RZA

occupation: founder of the Wu Tang Clan, composer of film scores, actor, aspiring movie director, author of “The Tao of Wu”

“I look for the understanding of things. I don’t judge.” RZA

When I was interviewing RZA for this site, I kept thinking royalty, in the ideal sense, noble, and captivating. RZA is mesmerizing, handsome, articulate, learned, gentle, soft-spoken, and humble. In his presence, you feel as if he should be on a pulpit, and that anything he dons becomes something akin to the regality of a velvet cloak. Ever a relucant icon, he is simply dressed but unfailingly elegant. His home is filled with his omnipresent extended family, his beloved chess boards, and his voluminous collection of books. RZA’s own style, as well as that of the Wu Tang Clan, is seen through the rebirth of the Wallabee, Asian-influenced embroidery on camouflage, colorful Timberlands, and…

Edmundo Desnoes & Felicia Rosshandler

occupation: Edmundo is a novelist and collage artist. Felicia is a novelist and photographer.

When Elizabeth Burns, who we featured, recommended Felicia and Edmundo to me for our site on style, I had no idea that I was walking into a movie-worthy love story, one that spans oceans and covers over sixty years, in addition to encountering a couple with an abundance of class, taste, and accomplishments. Felicia escaped the Nazis at 10 years old, fled to Cuba, fell in love with Edmundo at 16, and left for NYC at the age of 17 with her family. Edmundo left Cuba after the revolution in 1979, relocated to Manhattan, and 45 years later, after other marriages, they finally consummated their relationship and have been together ever since. She has written an autobiographical novel, “Passing Through Havana”, that deals with escape from Nazi Europe to landing in sunny Havana,…

Beatrix Ost

Beatrix had me when she claimed that her greatest inspiration is the warmth of people. I have thought about it so many times since. It’s such a joyful and open way to live life, and you can see it in her glow and feel it in her presence. She is the living embodiment of style, and being in her space puts me on a high. Not only does she give attention to every detail of her apartment, cooking, painting, and writing, but more then anything, I wish I could get it together to design my own clothes like she does. We haven’t had a chance to photograph her on her farm yet, but it’s equally as amazing. Nothing that she owns or does is without meaning. She supported a family of Tibetan monks for a year, by commissioning them to make the rug that is now in…

Heron Preston

I totally relate to Heron’s love of the connectivity between creative people, especially within the density of cities. He had this incredibly novel idea to publish “The Young and the Banging,” a yearbook which brings together some of the new up-and-coming thinkers and artists of New York City. He will be doing more of them in many different cities, with London on deck. He is a mover and a shaker, with a vision to start a new model of an advertising agency, by utilizing a rotating group from the pool of “The Young and the Banging,” for fresh and of-the-moment ideas. I met him after shooting a few people from his book for this site, and I was so excited to meet someone else who is inspired by people, like I am. Heron can pull off anything from Ralph Lauren head-to-toe, to a Coogi sweater. I am…