Olivia Weeden

occupation: student

“I’ll be getting dressed to go out somewhere and I’ll get dressed three times. Then finally, I’ll just take everything off, make a big slit up the back, turn it upside down, safety pin it, and walk out the door feeling perfect.” Olivia Weeden

I love how Olivia’s entire wardrobe changed when she bought a motorcycle to travel on in the City. She went from floral dresses to layers of drapery, hooded sweaters, and leather. Her ingenuity takes her as far as to take a blanket that she found from Eastern Europe and turn it into a strapless dress to stay warm, and to turn an antique scissor into a necklace, in case of emergency. In fact, her accessories seem to be both time-honored and utilitarian, like the camera bag she uses as a purse. However, practicality doesn’t always rule. Despite Olivia’s recent obsession with shades of gray and degrees of warmth, she is suddenly in the mood for neon pink nail polish, orange lipstick, and denim jackets over peach chiffon.

If you like Olivia, you might also enjoy  Tay Trong, Zana Bayne, or Angela Nam.

Kristine Barilli

occupation: DJ, student, and musician

“I am obsessed with anything from London in the late ’70s, Seditionaries, Anton LaVey, black metal, Clockwork Orange, anything black, anything dead, the New Atlantis by Francis Bacon, Bas Jan Ader, anyone crazed and creative.” Kristine Barilli

I always leave a SLU shoot inspired by a tip or idea. In Kristine’s case, it was many things, but the one I followed through on was the Rick Owens onesie (birthday present to myself). She fully convinced me of its worthiness for every day and every occasion (you could sleep in it or wear it for black tie), which is pretty much how Kristine always dresses. She despises Halloween, because for her, every day is an organic expression of “dressing up” as she feels. It’s all about her uniform of all black (never jeans) and an architectureal silhouette. You might see Kristine walking to the corner bodega in her only vintage piece, an ostrich feathered bolero, inspired by her ultimate style hero Brian Eno, or in one of her cutting-edge pair of boots to the gym. She actually works out in her favorite band T shirt that she wears all the time, Suicidal Tendencies, and reluctantly caved into purchasing sneakers, but the closest ones to her armory of wedges. Admittedly hardcore about her passion for music (she is habitually either djing or home researching bands and songs), she is equally driven to perfection with her impeccable futuristic goth wardrobe.

To learn more about Kristine, click on the detailed credits page.

If you like Kristine, you might also enjoy Antino Crowley, James Gillespie, or Becka Diamond.

Andrea Campbell

occupation: model

“My mom says when I was a little girl, before anyone else was up, I would be out wandering about with the chickens in my diaper. So I guess I always knew I wasn’t going to live in Missouri forever. I was ready to get out.” Andrea Campbell

I can’t help but think of Mia Farrow when looking at Andrea, and found this early photo of the actress with long hair that supports my case. Andrea could easily be one of Woody Allen’s all-American muses with her quirky and earthy depth and natural beauty, a la Annie Hall, and she says that she “plotzes over Jewish men.” Living in Boulder, Colorado at 11, Andrea remembers carrying her pet rat around in her black suede jacket pocket and spent her summers in Missouri running through corn fields and playing in creeks, but was never in cowboy boots and jeans. In fact her mom, who Andrea attributes much of her independent thinking to, dressed her daughter in a diamond studded cat collar and fur coat when she was one and introduced her to the art of one of a kind shopping, which Andrea took to like a bee to honey. Her wardrobe is very paired down (except for her footwear fetish) to suit her lifestyle as a model traveling all over the world. Certain staples like her wide black suede waiste belt, black leggings and favorite shoes and boots (the Marc Jacobs take on the riding ones are amazing!), go with her everywhere and are the uniform to her precious vintage finds, like among many, her Dior and Victorian blazers, and 80’s sweaters. However, for me, her brilliant red mane of hair is her main accessory and it can go many ways from Lolita with her knee socks to glamorous starlet with her mom’s fedora and scarf combo.

If you like Andrea, you might also enjoy Marka Kiley, Angela Grossi, or Katia Hakko.

Zana Bayne

occupation: blogger, accessories designer, and works in retail

“If I don’t leave the house feeling a bit ridiculous, then there’s something wrong.” Zana Bayne

Zana says that when she shops, she waits for something to blow her mind, but at the same time, she would rather make it her own than wait for something to happen. People like Zana, with their innovative and free-thinking internet presence, represent the future of fashion where interpreting it for yourself is so much more inspiring and empowering than following trends blindly. No more designer head to toe and here’s this month’s bag to have and who cares what season it was from! Zana’s wears her beloved boots into the ground, her Margiela doctor’s bag is all the more chic from being a staple for years and she makes a version of Ann Demeulemeester’s corset belt that works for her. Blogging since the age of 13, she is a tastemaker, both in her avant garde purchases and designs. In mostly black and neutrals, she’s into the sophistication of being monochromatic, a long way from the many colors she used to look “pretty” in growing up (while her mom was in “yuck” black, as she used to think). Zana favors designers like Haider Ackermann for “the way he combines materials to look heavy and soft.” And her experimental eye makes public how expressive and fun a Margiela trompe l’oeil top (that makes her look as if she is only wearing a bra) can be as opposed to another button-down blouse. When it all gets too generic and predictable, Zana finds a way to push the boundary and does it in a way that is accessible. Instead of just another belt, she is making futuristic/medieval-inspired harnesses that can turn the simplest trench from 20th century to 21st. And rather than just have another pair of pumps or boots, why not add a winged boot strap (catch the video of them on her blog) or tons of studs and spikes. What’s so special is that while dramatic, she’s never overdone. Her leather and metal accents can give her classic-turned-state-of-the-art Marni sack dress or Jil Sander pumps the accent they need, but either way, she is a head-turner.

Check out Zana’s blog, Garbage Dress

If you like Zana, you might also enjoy Antino Crowley, Edmundo Desnoes and Felicia Rosshandler, Marika Wilson, or James Gillespie.

Sophie Conti

occupation: intern for Harper’s Bazaar, student, and freelance stylist

“The transition moving from Paris to Greenwich was so bizarre. People don’t know where to categorize you. Everyone’s wearing Vineyard Vines and little belts with miniature whales and sea horses and lobsters. I would go home and my mom is wearing chinchilla high waisted underwear and a kimono.” Sophie Conti

If Larry David and Bridget Bardot had a daughter, it would be Sophie. She is as dry and direct as she is stylish and coy. Her “Shoe Episode” story (in the video) about the co-worker at Dior in Paris, who runs out on their lunch break to buy the same Balmain-inspired shoes as hers, is no-holds-barred refreshing honesty and hilarity. Then there is the “Louboutin/Herve” or “Too Ferocious/Not Enough Compensation” Episode. Sophie was walking down the street in an anorak that she chopped into too short a dress with a blazer and “too sexy” Fendi boots, and a truck driver “with Jersey plates” yells out to her, “Where are your pants?” And she said “it hit home,” (her mom’s voice, “Sophie, it’s too much”), and proceeded to run into the nearest boutique to buy flat chunky ankle booties to balance the outfit and drops the heels at a friend’s. Then there is “The House Burned Down Episode,” when at 6 she moved with her family from Paris to London. Her grandmother, “the little Jew from LA, the personal shopper at Nordstrom’s, the sailor suit queen,” came to visit them, and left her cigarettes and lighters all over the place for her and her brother to play with, and the rest is history. Her dad was “freaking out,” her grandmother in the sailor suit was “having a heart attack,” her mom, matter-of-fact, said, “Well, I guess we’re staying at the hotel tonight,” her brother still standing there with the lighter, and Sophie in her scalloped blouse, navy cardigan, and Mary Janes, always stylish while alittle mischievous. The “exposed and awkward” family picture in the local paper afterwards was straight out of a Wes Anderson film. Her brother, Thomas, looking “like the naughtiest boy,” is quoted: “It hurts my heart”. “That was the end of that stage,” says Sophie. Her family then moved back to Paris, where her mom started working for Sonia Rykiel, who had a “dope children’s line,” and Sophie was into a new form of expression in rhinestones and stripes. Today, a touch of France in her timeless cabernet suede pumps, with some trendier New York faux reptile leggings and even a bit of Greenwich in her oversized button down wrinkled men’s shirts with shit-kicking shoes and rose wine by the pool, Sophie’s a force to be reckoned with. All Libra-Scorpio intensity and passion (takes one to know one), I am looking forward to the continuing unrestrained, while the height of sophisticated, adventures of Sophie Conti.

If you like Sophie, you might also enjoy Siena Fleming, Byrdie Bell, Liz Ricketts, or Liz Doupnik.