masthead #80

CHAIRMAN & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF_CLAUDE GRUNITZKY EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR_STEVEN PSYLLOS FEATURES EDITOR_YOLANDA SANGWENI INTERNATIONAL EDITOR_ANICÉE GADDIS ASSISTANT EDITOR_SELENA RICKS EDITOR AT LARGE_STEPHEN GRECO WEB EDITOR_LAURA MARCUS EDITORIAL INTERNS_CAROLYN BRENNAN, DALIA DAVIES, SAMANTHA ETANE, ASHLEY HENRY, NYIJIA JONES, NIKKO LENCEK-INAGAKI, KASAI RICHARDSON, ALEX STEED, SARAH WHITE STAFF WRITERS_DEVIN “PAN” BARRETT, STEVE MASCATELLO SPECIAL CONTRIBUTING EDITOR_RZA ART CREATIVE DIRECTOR_KATIE CONSTANS DESIGNERS_CRAYON LEE, ANDY LI FASHION FASHION DIRECTOR_CHRISTINE DE LASSUS FASHION MARKET EDITOR_Robyn V. Fernandes FASHION INTERNS_KIRA ALVAREZ, DAPHNE DAVALIÉ, SELMA JAKOBSSEN UK EDITORIAL UK EDITOR_PARDEEP SALL PRINT AND PRODUCTION MANAGER_MARC BOLTON FASHION EDITOR_DAVINA MASHRU EDITORIAL AND FASHION ASSISTANT_MELISSA SIMPEMBA ART ASSISTANT_SIMON AUCKLAND CONTRIBUTING WRITERS_RIKKI KASSO CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS_MARC BAPTISTE, CHRIS CLINTON, ERNESTO GONZALEZ, RIKKI KASSO, ANDY LI, DAVID LYNCH, SEAN MURPHY, NUTE NICHOLSON, ERIC TRAORE, MIKAEL VOJINOVIC

SHE’S COME UNDONE

CONTRIBUTING STYLISTS_AMBER GORDON

photography MARC BAPTISTE FASHION AMBER GORDON HAIR RODNEY GROVES @ JUDY CASEY MAKEUP JENERIO @ JUDY CASEY MODELS MELIDA @ NEW YORK MODELS; TIAH ECHHARDT@ELITE; LIU DAN @ MC2; DOMINIQUE @ ELITE; SAMMY JO @ MC2; all shoes_Puma all soccer socks_adidas

MANAGING DIRECTOR_ANDREW MCANGUS ADVERTISING DIRECTOR_RAIHN SIBBLIES ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE_JEFF SUAREZ MARKETING COORDINATOR_SIGOURNEY SALLEY MARKETING INTERNS_SYREETA LOCKETT, SHERESE SHORTER PUBLISHER UK_BEN MARTIN OPERATIONS MANAGER UK_LANA DE MEILLON MALARD UK INTERNS_MARQUITA HARRIS, MICHAELA NESSIM WEBMASTER_ANDY LI

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©2007 TRACE magazine

programs are designed to promote and facilitate an ongoing transAtlantic dialogue about the challenges that democratic societies encounter as they experience new degrees and forms of diversity. The goal is to reinforce the HIA Fellows’ commitment to democratic values and human rights; to encourage American and European students to become leaders in these fields; and to foster a growing international community bound together by these commitments. The core program culminates in individual research projects addressing prescient human rights issues in the host countries. Prestigious international internships are available to those who successfully complete the American or European program. Internship opportunities include the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the U.S. House of Representatives, the European Parliament and many more. Program eligibility Applicants to the HIA core programs must be matriculated sophomores, juniors, seniors, or recent graduates (May 2006 or later) at accredited, four-year colleges or universities in the United States. Fellows will be selected on the basis of academic achievement, evidence of leadership potential, interest in minority issues and demonstrated commitment to human rights. To ensure participation of all qualified students, HIA pays for travel, housing and meals associated with the programs. Please visit www.humanityinaction.org for complete details.

LEARN COLLABORATE LEAD INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIPS IN HUMAN RIGHTS THE HIA AMERICAN PROGRAM NEW YORK CITY Core Program: July 11 - August 15, 2008 Berlin Internship: August 23 - November 25, 2008 San Francisco Internship: August 21 - October 17, 2008 Fellows in the American program will explore how Americans understand, practice and manage diversity. Topics include: • The legal, cultural, economic, religious and political resources available to those who advocate a more tolerant, inclusive and participatory society • Contemporary debates over race, immigration, religion and the role of public and private sectors in addressing social problems

THE HIA EUROPEAN PROGRAMS AMSTERDAM, BERLIN, COPENHAGEN, PARIS & WARSAW Core Program: June 3 - July 8, 2008 The European programs focus on three interrelated areas of historic and contemporary importance: • Current human rights and minority issues in the host countries • The development of international human rights institutions and doctrines in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust • Examples of resistance to the Holocaust

TRACE MAGAZINE (ISSN 1366-1752) IS PUBLISHED TEN TIMES A YEAR BY TRACE, INC. TRACE MAGAZINE IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THE MAGAZINE ARE THOSE OF RESPECTIVE CONTRIBUTORS AND ARE NOT NECESSARILY SHARED BY THE MAGAZINE, ITS STAFF OR PUBLISHER. ALTHOUGH TRACE MAGAZINE IS ALWAYS ON THE HUNT FOR DOPE MANUSCRIPTS, ARTWORK AND PHOTOGRAPHY, ALL CONTRIBUTORS OF UNSOLICITED MATERIAL MUST MAKE ARRANGEMENTS FORF THEIR COLLECTION AND RETURN. TRACE MAGAZINE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOSS, DAMAGE, OR INJURY TO UNSOLICITED CONTRIBUTION.

APPLY

HUMANITYINACTION.ORG DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION IS FEBRUARY 7, 2008

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contributors

LAURA MARCUS Laura was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, leaving her beloved city for a Midwestern education in 2001. After graduating, she made her way to New York City and has been here ever since. Interning everyone from Spin, to Heeb, to TRACE, she ended her long unpaid journey to become Web Editor in May 2007.

KATIE CONSTANS

My Most Beautiful Experience? “Seeing my name in print for the first time.”

Katie was born in Mexico City, Mexico and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She spent 10 years traveling as an international model all over Asia, Europe and Australia, making her a true transculturalist. A few years ago she decided to settle in Paris and work as a fashion stylist pursuing her passion, working with top photographers creating amazing images for French magazines. This is where fate met destiny and TRACE asked her to come to New York to “help out at the magazine” She is now creative director of the magazine and is living her dream. My Most Beautiful Experience? “The transcendental experience of love is always the most beautiful experience and the most devastating.”

STEVEN PSYLLOS Steven is a NYC native who walks the streets very confused during these long winter months. Perhaps it is the Mediterranean in his Greek blood. Perhaps he’s like Superman, needing the sun to recharge his battery. Either way, Steven finds warmth on the canvas and in the ink he lays, so all is right in the world. My Most Beautiful Experience? “I find beauty in the moments when the mind is free to create new plots. Also, my lady has this one speck of brown in her ocean blue eyes which is like my very own continent.”

ANICÉE GADDIS Anicée joined TRACE as its Executive Editor in 2001. After serving in that position for more than five years, she moved on to help found the new sister publication, Terrace. A dedicated world traveler, Anicee is currently the International Editor of TRACE, and focuses on documenting citiscapes ranging from Buenos Aires to New Delhi to Copenhagen. My Most Beautiful Experience? “Beautiful experiences happen every day...there are too many to describe.”

SELENA RICKS Selena was born and raised in Maine where she was a newspaper reporter for five years covering everything from politics to music and youth culture. She moved to NYC three years ago, and has been at TRACE for two years. She lives in Ft. Greene with two roommates and her adorable cat, Mo. Other than writing she likes to paint, run, do yoga and go to concerts. My Most Beautiful Experience? “Falling in love, and at the same time, learning to love myself...”

CRAYON LEE Crayon came to the U.S. in 2001 from Seoul, Korea. Working as the creative director for Korean fashion label “Kiok”, she also began working with TRACE in January of 2007. After graduating from Pratt in May, she set her sights on Trace and is now part of the design team, while continuing to contribute fabulous photography to the magazine. My Most Beautiful Experience? “I was at the beach around 4pm, not quite sober, reading my favorite book Between Calm & Passion by Kaori Ekuni for the ninth time, and somehow there was lots of cash in my purse.”

YOLANDA SANGWENI Yolanda worked for several South African magazines before setting her sights back on Brooklyn, NYC in 2003. Raised partially in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa and Harlem, NY, where her family was exiled in the 80s, she first started putting pen to paper after endless hours spent watching Beverly Hills 90210. She never saw any black people, much less Africans, on the show, so she would create her scripts about a wealthy African ambassador’s daughter who moved into Beverly Hills and caused a ruckus. Her next and totally opposite inspiration for wanting to write was reading Beloved by Toni Morrison. My Most Beautiful Experience? “Cuddling in bed, with my one-year-old son trying to wrap his little arms around me.”

ANDY LI Andy was born in Hong Kong, and has lived in New York City since the age of six. Andy dreams of someday becoming a leading figure in the creative field. His passion and eye for graphic design won him many awards during his years at Parsons School of Design, where he studied under world-renowned designers like Lance Wyman, Martin Solomon, Jonathan Wajskol, Alvin Grosman and Leslie A. Segal. Andy now works as part of the design team at TRACE. My Most Beautiful Experience? “When people are having a good time looking at my work.”

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editor’s letter

ISSUE No.

Now that we’ve accepted that this magazine needs to be what it should be, and what it’s always been (in its best moments), we no longer chase after the latest celebrity rapper, or the creator of the latest hit single, or the lead actress in the latest blockbuster, because, after all, TRACE is TRACE and US Weekly is US Weekly and Cosmo is Cosmo. There comes a time when an intuitive editor needs to accept the simple truth that thinking – and acting – differently from the competition is actually a strength and not a weakness. Still, we are not fools. We know – and accept – that in this new digital age, magazines (in order to survive as print publications) need to be crafted into distinct objects of desire. So when we started brainstorming around the concept behind the first issue of the new year (our “True Beauty” edition), we agreed that all the talent featured should be naked, in the literal – and metaphorical – sense of the word. When, at one of our editorial meetings last year, our assistant editor Selena Ricks distributed issue plans that featured the word “Undraped” as a main rallying point, we went ahead with the concept of nudity and never looked back. Someone suggested that we call Marc Baptiste, the Haitian-American lensman (and longtime TRACE contributor) who has published (for the book publisher Rizzoli) three acclaimed tomes dedicated to the beauty of the feminine form. In all honesty, Marc loves dangerous curves, and we thought our readers would too. For the cover shot and main portfolio, Marc cast a wild, transcultural bunch of lovely ladies from four continents who, in his mind, represent true beauty in its purest form. The difficult part was editing the most risqué photos into a publishable set of pages that would make it past our advertisers desks. We decided to be true to ourselves, and allow a few (too many?) nipples into the issue. Come what may, TRACE is TRACE and we will gladly suffer the consequences. Please judge for yourself. As the great Danish philosopher Kierkegaard once wrote, “Face the facts of being what you are, for that is what changes what you are.” - CLAUDE GRUNITZKY Contestants arriving at 41 Great Jones Street. photography_JENNY BAPTISTE

CORRECTIONS: In the “Screentest” feature on actress Melody Khazae in the Music Uncommon issue (#79), it was incorrectly stated that the director of the movie Crossing Over is Wayne Katz. The director’s name is Wayne Kramer. We regret the error. We neglected to credit stylist Nathalie Saphier for her work on our cover story on singer Lily Allen (Styles Ahead, #77). We regret the error.

FASHION POLICE #79: The Code Mode story page 30 to page 37 in the Music Uncommon issue (#79) was photographed by Muriel Vega, fashion and casting by Flora Zoutu. We apologize for the omission. Australia > Austria > Bahamas > Brazil > Canada > Denmark > France > Germany > Greece > Hong Kong > Ireland > Italy > Japan > Lebanon > Luxembourg > Mauritius > Mexico > Netherlands > New Zealand > Norway > Pakistan > Philippines > Poland > Portugal > Puerto Rico > Singapore > South Africa > Spain > Sweden > Switzerland > United States > United Kingdom > Venezuela 1 4     T RACE

model behaviour

GIRL, INTERRUPTED photo_MIKAEL VOJINOVIC

JESSI AGENCY: Code Models STATS: 5’9” 34-24-34 Where were you born? Lyon, France Where do you live now? New York What’s your nickname? Frenchy How would you describe your look? Funky chic What’s playing on your iPod right now? Robin Thicke Were you popular in high school? Nope, and I didn’t care! Who is your dream boyfriend? My boyfriend, Mike What do you do when you get dumped? That hasn’t happened, yet What are you doing tonight? Candles, dim light and a great book What last made you cry? Last week I smacked my baby toe on a chair. 1 6     T RACE

If your house was burning down, what’s the first thing you would grab? My passport and credit card What three people would you like to meet, living or dead? Kunta Kinte, Edith Piaf, Haile Selassie What’s your ringtone right now? Some random Cingular tone Sneakers or stilettos? Sneakers forever Early bird or night owl? Night is my dawn, and dawn is my night Cocktail or cappuccino? Red wine Favorite city? New York for the fun, Hong Kong for the shopping and Paris with my boyfriend What’s always in your purse? My cellphone. I would die without it!

all t-shirts_Original Music Shirt www.mikaelvojinovic.com SPECIAL THANKS to Splashlight

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text_SELENA RICKS photography_CHITO YOSHIDA

Your body is a wonderland

FULL-BLOWN BLOOM

beautiful

I

nspired by neon lights, early ‘20s cabaret, musicals and the chaotic energy and colors of Coney Island, Brooklyn-by-way-of-Tokyo photographer Chito Yoshida sought to implement a dose of sarcasm in her portrayal of women and flowers on these pages. Using flower paintings by Saori Kanda, Chito says the project reflects “plastic superficial beauty, which forms a thin layer over a pool of mud.” What is beautiful? “Beauty for me is the structure and movement of the body, creating an atmosphere which you can almost smell and touch.”

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art eternal

Vanessa Beecroft, VB 56, 2005. LVMH, Paris France. Courtesy of artist.

Vanessa Beecroft, VB 48, 2001. Palazzo Ducale, Genoa, Italy. Courtesy of artist.

EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES Artist Vanessa Beecroft’s arresting performances find meaning in our reactions to the naked body text_STEVEN PSYLLOS

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photography_COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

O

ne of the most influential artists working today, Vanessa Beecroft, places the female form on display yet turns the focus on the viewer’s reaction. Her work is an experience, combining theater and sculpture. The subject matter is a small (or large) cluster of nudes whose combined aura fills the space and the spectators in attendance. The performance begins with models standing frozen in position within the site—which has ranged from the Guggenheim in New York City to the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa, Italy. The audience finds its place, their eyes examining the nudes, the living painting. Then, almost like ice melting, the sexuality subsides, the shock of “nakedness” disappears, and one starts to notice the subtle movements, the lines of the forms, the juxtaposition of the natural body against the architecture, the overall composition, and it is so beautiful. Vanessa describes her models as individual aspects of her psyche, the combined “army;” a snapshot of her mind frame at that moment.

Her first performance displayed her Book of Food – an obsessive diary of everything she ate for a decade – along with 30 models coping with eating disorders floating around the gallery. It is no secret that the artist herself suffered from eating disorders. Her installations over the past 13 years have included Amazonian alpha-females and “normal” everyday women. In the female nude, one can find the blueprint of a society’s beauty ritual, fashion trends and other cultural signifiers. As of late, it seems Vanessa’s work has shifted from self-image to cultural image, broadening from a reflection of one self to a reflection of the world around her. For the opening of the Venice Biennial 2007, she presented a work dedicated to Darfur titled VB61 that was horrifically mesmerizing. As her work evolves, we witness the artist’s struggles and experiences placed before us like a Greek chorus, silently expressing where the plot is heading.

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Vanessa Beecroft, VB 48, 2001. Palazzo Ducale, Genoa, Italy. Courtesy of artist.

“Nudity is classical and pure and naked and rough, there is drama but there is also a distance from it.” How do you describe your work? I display women in the place of an art object in a space that is an art institution or museum. The women follow a set of rules of behavior of which the most important is not to speak. What themes do you explore with your female installations? I see issues with identity, I see sexuality, concepts of beauty, I see a return to the essence, solitude amongst a crowd, I see the voyeur and the exhibitionist, I see humor... I came to the realization that the performances follow an autobiographical path. They aim to represent women in general but their specifics follow my story line. Nudity is classical and pure and naked and rough, there is drama but there is also a distance from it, there is loneliness but at the same time the multiplication of it in a compact group… What do you look for in your models/subjects? Something I can identify with and something I cannot understand at all. What comes to mind when you think of the nude form? It truly depends on what body, but the first words that come to my mind are beauty, vulnerability, abuse, shame. Your work is very much about the reaction of the audience to the installations. What was the most revealing reaction you’ve heard about an installation? One of vulgarity, where women are seen as sexual objects. This disturbs me and has motivated many of my past performances. What is beauty? Truth, whatever that means. The opposite of a lie. When was the last time you were overwhelmed by seeing or experiencing something so beautiful? In South Sudan, in a cattle camp during a wedding dance. Actually, South Sudan, in general. It happens when I experience cultures and environments that still have an identity and are permeated with culture and usually belong to what is defined as the “third world.” What are some of your instructions to the models before a performance? Do you ask them to meditate on something specific?

DO NOT SPEAK. DO NOT WHISPER. DO NOT LAUGH. DO NOT MAKE THEATRICAL MOVEMENTS. DO NOT MAKE MOVEMENTS THAT ARE TOO FAST. DO NOT MAKE MOVEMENTS THAT ARE TOO SLOW. BE PLAIN. BE NATURAL. BE DETACHED. BE QUIET. BE SILENT. BE TALL AT THE BEGINNING. TOWARDS THE MIDDLE RELAX AND BE MORE NATURAL. BE STRONG. BE CLASSIC. BE REMOTE. BE UNAPPROACHABLE. BE LIKE A PICTURE. BEHAVE AS IF NO ONE IS IN THE ROOM. ACT NATURALLY WITHIN THE GIVEN RULES. DO NOT BREAK THE RULES. ACT WITHIN THE RULES UNTIL THE END OF THE PERFORMANCE. YOU ARE LIKE A IMAGE, ANY MOVEMENT DETERMINES THE IMAGE. THE MUSEUM IS AN INTELLECTUALLY SAFE ENVIRONMENT. YOUR IMAGE IS PART OF AN ART WORK. IGNORE PEOPLE WHO LOOK AT YOU TOO MUCH. THE NUDITY IS NOT SUPPOSED TO AROUSE THE AUDIENCE. THE NUDITY IS NOT MEANT TO MAKE YOU FEEL VULNERABLE. THE NUDITY IS LIKE A UNIFORM.

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screentest

ALMOST FAMOUS Not all of tinseltown’s actresses have to put their best face forward – some are rewarded for their beautiful extremities text_LAURA MARCUS

F

photography_SEAN MURPHY

or the thousands of sprightly hopefuls who make their way to Hollywood, the prospect of becoming the next Charlize Theron is the stuff dreams are made of. But what if your “money maker” could double for the Oscar winner’s instead? For this month’s TRUE BEAUTY issue we decided to take a deeper look at those young hopefuls who might fall through the cracks. As body doubles and parts models, the triumphant threesome we found are part of a less-glittery but equally vital part of Hollywood – they grace the silver screen and the pages of your fave mags and billboards with little recognition. Searching for our subjects, we came across LA’s Body Parts Models Inc., owned by Linda Teglovic. Once a model herself, Linda fell into the profession by accident. Print work turned into body doubling for the likes of Rene Russo, Kim Bassinger and Gina Davis. She hand-picks her models based on a few important credentials such as great skin and a healthy physique, but most important is “a great attitude and the ability to be both professional and dependable,” she says. And her models aren’t stereotypical Valley Girls – her roster includes an astronaut, a UCLA professor and an Olympian. Brains, brawn and beauty – they’ve got it all!

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KATRINA NELSON What do you double? I double hands and feet quite a bit, however, I am more of a full body double. I have done legs, butt, back, arms – you name it. What’s your favorite feature? I think the part I get complimented on the most are my legs, so I guess I would say legs. How did you get into body doubling? I actually got into parts modeling accidentally. I was sent into an audition for a Japanese company called Lux Spa to double for Charlize Theron. I booked the job because apparently I was a good match for Charlize’s body type, so they ended up using me for three more commercials. [On] the last shoot there was a girl who was a hand model and she referred me to her parts agent, which became my current agency. Why are you so comfortable in your skin? Well, lets face it, there are days when I wake up feeling fat, like every other woman on the planet. However, I am and always have been an athlete. I feel the most comfortable and confident when I am strong and active. I play beach volleyball two to three times a week as well as do Pilates a few days a week. Are you secretive about your roles? Not really. I feel like you never know what can come out of any job. There are always opportunities for networking and making contacts for future work.

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ADELE UDDO How do you prepare your body part for a scene? Well, preparing for a scene usually requires a lot of waxing. You try to keep your body in shape all the time, so the rest is up keep. Manicures, pedicures, body scrubs, waxing. Just polished and put together. Do you have insurance on your most prized body part? No, I don’t have anything insured. It’s a bit hard when my “part” is my entire body. I am also an actress, so if parts were my entire livelihood, then maybe it would be something to consider. How do you feel about the fact that you are making a career from your physical beauty? I work hard, I show up. It’s a job. Some days it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t. You just roll with the punches and try not to pay too much attention to that aspect of the industry. I’m just glad that teachers and doctors aren’t selected based on these criteria.

What do you double? I primarily do hands. What’s your favorite feature? I suppose my favorite feature would probably be my hands – go figure. How did you get into body doubling? My grandmother on my mom’s side always told me I should be a “hand model” before I knew what that meant. Soon after I moved to LA, I went on a casting for OPI [nail polish] and booked a big campaign. And I thought to myself, “Maybe mawmee’s onto something!” How are you so comfortable in your skin? I suppose I’m ultimately comfortable in my skin because I grew up on a commune in Northern California, with a bunch of naked hippies – my mom taught me that “a body is just a body.” Are you secretive about your roles? I don’t really do body doubling so I’m not secretive about my roles. How do you prepare your body part for a scene? As far as “preparing” my hands, I moisturize rather obsessively. Do you have insurance on your most prized body part? No, I do not have insurance, nor have I seen the Seinfeld episode about hand models – two questions I get asked all of the time. How do you feel about the fact that you are making a career from your physical beauty? As far as making a living modeling, I believe that as long as I care for and tend to my internal self as well, I’m balanced.

SHAWN RICHARDZ What do you double? Everything from hands to feet and everything in between. Scratch your head on that one. What’s your favorite feature? My face, but can I say my hair, legs, butt, and my entire body too? I must say I have no favorite feature. I’m happy to be me and very thankful. How did you get into body doubling? I was shopping in a store, and someone saw my legs as I was trying on some clothes. That someone was the mother of one of my agency’s models. How are you so comfortable in your skin? I was raised by my grandparents and my dad, and I’m close with my uncles and male cousins. I understand the male species better than most. I don’t need to impress any guy (they usually are impressed anyway), and best of all, I don’t have “daddy issues.” Are you secretive about your roles? Yes, that is an unwritten rule. How do you prepare your body part for a scene? As an actress this is the most technical you ever go. Reading your script and communicating with the director is a given. Do you have insurance on your most prized body part? What do you think? Does J-Lo? How do you feel about the fact that you are making a career from your physical beauty? I am so blessed, and so proud that I, as an actress/ model can earn a fabulous living doing what I do and how I do it.

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insider

24-HOUR BEAUTY,

PEOPLE

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She works hard for the money, but she doesn’t look it. How New York’s night owlettes put their best faces forward ‘round the clock. text_SELENA RICKS

photography_NUTE NICHOLSON

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26, New York City Singer-songwriter What time do you usually wake up? Usually early because of my two-yearold son, Nile. How do you beat morning stress? I just keep telling myself: “Calm down! Calm down!” “Must-have” beauty products: Lip gloss and blush Hair regimen: Moisturizer. I use a cream called Melkfett (a German brand.) It’s all natural and very cheap. Day look vs. night look: My day look is casual (jeans, boots, etc.) My night look is casual as well, but it depends on the occasion, and I play more with accessories (earrings, belts, etc.) Is going out at night essential to your professional success? Yes, like going to my own concerts, but not out to party. Parties are just for fun. Favorite hangouts: I love Triptyque in Paris, and in New York I like to go to Riverside Park with my son. It is so beautiful! Average night’s sleep: Five to eight hours. It all depends on my son. What’s your caffeine fix of choice? I don’t like caffeine, I drink herbal tea How do you unwind? The only time I unwind is when I play my music When do you feel most beautiful? When I’m in a hot country and don’t need any makeup. The natural skin tone is already so beautiful! www.myspace.com/ayosound

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stockist

38, New York City Designer, Claw Money; fashion director, graffiti legend What time do you usually wake up? 7:30 a.m. or before if the cat wants to tap my nose Best way to beat morning stress: Set your alarm clock so you don’t oversleep, and wake up a few minutes earlier to get in some good snuggling with your honey! “Must-have” beauty products: Weleda Iris day cream, Wet ‘n’ Wild liquid eyeliner in turquoise, NARS blush in Taos, good old Maybelline Great Lash mascara in royal blue (if you can find it) and Benefit oil-free powder in tan. Hair regimen: Wash twice a week (Frederic Fekkai) and use an ultra rich conditioner (Terax), never blow dry, but do add hairspray (Dove pump) at night for volume.  Day look vs. night look: Day – a bit of lip gloss, no real make up and hair in a bun or ponytail – kind of a mess! Night – bright eye makeup, sparkles and big hair!

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Is going out at night essential to your professional success? Yes, all big deals are done on the dance floor. Favorite hangouts: Cherry Tavern, Beatrice, Home Sweet Home - but only when DJ Free Simon is on the 1’s and 2’s. Average night’s sleep: Five to six hours except weekends – then 10 hours! What’s your caffeine fix of choice? Coffee - milk and sugar please! How do you unwind? A joint, something fattening and some bad TV When do you feel most beautiful? I guess really in the morning, when my beloved and I are kissing, hugging and telling how much we love each other. www.clawmoney.com

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22, New York City Actress/stand-up comedian

27, Brooklyn Founder and Creative Director, Culture Shock Marketing

What time do you usually wake up? Between noon and 3 p.m. How do you beat morning stress? Chomp on a wheel of Brie. “Must-have” beauty products: Rose water, Arcona skin care line, Maybelline Great Lash in dark brown, MAC Mineralize Satinfinish makeup, Bobbi Brown lipstick in bare and a microphone. Hair regimen: I set my hair in the morning with this Remington twisters hot curler set that I’ve had since the eighth grade, spritz it with a little flexible hold hairspray and brush it out and blow-dry my bangs down. At night I set it again but a little tighter, then brush it out, spritz it and tease it up a little. The bigger the hair the smaller the hips – am I right, ladies? Day look vs. night look: My day look is Goldie Hawn circa 1967 in a wheat field and my evening look is Chrissy Snow meets Parisian Hooligan. Bonjour! Is going out at night essential to your professional success? Yes – every show counts kids! Favorite hangouts: My round bed Average night’s sleep: 13 hours, otherwise I simply can’t function. What’s your caffeine fix of choice? What are you implying?! How do you unwind? Having a whiskey with fans after a dynamite show then going home and watching Family Guy with some gummy candy. When do you feel most beautiful? Honestly, when I lip-synch in the mirror with a hairbrush – true story.

What time do you usually wake up? Between 8 and 9 a.m. How do you beat morning stress? Gimme! Coffee [espresso bar] “Must-have” beauty products: Black mascara, eyeliner, lip gloss and Fresh Sugar lip treatment Hair regimen: I shampoo every day and condition every other. I always use a spray pomade or modeler to either enhance or tame the bed head look. My boyfriend cuts my hair; I’m a lucky gal. Day look vs. night look: My everyday look is relaxed and simple with subtle, vintage flair. I alternate between black jeans, a t-shirt, a good pair of boots and a more modish, feminine look. Going out at night I usually opt for brighter colors, patterns and a little sparkle. Is going out at night essential to your professional success? Absolutely. There is always at least one event during the week to go to, be it a gallery opening, networking event or just to scope out what’s new and continue to be inspired. Favorite hangouts: I feel at home in cafes and coffee shops, beer gardens and in parks or someplace where I can find a bit of nature. I’m

a fan of the local bars in Williamsburg where I can grab a pint and a free pizza, or enjoy the video game nostalgia of Barcade, where I can play Donkey Kong and Ms. Pac-Man and drink a beer that celebrates my Swedish heritage. Average night’s sleep: I’ll take what I can get, when I can get it, but it’s usually around seven hours. What’s your caffeine fix of choice? Nothing beats a delicious latte steamed to perfection  How do you unwind? A hot bath, cup of tea or nap helps me relax, I take yoga classes to re-center and rejuvenate. A bottle of red wine paired with some gourmet cheese When do you feel most beautiful? When I’m most alive and healthy, smiling, laughing and being with people I love. To me beauty is something holistic in nature, when all my senses are engaged and I feel inspired and expressive, respecting individuality. www.cultureshockmarketing.com

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28, Jersey City, NJ, and Los Angeles Creative Director/CEO, Hellz Bellz What time do you usually wake up? 7 a.m. How do you beat morning stress? Listen to my iPod or read the morning paper “Must-have” beauty products: Burt’s Beeswax lip balm – I can’t leave home without it. Hair regimen: I shampoo and condition my hair everyday with Dove hair products and air dry. Day look vs. night look: Comfort is key for both my day and night looks. The only difference is my night look is just a bit more extra with more jewelry, brighter lipstick and sometimes high heels.  Is going out at night essential to your professional success? Sometimes going out at night can be as productive as a full day of work. You never know who you’re going to meet or what business “convos” you may have that may change the course of your career.

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Favorite hangouts: None in particular, but anywhere where there’s good food, music, free drinks and friends, is fine with me. Average night’s sleep: Five hours What’s your caffeine fix of choice? Chai tea latte How do you unwind? With a glass of red wine or a fat blunt over a huge dinner with my husband When do you feel most beautiful? I wish I could say it’s when I have no makeup at all, but honestly it’s when I’m all dressed up for a night out. www.hellz-bellz.com

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31, Brooklyn Designer, Tori Nichel Collection,

27, New York City Founder and designer, MadeMe

What time do you usually wake up? 7:30 a.m. How do you beat morning stress? A cup of Lipton caffeinated tea and ignore fellow commuters “Must-have” beauty products? Lancôme mascara, Lancôme Juicy Tubes lip gloss and Black Opal translucent powder Hair regimen: Steam treatments once a month at the salon and KeraCare hydrating shampoo and conditioner once a week with a 15-minute deep condition under my tabletop dryer. Day look vs. night look: For day I love a great sexy pant and at the moment I’m all about the high waist pants, a great vintage belt and a vintage-inspired Tori Nichel blouse and jacket. I’m a bit more glam at night. Off goes the high waist pants and on goes the mini dress. Heels are a must, day or night. Peep toes are my favorite. I just wish Manhattan were more heel-friendly. Is going out at night essential to your professional success? Yes. It’s an easy way for me to expose the collection. Favorite hangouts: Habana Outpost in Brooklyn or Tillman’s in Chelsea. Average night’s sleep: Seven hours What’s your caffeine fix of choice? Coke How do you unwind? Weekly pedicures, monthly massages, eating cupcakes and hanging out with friends When do you feel most beautiful? After getting ready in the morning, before the daily grind begins

What time do you usually wake up? 7 a.m. – work, gym, shower, work again by 11 a.m. How do you beat morning stress? No Blackberry “Must-have” beauty products: COR Silver Soap Hair regimen: I never rock my curls, so I wash/condition/blow dry/ straighten. It’s pretty intense. Day look vs. night look: I must, must have my sunglasses during the day. Vintage Balenciaga shades. Denim, sneakers or boots, tee or sweater – and always an ill jacket. My night look – boots and jackets! Earrings and anything with a hood. Is going out at night essential to your professional success? No, being awake during the day to work is essential to my success. My nightlife is essential for my inspiration. Favorite hangouts: Cattyshack in Brooklyn. Average night’s sleep: Seven hours What’s your caffeine fix of choice? Coffee with milk and two Sugar in the Raw three times a day How do you unwind? I play basketball a lot. When do you feel most beautiful? When I am around someone beautiful www.mademeclothing.com

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20-something, Brooklyn Fashion writer, Styleaholics; new media personality What time do you usually wake up? 7 a.m. How do you beat morning stress? Two mile walk, throwing on favorite CD, checking out my MySpace page “Must-have” beauty products: Cetaphil gentle skin cleanser, T.N. Dickinson’s Witch Hazel, Oil of Olay Hydrating Beauty Fluid, MAC Prep and Prime, MAC’s Studio Finish, any fun shiny lip gloss, any fun bright eye shadow and eyeliner and MAC’s Creme Colour in Flaming Fuchsia for the cheeks Hair regimen: Throw it up in a seriously funky ‘do and keep it moving Day look vs. night look: Day look – very light makeup if I’m outside. Clear or light-colored gloss, a basic eyeliner from super dark black to a dark blue, cover-up under the eyes, very light blush creme. Night – no holds barred. Full facial makeup, including very bright eye shadow in gold, turquoises, purples, smokes and/or brilliant whites. My eyeliner also reflects these colors. Cheeks can be strong shades of hot pink or lots of glittery gold. Lips can be super glossy in tones of pinks, reds, golds or clear. And my crazy, over the top earrings. Outfits will be anywhere from short, flirty, glittery dresses to multi-layered, cropped, indie-designed jackets paired with a fun skirt or jeans; fabrics include silks, satins, corsets – it gets crazy! Shoes can be platforms, pumps or ankle boots. Is going out at night essential to your professional success? Yes. My motto is: Only in New York can you spend $2 to meet someone at a fabulous party with free drinks that could change your entire professional career. Favorite hangouts: APT, The Box, Tillman’s and Habana Outpost Average night’s sleep: Five hours What’s your caffeine fix of choice? Green tea, ginseng, Mountain Dew or Red Bull How do you unwind? I take myself out on a date – movies and a rare ethnic dish, hang out with cool friends, read fun novels and some other things I won’t mention. When do you feel most beautiful? Usually right before I step out of my home to go out at night – just when I’m done with the makeup and the hair and the clothes. www.styleaholics.com

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FLIRTY PRETTY THING Inside the fantasy-meets-fetish collaboration of David Lynch and Christian Louboutin text_NEMIRA GASIUNAS

photography_DAVID LYNCH

David Lynch is the dazzlingly impenetrable director with a penchant for the seedier side of beauty; Christian Louboutin the escape-artist shoe designer for the rich and famous, who uses his legendary red soles to conjure up fully-fleged sex sirens. Though their métiers may be distinct, their minds meet on that terrain where fantasy and reality have irreversibly fused; where glamour forms an obscuring veil and nothing is quite as it seems. Above all, their minds meet through women; through the woman, that shadow of the night who drifts from cabaret to cabaret, strong and vulnerable, empowered and powerless, and always just out of reach. Their shared ideal is unique enough to demand some kind of collaboration, but Fetish, their exhibition at Paris’s Gallerie du Passage took things one step further. As though emboldened by the presence of the other, each man stepped outside the usual sphere of their creativity. Having refined their visions over years, Lynch through masterpieces like Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive, Louboutin through his consistently covetable stilettos, the pair of them are clearly looking for some new challenge, one which frees them of the restraints of their day jobs. And so we see Lynch, the film director, setting himself up behind the photographer’s lens and Louboutin, the shoe designer, creating shoes that are all literally unwearable. The result of this shared adventure is, quite simply, magical. Louboutin’s surreal designs, which include 26cm spike heels (protuding well beyond the front sole) and ‘siamese’ shoes (consisting of two shoes fused at the heel), are brought alive on the bodies of Baby and Nouka, the two cabaret dancers handpicked by Louboutin for this shoot. Lynch is reported to have requested “no bones” on the models, since, according to Louboutin, he wanted to get away from the mythical ‘size-zero’ body of commercial fashion shoots which priorotizes the clothes and accessories at the expense of the women themselves. Instead, each photograph tells a story of which the shoe forms a part, but in which the woman takes centre stage. The layers of the narrative are built up by shadows and spotlights, ambiguous poses and expressions, and always the shoes, strangely natural on the feet of these sirens despite their total impracticality as conventional footwear. Fashionistas have gone wild for Lynch and Louboutin’s project, but it is a testimony to their success that their biggest celebrity fans have also been the clearest embodiments of their joint ideal. At the private reception held for the opening of the exhibition, Sofia Coppola, Diane von Furstenburg and Dita von Teese were amongst the last guests to leave. So popular were the designs that the two men have agreed to sell five pairs and five images of each style. It’s the final absurdity in this surreal tale: buying a pair of shoes which could never actually be worn. It seems safe to say that the line between footwear and art has been decisively and magnificantly blurred.

”Women, to me, are the most mysterious things, and the most wonderful beings, and that mystery that they hold really, I think... They’re much more interesting than men, and much deeper.” –David Lynch

shoes_Christian Louboutin

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o put this special beauty issue into perspective, we talked with a beautiful lady who has been thinking about the subject at least since the ‘70s, when, along with Iman, Pat Cleveland, and Beverly Johnson, she was one of the very few African-American girls on the runway and in fashion spreads. They had more than beauty, those girls: they had spirit you could see, intelligence you could feel. The catwalk, in Bethann Hardison’s case, led straight to the business side of things: a modeling agency of her own, Bethann Management, which she formed in 1984 and has since transformed into a talent agency, with clients like Naomi Campbell, Tyson Beckford, and Bethann’s own son, actor Kadeem Hardison. The catwalk also led to activism. Through her agency’s work – signing historically important (and lucrative!) deals between Veronica Webb and Revlon, and Tyson Beckford and Ralph Lauren, among much else — she has put color on the agenda in the modeling and fashion industries. And recently, with grace and humor but also with steely clarity, she has been asking overdue questions about the conspicuous lack of diversity in these industries, in discussion events like “The Lack of the Black Image in Fashion Today” and “The Absence of Color” — idea forums that have inevitably gotten people talking, both in and out of the press. When asked about the goals she has set around diversity, Bethann stresses that she’s not fighting a battle with anyone. “I’m trying to promote an awareness,” she says — “a moment of consciousness.” -STEPHEN GRECO

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ON THE TABLE Beauty pioneer BETHANN HARDISON sheds light on the ongoing revolution within the fashion industry interview_STEPHEN GRECO

Stephen Greco: We saw so few models of color during New York’s fashion week this year, Bethann. How entrenched is this problem? Bethann Hardison: It’s gone on for decades. And to me, it’s no longer just about someone’s “point of view” about design choices. When something goes on this long — as long as a child’s life! — it becomes a problem. SG: Do you see the same situation in Europe and Asia? BH: Oh, absolutely. In Europe people say, ‘I think it’s better here,’ but it never is. And Asia’s got its own problems! The more European an Asian model looks, the more work she’ll get. The point is, when you start leaving out a whole race, the issue becomes very interesting. SG: You recently said something very interesting in Women’s Wear Daily — that things were actually better for models of color, when you were modeling. Have things really gotten worse since the ‘70s? BH: I witnessed some breakthroughs [for models of color] in the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s — and the ‘50s were good, too, because everyone had their place and their time. But you watch something grow over a period of time and then you step away, and when you come back, it’s like it never happened at all… SG: That’s scary. BH: And I’m not just talking about black. I’m talking about designers who basically lack a certain amount of true creative style — who don’t appreciate the model being an individual anymore. And practically no one is pushing great girls in their faces. As creative and individual as designers think they are, they always do the same thing that the other one does. And everyone is doing it and no one talks about it. SG: It boils down to what designers want people to see on the runway, doesn’t it? BH: Obviously, they don’t want much, because they’re not really going for much. You can see when a designer tries to get girls that look the same — the same skin color. And I’m not talking about the same race, now. I’m talking about the same complexion, the same tone of skin, the same hair color — the same hair-do! You know they’re not looking for individuality. SG: Interesting. BH: And if you interview a designer at the end of a show, you’ll get the run-of-the-mill rap. At the end of the day, most of them can’t express what they want [from their models] anymore, because they’re not even selecting the models anymore. They leave it in the hands of stylists, so that choice becomes less and less personal. The designer used to have his hands on it, all the way through. Yves St. Laurent — he knew what he liked and it wasn’t necessarily the beauty of the girl. It was the spirit. SG: What have you been doing to create awareness around this issue? BH: You have to move in a very collective way. It’s almost like nudging a rock up a hill. You keep nudging and stay focused, and then press people come in, and people start talking about it. And then you realize you weren’t the only on thinking about it. All of a sudden, when you start to become vocal — guess what? – so does someone in Paris, so does someone in London. SG: And the press is talking about this issue. BH: Marie Claire did a cover story on it. Now someone at Fashion Ink is talking about how fashion models no longer have any personality. SG: What, if anything, can consumers do? BH: I hear people say, ‘Tell them to stop!’ Boycott this and don’t buy that! You’re talking in a horn because, believe me, people are going to keep shopping. But raising their consciousness about it… People start talking about it and it changes the energy. Things start to change naturally. SG: Well, we’re happy to do our part, at TRACE. BH: Thank you very much for that. I appreciate it.

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Bethann Hardison, glowing gracefully

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The female

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of MARC BA s n e l e h t hrough t n e e s s a m

NI A SANGWE

PTISTE

When TRACE decided to do an issue on “True Beauty”; an issue we thought should truly reflect the diverse beauties of the world, as we see them, who better to call than photographer Marc Baptiste? Here the legendary photographer shares his thoughts (and lens) on his love of the female form, in all shapes and color.

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t’s been said – mostly by fashion designers – that the female form is like a canvas. Is it the same for photographers? I think the female body is a beautiful landscape. And I think it can be a different shape, different form but still possess beauty, grace and elegance. What do you find beautiful about it? I find everything about the female form attractive and beautiful in any shape. To me at the end of the day, it all rolls down to confidence; knowing what you have and embellishing it. To me that’s beautiful… that’s sexy. You’ve been shooting nudes for so many years. Do you have a favorite body part that you like to shoot? I love legs; beautiful legs. Breasts have to be perfect and perky; they have to fit the frame of the body... lips too. I mean everything about a woman’s form, I love. If I have to pick one I think what people see first even if you’re fully clothed is a great pair of legs. Is there such a thing as the perfect body? No. Close to perfect, yes, but not perfect. No one is perfect. If you ask models like Kate Moss, are you perfect? They always think they have flaws. We all have them. Everybody’s trying to camouflage it, you know, embellish what they have to make you believe that they are perfect but deep inside they know that they’re not. If they’re perfect inside then it doesn’t matter what the outside looks like. It’s all an illusion, to make you believe they’re perfect. ‘I’ll change this, I’ll change that,’ you know, sometimes they might think some part of the body is not good or not adequate but in reality its beautiful. Beauty is still in the eye of the beholder. Recently Dove has come out with the “Campaign for Real Beauty” and Procter and Gamble has the “My Black is beautiful” campaign. Are these necessary? If so, do women need to be reminded theyíre beautiful, as they are? I mean every woman as a little girl loved to hear that. I’m raising three girls; I know it helps their confidence levels. It’s always good to be reminded you’re beautiful. If you don’t then they say ‘what’s wrong with me, why don’t you every say I’m beautiful?’ Every once in a while I have to tell my wife; remind her she’s beautiful. I work with a lot of beautiful women but my wife is beautiful to my eyes. It’s an approval thing.

Do men need to be told they’re beautiful? We kinda of say it differently, like, we don’t say ‘you’re handsome.’ We say ‘oh you’re okay’ to each other. From man to man it’s like a big compliment; it’s like telling a woman, ‘you’re gorgeous.’ But we’re raised as completely different beings from women so we react to each other differently. But I don’t think men need to be reminded that they are handsome. Men just want to be men. Has having daughters affected the way you view women? It made me appreciate women a lot more. I always did, I mean I was raised by five women, but it made me really appreciate women in general... raising them is like...wow! In 10 years they won’t belong to me anymore and then they’re so bright and so articulate and beautiful, not just inside, but they’re pure. Some people feel women hide behind clothing. What are you trying to reveal when you shoot them in the nude? To empower them and to make them feel good about what they have; their vessel. To embellish it; to create a beautiful image that they’re proud of and can say, ‘oh wow I look good.’ So if can change one woman’s perception of herself, like ‘no you’re not fat and no you’re not ugly,’ then I’ve done my job. I’m always trying to embellish and make women see the beauty they posses. What makes people comfortable looking at your nudes as opposed to, say, more pornographic images? Because it’s two different approaches. I’m not about the shock value. I’m trying to show the beauty of the woman. Sensual, not overtly sexual. Beauty instead of shocking. Sexy is… Confident

FASHION Amber Gordon, HAIR Rodney Groves @ Judy Casey, MAKEUP Jenerio @ Judy Casey, all sneakers_Puma, Copa scocer socks_adidas models (from top left): Tiah Eckhardt @ Elite, Mellda Prado @ New York Models, Liu Dan @ MC2, Sammy Jo Wilkinson @ MC2, Dominique @ Elite

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Mellda Prado

“Sexy is...confident”

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Tiah Eckhardt

Tiah Eckhardt

I think the female body is a beautiful landscape”

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“Beauty is still in the eye of the beholder.”

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“Sexy is…confident.”

Dominique

Sammy Jo Wilkinson cap_EUGENIA KIM

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tics o li o p e h t e in m ers exa photography_

f beauty

ANDY LI

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RAQUEL CEPEDA

MARCUS LOGAN

Raquel Cepeda is an award-winning editor, multi-media journalist and filmmaker. She wrote and directed Bling: A Planet Rock, documentary about American hip hop culture’s obsession with diamonds — “blinging” — and all its social trappings, and how this infatuation correlated with the ten-year conflict in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Raquel’s book And It Don’t Stop: The Best Hip-Hop Journalism of the Last 25 Years, the first ever “Best of…” anthology to win a 2005 PEN Beyond Margins Award and Best Arts Book from the Latino Book Awards. She lives in New York City with her daughter.

Marcus Logan was born and raised in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn to a single mother of Jamaican descent. After graduating from Virginia State University, where he majored in Architectural Drafting, Marcus turned his attention to music. In 1996 he interned at Columbia Records and later went on to hold senior executive titles at Bad Boy Records, Star Trak and J. Records. Additionally Marcus has produced tracks for ODB, Tupac Shakur and Das Efx. In May 2007, he left the music industry to start his own marketing consultation firm, The CRM Group, focusing on creative marketing solutions utilizing web 2.0 media and mobile initiatives.

DALIA DAVIES

ANNA GRUNDSTROM

Dalia Davies is an Afro-Caribbean writer with a passion for fashion, culture and music. Born and raised in rural Binghamton, New York and a graduate of North Carolina Central University, Dalia has worked in various areas of the television and fashion industry in New York City. Existing within a supportive tight-knit and academic extended family, Dalia challenges the misguiding media representations that contrast to her knowledge on black beauty.

Anna Grundstrom was adopted from Indonesia when thirty-one days old, grew up outside Stockholm, Sweden. She moved to New York in 1997 to attend the Certificate Program at the Alvin Ailey American Dance School. She has also studied Multicultural Literature/ Creative Writing, traveled to various parts of the world, and worked in different media productions. Anna is presently working as a pole dance instructor at New York Pole Dancing studio. Pole dancing allows Anna to encourage everyday women to feel beautiful, sexual and powerful within, while getting a great workout.

CRAYON LEE Crayon Lee came to the U.S. in 2001 from Seoul, Korea. Working as the creative director for Korean fashion label “Kiok”, she also began working with Trace in January of 2007.

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ecently Dove has come out with the “Campaign for Real Beauty” and Procter and Gamble has the “My Black is Beautiful” campaign. Are these necessary? If so, do women need to be reminded they’re beautiful? Anna Grundstrom: Maybe because it’s been so far to the extreme with skinny models for so long. I feel like it’s not only these campaigns, it’s all over TV, it seems to be like a wave of bigger girls, shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Ugly Betty… I don’t know if it’s just because it’s been so extreme the other way for so long or is it done to be marketed to women. Marcus Logan: I think it’s beyond women. Our society is such where inclusion is the constant and the defining terms for what those inclusion factors may be don’t come from us. So when you see these campaigns on television, even in music, there are images that predominate and it’s our job to facilitate those images. And even on a common scale with your friends; there are plenty of people I know that are beautiful, not just on the inside, but they’ll never have a shot at being a poster child for some of these campaigns because they don’t fit within those defining terms. It’s a challenge just to fit in. Raquel Cepeda: Most marketing is aspirational; you have to peddle an image that people can not only aspire to, but more than aspire, can see themselves in. Most of America is fat, and because of this, you have to say “fat is beautiful.” I think Jill Scott is beautiful, I mean drop dead gorgeous, but I don’t feel it necessary that when we see a model who is big that we should celebrate that, or one that’s too skinny. Weight – especially in my community, the Dominican-American community – comes with diabetes, hypertension, even children are having heart attacks now. So I think it’s almost presumptuous and naïve to embrace that kind of image. I think the

athletic image is healthy. What is smart about these campaigns is that they know how to market; there’s a lot of self-hatred in the community, and that comes out of fear. And when you peddle, when you tap into that fear and self-hatred and start telling people that they’re beautiful because they’re big, they become loyal customers. You let people know that they’re gonna be alright. If Dove is going to make me feel like I’m pretty then I’m gonna buy tons of it. Do you often feel ignored by the beauty industry? AG: Yes, but then again I’ve always felt like that. I also didn’t grow up in America. I don’t think I thought about it growing up in Sweden. I was adopted as a baby from Jakarta, Indonesia. I grew up with tall, blond, blueeyed people. My parents always made me feel like I was one of them so I didn’t really feel like an outsider but I knew I looked different. I didn’t realize until later – like with stuff that I put in my hair or how I cut my hair or makeup – you know, that I had a different skin tone. Throughout my life I used my parents products. It wasn’t until later on that I was like ‘I shouldn’t use this because I look funny.’ It wasn’t that I felt I was ugly, because I always felt Swedish at heart, but when it comes to representing something like Swedish beauty, that was like out of the question. People are always super surprised when I say I’m from Sweden. They’re like ‘Oh my God, you’re not blonde, you’re not blue-eyed.’ RC: I only wear lip gloss. I’ve always had a very good self-image. Maybe I’m an anomaly but I’ve never thought that blonde and blue-eyed was pretty. I felt that they were icy and because I grew up learning a lot about history, I didn’t want to identify with a group of people that were responsible for so much destruction and misery around the world. And I think that we are so naturally beautiful, whether you are Asian, or from the continent of Africa. I

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“Once you accept your body you don’t want to hurt it, like, you don’t want to get big and not be able to move around.” – Anna Grundstrom hate to use the word exotic, but there is so much beauty. Dalia Davies: I grew up in Binghamton, New York and culturally it’s very white: blonde hair, blue eyes. In high school that’s all you saw when it was time to choose prom queens. You couldn’t get certain products; certain movies wouldn’t play. They didn’t even get Dreamgirls and it’s only like two hours outside of New York City. I look back at some photos of myself from high school and my makeup is too light. A lot of the cosmetics that they had when I grew up were not directed towards women with my color or features. You do feel ignored and have to find your own way. I think that’s why you see a lot of creativity coming out of the hip hop generation because you didn’t have anybody saying you were beautiful so you had to find a way to say, ‘well what I do is beautiful. How I’m gonna rock this; this is dope and you’re gonna be on it next.’ My mother used to make sure we traveled often so we could see how other cultures lived. But when I would come back to school, it was like, ‘you’re to the side.’

models is the only way? Who says that looking up to this woman that’s strutting down the runway is gonna set the standard for the rest of the world?’ I’m saying this from a place where you have so much diversity so, it’s almost like, if the powers that be gave an opportunity to that diversity, who says that diversity doesn’t work. But if it’s never given a chance then it will always be the way it is. That’s the unfortunate part. I don’t think you can invest too much energy into the fashion industry unless you really want that to be the deciding factor to who you are and what you represent. To me I think the bigger challenge is… I don’t know if it’s a matter of empowering ourselves to have platforms that go against these atypical platforms, or as Bethann may be doing by creating some sort of catalyst to change within it. I just don’t even look towards it. But in terms of the male clothing that’s put on the runway. That shits not made for me so I can’t even relate. And I definitely don’t look at myself like I need to go to the gym that hard to fit within it.

Bethann Hardison has called attention to the lack of models of color on runways. Are everyday woman affected by this? RC: The clothes that are on the runway are not made for everyday women and everyday women don’t go to see fashion shows, so, absolutely not.

Are there a lot of Asian models on the runways in Korea? CL: We have the same amount of options to pick, either white or Korean. But people prefer white models more than anything, for different reasons. Different body shapes, and they’re taller so sometimes the clothes look better on them.

Crayon Lee: 70% of the population in America is white and the rest, like 30% is minority. So if the money is the matter, how should they market it? I don’t feel it has anything to do with racism because the whole market is white. Most people looking at the runway are white people imagining how they’re going to look with those outfits on. So I don’t know if they have to have more models of color for whatever reason if they want t make money out of it in the end. ML: I think the bigger question is, ‘who says looking at statuesque white

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But does what happen on fashion runways trickle down and affect the everyday woman at some point? AG: I think as a teenager when you question all these things, that’s when you will question it. But as an older person you create your own style. I mean I don’t care. Those clothes are not built for me, it’s not really for me. I’m 4’10” and I ‘m not gonna grow any taller anytime soon. As you get older you care less.

Do you think formulating a positive self-image and beauty is harder for young people of color right now? And I’m mainly speaking from the perspective of the media playing such a large role, it seems, in how young people negotiate their identity. RC: I think that it’s too much pressure to put on the media. I think that it starts in the home. We should be pointing the finger more at the parents than at the media. They’re just doing their job. I think there’s definitely more people of color in the media, but how they’re looking is very sad. You watch shows like “Flavor of Love”… when I spoke to the people at VH1, they have the numbers. Black women watch themselves being metaphorically lynched on television and they watch it week after week. For the television executives, it’s about the numbers. So if you want to change that, you’re gonna have to start in the home. It’s very easy to point a finger at the media but it’s harder to be introspective and point the finger at yourself. DD: I definitely always stand up for the media, however I do feel like [for] my generation and the younger set after me, the option of media has grown so much. The way the internet rules now, YouTube, podcasts, etc… It’s now an added on example towards ways of connecting with what other images of beauty would seem like. I don’t want to blame the media either because I feel like a lot of people’s families, they don’t raise their kids… RC: Well I think that’s an issue that deserves it’s own panel. I’m a parent of a pre-teen and I’m in the media and she doesn’t have a low self-esteem. She doesn’t think, ‘oh wow, women of color wear thongs and fight over men who suck chicken grease off their fingers like Flavor Flav.’ It’s not like that at all because you have to start empowering the little people that you’re raising. Even if it’s not your child. There are definitely more people of color now on television than there were when I was growing up. We had violent, racist cartoons and Archie Bunker and all these terrible, subliminally racist shows. There’s still a lot of terrible and violent stuff on TV and the movies, but now, people at the networks are supplying a demand. And what people are demanding to see of people of color are images that are not so positive. It’s about creating a balance. ML: Coming up in the 80’s and 90s, we still had black power movement in our system and that translated into hip hop; like the energy of hip hop. The Africa Bambatta’s and Zulu nation really transcended the Latino and black cultures. That shit all went out the window and it became about making that paper and Scarface became the idolizing figure that hip hop is now emulating. So when you really look at the kids, I can’t fault them for understanding what they understand because a lot of them come from the crack era; a lot of them have generationally dysfunctional families and they’re just products of the environment. So now the media is being laid blame for the natural progression of their lives by default. Going back to what Raquel said, the key is balance. In hip hop, if you had N.W.A you had KRS-1. Now its just T RACE    8 1

flatline; no balance. The big question is whether or not we will have a broader range of information to funnel through the media that we do have. DD: For example on my block in Harlem, I don’t think a lot kids know where to look to know about their beauty. I don’t think they know which books, which TV shows. Even though there are a lot of representations of black people on television they’re not necessarily good representations. So I do think there has to be a variety. RC: But that comes from the home. Again, they’re supplying a demand. I like watching TV. I like Dance with Me, the movie and sometimes “Dancing with the Stars”, it moves me. At the same time it starts with us. We have to empower the young people. And we have to give young people today credit. They know what’s going on. They’re smarter then we are; they know about the Internet… I just can’t put it all on the media. ML: I think its just dressing. It needs to be dressed properly so that it can be articulated to the kids. When we talk about beauty, we immediately start thinking of women. Do men go through the same issues with their self-image? ML: Only when it weighs against a woman. At this point in my life, I’m kinda settled with my flaws, like the things that I do are for my own personal integrity. When I go to the gym I do it for me. But I think generally speaking men, like everybody, we do things based on the expectations of accolade. We want someone to say, ‘damn you look really nice,’ or ‘that’s a nice haircut.’ We want that. As men we get it, probably not as bad as women but you have your own processes for moving on and dealing with it.

more important to be smart and that the shit she sees on TV is bullshit. I’m not doing anything special, I’m just talking to her. In this issue we decided to ask everyone to be naked, or rather, “undraped.” How comfortable are you with your bodies? RC: When I was an editor at One World magazine, we went to the Dominican Republic and took two models, Ana Paulo and Melida. It was funny to me because they had a really hard time taking their clothes off and from the time I walked in to the time I reached the pool I was completely naked because I was in my country and I love being naked. I think it’s sexy for a woman not to look like a man. I think there’s something sexy and sultry about curves. I think it’s great to be naked and healthy to walk around naked in front of your kids. I mean I have a daughter… but a lot of elders have told me to never be ashamed of walking around naked in front of your children because then they start to see that you worship your body and start treating their bodies like temples. And they start to embrace their flaws. We’re not perfect, I mean nobody is, even the models, I know because I’ve worked in the industry; we have to do a lot of touching up for covers and stuff. And people that you think look perfect. They don’t. AG: I’m pretty okay with my body. I used to dance modern dance and had more issues with my body than I do now but discovering pole dancing just kinda changed me. It’s just great to have women come in for a session – we don’t like get naked – and they’re super shy. It’s just great to encourage them to stand in front of the mirror and be like, ‘You’re beautiful, You rock! You have to feel you have a great body; it’s your instrument.’ Once you accept your body you don’t want to hurt it, like you don’t want to get big and not be able to move around.

Does the media inform how some men perceive women? ML: I think it just reinforces, at times. It doesn’t set the standard. The media is just capitalizing on something that already exists. It’s hard for me to identify with it because I’ve always had respect for women. So it’s hard for me to identify with how you can call someone a bitch or a ho, like on a regular basis. You have pimp movies; like The Mack is some of the funniest shit in the world to me. But it’s within the context of The Mack, it’s not real life. You have to, at some point, say to yourself, this is “movie” and this is “life.”

A lot of issues have come up on this panel in terms of self-acceptance. As contrived as this question may be, are there any solutions? Is there anything to that can be done to make women feel more okay with themselves? ML: To me it’s just knowing you and loving you as best as you can and not looking or referencing any outside sources to define that. When you can do that you’re an instrument, in the same way that Raquel is an instrument to her daughter. We’re instruments to the same process to the people that are in our lives. Just being as comfortable in your skin as you can be.

DD: A lot of kids don’t know how to draw that line though. I think it needs to come from the home, as has been said, that you need to enforce in them what they need to know about their own personal beauty but a lot do not know.

DD: I would say travel and reading. I think that’s the thing that people in my age group definitely need. I believe that opens up the world and you can see how other people are confident. If I didn’t have that growing up I would have been lost.

Raquel, how do you reinforce your 10-year-old daughter’s beauty? RC: I think traveling is a very good way. She’s been traveling since she was three. She’s been to many countries and seen how people live. I tell her… well obviously you have to tell people that they are beautiful but that it’s

AG: I think travel is a great way but a lot of people won’t be able to afford that. A lot of people’s confidence stems from the home. If you don’t have the time to travel, there’s the Internet, sit down with your kids and Google Map. Spend that little bit of time and it’s more than images coming and going.

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ELAINE HARGROVE Age: 20s Occupation: Documentary photographer What makes you beautiful? Honesty. And I’m always looking to improve myself. I think what makes people beautiful in the pretty sense is trying to make the most of what you have you have, to accentuate your strengths and your natural beauty; recognizing that makes you beautiful. Background: I’m of African descent and both my parents are from the South.

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ess than 24 hours after the news escaped over the ethernet that TRACE was calling transcultural women to its first open call for “The New Face of Transcultural Beauty” in New York City, we were already getting requests for a second one. Could we add another shoot so the Los Angeles-based could fly in? Would we consider calling again, but in Paris? We had counted on dedicated TRACE readers for this one – giving them just a week to tap into the limited announcement – but we hadn’t expected this. We thought it would have been harder to get girls naked. Getting naked, after all, is not easy. Ideas of “beauty” and “the beautiful” are fickle and dangerous, helping to keep us clothed in commodities. Describing “beauty,” we know, slips poisonously into defining it, prescribing traits and culturally specific ideals that leak onto self-images like post-colonial viruses until everyone feels just awful. Hippie messages that everybody is beautiful notwithstanding, asking people to bare themselves to the world is still a tall order. And since most of the world is so, so fond of sexualizing any female part it can glue its eyes to, well – naked is tough. Yet, our open call, thanks to the ladies who graced our NoHo headquarters, was a beautiful experience precisely because all those dangers of disrobing were moot. As they exposed their own unique looks, the girls effortlessly shrugged off every pre-packed prescription and body anxiety. We just wanted to see a handful of head-turning transculturals proudly “undressing” their self-proclaimed, natural beauty. What we got was a shoot showing these girls’ naked confidence, unabashed comfort and easy irreverence – things that cut the daily pretty from the truly beautiful. What we got was a study in self-acceptance, revealed by these girls with naked confidence, unabashed comfort …

TRACE New York 46 minutes to shoot The on-hand TRACE staff is loitering outside the office. A few are smoking cigarettes and most are deeply engaged with their coffees. Ernesto Gonzales, the photographer, is on his way, and the firefighters across the street are already curiously staring. Why are we working on a Saturday morning? 32 minutes to shoot With the windows open and the fan humming along, it’s hard to be anything but ultra-chilled out. Even the street outside is muted. Ernesto is unpacking his gear in one corner while someone else spreads a few copies of the latest “Black Girls Rule!” issue around the waiting area. Girls, we hear from one of our smokers, are already gathering downstairs. 21 minutes to shoot We can’t help it – we’re putting on some Barry White. Zero minutes to shoot The first five transculturals arrive, casually but impeccably stylish. They move cautiously for about 30 seconds, excitedly roaming their eyes over the TRACE office.

RAISA NOSOVA Age: 18 Occupation: Visual fine arts student What makes you beautiful? To me, beauty is a natural thing that people in our society try to hide. In our society it’s more a commercial beauty that’s acceptable and to me beauty is more unique and individual. I feel like I am beautiful in that way and I show it and I am proud of it. Background: Russian, from the Black Sea region.

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SHERESE SHORTER

TATIANA SMITH

FAMATTA FALLAH

STEPHANIE CECERE DECARLO

Age: 25 Occupation: Circulations Manager

Age: 20 Occupation: Model at Abercrombie and Fitch

Age: 21 Occupation: Sociology and pre-law student; model

Age: 20 Occupation: Advertising and Marketing student

What makes you beautiful? My personality – I’m always bubbly, I love to help out and give advice. I’ve got that mother instinct and I just love life and that makes me more motivated to rock on! Background: I’m Jamaican!

What makes you beautiful? I’m just plain, I never wear make up and I don’t do much. And my hair – it’s curly and it’s big! Background: Panamanian and Jamaican.

What makes you beautiful? I think my personality makes me beautiful. I’m open to a lot of different types of people and I’m always willing to speak with someone and get to know them. Background: Liberian

What makes you beautiful? I’m just me and I’m OK with that! Background: 100% Italian from the city of Foggia

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5 minutes into the shoot Two girls autograph their model release forms while another undresses in the bathroom. Whitley is comfortably baring her beautiful for the photographer and Syreeta sits down to bare hers with me, telling me about what makes her beautiful. 48 minutes into the shoot The girls are endless – it’s hard to get a breather. The crowd downstairs has tripled and the firefighters have gotten savvy to the goings on upstairs. Stepping out for a cigarette, I overhear a firefighter fumbling his was through introducing himself to one of the ladies in waiting. His fully uniformed buddies across the street have clearly voted this guy over to make first contact. “Y’know,” he says, “me and the guys, if you’re hungry later, I mean, we’ve got some burritos, maybe we could hang out later, or we could get some tacos if you’d like, y’know, if you’re hungry later.” The lack of “Hey! Baby!” today is stunning, especially considering the view they have into our office. 1 hour, 6 minutes into the shoot Bodies are buzzing upstairs. Our iPod is shouting out to Alicia Keys and someone is absently singing along. Various states of undress fly through the office as young women are snagged straight from camera clicks to video interviews [check those out on the TRACE blog] and asked the inevitable, “What makes you beautiful?” Awkwardness never made it past the door. 1 hour, 29 minutes into the shoot Why don’t I have an hour to interview each girl!? By the time they’ve finished rattling off the five or six heritages that they can claim, I’m already late to be impressed again. I want to know more about everyone. Can we do this again next weekend, please? 1 hour, 41 minutes into the shoot We’ve moved on to Missy Elliot and, although there’s still a world of women downstairs, the upstairs is getting some heavy cell phone useage. The girls in the office are trying to spread the vibe, calling up their friends to come down to TRACE and strip off. We knew our readers would pull through on our underground, week-of announcement, but wow. Just, wow. 2 hours 7 minutes into the shoot Someone streaks past me, smiling grandly and holding her breasts. Everyone breaks into applause, laughing. One girl hoots good-naturedly. Neck deep in beautiful women, casual and comfortable in their bodies, its hard to think of this as work. 2 hours 56 minutes into the shoot The last flood of true beauties has slowed and Mary J. Blige is wrapping things up for us. We all get a minute to breathe and find more coffee. A few of us are a little dazed, but the photographer, guiding a small crowd through his developing Polaroids, is talking excitedly. Next weekend might be too soon for round two, but here’s to hoping that it’s not to far away!

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ANGELA LEE Age: 19 Occupation: Painting, sculpture, and fine arts student What makes you beautiful? Being natural, smiling. I believe in inner beauty. I think I am beautiful when I’m doing something that I really love like painting or sculpture, when I get to express something inside of me, even though it’s a very small, little thing. That I get to express it makes me beautiful; I feel alive and I feel natural and a part of the world, changing. Background: Korean

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WHITLEY HAYES Age: 19 Occupation: Fitness trainer What makes you beautiful? How culturally mixed I am – my physical features, especially my eyes! Background: Puerto Rican, Black, & Chinese

GENNYLEE ARRUDA Age: 20 Occupation: Real estate sales; portrait and fashion model. I’m also a professional trouble-maker. What makes you beautiful? I love myself. Of course physical features matter, but if you love yourself on the inside it comes out. And I love to have fun, I guess that’s beautiful. Background: Portugeuse from the Azores, Brazilian, and French. 9 4     T RACE

SYREETA LOCKETT Age: 21 Occupation: Advertising student; intern What makes you beautiful? My booty! And my personality Background: My father’s family is from Barbados and my mom has Black Foot Indian

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text and photography_RIKKI KASSO

Fantasy meets reality when photographer Rikki Kasso undresses Tokyo

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an individual understanding and acceptance of the truth. These bodies are the packages; we create the content. Unfortunately a flower has no idea how beautiful it really is, and fortunately does not alter itself for the sake of beauty.

When questioned of the concept of nudity, the word can be explained through many understandings. If in the case someone is usually shy and tells a joke to a group of friends, he/she is in a nude state. And this as well is to be considered sexy or beautiful. So the word nude is an adjective used to describe something, as the word in itself has too many descriptions. To be comfortable within your body is another issue in itself.

The body as a figure, and the human that exists inside each have an identity that can be exposed nude and represent true beauty. The Japanese word Hadaka is the used to describe “body” not male or female adult or child, just the human body; the word also means “without”. In my reality I am always as nude as the girls I photograph so it is an even exchange. The camera is over my eyes; my world exists in a telescope to reality 3ft in front of me. The camera never remembers what the heart will, as I am with my body and she is exposing hers the beautiful feeling of nudity is remembered in my on going story only to be described as Megabytes of Life…And because at the Rikki Mouse Club there is only one dress code………..undressed.”

Some people take photos to remember special moments, I create special moments to be remembered. My complexities become simple when I realize the simple complexities of the body; the vehicle for pleasure, the catalyst for pain, the animated figure with thoughts and a smile. If we could only be as simple as the body it would give me the pleasure I would love to deny.

Just as we would want to be comfortable in our homes and beds we want to be comfortable in our own bodies. So it is natural to seek that certain comfort, and it is also natural to be influenced by the “standard” of comfort. It is all

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t the closing ceremony of New York City’s legendary CBGB’s, rocker Patti Smith performed a tribute showcase of her work. She did a medley of “Horses” and “Gloria,” among her other beat-punk anthems. As she ended the three-and-a-half hour show with her ballad “Elegie,” she listed some of the famous musicians and fallen spirits she had shared the limelight with over the years. They included band members Joey and Dee Dee Ramone, singer Helen Wheels, guitarist Robert Quine and the rock critic Lester Bangs. When someone from the audience called out “You missed one,” she pointed out that CBGB was expiring at 33 – the same age as Jesus. When the set and the excitement simmered, the downtown diva returned to the stage where she reached into a bag and handed out small black pins that read, “What remains is future.” In many people’s minds, New York City – that cosmic wonder of selfmanifestation – is still the future. Beginning with its “European discovery” by Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524, followed by Henry Hudson’s landing on Manhattan Island on September 11, 1609 (the date the area was officially mapped), the infiltration of Dutch fur traders, the British invasion, countless political revolutions, artistic counterrevolutions, crimes waves and culture wars, it is a young city with more depth, contradiction and nuance than some of the kingdoms of ancient civilization. On the one hand, it is a port city and the entryway to the experiment of America. On the other, it has always been a kind of astrological magnet for mavericks, moguls, soothsayers and aspiring everymen from the world over. From its inception, the city has been a cauldron for ideas and possibilities reflected on a canvas vast enough to span its 13.4-mile length. And during its nearly 500-year lifespan, the energy, desire and relentless spiritual force that define it has manifested itself in ways that its early Lenape Native American tribes might have had trouble imagining. In short, New York remains the future because it has worked so hard to get there. The city is more than an island of metropolitan dreamers; it is “the dream,” the urban centerpiece, the axis of America’s past, present and future. As H.G. Wells noted, “To Europe, she was America. To America, she was the gateway to the earth. But to tell the story of New York would be to write a social history of the world.” For naysayers who would argue that the city is too American, or too narrow in cultural scope, you have only to look at the demographic makeup to realize that “the world” is indeed represented by the city’s five boroughs. Local planning officials estimate that 2.1 million of the city’s eight million residents are from abroad. There are more Haitians (225,000) than anywhere outside of Port au Prince, more Dominicans (350,000) than in any city but Santo Domingo and more Greeks (100,000) than anywhere but Athens. It is estimated that New York has more Jamaicans (275,000), Russians (100,000) and Chinese (200,000) than any city outside of Jamaica, the U.S.S.R., China and Taiwan. Los Angeles and Miami have a higher percentage of foreign-born residents, but neither can match the breadth and depth of New York; not only does the city have every ethnic group imaginable, each group is quite large. Even the smaller ethnic communities are sizable; the city has more Ethiopians (3,000) than several states have black people. I am not a native New Yorker, but having lived here for 13 years now, I consider the city to be my home. More than that it has become my root system and barometer for measuring other cultures around the world. It is a place where everyone is in his or her way, an alien, but no one is alien. It is a delicious cocktail, a revolving landscape and a constant and oftentimes

“Even if a trend starts somewhere else, New York always defines it, makes it credible.” -Ricky Kenig Ricky Kenig, owner of Ricky’s NYC, at home in Park Slope.

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combustible feast. For this Citiscape, I talked to everyone from an El Salvadorian hair stylist to a set of African via Nebraska twins, to a five-year-old half-Indian, half-Luxembourgian born-and-bred New Yorker. They say that hybrids are always stronger, in terms of racial make-up, mental capacity and pure character. In my view, New York is the definition of hybridization at its best. Where else do you see so many surprising and unidentifiable mixes wallpapering the streets? Where else do you hear the crosscurrents of some 40 languages being spoken side by side, every day of the week? My first subject was Ricky Kenig, a New Yorker from Rockland County, whose father is the founder of the famous Love chain drugstores. (One of the first Love stores was called “Linda Love,” in homage to the actress Linda Lovelace from Gerard Damiano‘s famous 1972 X-rated film Deep Throat.) Ricky came to Manhattan at age 13 to work for his father. By age 27, he had opened his own chain, Ricky’s; the first store was at 1718 Broadway back when Soho was an urban wasteland, save for the pioneering installation of a Dean and Deluca’s. He now has upward of 22 stores in and around Manhattan, including one in East Hampton and Miami. “My store was originally called Ricky Love because I had worked for my dad so everyone assumed my last name was love,” Ricky explained. “When my dad sold his shares, I just dropped the ‘love.’ His partners were pretty upset with my success, but he was happy, of couse.” “New York has all the best trends in fashion,” Ricky said when I asked why he’d chosen to keep his boutique retail brand rooted to his native soil. “Even if a trend starts somewhere else, New York always defines it, makes it credible. Once your product makes it here … that’s really all you need.” We were sitting on the ground floor of his Park Slope brownstone, which was recently renovated by the architect James Slate. A reporter from The New York Times who was writing a story on Ricky had just left, and a John Legend CD ebbed up through the speaker system that filters as far as the three bathrooms. His two 13-year-old twin daughters, Max and Dylan, appeared from one of the upper floors and introduced themselves. “It’s New York and L.A., and everything in between is just this big bread basket,” Ricky continued. “I’m considering opening up stores in Boston, near the universities. It’s a no-brainer really. We’ll see.” We talked for some time about mobility. “As a New Yorker you have to move around a lot, to the L.E.S., Tribeca, Brooklyn. That’s how you start to understand the rhythm of the city,” Ricky commented. The conversation moved on to how much the moral and physical landscape of Manhattan changed during Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s term. Ricky explained that Giuliani’s insistence on the 60/40 law (at least 60 percent of merchandise had to cater to the general public, while 40 percent could fall under the classification of pornography) significantly shifted product placement. “We took it to heart at the store,” he said. “We made it so that you could buy a tube of toothpaste and a dildo in the same shop and not feel like you were in a place that sells DVDs covered in brown paper. We made these products mainstream so that they were less shocking, but we had to place them on separate shelves.” It was a bright, sun-kissed Saturday afternoon when I left Ricky’s and made my way to another brownstone in Bedford Stuyvesant to meet Cassi and Nicolette Gibson. They are 19-year-old twins who were conceived in Maputo, Mozambique, during the 1987 Civil War. According to Nicki, their father, who is from Hastings, Nebraska, met their mother, a local of the Mozambican seaport Quelimane, while performing at a blues club. “He didn’t know he’d knocked her up until he was in Brazil partying with friends,” Nicki noted. The twins live in a large brownstone owned by an Indian couple that occupies the first floor. Past tenants have included the filmmaker James Spooner (Afro Punk) and his girlfriend. During my visit their houseguests included a Capoeira trainee from Alabama, a young Columbia University One of artist Keith Haring’s seminal NYC works.

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“To tell the story of New York would be to write a social history of the world.” - H.G. Wells

The New York Yankees logo epitomizes the spirit of the Big Apple.

student and a friend visiting from Michigan. To my mind, the house alone represented a unique but not unusual microcosm of the fluid integration that is New York. The twins named their favorite ports (Seychelles, Quelimane and Zanzibar), their favorite musicians (Kanye West and Ayo) and their mutual goal (spreading the vegan mantra). As we proceeded to the photo shoot, I couldn’t help think how accurately and profoundly their multi-national, multi-lingual, multi-tribal upbringing represented the future of New York, if not the world. With their discerning open-mindedness, elegantly tattooed bodies and world-wise insight into the untapped potential of a future society that represents the right kind of growth and evolution, they are among the brightest voices of the next generation. Having just completed high school, they plan to take a year off to “absorb more life” before heading to college. Nicki is moving to Cape Town, South Africa, where she will work as a volunteer with urban youth and explore her dream of becoming a food critic. Cassi will spend time in Angola working on a documentary on a genre of music known as Kizomba, which is a blend of Portuguese verse with African rhythms as its foundation. The sun was setting as we said our goodbyes. Their fellow housemates were sitting on the front stoop enjoying an unusually balmy fall afternoon. Glancing back at the setting, I thought the check-in station for the new “gateway to the world” might look something like this.

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Early the next morning I met with Fredi Torres, the original “smoker of wigs.” A native of El Salvador, and a naturally gifted hair stylist, Fredi cuts hair with the precision and inventiveness of a four-star chef. He claims he fell into his profession accidentally, thanks to a friend. One of his first New York experiences involved working with the renowned guru of coiffure, Oribé. “He was covered in tattoos and smoking a cigarette while he was styling a client’s hair,” Fredi remembered. “If that’s not badass I don’t know what is.” As the story goes, Fredi approached Oribé and said, “I don’t have anything to show you but I’m a confident motherfucker and I’m good.” To which Oribé responded, “Ok, you’re hired.” Fredi moved to D.C. from El Salvador at age seven, and has been working in New York for the past 10 years. Aside from Oribé’s salon, he has worked at Soho’s Laicale, Headroom and is currently stationed at Arte Salon in the Noho. He draws inspiration from old gas stations, beautiful women and rock n’ roll. But his point of entry is always classic beauty. Fredi gave props to Hugo Paez, Oribé and Wayne Wheat, all of whom form a low-key clan of some of the best hair talent in the city. He then admitted that he’d been thrown out of more than one Lower East Side bar with Wayne, to the surprised rejoinder of, “Wait a second, you guys said you were hair stylists?” During the photo shoot on the intersection of Lafayette Avenue and Broome Street, Fredi hailed up his neighbors, including a middle-aged

Chinese man who made multiple salutations in Mandarin, and an older Dominican gentleman who asked Fredi if he’d been hired as a Calvin Klein underwear model. Fredi’s Wild West anecdotes – he is never without his cowboy boots – and constant string of jokes make spending time with him an adventure in entertainment. Before leaving, we made a date to meet for burgers at the Corner Bistro in the West Village, promising to wash down the meal with shots of José Cuervo. There were more inspired encounters: with Kiernan Costello at his aNYthing Hester Street shop, at five-year-old Milan Matthes Kale’s Bay Ridge backyard and at the INA designer consignment boutique on Prince and Elizabeth streets with shop owner and partner Khadijah Kesten. The lasting impression from these oddly magical interludes was that the city continues not only to survive but to flourish, based on blood-and-guts realism commingled with the starry incandescence of impossibly possible dreams. My final New York interview occurred on a Ludlow Street rooftop on a Tuesday afternoon. I was talking to Nedjelco-Michel Karlovich, a halfSerbian, half-Sicilian Pittsburg native and now New Yorker, as he stood naked in front of an autumn sun [Dear reader, although the editorial theme of this issue is “Undraped,” we tried to spare you the technical details]. After dropping out of school twice, working as a diesel mechanic and renting a hotel room with his younger brother for the sole purpose of “making enough art to move to New York,” Ned made the leap at age 24. He got accepted to the School of Visual Arts, where he studied with Stephan Sagmeister and Milton Glaser, the originator of the “I (Love) NY” logo. After stints at the U.K.-based design company Attik and Fahrenheit 212 (an experimental division of Saatchi & Saatchi), Ned decided to start his own design studio, Santos & Karlovich, which he founded with partner Virgilio Santos, who is Portuguese. Along the route, Ned met the street artist WK, whom he counts as a good friend and important influence. Ned’s first New York apartment was in a Mexican neighborhood in Bushwick, where “no one spoke English.” “There was all this shit like stuffed animals and leather belts in the streets … and a lot of halfway houses,”. He described the neighborhood as an industrial area, the perfect depot for an aspiring artist because he had endless access to a storehouse of “beautiful trash.” “I started making these assemblages that had so many back stories.” He claims he didn’t intend to stay there forever, but it was a great backdrop for his work. Living in Bushwick gave him a new creative direction, as well as exposure to a new culture. “You would go to a restaurant and there wouldn’t be any menus.” said. “These ladies would just start bringing out plates of Mexican food.” “It was such a long journey for me to get to New York,” Ned admitted as we smoked cigarettes – he was fully clothed now – after the photo shoot. “And I met so many real people along the way. The things you make yourself do for those people who have no idea you’re doing it for them … even if it’s only a few shared moments of inspiration. Design is a vehicle for me, but it’s not the ultimate reason. It’s just what I like to do, what I’m good at doing.” He paused to light another cigarette and seemed to lose the thread of our conversation momentarily. “When I first got to the city, I came by car. My friend was driving and I was sleeping. So we’re heading over the Brooklyn Bridge toward Manhattan and I wake up and I’m like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me…’”

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NICOLETTE GIBSON

CASSI GIBSON

Age: 19 Occupation: Aspiring food travel columnist Number of years in New York: 11

Age: 19 Occupation: Freelance photographer and world traveler Number of years in New York: 11

What makes you a true New Yorker? My molding has been here. It’s who I am. It’s home. It’s everything I come from. What is your family background? My dad is from middle America, but he wanted to get out so he went to Africa. He met my mom while he was performing at a blues club in Mozambique. He didn’t know he’d knocked her up until he was in Brazil partying with friends. How would you define passion? It’s what drives you. It’s your essence. You find that thing you love, whether it’s a person, a thing, a place, and you follow it. Describe your dream life. To own a vegan restaurant in Cape Town. A couple of cats. Retirement home in Seychelles. What have you done for love lately? I went to Zanzibar with my significant other Daniel and fell in love 1,000 times over. We were going to take a bus all the way from Uganda to Tanzania and I would’ve done that for him, but his mom ended up buying plane tickets. If you could rename New York, what would you call it? When you think of the city, you think of New York. It’s the city.

What makes you a true New Yorker? I’m basically able to deal with things that may seem overwhelming to others. The city is a meeting spot for people who connect on the world traveling tip. Things happen here that don’t necessarily happen elsewhere. What is your family background? My mother is from Quelimane, Mozambique. My father is from Hastings, Nebraska. My parents met in Maputo during the Civil War in 1987. How would you define passion? It’s a longing, a curiosity that’s with me everywhere I go. I’m ultimately kind of boundless and hope to stay that way. Describe your dream life. To pick up whenever I want to go, to never feel attached – hopefully the grass will always be greener on the other side. What have you done for love lately? I’ve learned to be more open and vulnerable with the people I care for. As I grow as a person I can say more and hear more. If you could rename New York, what would you call it? Sonhos em Perspectiva (Everything in Perspective).

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KIERNAN COSTELLO Age: 36 Occupation: Artist and owner of aNYthing Number of years in New York: whole life What makes you a true New Yorker? For me, there’s no escape because this is all I know. I was born into it. What is your family background? I’m half-Irish, half-Eastern European, Russian-Polish Jewish. How would you define passion? A work ethic, an obsession, a single-mindedness, the risk of failure, of being alone, abandoning practical concerns. It’s about confidence in your belief and abilities, also endurance. There has to be some light-heartedness too and fun. Describe your dream life. Painting in the studio for most of the day and also working with a community movement, whether it is social or political, on the redistribution of resources. What have you done for love lately? Worked hard at communicating with my wife. If you could rename New York, what would you call it? I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t even conceive of it. If I was God maybe, otherwise I’m staying away.

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NEDJELCO-MICHEL KARLOVICH Age: 28 Occupation: Designer Number of years in New York: 4 What makes you a true New Yorker? If you start at the bottom, where the heart of things are, you can see what makes the city real and beautiful, as opposed to coming here from Connecticut and moving to Midtown to work as a stockbroker. What is your family background? My parents are both teachers. My father is Serbian and my mother Sicilian. I’m from Pittsburg. How would you define passion? I think passion is when you feel you have to do something. Describe your dream life. It’s all about the journey, the process. The most beautiful part is waking up in the morning and thinking, “anything could happen today.” What have you done for love lately? I’ve just started my own design studio. If you could rename New York, what would you call it? Everybody, everything, always, forever and now.

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KHADIJAH KESTEN Age: 36 Occupation: Entrepreneur Number of years in New York: whole life What makes you a true New Yorker? I was born and raised here so it’s in my blood. What is your family background? My mother is Italian-American. My father is Jewish-American. How would you define passion? The drive to get to the finish line. Describe your dream life. Freedom What have you done for love lately? I live for love. If you could rename New York, what would you call it? I like it just the way it is.

RICKY KENIG Age: 45 Occupation: Founder of Ricky’s NYC Number of years in New York: 26 What makes you a true New Yorker? I don’t think there’s any other place but New York. What is your family background? My grandmother on my mother’s side is Russian. My father’s side is from England. How would you define passion? I use the word lust, so lust is the new “love.” Describe your dream life. I’m pretty close to it but I could use some more currency – some cash and a couple of inches in width. What have you done for love lately? Gone to 14th Street between 6th and 7th avenues to buy a DVD for $17.99. The girls tell me exactly what I want to hear and leave when I’m done. If you could rename New York, what would you call it? I would call it America because New York, to me, is everything. It’s also where Columbus landed.

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MARGARET MOY

FREDI TORRES

Age: 24 Occupation: Costume assistant Number of years in New York: 24

Age: 32 Occupation: Hair stylist Number of years in New York: 13

What makes you a true New Yorker? I can tell people off in their native languages. What is your family background? Chinese How would you define passion? The drive that makes life worth living. Describe your dream life. Living in a world full of peace would be nice. But I’d also love to live on my own island with friends and have my favorite DJs spin all the time. What have you done for love lately? Avoided it like the plague. If you could rename New York, what would you call it? I wouldn’t, but if I had to it would probably sound similar to an obscenity.

What makes you a true New Yorker? My scrapes and bruises. I’ve been beaten up by New York but I hit back hard. What is your family background? I was born in El Salvador and moved to D.C. at age seven. I came to New York as soon as I realized what I wanted to do in life. How would you define passion? When your soul hurts. Describe your dream life. To be able to have everything I want without struggling. What have you done for love lately? I ran to the airport and missed her ass! If you could rename New York, what would you call it? City of dwellers. You’re not a true New Yorker until you’ve marinated in it.

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MILAN XAI MATTHES KALE Age: 5 Occupation: Life explorer Number of years in New York: since birth What makes you a true New Yorker? I like the playgrounds, my friend Aimée and my school [the Brooklyn Free School]. What is your family background? Papa is Indian and Mama is Luxembourgian. How would you define passion? Playing with my best friend Aimée. Describe your dream life. Giving my pet rabbits a piggyback ride and going on an endlessly long camping trip with my friends at Fire Island. What have you done for love lately? Hugged Papio and gave Mama a kiss. If you could rename New York, what would you call it? Princess State.

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New York. o t t e g o t e m urney for jo g n lo a h c way.” u s e h t g n lo “It was a le p ny real peo a m o s t e m I And -Nedjelco Kar

lovich

A canvas within a canvas backed by the Manhattan skyline.

photo_MIKAEL VOJINOVIC

Adidas Christian Louboutin Eugenia Kim

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Original Music Tees

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Puma Y-3

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lucky 7

MODEL CITIZEN Sudanese-born supermodel Alek Wek on the seven experiences that shaped her life. text_LAURA MARCUS

photo_MARC BAPTISTE

The seventh born of nine children, Alek Wek has made her mark as a fashion icon and now as an author. Her recent book Alek: From Sudanese Refugee to International Supermodel takes readers on a journey through the inner thoughts and struggles encountered on her rocky road to stardom. From her humble beginnings, to the haute couture runways, Alek’s journey has taken her around the globe. With a strength and humbleness that is unmatched in the industry, Alek’s journey is far from over, proving time and time again that her beauty isn’t just skin deep. Here she shares seven experiences that changed her life, for the good or the bad. “Growing up in Sudan, watching and learning from the way my parents raised us; watching how they persevered despite the economical and social challenges was very inspiring and has helped me make decisions in life.” “[My father’s] health was compromised because we simply didn’t have access to proper medical care. All that he taught me I can see clearly now, although it does sadden me at times that he didn’t get a chance to see us grow and become successful healthy adults, all nine of us.” “We always struggled as a family, so having to leave my mother to go to England was the most difficult thing. Not knowing if she was going to make it out of Sudan, or how long it would take; not knowing that it would take two years for me to even be able to talk to her. I really started to become an adult and that’s something that I didn’t think I would start to feel at 14.”

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“I used to have psoriasis and I don’t remember ever not having it. So when it cleared up I would have to say that was really a moment I would never forget. Having clear skin was just amazing. It terrorized me as a young person.” “Trying to establish a career in modeling was really hard at first because it’s not like a normal job interview; there were no guarantees and, obviously, there’s no handbook. I had a full scholarship at the London Institute, and education was always a big part of my family’s lives, so to leave college was a hard departure. That decision gave me more incentive to not take modeling lightly and really be consistent with what I’m doing.” “Moving to New York was a big change. For the first time I didn’t have the support of my friends in England and my family. It was another culture, and I always say New York is such a unique city, not just within the US, but in the world.” “Continuing to evolve as a person. I would have never thought I would have started my handbag business six years ago that I named after my father’s birthday. My mother always said: “It’s painful giving birth to a child, but that’s nothing. Once it’s popped out it’s raising that child into adulthood that’s the hard part.” Evolving and having the industry embrace me and watch me grow into the woman that I am. It’s something you can’t buy or ask for, and so I use it to give back.”

Transcultural Styles + Ideas

us $5.99 can $7.99 uk £3.95 Fr ¤5.50 Photography ??????????