Meet the 21 Designers, Stylists, Models, and Insiders Who Are Re-Energizing Fashion In N.Y.C.
On Tommy Hayes: Overalls and belt, by Salvatore Ferragamo / Shoes, by Pierre Hardy
On Venus X: Coat, by Sies Marjan / Dress, by No Sesso / Jewelry, her own
On Richie Shazam: Dress, and tights, by Versace / Shoes, by Jimmy Choo
On DJ Total Freedom: Coat, $22,900, by Hermès / Pants, his own
Venus X with Tommy Hayes, DJ Total Freedom, and Richie Shazam
Culture Creators
Venus X reshaped N.Y.C. nightlife with her underground GHE20G0TH1K parties, and now the DJ is energizing street fashion with her boutique-slash-label, Planet X. When asked to describe the vibe she and her crew were serving up here, she didn't miss a beat: “Tim Burton sex-tape cover.”
On Lovejoy: Suit, by Joseph / Jewelry, her own
Simon Rasmussen, Marz Lovejoy, and their daughter, Nomi
Fashion Family
Simon Rasmussen and Marz Lovejoy's first encounter was on the Hood By Air runway in 2015. Marz opened the show; Simon, stylist and editor of Office magazine, was sitting front row. Simon was so taken, Marz says with a laugh, “he screenshotted my look on his phone!” Now the Rasmussen-Lovejoys are proving just how fly parenthood can be: When they're not on diaper duty, Marz is getting back out on the Fashion Week runway and writing a baby book, and Simon is styling some of this magazine's biggest (and wildest) fashion stories.
“I live to make people feel good about what they’re wearing.”
Mordechai Rubinstein (a.k.a. Mister Mort)
Style Anthropologist
Known to most New Yorkers by his nom de blog, Mister Mort, Mordechai Rubinstein celebrates the infinite mosaic of N.Y.C. style. Basically: “I like to follow well-dressed people around the streets and take pictures of them,” he says. “I am an anthropologist. I study how people wear their clothes.” His fascination with #beautyintheeveryday uniform takes him to the occasional industry event, although he prefers to hang out with real New Yorkers, whether they're Upper East Side preppies or Brooklyn construction workers. “I'm most excited about the subway,” he says, “because I get on and it's a fashion show every single day.”
“We will be making history again in 2019.”
Alton Mason
Model (and more)
Alton Mason, 22, has been modeling for only three years, but he's already made waves in the industry—late last year, he became the first black male model to walk in a Chanel show. “It was unreal,” he says. “I got to make history.” Mason is on his way to bona fide superstardom for other reasons, too. There are his Michael Jackson–caliber dance moves, which he unleashed on the runway for, appropriately, Virgil Abloh's MJ-themed Louis Vuitton fall-winter 2019 show. There's his status as a budding style icon, thanks to his mastery of silhouette and penchant for daring androgynous high fashion. And there's the music project he's quietly gassing up. Soon you won't need a front-row invite to see Mason toe-stand live.
“New York fashion means dressing however you want.”
Daphne Groeneveld
Model
Daphne Groeneveld landed her first Vogue Paris cover way back in 2010. Ever since, the 24-year-old Tom Ford and Carine Roitfeld collaborator has been setting the bar for supermodel-dom in the Instagram era. “I've seen the industry change,” she says. “I do think that [the rise of] social media is an amazing thing, but I'm so glad I experienced old-school modeling.” She adds, “I really don't care about followers.” What Groeneveld does care about: honing her photography hobby on the streets of the West Village, helping other models navigate the pitfalls of the industry, and working with “new young designers, new hair and makeup people, and new photographers,” she says. “I love to meet fresh creative minds. That's what keeps the industry fun.”
On Gonsalves: Coat, by Boss / Jewelry, her own
“New York is a breeding ground for cool shit that’s not accepted anywhere else.” —Brian Procell
Brian Procell and Jessica Gonsalves
Vintage Masters
If you're wondering why everyone from Frank Ocean to that stylish skater you follow on Instagram is really into disintegrating punk tees, rare pieces of '90s-fashion history, and artifacts from the early days of hip-hop, look no further than the expertly curated vintage mecca Procell on Delancey Street, which Brian runs with his fiancée, Jessica. With Alexander Wang and Awake NY collabs already in its archive, this spring it's paying tribute to downtown N.Y.C. with the very first Procell-designed products: collaborative Nike Air Force 1s and Blazers, inspired by artists who called the Lower East Side home (like Jasper Johns and Keith Haring).
On Bella Lucio: Dress by Ann Demeulemeester
On David Casavant: Vintage suit, by Dior Homme (autumn-winter 2012) / Vintage t-shirt, by Helmut Lang
On Jada-Renee B: Vintage suit, by Raf Simons / Vintage boots, by Calvin Klein (autumn-winter 2014) / Sunglasses, $175, by Sun Buddies
On Imaan Sayed: Dress, by Gucci by Tom Ford (spring-summer 1996) / Vintage boots, by Maison Margiela
All clothing from David Casavant Archive
“When I started collecting, my clothes were my art.”
David Casavant
Fashion Archivist
Just before Helmut Lang left fashion in 2005, David Casavant—then barely a teenager in small-town Tennessee—started tracking down and collecting the designer's cast-off pieces on eBay. The vintage-fashion market may be red-hot now, but back then “it was not like that at all,” says Casavant (pictured here with his employees and muses, Bella Lucio, Jada-Renee Bland, and Imaan Sayed), who has dressed the likes of Kanye West, Rihanna, and Paul McCartney in garments from his trove of Helmut Lang and Raf Simons. Now Casavant is capitalizing on everyone's throwback obsession with a gift shop for his archive that includes clothes and a book—windows into his world for non-triple-A-list customers. What's Casavant got his eye on next? “Phoebe [Philo]-era Celine,” he says.
On Miss Info: Her own top, by Comme des Garçons / Her own skirt, by Issey Miyake / Her own sneakers, by Comme des Garçons x Nike / Jewelry, her own
John McPheters and Miss Info
Sneaker Moguls
When Farfetch bought secondary sneaker marketplace Stadium Goods for $250 million in December, it proved right everyone who bet on the growing role of sneakerhead culture in fashion—especially Stadium Goods co-founder John McPheters and legendary hip-hop personality Minya Oh (a.k.a. Miss Info), who, as partners in work and in life, have turned the store on Howard Street into a clubhouse for an entire generation of fashion consumers. The Farfetch deal, Oh says, “is kind of a game changer. Skaters and hip-hop kids, kids who scrounged together looks high and low, who didn't want to put a suit on for their entire lives—we did that.”
“My dad wasn’t into fashion, but he always said, ‘Regardless of what you’re doing, it’s all about style.’”
Alex Olson
Pro Skater and Designer
As skateboarding reaches peak cultural saturation, Alex Olson—a standout in Supreme's “Cherry” video and son of skate legend Steve Olson—is creating a highly stylized lane of his own. The pro skater founded the clothing label Bianca Chandôn and a core, board-focused offshoot, Call Me 917. In his free time he meditates, noodles around on a maybe-forthcoming Krautrock record, and reads copious volumes of self-help books. His eclectic references have made Bianca Chandôn one of fashion's favorite indie brands—where else can you get a tie-dyed hoodie and an equally awesome tunic? “When I started Bianca, I always thought it would be cool to use it as a platform to teach in some capacity,” Olson says. “I'm always trying to turn people on to new ideas.”
Emily Bode
Designer
Emily Bode knows that in order to stand out in the chaos of fashion in 2019, it's not enough to have a strong brand identity (which her line, Bode, certainly has) and compelling, lust-worthy goods (which Bode has, in bundles of one-of-a-kind quilted chore coats and hand-stitched silk pants). You need to create a community—and as any survey of downtown N.Y.C. style will show, the Bode crew (pictured here with Emily) is strong. “I cast my first New York Fashion Week show with all my friends,” Emily says. “A lot of the same friends I had as a child in Atlanta still collaborate with me on the brand, and I think you feel that. There's a personal aspect to Bode.”
“I work hard. Other stores open at 10 or 11, but I start at 8:30. Other stores close at 5 or 6, I close at 8.”
A$AP Eva (a.k.a. Eva Sam)
Jeweler
Ever since Wu-Tang's Cappadonna became a Popular Jewelry customer in 1996, eight years after its opening, Eva Sam's humble Canal Street storefront has been a required stop on the road to rap stardom. Around the glass cases full of iced-out rings and chains hang photos of Sam and her clientele, from Soundcloud-rapper wannabes to Playboi Carti and A$AP Rocky, who shot his “Fukk Sleep” video in the store. Sam's secret? Being there 365 days a year, to greet whoever may come through the door. It's earned her an endearing nickname: “My husband says, ‘You see [A$AP Rocky] more than you see me—your name is A$AP Eva!’ ”
On Winchell: Clothing, by Drake's / Sneakers, $160, Nike Element React '87 / Glasses, by Nackeymade
On Woodruff: Clothing, by Drake's / Boots, by Lucchese / Watch, 1967 Rolex Datejust (with made-to-order bracelet by Codis Maya) / Cuff, by Codis Maya
On Winfrey: Clothing, by Drake's / Loafers, by Alden / Sunglasses, by Guépard / Watch, vintage Swatch
The Drake’s Crew
Alex Winchell, Matthew Woodruff, and Chase Winfrey
Meet the guys on the front lines of the modern tailored-clothing insurgency. Winchell, Woodruff, and Winfrey hold down the Drake's store on Crosby Street, and whether on duty or off, the trio prove that there doesn't have to be anything stuffy about wearing a suit. “We don't really mind if we're the only guys at the bar with a tie on,” says Winchell. That's because their ancient madder ties look downright casual when paired with soft-shouldered Ivy-style suits, relaxed cashmere sweaters, and suede cowboy boots. Being the most uptown thing downtown works: A steady stream of what Woodruff calls “young fashion kids” are leaving Drake's with the latest in men's haberdashery.
“I’m wearing either a suit or a dress. It depends on the day.”
Raúl de Nieves
Artist
In February, at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Brooklyn-based de Nieves debuted his first solo show, an homage to his mother, Fina, who was a talented seamstress in Michoacán, Mexico. It features couture-level wearable sculptures made with countless hours of hand-sewn beading, a nod to his home country's crafting traditions. (Some literally take years to finish.) “Making us clothes was [my mom's] way of being creative,” de Nieves says. “Now I love making clothes as art objects. Right now I'm cutting up these horrible beaded '80s party dresses and making them even tackier.” De Nieves's own style is similarly maximalist, but more trippy than tacky—as exemplified by the towering, bead-encrusted high heels that turned him into a breakout star of 2017's Whitney Biennial.
Samuel Hine is GQ's assistant style editor.
A version of this story originally appeared in the March 2019 issue with the title "Unruly."
