“I’m not soft. [Guys] are not going to be able to approach me in [an easy] way. I distance myself with the way I dress and the way I am. It’s only a certain personality that would ever have the balls to approach me.” Jules Kim

occupation: designer and creator of Bijules jewelry

Jules has daggers tattooed on both arms from her wrist to her elbow, in honor of her Korean origin and of her “duplicitous” status as a twin, where the ancient royal women hid swords in their cloak sleeves in case of emergency. She is a force to be reckoned with (weapons aside), with her jewelry line that she spends every waking and sleeping moment either working on or thinking about – she “can’t get the ideas out fast enough.” Jules grew up in Virginia, where she first pursued classical music as a flutist, but would be reprimanded when she “breathed or crescendoed” in places that she perceived were correct, instead of where her teacher knew they were supposed to be. Needless to say, Jules beats to her own rhythm and creative calling now, designing collections for people whose passion she can relate to (musical artists included, even though she is not one herself). Much like pulling a jean micro-mini over a lace skirt, her designs are both urban and romantic. For example, little mouse bones as a fringed modern mask or hardened fairy dust as a two-finger ring. She considers her creations to be a connection between herself and her client. I think everyone would benefit from a little, if not a big, communication with Jules and her jewels.

If you like Jules, you might also enjoy Ms. Fitz or Terry T..

“My favorite anarchists are the everyday anarchists. The misfits who make choices in their lives to tread a path less travelled, who question the boundaries of gender, art, and ethics. Philosophers like Michel Foucault, who argued that the future of our society is paved by the fringe members of our communities – I believe that too.” Ms. Fitz

occupation: stylist, designer, blogger, and former political activist

Raised in a small beach town in Australia among a community of people with alternative lifestyles, Ms. Fitz is drawn towards anyone that looks at the world through different eyes and wants to create something that diverges from what you are “suppose to do and think.” Basketball-wear and bows with Egyptian-inspired designer clothes, and surf overalls with a glamorous vintage fur, is all part of her passion to be unpredictable but not “ridiculous.” Ms. Fitz is taking in everything right now, traveling the world to help her form the direction for her life as a stylist, designer, blogger, and overall quiet anarchist. Similar to the range of clothes piled on her couch when I came to shoot her, she loves to infuse all cultural references together when designing, like the bold neon edge she gives to her earthy, Afghany-inspired necklaces. Currently, Ms. Fitz is inspired by “chilly and beautiful” Amsterdam; for the arts, youthful vitality, and support of women’s rights there. Though the creative freedom of the ’80s reigns in fashion choices like her random but spot-on pick of a Genny primary-color blocked coat (she had no idea who Genny was, but had the eye to purchase the piece) and the ’90′s, in her adoration of “ballsy bitches” like Salt-n-Pepa, TLC, and MC Lyte. For Ms. Fitz, unless it’s extreme, she doesn’t see the point.

To learn more about Ms. Fitz, go to the detailed captions page.

Check out Ms. Fitz’s website and blog.

If you like Ms. Fitz, you might also enjoy Sophie Flinder and Vanna Youngstein, Contessa Stuto, Athena Stuebe, or Alexa Winner.

occupation: student and designer/creator of Funky Faction hats

“I like stuff when it’s fake. I get more of a kick out of it.” Matt Parrotti

Matt was elated when he was fired from a job last summer and ended up working at a day camp for kids. As warm-hearted and fun-loving as could be, Matt is a GIANT kid, in his wide-open spirit and endless ability to turn literally everything and anything into a creative experience and ultimately into a creation. Life is his stage and humor his vehicle, from dressing up like a tourist and walking through Soho as if he is one, to turning plastic toys into his signature necklaces. Everything is game for him to make art with, including tie-dying his tighty whities, doodling all over his card table, and tearing the garbage apart at his job at an old age home in order to find material for reappropriating his clothing and jewels. Matt’s attraction to “the ridiculous and obnoxious” is a refreshing antidote to the pretension and seriousness of fashion, and is in and of itself avante garde. Like a true artist, he doesn’t know where to stop when he starts working on something, and what comes out of it is absolutely brilliant, like his elaborately bedazzled, hand-painted and collaged baseball hats and sneakers, each one a masterpiece. But for me, Matt’s highest form of art and the reason for his ability to be so innovative is his boundless love and fascination with people and life and the absurdity of it all.

If you like Matt, you might also enjoy Zarzan, Ash Epps, Koos van den Akker, Ben Oprstu, or Athena Stuebe.

occupation: fashion designer, pattern maker, stylist, and tailor

“Some people do the outfit as a wall [that] they can hide behind, but it’s not like that for me at all. I just do it because I like it. It’s not supposed to be anything. It doesn’t stand in the way of who I am. It’s not a ‘look’ I do. It’s not a costume. It’s just what I’m wearing that day.” Mack Dugan

“Nondescript” is what Mack is feeling these days in his Levi’s 501 dark jeans and heather gray Gap T, but to me, pretty much the pinnacle of clean and minimal chic. When paired with his DIY open-toed Converse, the look is the “artist’s” equivalent of the eternal Wall Street’s pinstripe suit in archetype. With his chunky silver rings and vintage shades, he could be photographed in the mulitiple series of Calvin Klein jean and underwear ads from the early ’90s that Mack feels so inextricably linked to in his aesthetic from when he was first falling in love with fashion. He was born in South Dakota but grew up in New Zealand, where Mack feels he got his gothier and heavier side, like his beyond obsession with the original Dirk Bikkemberg boots, strong in their avant garde reappropriating of the timeless construction, military, and ski boot. You can also see his “darker” side in some of Mack’s own designs, like his medieval-inspired capelet coat with a hood and his love of Lang and original Margiela. Equally aesthete in its height of subtlety, is Mack’s sportier gear. His quintessential canvas Palladium boots , APC windbreaker, and Marc Jacobs white back pack make it hard to believe he worked for Heatherette for five years. “Modern hiker” he calls it – ironic that there isn’t a mountain in sight.

If you like Mack, you might also enjoy James Ott, Stephan Jenkins, and Houman Farahmand.

occupation: sales associate at Acne NYC

“I grew up on old movies…I have seen every 50′s musical there is…My taste in things is always older..it was a more glamorous time.” Ally McCormack

The entire shoot with Ally, I kept thinking that she is so put together, she could walk onto a period movie set and the crew would think she was part of it. Ally loves to be “dressed up” and has a way of throwing many influences together into one. Her taste for the past is joyfully obsessive and as a result, she has given up fashion design to be a vintage clothing wholesaler/retailer. She can channel anything from the past into modern times. Three genres she is especially enamored with are the mod of Peggy Moffitt, the classic Hollwood of Ginger Rogers, and the folk/rock of Kate Bush. Although she says, with total conviction, that a new purchase can change her color palette and send her into a different decade at any time. Ally is a little Madeline with her school girl kilts and hats and ornately satin ribboned flats. She also reminds me of Jackie O with 90′s street mixed in, in her neon orange/red shift dress paired with a bright yellow pair of patent Doc Martins. I love this story of Ally’s, it kind of says it all about the innocent spirit that reflects in her style, “my favorite outfit when I was little was a mock turteneck that was yellow and white stripes and I’d wear it with my turquoise bike shorts and I thought it really went well together. I’ve held onto that thing where it comes to combining colors and prints and textures that are different from one another and shouldn’t really go together in the rulebook, and mixing in a non matching way.”

occupation: stylist and party promoter

“I like to celebrate women. Accentuating your body, all different sizes.”
Contessa Stuto

Admittedly and comfortably “shocking” in her style, Contessa says that she loves to be the center of attention in her femme fatale clothing combinations. She is alluring and commanding in her ensnaring leather bustiers and 80′s leggings, but equally captivating with her carefree and iconoclast personality. You cannot help but notice her and for all the right reasons – she uses fashion to boldly and bravely celebrate who she is and to have fun. With an eye for good finds that are fierce in late 80′s and 90′s references (like strong prints, color and accentuated shapes), it’s not surprising that her favorite designers are Patricia Field (for her career), Betsey Johnson, Alexander McQueen, Thierry Mugler, and Stephen Sprouse, whose memorable graffitti bag with Louis Vuitton she scored. In her black sheer top with gold belted black leggings, tulle headpiece, dark sunglasses, and platinum blonde hair, Contessa is a portrait of one who is extraordinary in self-presentation and defines self-expression as an art. Whether it’s Madonna-esque 80′s glam or 90′s fly girl, she makes it her – bold and comfortable enough to stand on her own.