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.

Coco and Breezy

occupation: accessory designers

“We are one person in two different bodies.” Coco and Breezy

Coco and Breezy, identical twins from Minneapolis, say that together they are one person, and have literally never spent a day apart. They have had the good fortune to have each other while fending off stares in their Grace Jones meets Star Trek style. The twins’ high voltage, over-the-top line of sunglasses began when they needed to block themselves from “taunting peers.” Every day counts both in their work ethic (they sleep three to four hours a night) and in their imaginative and highly assembled outfits. Everything is possible for creating the details that make a difference, like the broken glass off of the street from a bus window that adorns one shoulder of a leather jacket, and their kingsized and king-like rings that they made with materials from Home Depot (they have the power of Gladiator chic written all over them). Despite the fact that Coco and Breezy finish each others’ food, designs, and sentences, they love to learn from other people and everything around them. For me, this is a sign of their guaranteed success, and I have a feeling this is just the beginning of these futuristic rockers.

Check out Coco and Breezy’s blog here.

If you like Coco and Breezy, you might also enjoy RZA, BJ Panda Bear, Jermaine Jagger, or Tay Trong.

Lauren Rassel

occupation: co-founder and designer of the clothing and accessories line FLAWK

“My favorite spot in my house has always been the junk drawer. Glue, tape, rubber bands, safety pins, staples, you name it I did it. I’ve stapled my finger a million times.” Lauren Rassel

Wonder Woman, Lauren in her executioner-style over-the-knee medical tights, bejeweled with birth control packets and worn with a dress that was a skirt but is now “boned” (looks bullet-proof), made into a halter with a telephone cord and intensified with a fur shrug made from a jacket, is a warrior for turning everything in your junk drawer into couture. I didn’t have an “Invention Convention” in third grade, but I am now wishing I did. Lauren started her spat-making then, the yellow ones made from caution tape to protect from the snow and ones to cover a cast. Either are fair game for Lady GaGa, especially for when she jumps out of the wheel chair to fend off the paparazzi. In her current streak of dominatrix chic, Lauren just whipped up her Bond look out of an old onesie, with the hood made from an old dress from a Christmas dance and and a purse that she never wore. Noble to the core in her effort to reuse and max out resources, while remaining conceptual and artful, what I love is that Lauren is doing it with so much flair. No hippy dippy going green here, for her the big picture is exploring consciousness with fantastical design. Hussein Chaylayn II?

To learn more about Lauren, go to the details captions page.

If you like Lauren, you might also enjoy Alexa Winner, Tiziano Mazzilli, Lauren Edelstein, or Aki Goto.

BJ Panda Bear

occupation: socialite and blogger by day, host and party boy by night

“[My favorite thing about fashion is] how insulting you can be to the norms of society, yet spark visions of unknown subcultures.” BJ Panda Bear

I love that BJ has decided to study sociology because of the fact that people’s differences are respected. BJ thrives on opposition – he dresses in what he refers to as an “explosion” of variety as a way to bring to the surface people’s prejudices and need for conformity. It’s unexpected, but in such a refreshing way, to walk into his apartment in back of his very manicured childhood home in Beverly Hills, where the “expected” uniform in school was a button-up, baggy jeans, and anything Von Dutch. BJ dreads any norms and as a result, his wardrobe is hanging on every surface, like a laboratory, ready for the next personification. The possibilities of combinations are boundless and indescribable in their artistry, from his Gaultier jacket (worn in his unique way) to his reconstructed Raf Simons t-shirt to his leather vest turned fanny pack/skirt. He says that the need to carve himself out from the crowd began with low self-esteem, but to me, anyone that can be so honest and fearless is anything less than admirably brave. BJ’s love of irony is especially obvious when he laughs at himself kissing his “narcissism wall,” which is a mural of himself in all of his multiple, fantastic incarnations. A true naricissist cannot reflect and laugh at themselves, let alone exude his warmth, passion and willingness to stand alone in his effort to promote individuality.

To learn more about BJ, go to the captions on the detailed page.

Be sure to check out BJ’s blog here.

If you like BJ, you might also enjoy Ladyfag, Jen Chia, Michael Calloway, or Jermaine Jagger.

Jermaine Jagger

occupation: DJ, fashion designer, stylist, and works in retail

“[My goals are] to have love and endless happiness, and to have a career in fashion where I can inspire and affect people’s perception on fashion as an art form used in everyday life.” Jermaine Jagger

To me, Jermaine is straight up urban couture, with his over-the top-layering of eclectic genres and textures. His room is an explosion of creativity, just like his outfits, as if entering the studio of an artist who never puts his materials away. Everything tells a story and the sky is the limit, from necklaces made of childhood robots to bold gold chains made by his favorite designer to bracelets made of Christmas ornaments to sequin leggings peaking through DIY slashed jeans, which remind him of the gradient of rocks in Colorado. Like a thickly and madly tiered De Kooning , an Ecuadorian poncho gets a touch of glam chinchilla with layers of colored beads and a dash of nerdy reading glasses. And as a sculptor obsesses on proportion, Jermaine uses rubber bands to shorten pants into knickers, turns jackets upside-down to exaggerate a shape, and often covers his face with various-type hoods and masks to add depth. Art changes your perspective and Jermaine changes mine.

If you like Jermaine, you might also enjoy Tiziano Mazzilli, Akeem Bazaar, Santiago Castillo, or Don Pedro and Kirsten.