In the past year alone, Nelson has been to Chile, Thailand, Laos, Burma, Belgium, London, Italy, Paris, and Holland. While most men his age are crossing college campuses in uniformed packs, he is climbing the pyramids of Mexico. Nelson is one-of-a-kind in a black “ninja” outfit, experiencing up close and in depth how political systems really affect their people; like the way a person can be shot in the street because of their political affiliation and how to leverage money and finance property in foreign countries. By nurturing his relationships with the many people he meets along the way, Nelson is now involved in a clothing line and is building a resort in Thailand. Fully recovered from transcendental world-hopping on drugs and alcohol, Nelson believes in manifesting, in positivity, and in living in the new. “Instead of saying, ‘I need more,’ I say ‘I need to change this. I need to be this.’”

If you love Nelson, you may also like Gerald DeCock, Geoffrey Young and Dustin Hollywood.

Her fiery stand-out red mane, cut in the blunt style of her favored Japanese aesthetic, not only matches Betony’s love for the archetypal kimono but echoes her willingness to stand on her own despite the misconceptions and judgments that go along with human sexuality, a subject in which she is currently getting a PhD. In keeping with the independent character of her pioneer parents, Betony embraces “shapely” and swears by Vivienne Westwood, one of the few designers she can wear-off-the-rack. Otherwise, she creates eighty percent of the clothes that she wears. Betony’s dad, originally from Martha’s Vineyard, is a low-flying pilot who built helicopters in their Victorian library. While her mom, descended from King Edward VII and in 1960 joined what are known today as the Greensboro Four in what was then called the “Sit Down” at a “whites-only” counter that helped spark America’s civil rights revolution. “She’s definitely got something to do with my spirit of fighting for what I believe in,” Betony states.

Educated on two continents in art history, goldsmithing, and industrial design, Betony’s “sado-chic” creations are born from a deep intelligence and sophistication. They have grown only bolder since the early days, when her jewelry could literally stun buyers into a shy silence. Whether in a black lace dress designed by Emilio Pucci’s Peter Dundas over a Mr. Pearl corset or donning her irrepressible, Paradise Found rings — which, when inverted, double as massage rings — Betony is immune to the twisted hypocrisy of society. “My mission is a mission of sexual well-being,” and for empowering people, she feels, “The jewelry is just a bridge to that.”

Click here for Betony’s website.

If you love Betony, you may also like Bliss Lau, Drue Kataoka and Virginie Sommet.

Jazzy wears the support and love of her large and extensive family on her sleeve in a button-up shirt inherited from a step-grandfather, a Parliamentary barrister, which she wears as a dress. Under a classic Alexander Wang blazer with major 1970s-by-way-of-2011 Charlotte Olympia wedges, Jazzy makes a staid staple rock. She owns and wears many pieces from her grandmother, whom Jazzy describes as “the most beautiful woman” she’s ever seen, with “amazing long, black hair and piercing bright, blue eyes, she was always perfect, always immaculate with her makeup. With six sisters and two brothers on both sides of the ocean, one of the Jazzy’s biggest wishes is to have her entire family in one room, which has never happened as yet– but, for now, that room is not big enough in her East Village digs, where Jazzy studies acting in NYC.

If you love Jazzy, you may also like Gerard & Valeria, Krystal Simpson and Byrdie Bell.

Extreme emotions are what define Galia, whether they’re found in the books that she reads, like the nineteenth century French poets, or in the way she only wears clothes until they are destroyed. She finds sadness more beautiful than joy, particularly loss and longing for things. She has loved the restless and volatile poet Rimbaud since she was thirteen years old and shares a passion for Ann Demeulemeester, one of her favorite designers who is Belgian, like her mother. More interested in the body of work of certain designers than trends, much of Demeulemeester’s collections, especially menswear, are very influenced by the silhouette of the nineteenth century poets, Galia points out. She has had an affinity for men’s clothes since she was obsessed with the middle ages, The Knights of the Round Table and mythology in general as a kid, which is evident in her Rick Owens paladin tunic. Her friends say that her life is led like the narrative of a story and Galia affirms that she is so moody that her clothes need to have some kind of cohesion with her state of mind yet remain within the confines of the all-black uniform that she adheres to as an “intellectual minimalist.”

One of Galia’s aunts is a writer and documentary filmmaker fascinated by the unraveling of memory or the archeology of the contemporary world, which reminds me of this site. Galia has a tattoo on her wrist that is the last phrase and all that she can remember of a love letter that she once received but lost. Another is the word ‘hunger’ with a heart, which is meant to be associated with the German meaning of the word ‘love’ and is taken from a poem by the female poet Ingeborg Bachman. Could it be that tattoos are the new manifestation of generation Y’s thirst for individuality?

If you love Galia, you may also like Lauren Boyle, Fatima Al Qadiri and Kristin Gallegos.

With a love for the music of the ’60s like The Kinks and style icons like Marianne Faithful, Kristin has an eye for the decade’s severe eyeliner, tons of mascara and pale lips. Those roots, along with working extensively in fashion with the greats like photographers Patrick Demarchelier and Peter Lindbergh as a makeup artist, has contributed to her well-curated aesthetic. Kristin doesn’t buy a lot but when she does, it’s lasting. I love how she wears a more classic red Givenchy dress with one long Pam Love cross earring and a pair of chunky Ann Demuelemeester ankle boots (I have the same), or an asymmetrical Margiela dress with a pair of her favorite skin-tight and comfy Tripp jeans that have one white and one black leg. It’s all evidence of Kristin’s perfected choosiness and magnetic ease with herself, just as she is.

If you love Kristin, you may also like Kristine Barilli, James Gillespie and Dotti.

Half Swiss and half Brazilian with an addiction to New York City, Elinei considers Manhattan to be the balance between the extreme cold and warmth and traditional and wide-open psyches of her opposing heritages. A similar tension exists in her clothes, like when she mixes a typically feminine corset with a typically masculine tuxedo jacket, or pays tribute to the Big Apple of the ’70s by breaking up her obsession with the minimal black leather of Iggy Pop or The Ramones with a glammish pink shirt reminiscent of The New York Dolls. However, it is Alice Cooper, whom she grew up listening to by way of her mom and whom Elinei most reveres for his not easy to define and yet totally his own aesthetic – a bit punk, a bit glam, a bit vamp, a bit traditional, much like her own.

If you love Elinei, you may also like Lux Leekley, Elizabeth Ammerman and Gregory Alexander.

For some, being diagnosed with MS and suddenly becoming housebound for years might have prompted a bout of self-pity, but for Kevin, he only gained a positive wisdom in his acceptance of watching life go by a bit more slowly, a new beard that is reminiscent of Abraham Lincoln – the Civil War is one of his favorite sartorial influences – and a renewed interest in making and performing music after a twenty-six year hiatus initiated by the dissolution of an independent record deal. With suspenders purposefully dropped down and not worn over his shoulders and a floral Western-inspired oxford shirt, Kevin has a deep affection for Americana that grew out of his mother’s career as a jazz pianist and his travels throughout the USA as a fashion director and stylist. In a three-piece wool suit with boots that he distressed himself, Kevin is masterful in his subtle yet powerful presence like his father, who he recalls always left the house “done,” down to the cufflinks and a Bulova watch that Kevin still wears.

If you love Kevin, you may also like Ronald Sosinski, Brett Banks, NC Shuva and Freddie Leiba.

For a website dedicated to showcasing those with distinctive personal style, it seems somehow off-topic to dedicate an entire feature to the history and significance of uniforms. In actuality, it couldn’t be more on point with our message. A number of our muses – Kim Hastreiter and Sheena Matheiken included – have found their greatest sense of indivduality by wearing a uniform. As Freddie Leiba once told us, “People in uniforms always look great. It dignifies everyone,” and the uniform traditionally associated with religious sisters is a particularly dramatic one that has seen countless references on runways and in fashion editorial shoots. Clearly, we aren’t the only ones fascinated with the habit.

At once instantly identifiable and typical, it’s the nuns’ iconic black and white garb that allows the general public to readily disregard the individual personalities that exist beneath them. While the sisters that we spoke to – hailing from the Daughters of St. Paul and Sisters of Saint John the Baptist – and our muses alike speak to the simplicity and liberation inherent in wearing the same thing on a daily basis, the habit has become a stark signifier of a world that elicits equally sharp judgment from those that don’t partake of it. The sisters’ simple but distinct clothing is deceptively influential, with the ability to elicit knee-jerk reactions ranging from deep-seated anger to pleas for God’s blessings. We admire their willingness to stand alone for what they believe in and voluntarily place themselves in a position of constant vulnerability. Sound familiar?

We took the time to explore the psyche of those wholeheartedly devoted to the church, in an effort to dispel hasty assumptions, one of them being that a nun is set on the path toward a deeply faithful lifestyle from the beginning. In fact, we found that a pious adult is hardly indicative of a pious childhood or a religious family. Nevertheless, it is fascinating to learn that a calling to the ascetic life is mysteriously present from within, like many of our own various passions and true purposes. Not unlike feeling most at ease in a sari, flats or Ann Demeulemeester, you find peace when you find that soulful connection to who you are.

If you love Kayvon, you may also like Kristine Barilli, NC Shuva and Lux Leekley.

Traveling the world on foot at an early age gave birth to a horse champion in grade school, followed by a year in the Peace Corps in Zimbabwe, where Mary lived in a mud hut and taught English. Her spirit was so invested in her students that she shaved her head in order to look more like them. Presently, Mary resides in Williamsburg, where she resembles an indigenous queen in deerskin wraps, leather tassel earrings, animal print chiffon gowns and McQueen’s primitive print leggings. She is the author of the blog Twisted Lamb, which gives a visual voice to her far-reaching global and tribal aesthetic sensibility, and where she taps into nature and its darker realms. Mary is also working on developing an online digital game called World of Darkness, which is related to vampires and where she is the first digital stylist. I can picture her as the central character in her own game, in a Gareth Pugh caped crusader pant, a leather sleeveless jacket with spikes, bone jewelry and a strong belief in the manifestation of your thoughts – the characters will survive the armagemeddon with apocalyptic style.

If you love Mary, you may also like Julie Kauss, Kimi Recor and Fay Leshner.