Category: Feature

STUDIO VISITS – RACHEL ROSSIN

Exploring the fine line between reality and our digital avatars, coder-turned-artist Rachel Rossin pulls us into her virtual worlds before ejecting us back out. In the disorientation of the experience we are left to wonder — what is reality?


Portrait Photography by Tiffany Nicholson | Interview by Haley Weiss
Sweater and Shirt by Versace, Skort, Socks and Shoes Artist’s Own

While Rachel Rossin was growing up in West Palm Beach, Florida, like many American children of the late ‘90s and early aughts, she read Harry Potter books, cared for her virtual creatures on Neopets, and repeatedly played SkiFree, a game on her mother’s Windows ’95 computer — even though she knew its likely end: “death by yeti.” However, unlike many of her peers, she could code by age eight, although she didn’t yet define it using that term; picking apart websites and hacking video games were simply fun and ordinary activities. “It felt natural, probably in the same way that three year olds now are intuitively using iPhones,” the 30-year-old recalls. “Escapism is natural for some people. Without a lot of access to culture, especially where I grew up, I felt pretty isolated, and so this was my community.”

Years later, after running her own web design company, playing her fair share of Call of Duty, and furthering her technology tool-kit at university, she began translating her digital experiments into art. When she moved to New York in 2010, she was already making “crude” VR (virtual reality) videos using 3D modeling software. By the time of her first-ever solo show, n=7 / The Wake In Heat of Collapse at SIGNAL in 2015, viewers could experience her VR work on an Oculus Rift headset, making their way through the fragmented digital world she created. She also started painting; for her 2015 show LOSSY at Zieher Smith & Horton, she showed a VR piece alongside canvases that recreated scenes from that virtual space. She’s continued to push the medium’s boundaries, showing her work at institutions like The New Museum, where she was a Virtual Reality Fellow.

For her second, recent solo show at SIGNAL, Peak Performance, she thought about body awareness; after building virtual world after virtual world, she felt disembodied, and wanted to work with VR in a way that would allow her to be in touch with her emotions. She modeled 3D environments, as she has in the past, but with an acute awareness of what she was experiencing. Throughout the process she asked: “What does my body feel like in this moment?” From the VR models that resulted, she made paintings, plexiglass sculptures, and aquarium-like tanks — all of which were shown without the original VR experience. Rossin’s work summons the question of where reality lies: on the headset or in person, online or offline, or — the more nebulous, likely conclusion — somewhere in-between.

Mirror Milk, 2015 Lossy, Zieher Smith & Horton, New York, NY Courtesy of Zieher Smith & Horton and the Artist

After, Horizon with Oranges, 2017 Peak Performance, Signal Gallery, New York, NY Photo courtesy of Signal Gallery

Obviously the reality within VR is disorienting, but the moments you put the headset on and take it off are equally as disruptive to your sense of the world. I wonder if you’ve watched people experience your VR projects, and what registers with them that you’ve found interesting?

It’s funny you ask that. The way I tackled this for the SIGNAL show, which was the first time I did a VR show and that was in 2015, is there were things in the VR space that were also art objects in the physical space. Then what people were seeing was also projected up on the wall, so when you exited, which is a pretty sensitive and disorienting time or transition, I had things that were registration points that left a feeling or a residue of what you had experienced in my VR piece. And then with my show LOSSY, those were paintings that were made from the VR piece, so you had an acquaintance with the paintings when you first entered the room, and then after you left the VR piece, you saw that same reference material but now as static windows that you just experienced or felt. That’s always been interesting, because there’s something about the gradient of reality, for lack of a better word, where right now these things are very polar. That’ll probably change, but they’re very binary: you have the virtual world and the physical world. There’s a moment that you can get into very, very quickly that’s in-between those two worlds when you’re making physical objects, and if it’s a show that’s not so much about programming, if it’s a show about that disparity, then that’s what I try to find.

Then there are the pieces that are about programming, like the piece that’s at Kiasma [Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Alembic Cache Passes (Time-snark) (2016)], where it’s time moving. It’s a piece that I’ve been working on for a while. There’s a type of VR where you can map time; I found a way to map time to where a person is in a room, so the piece is aware of where the person is, and that’s sort of the human scrubber of time, and so two-dimensional time becomes three-dimensional time. With that piece, the floor is the same in both worlds. That’s another way I think of trying to find registration points. It’s like putting people through the uncanny valley, squishing them through the uncanny valley. Sometimes, the uncanny valley, the disparity [between the virtual and physical], is pretty brief.

In art it does seem like it’s a binary; something is either multimedia and tech-based or it’s not. But in daily life, that’s not how we experience technology. Our digital and real memories are all intertwined, so I wonder why it is that there’s such a gap in art.

I always think about the advent of the cursor as a parallel to this, because part of that consideration is that it’s natural. You have the advent of the cursor — everything is command line before this moment — and then there’s the advent of the operating system, the advent of GUI, Graphical User Interface. We didn’t have a way to really put ourselves in VR, put ourselves in the digital space, until the cursor was invented. And then, at that moment, there was a representation of our hands that was on the screen that you could use, which is pretty interesting if you think about what’s coming next for us. I really hate making predictions about what’s going to happen in the future because it seems so frivolous, but it does seem like, if I had a gut instinct or a hunch about that, it’ll probably shrink — that disparity, that feeling will naturally shrink with time. I don’t know if that’s fortunately or unfortunately.

Our emotional lives, especially our superego, can’t tell the difference between what’s real and what’s not because it still hurts when whatever slight happens on the Internet, or if there’s a threat made on the Internet, my god, my reptilian brain certainly reacts to that. But our bodies definitely can tell the difference. My body can follow my reptilian brain, but it still feels pretty separate in this sphere, while our emotional lives, our primitive brain and our pheromone brains — our more primal or animal instincts — live in technology pretty seamlessly. That’s kind of incredible because we assume that it’s not like that, but it is. If you just take a temperature of your body in real time, [the reaction to something taking place virtually] is completely the same as in real life, if not increased — the fear is increased, it seems like. I find that to be enchanting in a dark way.


Sweater and Shirt by Versace

For your second show at SIGNAL you don’t have any VR headsets. But the plexiglass pieces, do they follow the same process as the paintings where it begins as a photo, is put into a program, and then is made physical again? What’s the process behind these works?

Not everything starts as a photo. Sometimes it does, but I use almost every tool available, and sometimes it starts with me purely modeling things in 3D. Sometimes I use a VR sculpting program. Sometimes it’s me ripping stuff, like for the Call of Duty piece, Man Mask [(2016)], it’s me literally hacking Call of Duty figures out of their little shells and texturing them. So depending what the body of work is, it’s always going to be different. But for these plexiglass pieces, what they are is VR. I have paintings and then the plexiglass pieces and then there are these strange tanks. The paintings and the plexiglass pieces are made from the same seed, the VR space; we’re using VR as a loose term to talk about 3D microcosms that have their own physics and their own light. What I’m doing is I’m using the same scene [for both the paintings and the plexiglass pieces]. I paint from that microcosm or that VR world that I’ve sculpted, I’m [physically] making paintings of that space, and then I’m printing them out on plexiglass — it’s almost like they’re part three of this gradient. Then I wanted them to begin with the body and then end with the body, so what I did for the plexiglass ones is they’re then blow-torched while I’m nestling in them for as long as I can take it. If it gets too hot I have to leave. But it gets pretty soft, and I sort of hug them around me.

In your mind, how do the aquarium-like sculptures play into this? Because visually they seem like a departure, but there’s something weird going on there that seems similar in a lot of ways to the VR works, like, what’s the original piece, what’s the “real” part of it? How are you thinking about these?

Something about building computers and building machines feels very intimate, like building worlds or building microcosms; they feel like building cities or VR worlds. That’s something that, before I was even coding [as a kid], I was breaking stuff and trying to see how computers worked — bless you, Mom. So I’ve been building computers for a long time, and then I became fascinated with the idea of the show and going back to the body. Of course there’s a little bit of a knee-jerk response in the idea of water combined with some sort of technology; that’s the part of it that’s amusing or silly. But they feel like vivariums or like geological core samples of a VR space.

All of the screens in those tanks are literally the VR spaces; you see them through these very pixelated LED screens. I wanted to make something that very much felt like the body, sort of crudely self-contained, that wasn’t VR, that felt that there was a way of describing the landscape, as aquariums do, really — here’s a slice of the ocean.”

Timescrubbing, Maquette, 2017 ALT FACTS, Postmasters Gallery, New York, NY Photo courtesy of Brooke Nicholas

Safe Apron, Safe Cape, 2016 My Little Green Leaf at Art In General and Kim, Riga, Latvia Photo by Ansis Starks, Kim and Art in General

You talking about body awareness and the act of forming these plexiglass pieces around your own body is interesting, because it grounds VR in the human form literally. How did you start thinking about body awareness and what made you want to physically cocoon yourself in these pieces to make them more human?

When I was growing up, being online was a safe place despite the perverts. It was this place that I felt like was pretty necessary, like my community was there. There was an adventure. It could be because I’m getting older, but I felt in light of… I don’t know if it was a response to technology or politics, that’s what I’m trying to figure out. I think I was wanting to make work that was more introspective, that was simpler and less about technology and less about process, and more, “These are the tools I have right now.” I wanted to strip it down to something very literal. I’ve been making a lot of VR work and I’ve been existing in VR and in digital spaces because I had back-to-back museum shows, which was amazing, but they were all VR installations. I was existing kind of without a body and then not making anything physically.

I think it was a response internally, and it was also a response to the fact that any time I went on social media or went on to where I thought I had community, it was chaos. Because it was chaos and, frankly, pretty stressful, I started thinking, “What is my response? How do I feel right now as I’m reading this horrific news story or my aunt’s Facebook posts? Right now I just feel like a pile of lungs.” One of the paintings is kind of about that. It was about using fear responses or technology as the prompt for that type of body awareness exercise: I have a fear response, and it’s in a space where I don’t have a body, so what is my body doing? But the baseline of what we’re talking about is that I wanted to make something where the work wasn’t serving technology, technology was serving the work.


Sweater and Shirt by Versace, Skort Artist’s Own

Hair by Austin Burns using Oribe, Makeup by Agata Helena @agatahelena using NARS cosmetics, Art Direction by Louis Liu, Editor Marc Sifuentes, Production by Benjamin Price

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For more information visit rossin.co

STUDIO VISITS – SAM MCKINNISS

In 2016, Brooklyn-based artist Sam McKinniss made waves in the art world with his sophomore solo show, Egyptian Violet, which featured a memorable, moody portrait of the late musical phenomenon Prince. Known for his signature romantic and sometimes campy color-saturated paintings of baby animals and pop stars, McKinniss walks the line between high and low-brow culture.


 Sweater and Pants by Coach, Shoes and Socks Artist’s Own
Portrait Photography by Tiffany Nicholson | Interview by Anna Furman

Thirty-one-year-old painter Sam McKinniss grew up in a small town in central Connecticut where, as he told me, “there’s an apple orchard and a lot of golf courses and trees and lakes to jump in.” The now Brooklyn-based artist oscillates between sincere admiration for his subjects and a gleeful, ironic take on pop culture–blurring the lines between low and high cultural signs. Disney characters, B-level celebrities, ’80s pop stars, and true-crime characters filter into his work through careful brushstrokes and lush color palettes. In the studio, he listens to baroque opera and pop music (Rostam, SZA, St. Vincent), exclusively.

McKinniss speaks with a sort of world-weary droll, but comes off as anything but–he is attentive to his subjects, and treats each portrait with measured thoughtfulness. On a balmy day in late September, I spoke with McKinniss about his collaboration with singer/songwriter Lorde, the far-reaching influence of late ’60s hippie subcultures, and his upcoming show Daisy Chain in Venice Beach.

Michael Jackson, 2017

Prince (Under the Cherry Moon), 2016

Hi! What are you working on today?

I just started a painting of a lamb smelling some flowers. It’s kind of cute. I recently finished a portrait of JonBenét Ramsey, which might have led me to paint this lamb. She just seems too young to be that made up and that glamorous. She looks so innocent and now she’s so dead–a lamb seems like it would be a nice contrast to her figure.

Maybe generic pictures of cute animals on the internet offset some of the darker, meaner subjects out there or give us some sort of emotional retreat from more violent material.

Tell me about your studio practice.

I like to work every day and I like having a set work day schedule, so I try and start between 10 and 11 and leave by 6 or 7. That way I have time to draw or think out problems, and then look hard at the paintings and decide how they need to be fixed. If I’m going to paint, I need at least four uninterrupted hours. Lately, I’ve been trying to slow down. I want to be a little more thoughtful and courteous to the material. For a couple of years, I would whip through paintings, sometimes finishing one small piece a day. But I’m happier when I take my time and the paint looks better.

What do you mean by “better”?

I mean it in terms of mark-making. Composition–how you design, how you set a picture inside of a rectangle– definitely benefits from taking more time. Every time I hit the canvas with a brush loaded with paint, it’s a succinct moment in real space and time. It can be just one, you know, flick of the wrist. If it’s done exactly right, it looks effortless and the paint can articulate a physical attribute. I’ve noticed that when I’m more patient with a painting, I experience those moments more often. I can touch the canvas with the brush and it sets up gorgeously and it looks like it was just breathed on there. And the paint looks good! It’s important to me that the paint looks good–I want it to be seductive. I want the paint to call attention to itself, almost in an amorous or erotic way. I want the paint to be desired; it has to attract people. It’s sexy when it looks good.

You painted Lorde for her Melodrama album cover. How did that cover project come about?

Last year, a mutual friend put us in touch and she wrote me an email asking if she and I could get together to talk about the album she was working on. She came and visited my studio, saw the work I was making for Egyptian Violet and then described her vision for Melodrama, for which she had total creative control. I agreed to do the cover, which was sincerely a lot of fun for me. The process turned into a very meaningful collaboration.


Sweater and Pants by Coach, Shoes and Socks Artist’s Own

If you were to create an album cover image for another musician, dead or alive, who would you choose?

Prince. But what I’d really like is for someone to soundtrack one of my exhibitions. I won’t say who.

You have an upcoming show at Team Gallery in Venice Beach, opening this winter. It’s called Daisy Chain. Where did that name come from?

Well, I like it as a cliché. Poetically or melodically or something, it appeals to me. Also, in Lana Del Rey’s song ”Summer Bummer”, the lyric is ‘wrap you up in my daisy chain.’ It just seems violent, but also sweet, which basically equals erotic. That album came out in July, which was right when I was getting serious about the focus of this show. ‘Daisy Chain’ just leapt out at me. It seemed appropriate for the kind of pictures that I wanted to look at and make paintings about.

What are the paintings in Daisy Chain about? Are they mostly portraits?

There’s a double-portrait of Lana Del Rey kissing A$AP Rocky that I took from the “National Anthem” music video. There’s a portrait of Drew Barrymore from the mid ’’90s, when she posed nude for Rolling Stone magazine. She’s wearing a pixie cut and her hair is decorated with a daisy chain–like, literally a string of daisies. There’s also a portrait of Joan Didion wearing chic, oversized sunglasses–she looks sort of old, severe, and mature. It’s a recent photo, not from the ’’60s. And there’s a portrait of Beck taken from the Sea Change album cover, which was made by the artist Jeremy Blake. Oh, I also made a portrait of one of the kids from Lord of the Flies, taken from a paperback book cover re-released in the late ’’80s. It was the cover I had when I was in middle school. It’s one of the kids from the island, and he’s wearing a crown of palm leaves or ferns or something.

Did you tailor the subjects of these paintings to fit into a California narrative or did the location of the show affect which subjects you chose to include?

For sure. I was trying to get closer to a California mood. I reread Joan Didion’s The White Album recently and have been listening to a lot of Lana Del Rey’s Lust for Life album. I read Helter Skelter, the true crime book about Charles Manson’s trial, and thought about how some of the murders were committed in Venice. I’ve been thinking about violent crime, mass murder, and how we’re living through such a violent era right now. I don’t know if it’s more or less violent than 1967, 1968, or 1969, but I am trying to organize a group of pictures that could be said to reference 1969. I’m looking for elements of the youth culture that have impressed itself upon my consciousness. I want to invoke–in a vague or nebulous way, which is my way–style signifiers derived from a hippie subculture. I’m wondering if there is a counter-culture and if there are alternatives to our dominant political discourse. Can pop culture have a positive impact on political change? Like, does style equal progress, or can it? I don’t have any answers, but the direction that I’m focused on is one that asks if these celebrated figures affect more than just our understanding of style.

Lana & Rocky, 2017

JonBenét, 2017

In your 2016 show Egyptian Violet, the portrait of Prince was understood to be the focal point of the collection. Is there a painting in Daisy Chain that is comparable – as in the rest of the show hinges around it?

I don’t know if that’s for me to say. I knew the painting of Prince was going to create a stir and that people were going to remember it, but I didn’t know that critics or members of the art world were going to decide that it was the focal point of the show. It has been meaningful, for lack of a better word, to try and conceive of a new show after Egyptian Violet. Egyptian Violet was a darker palette and definitely more of a nighttime art show, whereas Daisy Chain is a little sunnier and a bit more daytime. The floral motif marches through work in both and a daisy is certainly a nice contrast to a violet.

I read that you used to work in a floral shop. Can you tell me about the first three jobs you had?

I worked for a florist for a long time when I was in college, and that was really fun. I did a lot of the dumb gay retail shit that gay guys often get trapped doing, especially if they have a creative degree like a BFA. I also worked at a used and antiquarian book store for a while. That was a good job, I read a lot of books on my lunch break.

Do you paint certain photos as practice? Are there exercises you do to stay nimble before diving into another work?

I took a lot of time off this summer and got out of New York City. I was in East Hampton for two weeks and made, like, 4 or 5 drawings a day. It helped me get thematically and conceptually organized so that when it’s time to go back to work, when I walk into the studio, I know what kind of work I want to make. I like to reacquaint myself with drawing and remind myself that it’s a worthwhile and enjoyable activity. It’s good for my hand, my eye, my brain. Also, I go to The Met a lot to study the paintings. I look at the same works over and over again to try and learn them. To be intimate with them.

Do you remember the last thing you took a screengrab of?

Yesterday I screen-grabbed an image from the New York Times front page of video coverage of the Las Vegas shooting. Horrific. Like a frontier scene by Frederic Remington. Awful. I rarely use photojournalism for my work but I admire it quite a lot.

Have there been any words used to describe your paintings that you either disagree with or were surprised by?

To be fair, no. I think all criticism is fair. I don’t think that an artist totally owns a work after he or she puts the work out into a public arena. Some people understand my work to be about nostalgia. That’s fine. There’s totally an argument for that, but I don’t relate to it. I don’t feel nostalgic for when I was a teenager or for any other time in my life, and it’s certainly not why I make paintings. All the images are taken from some moment that I remember, but I don’t know that memory is the same thing as nostalgia.

Is there a subject that you are interested in making work, but haven’t quite figured out how to approach yet? In other words, what subject is next?

Sure. I do a lot of image-gathering and these images kick around in computer folders. Sometimes I print them out and they sit in literal, physical folders on my studio desk. I shuffle through them periodically. I really want to do a painting of Arnold Schwarzenegger from Terminator 2. It just seems really gross and of the moment–in terms of popular celebrity culture making a parlay into national politics. I’ve been thinking about it for at least two years because it seems loaded, even though it’s kind of a cute movie. It just seems really loaded to paint the former Republican governor of California as The Terminator. Or, Maria Shriver’s ex-husband.

That would be a good title for the piece. “Maria Shriver’s Ex-Husband.”

Yeah (laughs) ‡


Sweater  by Coach

Hair by Austin Burns using Oribe, Makeup by Agata Helena @agatahelena using NARS Cosmetics, Art Direction by Louis Liu, Editor Marc Sifuentes, Production by Benjamin Price

All artwork © Sam McKinniss, images courtesy of the artist
For more information visit sammckinniss.com

STUDIO VISITS – CAMILLA ENGSTROM

Swedish-born painter Camilla Engström’s work explores autobiographical issues through her lens of humor and figurative expression. With a third solo show that opened earlier this year at Brooklyn’s Cooler Gallery, Engström opens up about processing her anger through phallic symbols, her cartoon-like characters, and her quest for inspiration.


Portrait Photography by Tiffany Nicholson | Interview by Haley Weiss
Dress and shoes by J.W. Anderson

If Camilla Engström were to make a self-portrait, she would draw a rollercoaster. That’s not to say the 28-year-old artist from Örebro, Sweden is out of control; in fact, she’s in tune with her emotions — the ups, downs, and contortions in-between. From moving to New York in 2011 to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology, to dropping out in 2013 to pursue a broader art practice, trusting her creative impulses has given her the freedom to build a body of work that includes drawings, paintings, apparel design, and sculpture. In recent months, it’s also meant accepting that she doesn’t know what she’ll do next; when we visit her Brooklyn studio this fall, for example, she says that she’s simply been “releasing pressure” by painting.

“I don’t even know what I’m making,” she admits, assessing the colorful canvases that fill her wall, although there’s one obvious commonality. “It’s just a lot of sausages,” she adds with a laugh. One painting features a long and artfully twisted sausage, while another shows a sausage being stepped on by multiple feet. This new subject is unsurprising given Engström’s history of irreverent, humorous compositions. She explores sexuality, consumption, and the banal (e.g. bathing, cats) with a wink. It began with her roguish alter ego, Husa, the curvy pink figure who’s appeared in Engström’s pieces since she was first sketched years ago. Husa has many activities, including reading or drinking wine while naked on a picnic blanket, and sitting in a reclining chair, drooling, with food resting on her lap. And she, like her creator, is also capable of change; in 2016, at what Engström describes as a “zen” time in her life, she depicted Husa as a contemplative figure. The result was Faces, Engström’s first-ever solo show at Deli Gallery in Queens, in which Husa appears in various states of undress, transforming beneath a sun-like orb. In one painting from that series, Husa disappears entirely, leaving her dress suspended in mid-air, as though she’s transcended the bodies and cultural norms Engström so often points to in her work. It turns out that with an open approach like Engström’s, one recurring figure can address both the commonplace and the ecstatic.

Big Bear, 2017

You’ve described drawing in the past as not actively thinking; you’re just letting it out. Are you surprised by what you make?

Yes, sometimes. I like to start small because that’s less intimidating. That’s usually when I’m like, “Whoa, what’s going on in my head?” For the last few months, I’ve been kind of controlled in the way I’ve been painting. Now I want to be a little bit looser I think, which is frustrating because I wish I could paint the same way and stick to it. I just can’t.

When you’re painting and you’re stricter, does that happen naturally or is it a conscious decision?

It also happens naturally. I think more before I make the painting. Whereas these messy ones, [gestures to sausage paintings] I don’t really think at all, which is nice. I like both ways. With the more controlled ones, I definitely feel like I’m more relaxed, and even though I’m thinking more beforehand, I’m just focused, getting the paint in there. Whereas painting the messy ones, I feel sweaty afterwards; it’s almost like an exercise. I try to make them really quick and I try to make many of them.

Why do you think sausages are reappearing, if you were to do some self-analysis?

Before I used to paint dicks a lot. [Engström published A Book of Dicks in 2016.] I wanted to make a new dick book. I feel like I have so many dicks in my brain; I need to get them out there. I like to turn them into sausages because I feel like I can’t paint the dick. I’m just so mad at dicks right now. Sausages are easier for me to handle. They’re less intimidating.

You said you’re mad at dicks. Could you elaborate on that? Is that a cultural frustration, one with politics, or—

I think it’s politics to be honest. When every hurricane, every disaster happens, I’m just playing with a dick [in my work]. I feel like if we backtrack, it’s all the dicks’ fault. I was just reading about Harvey Weinstein and I want to destroy him. Now he’s destroying himself. How could he do that for so many years? It makes me want to cry but it also makes me so mad. It’s all of that coming to me at the same time.

It also makes me think about when I’ve been sexually harassed by men, and it makes me think about my sister, who’s 10 years younger than me. I just realized, I never said to her, “You have to say no.” I never had the conversation with her: “This is how you deal with a bossy guy.” She’s almost 20 now, and she’s in college and she studies international finance. There are a lot of men there, and they drink and they party all the time.

I was watching her Snapchat almost having a heart attack. That’s when most of that shit happened to me. You’re drunk, you’re with guys, and you feel pressure to be accommodating, and then it all goes downhill. I just texted her today: “We need to have this conversation. You are the boss over your own body and I see how you’re with guys all the time. I’m sure most of them are nice, but even the nicest guy, if he wants something from you and your body, you need to be able to say no.” I wish that our mom had told me that because I feel like maybe I would have been more brave and not so terrified every time. I’m definitely frustrated with the dick this year. I’m hoping next year it will all be about the beautiful vagina.

Do you remember your first drawing of Husa?

Yes. I remember I was looking at a lot on Pinterest at the time — because that’s what you do when you work in fashion, you sit on Pinterest all day (laughs) — and I was looking at all of these sculptures. I wanted to paint a round figure because I had been painting so many fashion illustrations — I was also very influenced by Picasso. Then I started to paint a round figure but it was very serious. It just didn’t feel like me. I was painting her over and over and over again. Then finally I just gave her a face, and it made me giggle, because I could see it come to life. It just all came together and I was like, “Okay, this is my friend that I’m going to paint for a long time.”

Hairier and Hairier, 2017

Dress and shoes by J.W. Anderson


When you moved from fashion to being an “artist,” what was that decision like? Were you tired of fashion; was there a certain attitude you wanted to get away from; what was it?

I was frustrated with fashion. I felt like I was so creative — a typical millennial kid that’s just like, “I deserve more attention.” I wasn’t good at dealing with technical stuff. I could create things, but no one wants the creative person because they already have that. I felt like I was going to explode because I had so much to give but I couldn’t. There was never an opportunity. Then the tasks they gave me were easy but so unfulfilling.

I still love fashion and I love clothes. I think I have like a healthier relationship to fashion now. I feel more relaxed about it. When I left fashion, I didn’t want to leave completely. I still love working with textiles and I did this little embroidery thing with the Swedish brand called Monki; we did a clothing collaboration. I’m sure there are some artists that really don’t want to see their work on clothes, but it makes me so happy.

I know a lot of people won’t be able to buy my work — I could never buy my work — but they could buy a T-shirt. It makes me so happy to see someone wear my T-shirt or tote bag.

What are you inspired by at the moment? Is there anything you’re reading, listening to, seeing?

I took a break for two weeks; I went to Japan. I just got back. I felt like going to Japan was going to change my life and that I was going to come back and be like, “This is what I want to paint now.” It was definitely inspiring to be there, but it just made me more confused.

Had you been there before?

No, it was the first time. I love Yayoi Kusama so I wanted to go there and see her work and see what kind of environment or culture she grew up around. I wanted to experience it. I came back and I was like, “I don’t even know what I want to make anymore.” Sometimes I’ll go see a show and I’ll be so inspired to make something, so it was super frustrating. I’m still inspired by Kusama a lot but it’s almost like I looked at her work too much. I think I need to step back a little bit.

I went to MoMA; I looked at the Louise Bourgeois exhibition. I tried to feel something and I just didn’t. Then I picked up ArtForum; I went through it and I just thought, “Fuck.” You know when you’re inspired, it’s just this feeling, and I haven’t had that feeling yet. I’m going to push myself and try to be inspired by myself. I hope it comes soon because I really need to work — to work with a confidence.

Hairier and Hairier, 2017

Food Coma, 2017

When you say you need to work, you need to as in you have to be making things?

I feel maybe like a guy that hasn’t had sex in a long time; I feel like the energy’s there, the need is there. I’m so frustrated. I feel like I can’t create, like something’s missing. I’ll get there. I reach this point probably like five times a year. I’m okay with it.

Do you force yourself to paint every day? What does your day-to-day life look like?

Yes, I force myself because I feel like I have the energy. If I don’t have the energy, I don’t even try. I just stay at home and cuddle with my cat. But now, because I have all this amped up energy to paint, I force myself because I feel like maybe I’m thinking too much. Maybe I just need to paint and then it will click, and that’s where I’m at right now. I’m hoping that maybe tomorrow or the next day something’s going to happen. We’ll see.

When was the first time you can encountered a work of art while you were growing up?

I grew up with this huge painting that disturbed me so much.

In your house?

Actually it was in my grandfather’s house. It was so big, it had to be the centerpiece. It was dark blue and it was a forest at night and there were animals running away. I remember at night I would always run past that painting, because there was this owl sitting in the middle with its bright yellow eyes staring at me. But then during the day, it was right next to the couch and I had to deal with that painting. When my grandfather died, it moved into our house in the same spot towards the couch. It was really bizarre.

I knew there was something special about that painting, that it wasn’t just a painting or a picture on the wall. It was something that really, really bothered me. It made me feel something, and knowing that a piece of art could make me feel something, that was the first time I understood that it was art, and it was important. Being around that painting for so many years, even the scale of it… It’s always going to be with me.

Dress and shoes by J.W. Anderson

Hair and Makeup by Agata Helena @ agatahelena using NARS cosmetics, Art Direction by Louis Liu, Editor Marc Sifuentes, Production by Benjamin Price

–

All art work © Camilla Engström images courtesy of the artist
For more information visit camilla-engstrom.com

LEE DANIELS

Star of His Own Empire: Behind the scenes, Lee Daniels is protagonist of his own story and reinventing the Great American Musical along the way.

Photography by Diego Uchitel @ Jones Management | Styling by Rafael Linares @ Art Department | Interview by Alan Bindler

Suit and Shirt by Ron Tomson

West Side Story. Hair. Rent. Hamilton. Musicals have always reflected the times we live in. Passing on specific narratives as told by the people who have lived them is crucial to a society’s fabric, an entertaining amalgam of “real facts,” song and dance that often packs more truth than a public school history textbook. In this current Golden Age of Television, various portrayals of our society are being played out on screen to dizzying and oftentimes brutally honest effect. No one is synergizing these two factors better than Lee Daniels – the Academy Award nominated director and producer of Precious, Monster’s Ball, and The Paperboy, amongst others.

Empire, now in it’s fourth season and Star, in its second, are the hit television shows written and created by Daniels to confront the same topics splashed across newspaper headlines daily – sexual assault, racism, class divide – and are revolutionizing the industry with their interweaving of original music, fashion, and celebrity; using these as a backdrop to the gritty storylines that are holding a mirror up to the changing demographics of America.

Born in Philadelphia, his grandmother was a huge influence. In previous interviews, he has fondly described her as “a crooked politician“ and “gangster” who helped get the African- American community to vote at local levels in the 1960s during the Civil Rights movement. After the death of Daniels’ father, a policeman who beat him for being gay, his mother sent him to an upscale, white suburban high school, knowing he “couldn’t survive selling drugs.” A fund assembled by the Philadelphia police force had provided him with enough money for his first year and a half of college, and as an act of filial piety, Daniels found himself a girlfriend. The money ran out, and not wanting him to turn to the streets, she gave him seven dollars and a bus ticket to LA.

Living in the back of a church, he started working with the theatre program there to earn his keep. At the same time, he got a job as the receptionist for a nursing agency, a fact he attributed to using the “white voice” he learned in high school. Soon after, he went out on his own, founding his own agency and taking some of the nurses with him. At the height of the AIDS crisis, when other agencies were too scared to allow their nurses to work with HIV+ patients, Daniels’ became the first agency under AIDS Project LA. It made him a lot of money. That, united with a chance encounter with a connected Hollywood client, lead Daniels to sell his agency for “a couple of million.” His career in entertainment was born, starting with a PA job on the set of Prince’s Purple Rain and later moving up the ladder to Head of Minority Talent for Warner Bros.

Casting directing lead to managing, but when he got “tired of telling [African- American] actors that there weren’t any jobs for them,” Daniels transitioned into producing, hustling up the money to make Monster’s Ball, which garnered Halle Berry her history-making Best Actress Academy Award. Mining his own captivating life story, the goal in his work is to give the voiceless a voice, and to make viewers look at people that they normally wouldn’t.

“I’ll give you and feed you a political agenda, but with music, or with a sexy girl or a sexy boy or with some fashion. You will find yourself drawn and sucked into my world regardless of how you feel about me, through what you’re seeing and the audacity of it. Audacious is what it is that I try to be. Not shocking, but just showing shit to people that they don’t always get a chance to see, that other people are afraid to show…”, Daniels says. He is a truth teller, shit-talker, and skilled auteur, telling intimate stories that haven’t received such wide exposure until now.

Passionate as he is in bringing personal narratives to the screen, Daniels is also involved in several charities and nonprofit organizations. His work with the African American AIDS Institute (which is in danger of losing their funding) is a direct result of having lost most of his friends to the epidemic. “That I don’t have [HIV] is a miracle from God and I don’t know how I didn’t get it or haven’t gotten it… and I know that my work as an artist, my obligation isn’t just to my art and my craft but to my people,” he tells me candidly. This humility is also summoned when discussing his work with The Ghetto Film School, an award winning nonprofit that helps young filmmakers, which Daniels helped co-found with David O. Russell. They both still sit on the Board of Directors. “Because I didn’t go to film school, I didn’t have the luxury… I learned how to hold a camera by watching people as I produced films. To me this is not my gift. I don’t own it. I don’t own my art. My art is to pass on. My job in life is to pass it on to someone that will be far more talented than I. And so for me, the Ghetto Film School represents who it is that I am and what I have to do. It is my obligation to pass whatever gift that God has given me to others who haven’t been fortunate enough (to be able to) afford to go to film school.”

Speaking to him over the phone while he was in France for the Cannes Lions festival, I sense two things: one, that Mr. Daniels is extremely candid, as much so as his work; and two, that what Mr. Daniels doesn’t say is as important as what he does. He’s warm and spirited, with our conversation splitting off into tangents as numerous as his subplots. Here, we discuss embracing the grey areas of life, mortality, binge-watching… and a possible John Waters collaboration? With Lee Daniels, the element of surprise is as guaranteed as the controversy he brings to the screen.

There are times when I’m watching Star, specifically when they break into fantasy sequence musical numbers, that I really feel like I’m watching the 21st century incarnation of “The Great American Musical” … and yet this is about a very specific demographic. I pose this question in relation with a recent comment you made about wanting to be referred to as a “director” instead of a “Black director”, or a “creator” instead of a “Black creator”. Could you speak on how coming from a place of personal authenticity can translate to all people being able to relate, on a mass scale?

Yeah… it’s crazy… and this is what’s really frightening… It’s not the overt racists, that clearly one can see is racist, or clearly one can see is a gay basher… people with white masks, or people that don’t have a problem calling someone a nigger or a faggot… I’d rather see that, than those who truly don’t understand that they’re racist or homophobic. Those who really believe that they’re liberal and embracing of “the other,” and yet still take offense to my work. And ones that are in power that don’t see the problem. So for me, I’m the first to call someone out on that. That type there is the one that is scary, and I get in trouble with those people.

So in a way it’s almost as if your work is holding up a mirror to those that think they’re “woke…”

Yeah, because a lot of them ain’t woke!

You’re known for telling stories, and for giving a voice to controversial topics that haven’t been shared on the scale in which you’re sharing them. Do you ever feel you’re not giving enough time to one topic because there’s more emphasis placed on another?

Oh my God, I always feel like I’m rushing through a story, and I’m not giving enough time to a topic. There are so many subjects and atrocities to cover in America, and in our culture today. In film I can do it, in television I can’t. With Empire, it’s clearly about the kids in the empire. With Star, it’s about three girls struggling; but in the backdrop of that, we’re trying to tell stories that are politically important. That are important to what Americans need to see. Social topics are important. It’s hard to weave everything in.

How many other voices, particularly voices with power, and how many other opinions affect which stories you give priority to?

They sort of let me do my thing now. Which is the reason why I got into television from the very beginning. Danny Strong and I did Empire together and we had a very strong political agenda that was served. With Star I have a political agenda as well. When I am making the network uncomfortable, I know I’m doing my job. When Cookie descended from a cage in a gorilla suit from Central Park in the second season, beating her chest, and she rips off her outfit, and it’s Cookie dressed in Gucci couture and diamonds, saying that she felt like an animal in a cage because that’s how they’re treating us. The network freaked out! But that’s what I was feeling at the moment. I felt like my son, Taraji’s son, Terrence’s son, they were all Black men that were being targeted by the law at that time, so I wrote about it; I felt like we were all people in cages. But guess what? When she pulled off that gorilla suit, homegirl was in Gucci, head to toe, bejeweled in diamonds! I still laugh about Taraji screaming about getting into that monkey suit! But she did it because there’s no actor like her.

On that same subject, there’s a line in an episode of Star, the one with the Black Lives Matter protest, where Queen Latifah’s character says “You win by speaking the truth.” Your narrative, the specific narratives of the stories you tell are your truth. However, at a certain point that a creative achieves a certain level of fame – becomes mainstream, if you will – their narrative and their perspective sort of become “the narrative.” Are you worried about that at all with your work?

It’s terrifying because I didn’t realize that… you don’t know that you’re famous until you say something and it is completely taken out of context, and your kids are coming up to you and saying “why are they saying this ?”. And then there’s negative feedback from your own people. That’s really painful because you then realize you have an obligation to be politically correct in your agenda. And I’m not politically correct AT ALL. It can get me in trouble with my own people sometimes. And that’s inclusive of gays, I can get in trouble with the gay situation, I can get in trouble with the black situation, and you know… I’m sort of a loose cannon in that regard. It can get me sued. I’ve learned over the years to edit myself. And I don’t like editing myself. I’ve learned that some people just can’t handle too much of the truth. So I can only give them a little bit of the truth at a time. You’ve received criticism of topics you cover being “too left leaning” “too gay” etc… and these come from both sides of political and racial divides, different communities… Because I’m not going to sugarcoat a topic. I’m going to tell the truth from my perspective. Racism is not black or white. Homophobia is not black or white. There are grey areas that are there. Unless you take a specific stand on it that is pro or con, you get eggs thrown at you. So I’m very clear that there is a grey area. Because I embrace that grey area, I am criticized. I’ve learned to accept that, and it is what it is. There’s this one quote in which you reference your grandmother. You said you learned from her that “people aren’t good or bad, we all try to wake up in the morning to be the best person that we can be but we end up falling on our asses. No one is perfect. So my work has really been that grey area that we all are — that murky area that we all live in.

Is there anything else about that grey area that you can speak on?

Yeah (long pause). I know what I can talk about. I can talk about the grey area of parenting. I have two 21-year old kids, and oftentimes I feel like I have let them down as a parent. I’m constantly reminded that there’s no such thing as a great parent. You can only be the best parent that you can be. You see kids today, and this represents the millennial, and there’s a sense of entitlement that comes to these kids. Like “you owe me, give me, I’m here to take.” And there’s no work ethic there. I have wanted everything for my children that I did not have. And then you realize “Oh my god what have I done? I’ve created monsters,” not monsters but you know, like, entitled kids that are used to certain things. How will they be able to survive in the streets if I were to die tomorrow, you know, how will they survive? Not from a monetary standpoint, but how will they have the skillset to interact with people? So, now I find that I have to reteach things. My son didn’t know about racism at all until very recently. I had protected him from that by putting him in the schools that he went to. So now he sees it and he’s looking at me like, “why didn’t you talk to me about this?” Again, it goes into the grey area of life. I know that I’m not perfect but striving for perfection.

You’ve mentioned that before – how you have raised your own kids in this bubble where they had not known what it was like as far as what the real world had to bring; do you think that sort of affected how you tell stories, and if you were to make another Precious, now that your kids are older, how does that affect how you dive into these tough topics?

The most potent storytelling comes from a place of where I’m at right now in the moment. Empire came at a place where I was in that moment. It was important for me to tell that story because I needed to tell my family’s story at that moment. Star came at a time when I had to tell that story, and I’m still telling that story because I’m in that moment now. I’m not the guy that I was when I shot Precious. I don’t want to repeat myself, and I also have to tell a story that is important to me. It’s not going to resonate as true unless it’s in me right now. I’m in another part of my life where I’m realizing that mortality is real and that my next breath is not promised. So that area of storytelling is important to me because that’s how I’m feeling right now. Mortality, and telling stories about what have I contributed, what is my contribution, what have I laid out, what have I given back to the world in some way? That’s where I’m at right now.

Trench Coat by Saint Laurent, Shirt and Jeans by Gucci, Sunglasses by Tom Ford

Speaking of mortality, you’re directing a new version of Terms of Endearment; you recently revealed that your remake of Terms of Endearment would deal with the intersectional issues of race and sexuality, specifically that Flap would contract HIV through homosexual sex and infect his wife. In response, critics and fans alike are saying things like “Wait, don’t mess with this classic” and “Far more people died of cancer than HIV!” Why do you think people have reacted this way?

People can say whatever they’d like to say. I say, BYE, haters! I have a story to tell. See y’all in the theaters! I don’t have time for people’s opinions. If I go with people’s opinions, then I’m not making Monster’s Ball, and I’m not making Precious, and I’m not making The Butler, and I’m not making Empire, and I’m not making Star, I’m doing what people want me to do. So, BYE people! I’ll see you in the theaters. And then they go see the movie and are like, (mockingly) “Oh, ok I get it.” …NEXT!

So basically you’re saying “Wait for it to come out, then come at me…”

Then come at me with all of your armor and spears… and you will anyway, so whatever.

In an interview with Elvis Duran, your protegé and an amazing actor, Gabourey Sidibe said what I think is going to be one of the most iconic quotes of her career. Speaking on the topic of self-confidence, she said that self-confidence is something that she has to remember to reapply to herself during the day, like lipstick. Could you speak to that a little bit? You’re a very confident guy…

I am not confident. It’s all a facade. It’s masked. As hard as I try to go for the truth in everything that I do, the only thing that’s untruthful about me, which is fascinating, is my confidence. My confidence is forced. And it’s exactly what Gabourey Sidibe says. That I have to constantly remind myself that I am worthy of being on this phone with you talking about ME. Because I don’t think that I… deep down somewhere there is an insecure boy that feels very much that he isn’t qualified to be on the phone. And I have no problems sharing that with the world, that the exterior masks a very scarred and insecure man, who has learned to love himself.

I want to follow up with you on a question that was raised during your SXSW keynote – I believe the question was something along the lines of how you feel the visual elements of storytelling are changing in this era of binge watching and mobile viewing platforms… at the time you didn’t have an answer. Have you thought about it since?

Well, let me tell you. I can talk about that now because I am now binge watching, and I’m always a little bit behind the eight ball because I’m always working. When I took a little break I started binge watching and now I’m obsessed!

(laughs) So tell me what you’re binge watching!

Well I haven’t finished it yet, but I’m obsessed with The Crown, like borderline crazy level. And right before that I binge watched The Handmaid’s Tale – obsessed with it! I can’t get enough of it! And right before that I binge watched The Night Of – oh my god! Just like obsessed with it, can’t get enough of it, and right after that I binge watched Feud. So I’m ready to talk about binge watching. I’ve never binge watched before until then.

Even your own work – Empire, Star…

I don’t see my work… I don’t binge watch my work, I cringe watch my work! how’s that? (Laughs)

But a lot of people are binge watching your work as it’s available on platforms like Hulu, so now that you are binge watching, could you speak on how that’s inspiring you to tell stories or how that may affect how you tell stories?

What I have learned now through binge watching is that these stories have to be ON. I can’t just drop the ball on a subject matter or topic that I’ve sort of grazed upon in one episode. So I’ve got to make sure that they land. Because I see the mistakes even with my favorite television shows that I binge watch and I would like to make sure that I don’t make the same ones. And I understand now the importance of binge watching, and I have a new appreciation of it.

Are there stories or products that you were holding on to and didn’t know quite what to do with and now that you are a part of this binge watching culture, you maybe see better opportunity to tell those stories?

Yeah, it’s hard though. Because you’re dealing with celebrities’ schedules that are on the show, along with production schedules, and then the notes from the studio. It’s a puzzle, it’s a jigsaw puzzle. It’s a miracle really, that any great television is made. I really don’t know how it’s done. Through a wing and a prayer! Because that’s how we did Star last year, and it will be just as difficult this year in making sure that we tell this story. Because we’re dealing with schedules. People’s schedules really screw it up! (laughs)

Other than your life stories and experiences, you’ve mentioned before that your influences vary widely. The first book you read, which had a huge influence on your entrée into the entertainment world, was Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. You’ve also said you and Mariah Carey call each other Cotton and Kitten based on an old John Waters movie [Pink Flamingos]…

(Laughs) Do you know John Waters’ films? I mean, how great is he? Astounding. I would love to see John Waters do something for Netflix or another streaming site, I mean what would that look like? He better figure it out! As a matter of fact I’m gonna call him when I get back from Cannes to make sure that his ass is behind the camera again because so many are influenced by his work. He is such an underrated trailblazer, at least in my eyes. He is everything! So yeah, Kitten and Cotton come to the rescue.

Do you think that we would ever get a Lee Daniels / John Waters collaboration?

I would kill for that! But here’s the thing. As we get older, we become more politically correct. I know I do, and I think John did and I think it’s just that a part of age is being old. I don’t know that I would have the courage to do Precious now, if that makes any sense at all. I know how it is out there. And youth… you know the naiveté that you have when you’re young and not afraid to be criticized, and then that level of fame that comes with that. I may hang up the phone with you now and say “Wow, this is almost like a therapy session, where I might say ‘well maybe I will do something like Precious just to shock people.’” Because one expects you to go on and on, to bigger and better things. My first movie we made for two cents and it garnered Halle Berry the first Black woman to have an Academy Award, and that came from a place of utter fearlessness and not caring and not giving two F’s what anyone had to say about a subject matter that everyone in Hollywood passed on.

In 2015 you were on a drama showrunner roundtable panel where you said “I hate white people writing for Black people; it’s so offensive. So we go out and look specifically for African-American voices. Yes, it’s all about reverse racism!” and asked the other show creators if they had African-American people in their writer’s rooms. Another notable creator, Ava Duvernay, is known for selecting female directors for her show Queen Sugar. For this and the upcoming film A Wrinkle In Time, she even sent notice to the heads of each department not to submit a homogenous list of hires unless they could prove they had considered others. How do you feel about this approach to hiring crew and building a team? Could you speak more on this, especially with direct relation to the stories that you’re telling?

I can’t speak for Ms. Duvernay, I don’t know her. But I can speak for myself in that… I have to be frank with you. Again, it’s a grey area. Not to retract the comment, but if I could think about it again… there are people that aren’t of color that can write for people of color. But to a bigger picture so many people of color weren’t being hired to write for themselves. So, I can’t isolate to say that there aren’t those exceptions. That’s like saying that I can’t write for a white man, when I have; you know what I mean? A hundred percent. I think what a lot of people would say to that is that there’s enough white men writing for white men, so that’s why this is important; that we make sure we have enough people of color in the writing room… Yeah but I think that I make it a point to make sure that my world around me reflects the environment that I have grown up in and that I’m trying to articulate on the screen. So yeah, I believe strongly in hiring who’s right for the job. It’s tricky. I think I’m gonna be politically correct on that subject and shut up. Let me shut up on that comment. (laughing) How about that!

Going from one politically sensitive subject to another, last year was a huge year for entertainment depicting stories about people of color and featuring POC with Moonlight, Hamilton, etc. It was also the year our administration completely changed. Do you think these are related and how does one inform the other?

Yes. I think Trump is a reflection of who we are today and who we have become. Just as Obama was a reflection of where we were when he was in office. I think Trump is our karma, just as Obama was our karma.

Would you almost consider that as a backlash of sorts? You know, all of a sudden people of color have these voices… and now this happens. Do you think these stories that are being told and released on such a mass scale are causing this kind of backlash and uproar?

I think that we had our first Black president; and Empire was created, that changed the landscape of television. I think my mother needed a reality check. And I needed a reality check. America made sure that we got that reality check by putting Mr. Trump in office. So how does that now affect the narratives that you’re exposing or the stories that you’re telling? I have to respond accordingly now, don’t I? ‡ Suit and Shirt by Ron Tomson, Watch by Rolex

Grooming by Jhizet @ Forward Artists, Art Direction by Louis Liu, Editor Marc Sifuentes, Photographer’s 1st Assistant Jordan Jennings, 2nd Assistant: Luc Richard Elle, Production by XTheStudio, Special Thanks to Chantal Artur and Brooke Blumberg from Sunshine Sachs.

BLONDIE

On the brink of a summer tour promoting the release of her 11th studio album with Blondie, the punk/new-wave/rock goddess, Debbie Harry,
shows no signs of slowing down.

Blazer by Vivienne Westwood | Fox Fur Leopard Print Boa by Georgine | Sunglasses by Le Specs Luxe

Photography by Nicolas Kern | Styling by Britt McCamey | Interview by Roger Padilha

Ever since she injected New York City’s ground-breaking, underground music scene with her infectious presence, Debbie Harry found her rightful place as Queen of Cool, and for the past 41 years has reigned as a trailblazing pioneer within the realms of pop culture, fine art, high fashion, and music. Arriving at Splashlight studios with an entourage of one, the low key Harry informs us there is no need for the more discreet side entrance. Instead she prefers to stand in line and check in with the front desk security like everyone else. This drama free attitude seems in line with her polite demeanor upon entering the set with a shopping bag full of past Blondie tour t-shirts and introducing herself to everyone on the crew. “Hi, I’m Debbie. Would anyone like a t-shirt?”

At the age of 71, Harry and her world-famous, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band, Blondie, have released their eleventh studio album entitled Pollinator. Since their debut album in 1976, through the band’s signature look and pioneering new wave/punk music, Blondie has become an internationally recognized and praised band. With her photogenic face, two-toned hair, and punk style Harry quickly rose to the level of fashion and pop culture icon. Debbie quickly became a muse for Andy Warhol, the late fashion designer Stephen Sprouse, and famed fashion photographer Steven Meisel, to name a few. She was and remains very influential across music genres, and Blondie’s song Rapture became the first #1 song in the US to feature rap, thanks to her influence by friends Fab Five Freddy, and hip- hop pioneer, Grandmaster Flash.

Frontwoman Harry and guitarist/conceptual mastermind Chris Stein were the founding members of Blondie, along with drummer Clem Burke, whose powerhouse playing always distinguished Blondie’s sound. Their newest project, Pollinator, is a fusion of pop and disco with that ineffable Blondie sound. The newly released album is mostly comprised of collaborations with outside performers and songwriters. The list of collaborators include Dev Hynes of Blood Orange, Johnny Marr of the Smiths, Charlie XCX, Sia, Laurie Anderson, Joan Jett, The Strokes’ Nick Valensi, comedian John Roberts, and Dave Sitek from TV on the Radio. The album’s first single, “Fun”, sets the tone for the album, with a music video that features technicolor footage of an astronaut flying to Mars cut with scenes of the band performing at a psychedelic rave in space.

The album title, Pollinator, refers to Blondie’s creative cross-pollination over the years with many other icons in the industry. With the fabulous collaborations between Blondie and other artists throughout the studio album, Pollinator is a veritable hive of delicious tracks and beats to enjoy. The Rage and Rapture Tour kicks off on July 5th and features the acclaimed alternative rock band Garbage.

Though the tunes were culled from disparate sources, the feel of the album is impressively unified, with a playful nod to 1978’s groundbreaking Parallel Lines. Harry, Stein, Burke, and company took this raw material and deftly transformed it in the studio into an album that’s quintessentially Blondie. The emphasis is on arrangements that are fast and fun, lyrics that are romantic and teasing, and synth-stoked hooks that evoke the New Wave era. It was Grammy-winning producer John Congleton (Franz Ferdinand, St. Vincent, Sigur Ros, David Byrne, War on Drugs) that brought the late 70’s attitude out of Blondie again. He found himself having breakfast with Debbie and Chris in the summer of 2015. “We hung out for an hour, talked about music, about where they were as people and what they thought a Blondie record should sound like these days. We were simpatico on that.”

“I had more of a deliberate agenda than they did,” says John. “Their agenda was the best agenda: they still love each other; they like playing music, so let’s have fun. At the end of the day Blondie doesn’t have anything to prove. My agenda was more dogmatic. I didn’t want to make a pastiche lifestyle record or a modern pop record that sounded like Blondie being influenced by what’s happening now. I wanted to know what it’s like to be Blondie at this age.” Debbie, Chris, and Clem joined by band members bassist Leigh Foxx, guitarist Tommy Kessler and keyboardist Matt Katz-Bohen have embarked on a new Blondie summer tour.

Leather Trench by Georgine | Bloomers by Miu Miu | Tights by Falke | Patent Pumps by Laurence Dacade | Earrings by Orchid & Art Deco

We were fortunate enough to chat with the legendary rockstar at Splashlight Studios in Manhattan during her exclusive Iris Covet Book photoshoot.

How have you managed fame as an artist? Do you find that the commercial aspect of making music gets in the way of artistry?

Being a more private type, fame has sometimes been disturbing. But as a commercial artist, it is the goal isn’t it? To become known and get your music out into the world market.

I feel like I see your face and image every day on t-shirts and instagram. Are you ever overwhelmed by the global impact of the band and the image you played a definitive part in creating?

If I stop to think about it, yes it is overwhelming. That’s all part of the game though, isn’t it?

You’ve always seemed to be very reserved and a bit of an introvert in person, but yet you have been able to get onstage and perform in huge venues in front of millions throughout your career. What is the process you undergo to change into that onstage, larger-than-life persona?

I don’t really think of myself as an introvert but I have been described as being very polite. I was encouraged growing up to be well mannered and able to listen to others. To not always have to be the center of attention when in social situations. On stage it’s a different story…….it’s MY stage.

On Debbie: Jacket by Marc Jacobs | Skirt (Worn as a dress) by Comme des Garçons from New York Vintage | Tights by Falke | Pumps by Laurence Dacade 
On Chris: His Own Clothing

Never satisfied to rest on your laurels, Blondie’s incessant need to fly the flag for cross-genre rock never relinquishes because your punk spirit never died. How do you keep your punk spirit alive?

Punk spirit…just stubborn I guess. Always have been. Independence has always been important to me. I grew up in a sheltered home and was always wanting to see more of the big bad world.

How was it collaborating with all of these amazing, boundary-pushing artists such as Sia, Dev Hynes of Blood Orange, and Joan Jett?

Collaboration has always been something I enjoy doing. It can be so much fun tossing ideas around. I loved working with Dev Hynes and Joan Jett, whom I’ve known for years. Sia actually wrote the song [on the new album] and I only met her briefly at a Saturday Night Live party. I’m happy the way it all came together. It was a different approach for us, to draw in all of these things. I feel like we did what we did back then, and we put out these sounds and ideas and now have come full circle. We are pulling it back in, continuing this ongoing chain of events, this circular motion.

You will be touring the country with the legendary rock band, Garbage, fronted by Shirley Manson. Tell us about how this tour collaboration came to be, have you worked together before?

I don’t think we ever worked together before, but I met Shirley many years ago in Scotland when she was singing with Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie. Years later we ran into each other at Gary Kurfirst’s office. We were both being managed by Gary at the time. Shirley and her band Garbage are one of my faves.

40 million album sales and countless accolades later (including a Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction in 2006 and NME Godlike Genius Award in 2014) has cemented the band’s importance. After all of the success, what inspires you to keep creating new music?

One of the most inspiring things to happen in the last year has been the David Bowie release after his death. I only hope that I can be one-tenth as creative as he has been, and to leave a parting gift of music or art is truly what art is about.

Jacket by Song Seoyoon | T-Shirt by Han københavn

Two of the original members of the band have been replaced with other musicians over the years, how has the new dynamic of Blondie shifted the energy of the band?

Good question. Blondie has always been, or tried to be, a true ensemble situation. Input by musicians or actors in a group is extremely valuable, but not always easy. We have one fucking great band now, and I can’t wait for everyone to hear us play the new material.

When you first moved to New York, it was a much more dangerous and rough city, but that energy also helped fuel many creatives at the time. Now that NYC has gone through so much gentrification and commercialism, do you think it’s possible for artists to make profound music and art in the “new” New York City?

Food for thought…that’s what cities and colleges supply. So why not, in spite of all the odds against it, why can’t a fresh, alert mind be creative in any circumstance. Although chaos is famous for being the founder of great creativity.

Which album or song are you most proud of? And beyond that, what are you most proud of in your life?

I don’t think I can limit myself to one album or song, they all seem connected to each other for me. As for my life, I’m amazed that I actually achieved my dreams and that I’m still at it.

You’ve done 11 albums with Blondie and 5 albums as a solo artist, not to mention compilations and collaborations on other artists’ albums. How do you stay inspired? Is there anything you feel you haven’t said through your art yet?

Knowing what you like and what excites you is the most important part and Blondie is really the only group I’ve ever been in with the exception of singing with the Jazz Passengers for about four years. Fortunately, now I’m on a collision course with environmental issues. As I’ve gotten older and climate, clean air and water have become more important issues for us, I want to do my part to draw attention to these problems and their solutions.

The world lost a great contributor to the arts recently with the passing of your friend Glenn O’Brien. Glenn was very supportive of Iris Covet Book and agreed to be interviewed for our first issue. He was always very generous to emerging creatives. Can you share a favorite memory you had with Glenn?

Oh yes, Glenn was a great writer and a keen observer of the arts. He had such a wonderful style: dry and funny, so sharp. I will miss him. Before he passed he gave me his newest book, LIKE ART which I have enjoyed thoroughly. I have had lots of good times hanging out with Glenn and Chris. Just talking and making fun of things like on TV Party when they were co-hosts. I feel lucky to have known him.

Blondie really incorporated so many different genres and types of music that it seems unfair to call you just a Punk pioneer as many people do. What would you like your music legacy to be?

A lot of the music that I’ve made over the years was never even recorded and maybe this is something special. Food for the spheres. Blondie albums and Deborah Harry albums have had a lot of different musical and cultural influences but this is the city we live in and the world of today. Let’s face it, we can know as much as we want about all the cultures of the world. What we need is time travel.

Patent Coat by Miu Miu | Earrings by Ana Khori

Buy Pollinator at http://www.blondie.net/ or stream on Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon

Art Direction by Louis Liu | Editor Marc Sifuentes | Hair by Adam Markarian | Makeup by Yumi Lee @ Streeters | Manicure by Narina Chan @ Wilhelmina Artists for Chanel Le Vernis in Roubachka | Set Design by Mila Taylor Young @ D+V Management | Editor’s assistant Ben Price | Filming by Scott Keenan | Video editor/post production YaYa Xu | Special Thanks to Splashlight Studios NYC

 

REN HANG

 

Ren Hang, who took his life February 23, 2017, was an unlikely rebel. Slight of build, shy by nature, prone to fits of depression, the 29-year-old Beijing photographer was nonetheless at the forefront of Chinese artists’ battle for creative freedom. Like his champion Ai Weiwei, Ren was controversial in his homeland and wildly popular in the rest of the world. He said, “I don’t really view my work as taboo, because I don’t think so much in cultural context, or political context. I don’t intentionally push boundaries, I just do what I do.”


Why? Because his models, friends, and in his last years, fans, are naked, often outdoors, high in the trees or on the terrifyingly vertiginous rooftops of Beijing, stacked like building blocks, heads wrapped in octopi, body cavities sprouting phone cords and flowers, whatever entered his mind at the moment. He denied his intentions were sexual, and there is a clean detachment about even his most extreme images: the urine, the insertions, the many, many erections. In regards to his work with the nude male form, Ren stated in an interview: “It’s not just dicks I’m interested in, I like to portray every organ in a fresh, vivid and emotional way.”


In the same piece, Hang also stated, “Gender isn’t important when I’m taking pictures, it only matters to me when I’m having sex,” making him a pioneer of gender inclusiveness. Nudity and sex are the most prevalent themes in Ren’s work. Ren said, “I like people naked and I like sex; I use nudity so that I can feel more realism and sense of presence.” His preparation before shooting was simple and quick. Ren’s works were natural and without complex settings. There were no preferred places for Ren to shoot because he believed anywhere was beautiful and worthy to be shot.


Nudity is not a theme in the artifacts which are widely accepted by the older generation of China. Ren’s works are oftentimes misread by the public as pornography, although some articles wrote that Ren used his photographs to jam cultural traditions, which misunderstood and treated the nudity as a shame. Ren didn’t believe he was challenging the stereotype and leading a revolution. For Ren, nudity and sexuality are natural themes which he shot in his works. “Nudes have always been there. We were born nude. So talking about revolution, I don’t think there’s anything to revolutionize. (…) I just photograph things in their more natural conditions.” Ren said he was not trying to liberate nudity and sexuality since he believed that younger generations in China were open-minded and less affected by the old-fashioned cultures. Young fans still eagerly flock to his website and Facebook, Instagram, and Flickr accounts.


His photographs, all produced on film, have been the subject of over 20 solo and 70 group shows in his brief six-year career, in cities as disparate as Tokyo, Athens, Paris, New York, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Vienna, and yes, even Beijing. He self-published 16 monographs, in tiny print runs, that now sell for up to $600. TASCHEN’s Ren Hang is his only international collection, covering his entire career, with well-loved favorites and many never-before-seen photos of men, women, Beijing, and those many, many erections. We take solace remembering Ren’s joy when he first held the book, shared by his long-time partner Jiaqi, featured on the cover.

All Images © Ren Hang | Book available for purchase: https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/sex/all/05318/facts.ren_hang.htm






IRIS WOMAN – LAURE HERIARD DEBREUIL

Photography and Interview by Dustin Mansyur | Styling by Marc Sifuentes | Hair & Makeup by Cari Duprey @ Wilhelmina

Laure Heriard-Dubreuil photographed in Manhattan. Dress by Vintage YSL, Earrings by Aurelie Bidermann, Necklace and Ring by CVC Stones.

Since launching her multi-brand luxury boutique, The Webster, at the peak of the recession in 2009, Laure Heriard Debreuil has forged a career as a respected authority within the ever-changing landscape of the fashion industry. An FIT graduate, Laure got her start at famed fashion house, Balenciaga, then under the creative control of renowned designer, Nicolas Ghesquiere, earning her fashion credentials, first as a part of the brand’s merchandising team before moving on to become a top merchandiser for Yves Saint Laurent’s RTW division in Paris. Now, catering to a cult-cool crowd and building a brand known for purveying a trend before it’s even had time to be set, Dubreuil is something akin to a mystic tastemaker. Her own recognizable personal style sets the aesthetic tone for an instinctual buying process when it comes to working with established, well-known design houses or of-the-moment designers at the top of their game, often times collaborating with both to create exclusive, site-specific products for her boutiques.

Responsible for editing The Webster’s recherché selection of designer offerings, the Parisian-born CEO quickly evolved the delectable brand over the last 8 years, developing worldwide brand partnerships with Le Bon Marche, Target, and the Ritz Paris while expanding its boutiques to include additional locations in Bal Harbour, Florida; Houston, Texas; and most recently, Costa Mesa, California. Each boutique provides the indulgent sensory experience of the ultimate walk-in closet, integrating a luxurious, intimate, home-like ambience with contemporary artworks and customized antique furnishings. Carrying exclusive brands such as Balmain, Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Loewe, Saint Laurent, & Vetements, The Webster’s women’s and men’s selection offers expertly curated ready-to-wear and luxury accessories, including shoes, bags, jewelry and watches.

In 2012, just three years after opening her 20,000 square foot Miami Flagship, Dubreuil took the dive into the world of e-commerce, using the same attention to detail to translate the exquisite nuances of her brick-and-mortar into an online shopping platform for customers around the globe. Notably, and at no great surprise, for the past two consecutive years Dubreuil has been among BoF’s Top 500: The People Shaping The Global Fashion Industry, as well as participated in WWD’s prestigious annual CEO Summit. Currently serving on the expert committee of LVMH’s annual fashion prize which fosters young talent, Dubreuil has rightfully taken her place as a revered member of the fashion community.

Here, IRIS Covet Book shares a conversation with creative wunderkind and fashion-business queenpin, Laure Heriard Dubreuil.

Top and Skirt by Chanel, Hoop Earrings by Céline, Pumps by Saint Laurent | Shop Webster exclusive including a new collaboration with Lane Crawford on thewebster.us

When did you first know that you wanted to be involved with fashion, and how did you arrive at that decision?

As a child, I was always interested in fashion, whether it was playing dress up in my mother’s closet or selecting new clothes for my brothers and sisters. As the oldest of four children, I was always making “looks” for them. After finishing university in Paris and Shanghai, I decided to act on my strong interests in fashion and enrolled in FIT in New York City, with a focus on visual merchandising.

Where did you first begin your career and did you have a great mentor in the early years of your career? What was your biggest take away from the experience?

I first began working in fashion through an internship while studying at FIT. Through this, I met Nicolas Ghesquiere who was at Balenciaga at the time and there was an instant connection between us. He hired me at Balenciaga to work within the creative studio and I learned so much from him. I consider him one of the most influential people in my career, still to this day.  

What made you decide that you wanted to become an entrepreneur and build your own business from the ground up? Was there a catalyst that acted as the motivation for change?

I would not say there was one specific catalyst, but it’s in my blood – I am from a very long line of entrepreneurs and my parents were always very encouraging and supportive of starting my own business.

Most professionals experience growing pains from time to time, and such experiences can offer us insight and learning. Can you relate a specific incident that at the time was a challenge, but in hindsight, has been one of your biggest sources of growth?

The renovation process of The Webster was a key learning experience; the process took so long and was much more challenging than I expected being in an historical building. We opened the South Beach permanent location in 2009 at the peak of the recession – I felt that things could only get better from there!

Define what success means to you? Is it a way of being, an attitude, or list of accomplishments?

Success is a way of being! For me, if I am happy, I am successful.

What double-standards for a professional man and woman do you believe exist in regards to society’s attitudes about power, success, and ways of being in business?

Double standards exist in today’s society, but I am hopeful things will continue to improve for women, especially within the workplace. I take significant pride in being the Founder and CEO of The Webster and hope that I can inspire other young women to follow their passions and take risks.

What qualities do you try to exude as a leader, in life and professionally?

Honesty, loyalty, hardworking, passionate, and understanding are the qualities I try to live by each day both in life and professionally.

What have been the biggest benefits of having a point of view and personal style that have helped you on a professional level?

Personal style has given me a confidence to think out of the box and not be afraid to push the envelope. It’s helped me to trust my instincts and have confidence when making quick decisions.

Personal style nowadays is one form of branding. Why is branding so important now, more than ever with the advent of the internet and development of social media?

With the internet and social media, the arena has become increasingly competitive, branding is how you differentiate and position yourself within an already saturated market. It allows you to speak to multiple audiences through  concise and clear messaging.

What adjectives would you use to describe The Webster brand? What methods do you use to reinforce this brand?

A few adjectives I would use to describe The Webster would be unique, exclusive, timeless, and sunny. We work tirelessly on ensuring the décor and ambience of the boutiques are inviting. We play close attention to every detail, including plush carpeting, customized and antique furnishings, contemporary artwork as well as a signature orange blossom scent that is consistent throughout all our locations. We are always collaborating with designers to offer site specific exclusive products. This has been a key defining thread present since we opened in 2009, and has become part of our DNA.

During an economic time when many companies were experiencing a downturn during the recession, what made you decide to launch your company then?

We made the decision and there was absolutely nothing that could stop me! I fell in love with the art deco architecture in Miami’s South Beach. We experienced so many obstacles but were so determined and felt such a tremendous sense of accomplishment once we opened.

How soon after opening did you begin to focus on the e-commerce market? Do you find a balance between the revenue your company creates through traffic online or in person?

We took our time, evolving organically by launching our website in 2012 and e-commerce (with Farfetch) and have continued since then to carefully expand online, while replicating the experience through unique, exclusive pieces and product drops.

Does The Webster have plans for greater expansion with more brick-and-mortar stores? Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations that you can discuss?

I am super excited to launch a worldwide exclusive collaboration between The Webster and Lane Crawford! It was inspired by our interpretation of the energy and spirit found in Miami, Florida, where The Webster’s first and flagship location was built. We will be launching over 70 products from more than 20 brands in all of our locations as well as online, collectively.

Do you find that the consumer experience of shopping in person is unique to your store?

I hope so, it’s our ultimate goal to ensure each visit to The Webster is special. We want our clients to feel comfortable spending time with us, especially with how fast paced our lives are, it’s important to make the experience special.

Who are your favorite new designers or who is on your radar?

ATLEIN, Wales Bonner, and Nadine Gosh!

What do you look for when you walk into a young designer’s showroom? How do you gauge what will sell in your store and does that differ in the various markets your store is present in?

I listen very much to my instincts as well which makes it special/different and we like to build long-term relationships with our designers, so it’s important for the young designers we partner with to have market and production knowledge, so they can grow and to have their collections to be sitting next to the biggest names in the industry. We also work very closely with our sales associates and in house stylists, listening to their feedback while ensuring our selection is interesting yet timeless. Our buys are uniquely tailored specifically to each of our four locations.

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Do you find this expression to be true? What do you love about your job the most?

Absolutely, this is the motto in which I live by! One of my favorite aspects of my job is having the opportunity to visit the showrooms and spending time with the designers and their teams.

What practices or habits have been beneficial for you in the mastery of your career and personal evolution?

I attribute my success to my parents, who instilled in me at a very young age to be responsible, respectful, and to always work hard for anything I wanted. This has helped define who I am, both professionally and personally.

Are you involved with any charitable initiatives or organizations? If so, please expound upon which causes you support and why you were drawn to them.

mothers2mothers is a tremendous organization that is very dear to me and am grateful to be an ambassador. I had the opportunity to visit South Africa, where the charity was founded, and was completely blown away by the work they are doing. What is so special about this organization is that they empower women living in townships with HIV by employing them as mentor mothers, who work as support system to other new mothers that are also HIV positive. This helps to not only remove the stigma about getting tested, but encourages women to disclose their status while also educating them about the necessary steps to give birth to healthy HIV negative babies.

When do you feel most creative?

I feel my best creative ideas happen during holidays in the summer, when I am super relaxed and happy spending quality time with my family.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Never take no for an answer. I firmly believe that if you have determination, anything is possible!

What’s next?

You will have to stay tuned!! We are currently focused on the launch of Lane Crawford and continuing to grow within our existing locations!

JACOB SUDHOFF AND JERRY HOOKER

Giorgetti Houston was merely a dream project when Jacob Sudhoff & Jerry Hooker first conceived the idea. Inspired by an heirloom-quality chair that the couple had purchased, Sudhoff, CEO and founder of Sudhoff Companies, and Hooker, principal at Mirador Group, imagined something far grander than the lackluster “luxury” condo developments that were sprouting up throughout the Houston market. The marriage of aspirational living with one of the world’s finest Italian cabinet and furniture makers was the couple’s muse when envisioning Houston’s first luxury-branded residential building. To be fitted with cabinetry and closets designed and manufactured by Giorgetti was simply not enough, as the couple visualized an all-encompassing lifestyle for the future residents of the building. High-end furnishings, paneling, lighting, carpeting and accessories curated by the couple and crafted by Giorgetti, will fill in the brushstrokes of the brand’s identity. Even the most seemingly-minor details, such as how the bricks are laid or the color palettes that will transform the spaces, are inspired by individual furniture pieces created by the Italian label. Certain to be one of the most-sought after residences, Giorgetti Houston will boast seven stories and 32 handsomely bespoke homes that will be timeless works of art at the interstice of luxury living.

 

Here IRIS Covet Book shares a conversation with the real estate and design moguls behind this ambitious and exciting project.

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DM: Where are you from originally and how did you both come to call Houston home?

JERRY: I grew up on a farm in Tennessee in the middle of nowhere and waited my whole childhood to get out of rural west Tennessee. After graduating high school, I went to LSU (Louisiana State University) because it was the top-ranked program, which later led me to New York for three years. My older sister and her husband lived in Houston, so I always wanted to call Houston home to be close to family. I just needed my career to catch up to where I wanted to be, before I ultimately moved back here.

JACOB: I grew up in Corpus Christi and moved here in 2010. I’m from south-Texas, born and raised. I always wanted to move to the city, so I looked at New York, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston, and I decided on Houston. To break into a new city, I felt Houston was the most accommodating and had the best opportunities. I found that Houston was a welcoming city and I think everybody here will always give you one opportunity to prove yourself. So that was a refreshing aspect about working and starting a career here.

DM: Did you two meet here in Houston, and how long have you both been married?

JACOB: We’ve been together as long as we’ve been in Houston, so a little over six years and married for two years just this past Valentine’s Day.

JERRY: When I was living in New York, one of my closest friends there was from Houston, and he knew Jacob from the past. I had come home to surprise my sister for Christmas that year, and went out with friends for drinks the evening of Christmas Day. That evening, a friend of mine told me, “There’s this new guy in town, and I want you to meet him.” But that was prefaced with, “But he’s dating one of my friends, so stay away.” But that just sounded like a challenge that I could conquer. Ever since then we’ve been together [laughter].

DM: How long have you been working in your respective fields, and what gave you the desire to get into those fields?

JACOB: I’ve been in real estate for 20 years. When I was a kid, I used to enjoy riding my bike around the neighborhood and going through all the open houses. I have a photographic memory, so I used to memorize all the statistics and floor plans of the houses I’d walk through. My grandfather was a realtor and he naturally had an influence on me. At the age of 16, I started working for a broker out of Dallas named, Marilyn Hoffman. When I was a teenager, I used to ride horses. I was at an Arabian horse show in Fort Worth, and ran into her booth where she was selling multi-million-dollar mansions and horse farms. When I was 18 and after I got my real estate license, I worked for two years as her assistant. When I flew up to Dallas for the first time, she picked me up in a Rolls Royce, and we went shopping. I lived in a lower-middle-class family, and being introduced to her lifestyle was like seeing Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous in real life. In fact, she was on that show many times with all her listings, so it was a culture shock for me. While I worked for her, I went on to open an office in Corpus Christi for her.

JERRY: I went to school for urban design, architecture, landscape, and have been in it ever since. I’ve been in this field for about 10 years now. Originally, I was following in my sister’s footsteps because she and her husband were the only financially-successful people in my family. I thought I was going to be a golf course architect, but I soon figured out in the first year of school that that was not my calling in life. From my experience in New York, I discovered a niche by combining my interests in architecture, landscape architecture, and interiors. Naturally, just loving the process of home construction is why now we’re involved in all three disciplines meshed together.

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DM: Do you have any professional mentors or someone who’s inspired you in your career and encouraged you to go after your goals?

JERRY: For me a great mentor is someone who has a combination of career success balanced by successes in their personal relationships. My sister has been that consistent person in life and business that I admire. With her relationship, with her family, and also with her business because she is able to balance them all. I always wanted to emulate that.

JACOB: I would say my most recent mentor is my business partner, George Lee, whom I met when I came to Houston. He is a good man that has stepped in and acted like a mentor to both Jerry and myself.  

JERRY: He’s kind of like a father figure to us now. From a business perspective, he has taught us so much. I don’t think our companies would be as successful without his advice and influence.

DM: Were there any challenges that you’ve had to overcome in order to reach the level of success that you’re currently experiencing?

JERRY: We both have had normal business growth spurts and growing pains, but luckily, we listened to people like George, and learned through other people’s hard times in order to better manage our own.

JACOB: In Corpus, I struggled more than I have in Houston. I didn’t have a mentor there, so it was more difficult. Coming here and having a mentor has really helped whenever there have been issues. George has been what’s gotten me through those challenges properly.

JERRY: We’ve had struggles that we thought were the end of the world, but I still feel like in hindsight and compared to plenty of other people we know, we were fortunate enough to make it through them.

DM: Do you have any daily practices or habits that help you as an entrepreneur?

JACOB: I think routine is very important. We are very strict to a routine. We’re in bed by 9 o’clock almost every night, and I’m up at 4. We prefer to have our days very structured. We live by appointments during the day. Weekends—we still work, but it’s more on the passion side. We enjoy looking at houses and touring properties or looking at land. I think it’s something that has helped us because we love what we do.

JERRY: Because we’re passionate about what we do, a large portion of it feels as enjoyable as a hobby and not so much like work. Even when we travel, we like to look at houses and get ideas so we can be inspired for the next project in Houston.

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DM: Thought and visualization are very powerful tools in achieving success in manifesting different desires that you might have in life. Have you ever utilized these practices, and if so, could you share a specific experience?

JACOB: On our honeymoon, we went to Borobudur, one of the largest Buddhist temples. While we were there, we chanted with the monks. After that experience, I started to get into meditation. It’s not something I do every day, but it’s something I do often. Years ago I signed up for a service on tut.com. After signing up for it and taking the initial survey, the service sends you a message from “the Universe” daily. The main message of the Universe is to just relax and visualize where you want to be. I receive those messages Monday through Friday, it’s nice way to remind myself to visualize where you want to be, whether that’s tomorrow or 10 years from now. In my opinion, visualization is a key to success.

JERRY: I like the perspective of retrospect—thinking about where you came from and trying to check in with yourself to maintain humility. I always try to bear in mind where I came from and the experiences that I’ve had because everything started with that foundation, and my future is built upon that.

DM: There’s a good balance between you two. What are some unique features or services that your companies provide to the Houston market that makes you stand out amongst your competitors?

JERRY: It’s really the integration of our companies that allows us to stand out. Everything that we can offer our clients is because of the dynamic that we bring together, from the sales and marketing to putting the structure of the deal together. It’s a truly comprehensive approach to real estate developments, regardless if it’s a high-rise condo or a single-family house. Most of the time, creatives are horrible business people, but my hat is split between finance and actual design. I care equally about both of them. My team counterbalances me since they are all about the design. That definitely goes into Jacob’s deal-making process to make sure the numbers work up front to ultimately hire our own companies to do the sales, marketing, and design. It’s a wonderful collaboration!

JACOB: And I believe we do more. I still own and manage the brokerage firm, but the main hat I wear right now is more of a developer’s partner. I help structure the deal, help raise the equity, and help manage the concept and the programming of the projects. And at the end of the day, it’s about the bottom line and profitability, but also the philosophy of sales and how the projects will absorb into the marketplace upon completion. We’re not just a private equity firm or just an architecture firm, we also own a land-planning firm. So it’s really the integration of all these together which allows us to play a large part with each one of our clients.

DM: What projects are you currently working on together, and is it enjoyable for you to collaborate with one another? I imagine you must continuously feed off each other’s energy.

JACOB: What we like is we’re able to change Houston’s landscape. So we’re bringing more architecturally significant projects to Houston. I think that that’s something that’s really exciting for us. So the first branded building that we’re doing right now is Giorgetti Houston, and that’s only the first—we’re working on several more branded buildings. I’m excited to bring and to have Houston be an incubator of unique and forward-thinking projects. There’s dozens of projects we’re currently working on and dozens more in the pipeline!

JERRY: For the Giorgetti project, we knew the piece of property, and we knew it needed to be a condo building. But at the same time, it needed to be something special, so we started thinking about brands to collaborate with. We had purchased a piece of Giorgetti furniture a long time ago, and the more we learned about its construction, along with the family heritage and philosophies that they’ve had for over 100 years, the more interested we became in collaborating with them. We jumped the gun and went ahead and did some preliminary designs for a building. We coordinated a meeting with the company to share our idea. The CEO of the company even came from Italy to meet with us. Maybe he thought we were crazy, but we were able to prove ourselves because we had studied the brand, its philosophies, and how to make an environment truly Giorgetti. It’s not just the kitchen cabinets. It’s not just the closets, but it’s the furniture, the lighting, the rugs, and the accessories. It’s how all these details translate into the Houston market.

JACOB: We went to Italy and took it a step further. After they came and agreed to further this conversation, we went to Italy to visit their factory. There we saw in depth all the details of how things are constructed and learned even more about their philosophy. Everything within our building—from how we’re laying the brick, to the façade of the building itself, to all the materials and color palettes is all inspired by different pieces of Giorgetti furniture.

JERRY: It made a lot of sense to us to try to partner with them and luckily, we were fortunate enough that they agreed. It’s actually been a pretty beautiful process so far.

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DM: Is this the first branded residential project of its kind in Houston?

JERRY: In essence, this is the first branded building of this kind in Texas, and Giorgetti is sold in 67 countries across the world. They’re actually better known in London or Paris or New York or Singapore. But they allowed us to do it first in Houston, so we’re very proud to be collaborating on this together.

JACOB: It was a perfect storm of us really wanting it, and being such a big part of the development process, that we were able to push something like this forward. Giorgetti had attempted another project that did not go through. I think it’s a big compliment from them that they wanted to be a part of our project.

DM: And how has the response been from the consumer?

JACOB: Houstonians were not informed about the Giorgetti brand. But as people got to know the brand and they understood, they developed a respect for it. Now it has really taken off.

JERRY: Sales are going well, and we’ve basically eliminated any question of the project not happening anymore.

JACOB: The quality of buyers in the project are fantastic. These are people who are art lovers and who understand quality and craftsmanship. So each piece of Giorgetti furniture is designed by an architect and for us each home is sort of it’s own piece. I actually think it’s going to be one of the few condominium projects that will be sought after once it’s built. Once they can walk in and experience what a Giorgetti home will be like, then they’ll really want it and strive for it. Giorgetti will only allow us to do this one building in Houston, so the next one will be in another city.

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DM: And what’s the timeline for completion on the project?

JERRY: Assuming sales keep going as they are, we will probably start construction at the end of this year and take about 16 to 18 months to complete. So we’re looking at completion in 2019.

DM: How do you see yourself and companies evolving in the future?

JERRY: Probably just a continuation of what we’ve seen so far. I mean, our companies are very different now than what they were six years ago, and both of our companies have quadrupled their size since then. But it’s really more of an integrated approach moving forward, being more involved with one another, both offices and projects themselves. We like having a seat at the table both financially and professionally, so it will just be a continuation of that, I think.

JACOB: We’ve made a conscious effort to go deeper with our business rather than going wider and spreading ourselves too thin. That means taking a deeper relationship with each project and wearing multiple hats in each project to have more impact. And we feel that that leads to greater chances of success.

DM: What has been your favorite project to work on besides Giorgetti, either together or individually?

JERRY: Before we were together, when I was living in New York, I spent most of my time working on the 9/11 Memorial. The firm I worked for at the time had the entire Route 9A corridor, which is the West Side Highway. We were doing the World Financial Center, 1 World Trade, and all the frontages between the buildings. At the time, that was empowering. I was just a junior designer at the time, but it was something I looked forward to every day and learned a tremendous amount from. Aside from the Giorgetti project, our first showcase home that we designed and built together is a favorite because it has led to so many other amazing projects.

JACOB: When I first got to Houston, the market was not very good. George had invested in a lot of different projects that were all in peril. I went to the different banks and negotiated the debt and purchased out all the debt at discounts. I was able to save a significant amount of capital for George and prove that I was able to achieve the results. I demonstrated that I was capable of doing more than just being a traditional realtor. And that led into having us invest and start being the private equity for all these different builders and developers. Giorgetti has been a special project because there’s been—it’s had a lot more of an emotional connection—it’s been the best collaboration between us.

DM: You both have experienced so much growth through your collaboration with one another.  I’m curious when do you feel most confident?

JACOB: Together.

JERRY: I couldn’t agree more. We do well in situations like this because we absolutely counterbalance each other.

JACOB: I think that our relationship has grown stronger over the years and will continue to grow both professionally and personally.

IRIS07_JerryJacob-5Photography and Interview by Dustin Mansyur|For more information visit giorgettihouston.com| miradorgroup.com | sudhoffco.com

EDGARDO OSORIO

A year ago, Instagram was flooded by lavish photos of a decadent Surrealism themed birthday party in Florence. Celebrities and tastemakers such as Poppy Delevigne and Rebecca Corbin-Murray reveled in gorgeous custom gowns, elaborate Venetian masks, and Philip Treacy designed headpieces. Bar rooms bedecked in leopard, lush jungle backdrops, and bartenders dressed like lobsters helped set the scene for an out-of-this-world extravaganza. At the center of the festivities was the newly 30-year-old Edgardo Osorio, founder and designer of the shoe brand Aquazzura. A dreamer and aesthete with a design pedigree that includes stints at Ferragamo and Cavalli, Osorio’s trips around the globe inspired this epic two-day celebration as much as they do the coveted shoe designs behind the six-year-old label.

In a world where a designer’s “inspiration” can be called out as thinly veiled “appropriation,” Osorio’s work shows that as much influence as he draws from the world around him, he returns by supporting the local artisans around the globe who inspire the aesthetics of his collections.

A friendship with model and philanthropist Petra Nemcova led to the pair’s collaboration on a special edition sandal for Happy Hearts Fund, an organization Nemcova founded after surviving 2004’s Indian Ocean tsunami. Happy Hearts rebuilds schools in areas impacted by natural disasters, and currently operates in ten countries worldwide. Infused with classic Osorio sex appeal, the playful but sophisticated strappy suede stiletto is embellished with handmade hearts and towers in with a 105mm heel. It is available on the Aquazzura website starting in May, and 25% of the proceeds of the sales will go to Happy Hearts Fund. As Osorio involves himself with this and other philanthropic initiatives, giving back is becoming as synonymous with the Aquazzura brand as its signature pineapple soles.

Here, the festaiolo of footwear chats with Iris Covet Book about his inspirations, stripes, and why high heels will never be a sneaker.

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Your designs are modern, sexy, and finely crafted. How do you approach designing each collection? Where does most of your inspiration comes from?

I normally start with a trip. I travel eight months out of the year and I believe that I have to travel to find inspiration. The last Winter collection, for example, is inspired by a trip to Russia – in June during the White Nights, when the sun never sets – and it was just so incredible and I came back with so many ideas. I had read about it before because I love history and historical novels, so I started reading about Catherine the Great and Peter the Great and the Romanovs. Just going there, to the different palaces, and seeing where they worked, the art collections, the decor, the way they dressed, the lifestyle…it was just so beautiful. Lots of velvet and fur and embroidery, a very rich lifestyle. I then have to ask myself “How do I turn that into something modern? How do I mix that in?” Then you start thinking of the girls in your life, I have a lot of Russian girlfriends, and then I think “how would she wear it? How would she interpret it?”.

This summer’s collection is inspired by my 30th birthday party last year. It was three days of parties, and one of them was a Surrealist ball, and the first ball was an eccentric jungle. I had a huge moodboard with tribes from the Amazon, Kenya, Papua New Guinea… all of those exotic tribes. It was kind of a multi-cultural, bohemian trip around the world. I just came back to my office and started thinking about some of the places I had been to. When I began designing the Summer collection I just couldn’t get the idea out of my head. As a designer you are just inspired by everything that is around you and you have to take that all into your work.

A large part of your influences and inspirations come from your travels. What parallels can be drawn between your influences and your philanthropy?

We participate in many different charities across the world. As a global brand, you have to give back globally as well. Recently, we hosted an event that benefitted animal rights and protection. We are incredibly fortunate, and I think part of that is giving back. In the past we have worked with Natalia Vodianova’s Foundation, The Naked Heart Foundation, and in Dallas we just auctioned off experiences and products to give to AMFAR and the Dallas Museum of Art. We help in many different ways and it is so important to give back and be supportive of the communities that support us.

When I work on collections, at the same time I give back. One example is like when I worked with the women of Colombia’s Wayuu tribe to make the Mochilla fabrics for the Mochilla espadrilles. The local women wove the fabrics by hand while we made the shoes in Italy; we are inspired by Colombia while supporting local (Colombian and Italian) economies. For this Fall’s collection, inspired by the Silk Routes of Turkey and Uzbekistan, we’re locally sourcing Ikat velvets and Ikat silks there, while making the shoes in Italy using their beautiful techniques.

So what is your favorite part about the design process? The travel?

Well, actually I really love taking an idea and making it into a reality and the whole process behind it. Sculpting a heel, correcting a shoe, choosing the leathers, the trims, etc. It is such a wonderful process because you evolve from your initial idea. To make your dreams into a reality is the most wonderful thing I think anyone can do and the most rewarding. Getting to see a woman actually wear your ideas. I love whenever I walk around and see a woman wearing an Aquazzura shoe, it really makes me smile because that’s really what your purpose is as a designer. Making people happy and looking fabulous.

Do you have a muse? Icons that you always look to?

I don’t have a muse per se. I actually think that the idea of a muse is quite old-fashioned. Designers used to live in a bubble and have one or two muses, but even then they had a romantic idea of who this woman is supposed to be, but she, herself, is not even like that! (laughs) I think women nowadays can have a hundred personalities just by changing the way they dress, so I find it quite limiting to look at women in a one-dimensional way. I love the fact that Aquazzura is actually a multi-generational, multi-cultural brand. We dress sixteen year old girls, seventy-five year old women and everything in-between because everyone wants to feel young and look great. I do have many women that inspire me, I’ve collaborated with many inspiring women like Olivia Palermo, Poppy Delevigne, etc. I love to work with these women, but in a specific capsule that is limited. As a male designer I think it is great to have a female point of view, and these women are under such intense scrutiny and they’re being photographed in every magazine so they know what works and what doesn’t. It is really great input and it is really fantastic to learn from them, but at the same time it’s their point of view so it can only be a little part of the collection.

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So then what are the qualities that these modern women are looking for?

I think versatility is key. My best selling styles are very versatile and you could wear them with jeans and a t-shirt or you can wear them with a ball gown. I think it’s about changing your outfit but keeping your shoes. For example, our Sexy Thing shoe, one of our most iconic shoes, Kendall Jenner wears with jeans a t-shirt to go out to dinner in LA, but Gigi Hadid wore it to Cannes in a long Tom Ford evening dress. I think that is modernity. When women are dressing they want something that can completely change with them and I think that asset is what makes a shoe modern. It becomes timeless and it can go with everything. That’s good design.

Growing up in Colombia, was there any moment that became a defining moment for you creatively? Was Colombian culture inspiring to you?

I grew up between Colombia and Miami, and when I was sixteen I moved to London, and from London I moved to Rome, and from Rome I moved to Florence. So, I think that my style is a lot like me and it is just a mix of everything. Growing up, there was no specific moment other than when I was fourteen in London doing summer courses at Saint Martins, and I came back and that’s when I really decided that I wanted to work in fashion and make accessories. I was always creative; I loved to sketch. I have sketches when I was five years old drawing dresses and women and shoes, so it was something that always interested me. As time went by it just became more specific and I decided to focus on shoes, which is what I really loved. I was already interested in shoes before Ferragamo and I think being in Florence really enamored me with what I was doing. I got to work with the artisans making the shoes and get closer to the craft. It was a big job and a wonderful stepping stone into my career.

Well, discussing Florence, what do you think is so inspirational about the city and why did you decide to base your headquarters there?

Well, Florence is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and I am an aesthete, I love beautiful things, so being in a city surrounded by beauty, well, it helps. (laughs) It was the site of the birth of the Renaissance. It is a city that has an energy because it has been a capital of art and beauty since the Renaissance, and you still have people from all over the world who go there to attend art and cooking schools. People go there to be artistic and to discover something. It is funny because a lot of people move to Florence for one or two years just because they want that life and they want to enjoy and have a positive life. Tuscany has the biggest concentration of luxury artisans in the world. Italy is a great place to make shoes, and the biggest center is Tuscany because you have all of the factories and the artisans there. It allows you to make things that people in New York, Paris, London, whatever, could not do in the same way because you have a personal relationship with them and you can see things and fix them in a way you could not do if you weren’t there.

I read in a Business of Fashion Interview that you chose to be there because of the personal relationships with factories.

Well, you know as a designer with an atelier, you have an idea and you work with these people who interpret it and make it a reality. If you are close to them in the development process they get to know what you like and what you want and they will interpret what you want in the best possible way. You will, in turn, learn from them as people who have worked in this industry for thirty, forty years. Craftsmanship is about time because you have to learn and evolve and make mistakes. It is not like you can go to university and just learn how to make shoes, it is literally years and years of experience.

What is the quality in your design aesthetic that gives your brand individuality and has made your company so successful?

I think there is a very specific point of view that Aquazzura has. You can really recognize our shoes, even though now we have been extremely plagiarized. (laughs) The lacing, the sensuality, the playfulness – it’s a very specific point of view, it is really about the design and people recognize that. The fact that we do probably make the most comfortable shoes in luxury takes an incredible amount of time to study and engineer and understand how to make the shoes comfortable for the wearer, from the materials to the construction. Because of that, word of mouth from our clients has made the difference in the course of just five years.

IRIS07_EdgardoOsorio-3Along the Arno River, in the heart of Florence and near the best shoemakers and craftspeople in the world, the Aquazzura headquarters are situated in the historical Palazzo Corsini along with the Florentine flagship store. Pictured above, the green room.

IRIS07_EdgardoOsorio-4Pictured above, the pink room, both taken at the Aquazzura headquarters.

Why do you think most high heels are so uncomfortable?

Well, high heels will never be a sneaker. (laughs) However, there is a way to study and construct shoes that make them more comfortable. The insole, the padding, the material inside…all of these things make a difference, so I think that when you give a client a beautiful, comfortable shoe, why would they wear an uncomfortable pair?

We are actually going to be launching sneakers next year because it is such a huge part of a woman’s closet. That is the next step because I think that if you look at our collection we have every heel height and every style, but the sneaker is something we are missing. We want to be able to cater to our customers.

Would you ever consider designing men’s shoes?

Yes definitely, that’s actually something that is in the works already. We will be launching next year. We recently launched Aquazzura Mini, which is a line for young girls. We will also be launching men’s and accessories as well.
You have experienced international acclaim since your debut collection in 2011, selling at stores like Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and Barney’s. How has this rapid success affected you and your business?

Department stores are a wonderful introduction for a new brand because they have such a huge array of clients and it is a great way to get the brand known and be accessible. I started in department stores and it is a wonderful way to showcase the collection and have it living in a space among other brands. You have a completely different customer that shops in a department store rather than a boutique.

You are currently making trips throughout the US to different Neiman Marcus locations, what is the importance of that for you?

Well, I love people and I love my clients and it is a rare opportunity to meet my clients. It is a privilege to get to know the people who buy your shoes, to meet them, and to get their feedback. It really helps me create products, and give women what they want. Building relationships and loyalty, which doesn’t really exist anymore, creates a bond with your clients and it is extremely important.

What about your online business? Is that something you focus on as well?

Yeah I am really happy because it has been so incredibly successful. We link our social media and make it an omnichannel, so if something is not in stock you can pull it from our store. If something is sold out on our website you can look up which retailer in the world has it. I think online is all about customer service, and we are trying to create a unique experience with that as well and have a unique selection compared to our competitors.

What are some of the differences that you see between American, British, Italian women, etc., since your company has become so international?

You would be surprised. Obviously in London we sell more boots and more heavy weather shoes, but in terms of style everyone in the world – because we live in such a globalized world, and social media is king – a trend is hot everywhere at the same time. Everyone still wants the same shoe in the same color whether they are in Australia, China, France, America, whatever. It’s so incredible!

So you think that social media and social celebrity makes style globalized?

Yes, the best sellers here are the best sellers all around the world.

Does that approach inform how you open new boutiques?

Well, I believe that we are in a globalized world and people are getting tired of seeing the same thing everywhere. Why go to a shop in Hong Kong when you live in New York or you live in Dallas and you have the exact same store back home? Why would you even walk into that store? You’ve seen it already. So, my design approach is treating them like a home. You wouldn’t decorate your home in LA like you would in New York or Miami because the environment is very different. Every store is different; every store has a different personality. They are even created by different interior designers with different furniture and colors and approaches. I like a mix of modern and classic. There is one thing that kind of pulls everything together: stripes. I think stripes are quite modern and it’s become a symbol of the brand, it actually has become part of our packaging as well. It comes from the Renaissance, and the cathedrals and churches from that time; striped pillars, striped facades, striped columns, I kept on seeing stripes. That is our common thread, back in the day there were some stores that you would have to travel to go to in Paris or Tokyo and it was an experience to walk into that store because it was so special and unique, and you would find merchandise that you could not find anywhere else in the world. I want to have the same approach to my stores, to create stores that are completely unique and one-of-a-kind, where 40% of the merchandise is unique to the store and you cannot find it anywhere else. That is why you walk into a store, or else you will just buy it online.

IRIS07_EdgardoOsorio-5Photography by Jake Toler|Art Direction by Louis Liu|Interview by Alan Bindler

MARTINEZ BROTHERS

Exposed to music from an early age through their father’s church, the two began mixing tracks and researching diverse genres of music as teenagers. With an enviable list of gigs that includes DC10 in Ibiza (where former Givenchy Artistic Director, Riccardo Tisci first discovered them), to the famed Electric Daisy Carnival in California where they attracted party-going crowds of 60,000, the Martinez Brothers are quickly moving up the ranks in the world of DJs. In the past 3 years, the brothers have partnered with a number of brands, from mass market campaigns with Pepsi to elevated cultural collaborations with Givenchy. Working with influential artists such as Tiga, Basement Jaxx, King Britt and Miss Kittin, the brothers continue to evolve and explore new sounds as their fan base spreads across the globe. The Martinez Brothers have designed an exclusive collection of hats and jackets, under their label Cuttin’ Headz, for New Era, launching their second season this fall. The first season sold out online within a single day. The brothers have also recently signed with the mega-modeling and talent agency IMG, extending their reach even further into fashion. In between recording music with their label Cuttin’ Headz, IRIS Covet Book discussed with Steve and Chris how they got their start, and their rise to club and fashion disc jockey fame.

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How do you think that growing up in New York, especially the Bronx, affected your taste and your career?

I think growing up in the Bronx… it could have gone a lot of different ways. A lot of different roads we could have traveled. Fortunately for me, I grew up as a preacher’s son, so I had a sheltered lifestyle. I think being in the church, being in the church band and traveling around with the band inspired us a lot. When we would get home from church or school, we would just DJ, make music, and learn about music. It was basically all music all the time. Without even being told, I knew I wanted to do it. If we weren’t in the Bronx I don’t think it would have been that way. The cultural diversity here plays a major role.

From the Bronx to Ibiza to Paris Fashion Week, both of you have come a long way in your career and your personal life. What do you think was your big break?

The first big break… I think it was definitely when we hooked up with Dennis Ferrer who, as far as house music is concerned, is a legendary figure who has made some crazy contributions. But I think once he picked us up he really molded us, you know what I mean? That was the big break. That was when everybody started questioning like, “Who are these guys?”, when he took us under his wing.

Where do you think most of your musical influences came from when you were growing up?

We listen to all types of music and we buy all types of records. When I was younger what was really driving me crazy was early hip-hop. I was inspired by going over to my grandparents and listening to salsa music, soul, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, all of that. Jazz was pivotal for us. Brazilian music, George Lenox, everything. So, I can’t really say that there is one thing that influenced us because it’s a sum of all of those genres.

In 2014, you both traveled to Paris to perform for the Givenchy Menswear and Womenswear collections. How did that happen?

We’ve always been into fashion. Riccardo Tisci came to our set in Ibiza one night and he just really loved it. We set up a meeting with the Givenchy office soon after and just really clicked. Riccardo is a really great guy and we were on the same page with so many ideas. After that, we quickly became involved with the fashion world.

What are some of the most memorable sets or gigs that you and your brother played?

Most memorable sets? Pretty much any time we play at DC10 in Ibiza it’s amazing. That place has just such a good vibe. Panoramabar in Berlin is great too; the last time we played there it was like church, we played for like ten hours or something like that. Actually in Miami this last month we played for twenty hours nonstop. All around the world we have a little special connection.

When did you feel the need to start your own music label and can you tell us more about the artists that you have signed?

I mean having a music label for us was to have an outlet for our music. People would admire our music, our friends’ music, and we wanted to set up shop to give artist friends a little more representation. So, I think our label is just an extension of our taste in music, leaning more on the experimental. Still electronic, but a little bit more experimental, maybe not always playable. It’s just like a creative outlet: broadcasting the things we like.

Do you ever have a sibling rivalry with your brother Chris over artistic differences?

I think with my brother in particular it is so easy because we are working together, making music, living together, and have been doing that all our lives. It’s always me and my brother. He automatically thought of DJing as well because it’s just what we gravitated towards. Even when we get into little fights…the little things don’t get in the way of our goals. It’s like a beautiful partnership. We are like yin and yang. We are really similar in a lot of ways but also very different, so it’s perfect. If we were too alike it probably wouldn’t work.
What is your goal for keeping the arts thriving in light of this new U.S. administration?

Like many genres of music and art, the best work has come out of troubled times, so I think this is going to fuel the arts. It definitely fuels me and a lot of my peers. I think you are going to see a lot of interesting things coming out of this because everybody now has so much emotion whether it’s negative or positive. I think in the music industry, anything can happen. I don’t know what’s the situation is going to be in the next 4 years, but hopefully we can distract from the negativity.

IRIS Covet Book likes to cast a spotlight on the charity work that are subjects are doing. What’s the focus of Cuttin’ Headz as a label and the Martinez Brothers in terms of giving back to the community?

Yes, actually we are talking to a group that has approached us about giving back and doing classes and seminars, to teach children about music. It is a big project that I want to do, and Chris and I are setting up a Martinez Bros. Scholarship. We are going to give kids in need X amount of dollars to support music or arts based programs, but that’s gonna be within the next year or so. We are still trying to figure that out, but that’s definitely one of our focuses. Everything has to be in the right time, but giving back is definitely a big part of the agenda. We want kids putting out music. Chris and I have this one kid on the Cuttin Headz label who is 17 years old! We are definitely going to have the kids involved.

I think that you and your brother are so inspiring in that way because from DJing in your room at fifteen years old to performing for Givenchy in Paris is amazing for a young person to see.

I want to let them know that they can do it too. These kids that produce out here, they have to know that they can do it too, you know what I mean, as long as they have the drive, as long as they have the ambition and if they stay focused.

IRIS07_MartinezBros-1Photography by Greg Swales|Styling by James Zumarraga|Grooming by Yanni Boyiatzis @thewallgroup|Interview by Benjamin Price