RECONSTITUTION
· Editorial, Fashion · editorial, fashion, fashion photography, Go Momose, Yoshitake HamanakaPhotography by Yoshitake Hamanaka | Fashion by Go Momose
Photography by Yoshitake Hamanaka | Fashion by Go Momose
PHOTOGRAPHY BY NICO KARTEL | FASHION AND STORY BY ISRAEL MEJIA
LEIOMY MALDONADO IS STARTING TO GET IRRITABLE. I really can’t blame her, because I am too. It’s been a long, humid day, and our mouths have been masked for hours. We are in a studio on one of those eerily abandoned streets in Brooklyn, nearing the end of our shoot for this story. I remind her that we have one more shot before we can all go back to our mask-free homes. She takes a deep breath, lowers herself to the ground, seduces the camera and just like that, we’re back in business.
TRUTH BE TOLD, once you get to know Leiomy and the life that has led her to this moment, you would come to understand that anyone who can survive what she has, can endure anything. But keep in mind, she is only made of flesh and blood like you and I, therefore allowed to feel whatever emotion she is going through. In order to truly familiarize yourself with her, you have to look beyond what you see on your screen.
Beyond the virtuoso Ballroom performances on YouTube ( 5 Elements of Vogue; Hand Performance, Catwalk, Duckwalk, Spins and Dips, and Floor Performances); beyond the exquisite costumes worn on HBO Max’s “Legendary”; and beyond the her impeccable reputation as a worldwide Ballroom pioneer and icon, she manages to stay true to herself. If you can just peek past all of the aforementioned, you will find a woman who is constantly making herself laugh, and spending as much time as she can with her grandmother.
Photography by Kasandra Enid Torres
As the raves reopen and the parties start again, beauty reemerges fresh and unstoppable.
Photography by Keisuke Tsujimoto | Fashion by Go Momose
Photography by Jai Pugh | Fashion by Scott Shapiro
Photography by Melissa Berrios | Hair and makeup by Christophe Lambenne
Bold, intrepid beauty highlights a new moment. Read more
Photography by Nate Margolis | Fashion by Lily Zhang
How do we reinvent staples? For one, emerging designer Bailey Prado breathes new life into knitwear, making the case for playful crochets that offer more than just another cardigan.
Photography by Niko Yang | Fashion and Clothing, Shoes, and Accessories all by Danlin Zhang Read more
by Israel Mejia
I can’t fault Lauren Auder for being a few minutes late to our scheduled video call. Short of breath as she logs on, she informs me she just came back from a walk. It seems we all have been finding our individual way of keeping some sort of normalcy during our current climate. Lauren quickly brushes her vibrant, curly red hair from her face and politely smiles as I ask her how she is, almost unsure as to how to answer my question. Understandable.
With the excitement of her third EP, 5 Songs for the Dysphoric, being released the day after our conversation, one could imagine how a 22-year-old would feel. Surely there is a mixture of curiosity and apprehensiveness, gifting to the world a piece of art during a global pandemic. Lauren already has two previous projects under her belt, along with collaborations with Caroline Polachek, going on tour with Christine and the Queens, and having modeled for Gucci and Celine under Heidi Slimane. As she’s done far more than her peers at this point, it’s no surprise she seems a bit unfazed by her own prowess. Read more
Photography by Amina Gingold | Fashion by Tyler Okuns Read more