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Lucie Porges

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occupation: designer and professor

“I [once] saw a photo of a model with a jersey turban and a jersey dress. ‘Just beautiful,’ I thought. Underneath [the photo], it said, ‘Pauline Trigère, New York.’ It never left me.” Lucie Porges

When I first met Lucie, I was riveted (almost to the point of shaken) by her life story, her unequivocal positive energy and dignified chic. It is not everyday that you hear a first-hand story of someone who fled the Nazis from age twelve to sixteen, seeking asylum in countries all over Europe, sometimes escaping in the night, running through the woods and falling to the ground when the German planes were overhead. Born in Vienna, Lucie was obsessed with fashion design and drawing from a very young age, but it was actually many of her experiences moving around the European continent, despite how traumatic it was, that led her to an extremely fulfilling life as a designer and a marriage to MAD Magazine’s principle cartoonist, whom she met in Geneva while attending art school. Following The War, Lucie moved to Paris to work with a fashion couturier; it was there that she first saw and fell in love with the iconic designs of Pauline Trigere (whose own style is bar none). Three years later, Lucie interviewed with the legendary Ms. Trigere and was hired, close to on-the-spot, in front of the famous department store Bonwit Teller. They

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Jose Pozo

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occupation: party promoter

“Everything in life is mental. It’s just an attitude. If you want to be rich, rich is all a mindset. Everything is a mindset. You can be anything you want to be, but first you have to become it inside, and then everything that you want gets attracted to you.” Jose Pozo

This was a first for me – getting serenaded to a freestyle rap about StyleLikeU (though it wasn’t a surprise coming from Jose, whose warmth filled the room as he danced throughout most of our interview). He says that he loves people and feels that there is no such thing as a bad one. I was freaking over his signature layers of bracelets, rings on every finger, and piles of necklaces, all of which have immense significance to him. The abundance of skulls and bullets might not appear to reflect Jose’s belief that one is most powerful when coming from a place of peace, but don’t let his alpha-male side fool you – his right arm is filled with saints. “You are what you wear,” he says, and in his heart he is a superstar and dresses like one.

If you like Jose, you might also enjoy Matt Parrotti, Heron Preston, Tay Trong, or Maurice Pierre Saint-Hubert.


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J.D. Szalla

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occupation: employee at the Guggenheim Museum

“I must quote an article in New York Magazine by Amy Larocca who I believe articulated something I have felt since high school. ‘To casual observers, the fashion world often looks entirely glamorous, the domain of the intimidating, the beautiful, the chic. But it can be a very dark place, and not because of status or material lust. In a lot of ways, fashion offers an unusally accepting home for people who’ve spent their lives feeling othered and odd, for those anxious to treat their internal darkness with external fantasy and flair.’ For me, this is every day, and I am still looking for a place to fit in here in New York City. Could there possibly be a Breakfast Club, Mudd Club, or CBGB’s here in New York in the 21st Century?” J.D. Szalla

A few days after I left J.D.’s interview, with a rabbit’s foot that he gave me (and that the dog at Fashion Indie ate) and a loaned copy of Cities of the Red Night by William S. Burroughs, he was concerned that his interview wouldn’t make it on this site, that he might have been too intense and honest. That couldn’t have been farther from the truth – I was flying from the collaboration. J.D. defines my theory that style is the outer manifestation of an interesting, thoughtful, and creative person, and I feel blessed that his lust for originality and his desire to connect to others like him led him to want to be part of this. When asked who his favorite person on StyleLikeU is, J.D. was notably selfless and humbling in his

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Olivia Weeden

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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.


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Amber Doyle

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occupation: co-owner of Against Nature Atelier in NYC’s Lower East Side

“[I like] harsh, dark glamour. Harsh elegance.” Amber Doyle

Amber loves her vintage monkey furs, but what makes them and everything she wears poignant for her are its details, origins, and loss of breath when she sees it. Her excitement is palpable when she explains how she found the original owner’s picture in the pocket of one of the furs, with the date of the photo of New Year’s 1949. The photo now sits in a frame on Amber’s mantle, as if the woman in it is a relative, making explicit the chilling and considerable emotional connection that antique clothing and its context has for her. She attributes her obsession with the beauty of detail to her Native American roots and the beadwork she would do as a child in Chicago. The appreciation for authenticity can be seen in everything Amber either owns or makes, from the original edition Vivienne Westwood pirate squiggle-print boots (that are signed by the designer) to her exquisite hand-made silk dupione blouses with the perfectly oversized french cuffs. She has both a strong passion for the feminine “lush” of the ’20s and ’30s, like her peach chiffon sheer dress – I love how she wears it with black thick tights and her go-to floppy hat. And then Eduardian-inspired, tailored men’s suiting, like

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