STAFF LIST
EDITOR IN CHIEF
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
PR DIRECTOR
EIC ASSISTANT
CD ASSISTANT
PR ASSISTANT
PHOTOSHOOT DIRECTORS
Sophia Poole
Annakathryn Shelton
Jordyn Jagoda
Emily McComb
Shadaria Jackson
Halle Colbert
Lisa Henker
Allison Beltrani
Zara Mendoza
Charlie Sanchez
Jennifer Mai
Hayes Lamoureux
Malachi Boles
Kyra Derato
PHOTOSHOOT ASSISTANTS
Lulu Apmann
Lucia Roca
Ariana Shahheidari
Adrianna Szurnicki
Ellen Gessmann
Marina Alphin
Kylie Giasson
Ashlynne Smiley
Beth Tingley
Anthony Curto
Sophia Maslyn
Sam Alfouli
Nicole Rodriguez
Ivana Major
Jade Brant
Lisa Kolley
Taylor Hill
Isabella Sofia Owen
Hannah Seifart
Chloe Raia
PHOTOGRAPHY
Bianca Blevins
Malachi Boles
Lisa Kolley
Anna Fox
Jasmine Curry
Julian Gomez
VIDEOGRAPHY DIRECTOR
VIDEOGRAPHY
STYLING DIRECTOR
STYLING DIRECTOR ASSISTANT
STYLING
Samantha Dau
Pepe Zuloaga
Sophia Ambroggio
Caroline Symons
Zara Mendoza
Katherine Davis
Adrianna Szurnicki
Angie Aumara
Zahara Cooper
Sydney Lyell
Georgia Rowe
Nina Petrou
Keria Hirst
Emily Ferrara
Sienna Paras
Grace Drzata
Carsyn Dye
Maddi Baker
Josie Quick
Julia Haughery
Ava Jones
Marina Alphin
DIRECTOR
Sunny Stephan
Maren Kaymak-Loveless
Sabrina Arauz
Bianca Blevins
Tiauna Jardae
Sarah Avant
Sarah Cusick
Sorayia Brown
WRITING DIRECTOR
WRITING
Jade Brant
Lulu Apmann
Chloe Raia
Stella Hellmann
Nikita Sajja
Harper Thurston
Parker Smith
Avery Johnson
Rylie Mayer
Marcella Mugno
SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR
SOCIAL MEDIA
Kylie Giasson
Sukhi Sodhi
Sophia Cadavid
Mya De Armas
Madison Postiglione
Yohanna Mcfarlane
Arianna Lancry
Elle Warnett
Ella Espinola
Arianna Abril
Anthony Curto
Nicole Rodriguez
Maya Foley
Georgia Rowe
Kya Akins
Jesse Tuman
Rylee Parker
Ashlynne Smiley
Jade Membreno
Kyela Zinati
Tara Calambakkam
Sarah Jackson
Kelly Nguyen
Nikita Sajja
Juliana Pristupin
Anna Ruggiero
Sofie Dericks
Sarah Avant
EVENTS/ SALES
Caroline Symons
Katherine Davis
Zara Mendoza
Annakathryn Shelton
Sophia Poole
Sienna Paras
Lisa Henker
Shadaria Jackson
Donovan Vandyek
Sophia Maslyn
Indie Wolfe
Angie Aumara
Jordyn Jagoda
Georgia Rowe
Grace Drzata
Julia Haugery
Riley Hatfield
Alivia Corral
Skylar Glastonbury
Josie Quick
Sofie Dericks
Ava Jones
Jade Membreno
Terianne Quach
Skylar Glastonbury
Mia Tully
Alivia Corral
Sarah Cusick
Addison Shockey
Gianna Graziano
Allie Iasiello
Sophia Cadavid
Lila Kelly
Ava Myers
Nina Petrou
Ayumi Heath
Ariana Shahheidari
Nabihah Qureshi
Marcella Mugno
Ketsia Limexant
Adelina Sanders
Natalie Seng
Jamie Neville
Anna Ruggiero
Madeline Sansone
ESSENCE
Editor in Chief: Sophia Poole
Creative Director: Annakathryn Shelton
Photoshoot Director: Sunny Stephan
Assistants: Ashlynne Smiley, Ariana Shahheidari
Beauty: Sunny Stephan, Maren Kay Loveless, Sarah Cusick
Photographers: Lisa Kolley, Bianca Blevins
Model: Jorja Heine
Models: Stephanie Altamirano, Derrick O’Neal “Duke”, Ethan Knight, Cayce Elliot, Charlie Sanchez, Camila Lam, Carly Collins, JK, Caleb Litten, Julia Haughery, Sarah Avant, Ivana Major, Lisa Henker, Gwyneth Parrish, Amari Andrews, Karla Backey, Jaz Robinson, Imani Bartie
I have to tear you down.
I climb to the top, yet you teeter from the edge.
As you tumble, and as I fly, for just a moment: It is certain. I watch you fall, overcome with the merciless desire that boils inside.
I will pay this price, with the breeze in between my fingers, I reach out my hands.
Planting my feet upon your shoulders, heel to body, chest to sky.
You will never be number one, but maybe so much as make it out alive.
I am not a monster– I am not evil– but I need to be the one.
So as you plummet, and as I rise, it becomes clear to me that I am only human. These impulses bubble to the surface, and in this moment,
I become unchained.
Looking down upon all that I have climbed, with bruised chins and wanting eyes, I stretch higher, and take what is mine
So now I stand, breath collapsing, chest depleted. I turn my head back and forth, back and forth, and find that I have won.
But, there I wonder, what is winning when you’re all alone?
Written by Rylie Mayer
Editor in Chief: Sophia Poole
Creative Director: Annakathryn Shelton
Assistants: Adrianna Szurnicki and Ellen Gessman
Styling: Caroline Symons, Zara Mendoza, Julia Haughtery, Carsyn Dye, Adrianna Szurnicki
Beauty: Sarah Avant
Photographers: Anna Fox, Malachi Boles, Julian Gomez, Lisa Kolley
Sophia Poole
Creative Director:
Annakathryn Shelton
Photoshoot Director:
Caroline Symons
Assistants: Marina
Alphin, Hannah Seifart
Beauty: Sarah Cusick, Sarah Avant, Sabrina Aruz
Photographers: Anna Fox, Bianca Blevins
Graphics: Josie quick
Designers: Sienna Paris, Lisa Henker, Annakathryn Shelton, Kat Davis
Models: Emily Lewis, Tessa Nicely, Ethan Knight, Grace Coombs
skin against stone no clear edge where one ends bones, lines, curves repeating what’s already there nothing new just remembered
Writing: Marcella Mugno
ELEMENTS
of Earth
of Bone
of Bone
of Earth
Body, mind, and soul all one. Our self working as an ecosystem to support the host that carries it through life. Breathing, exhaling, expanding through the stomata that infiltrates our barrier, our protection from the elements. Dew between toes that grip moss, covering the harshness of its underlaying Interconnecting roots like the structure of rib cages. I trace my fingers through the pa�erns, curious eyes glazed from the sun poking through canopies created from tree limbs that have lived for thousands. Crystal reflections from the intricacies of a spider’s web. Diamonds dancing on still water as the light of day reaches its golden hour. Our one being part of something bigger than just ourselves, Mother’s creation being our whole world, when we are just a part of hers.
Writing: Jade Brant
of Water
of Bone
of Bone
Editor in Chief: Sophia Poole
Creative Director: Annakathryn Shelton
Photoshoot Directors: Malachi Boles and Kyra Derato
Assistants: Jade Brant, Ivana Major, Anthony Curto
Styling: Caroline Symons, Angie Aumara
Beauty: Sarah Avant, Sorayia Brown
Photographers: Malachi Boles, Julian Gomez
Visual Art: So e Dericks
Model: Carolina Tiel
I have tasted the opportunity of growth, its flavor like a drug, Everspreading, resilient, touching every corner of this earth,
Webbing through pores to find you, soaking up thick rain drops that float down your cheeks and torment the palms they drip on,
My loyalty laying in your hands like a parasite, crusting over your being, suffocating lungs with warmth, you are the only air capable of curing my disparity
As if the universe grew me for the sole purpose of finding you,
A piece of me now forever with you
Breaking my way through to get below the surface, infiltrating the untouched and claiming it for myself, We meet, we are forever,
Writing by Jade Brant
Editor in Chief: Sophia Poole, Creative Director: Annakathryn Shelton, Photoshoot Directors: Emily McComb and Shadaria Jackson, Assistants: Lulu Apmann and Lucia Roca, Styling: Caroline Symons, Zara Mendoza, Ava Jones, Custom Art: Alivia Corral, Beauty: Sarah Cusick, Photographer: Emily McComb, Models: Emma Elzey, Xaria Miller, Kara Jones
Writing: Stella Hellmann
They worshipped the re. The way it moved, the way it breathed, how it nipped at their skin. They traced its embers on the walls, using their ngers to create. Stone walls covered in their stories. Both past and present. I don’t remember how to draw. I don’t need to.
Everything is known, already said, already stored. There is no need for discovery. The glow of the screens caress our skin. Not living, but watching. They cover the walls. Eliminate the dark. Take over our minds. I haven’t moved in days. My body is quiet. My mind is loud. Thoughts icker, but never form. Their caves were stone, kept warm by the re. Mine is cold.
Wired.
Sealed.
Outside, the world has faded. The ground is littered with cables, the veins that keep our caves alive. There is no life. No animals. No re. The glow is our only warmth
Writing: Jade Brant
Primal instinct will always be a part of human nature, who we are as a race, the world we have created, always containing competition. Living fast, accelerating at the speed of light, changing before the wind can catch us. Running through elds. Stretch marks like the tiger stripes our ancestors would paint on their skin. Each hair strand being torn out of my head like cable wires. Lips pale from lack of purity, our air being stolen to fuel the machine. Subhuman tendencies corrupt our world. What will we be?
Editor in Chief: Sophia Poole
Creative Director: Annakathryn Shelton
Photoshoot Director: Allison Beltrani
Assistant: Sophia Maslyn
Styling: Caroline Symons, Zara Mendoza, Allison Beltrani
Beauty: Sunny Stephan, Ariel Lyden, Alana Waddell
Nails: Bianca Blevins
Photographer: Malachi Boles
Models: Ariel Lyden, Alana Waddell
Sophia Poole
Creative Director:
Annakathryn Shelton
Photoshoot Director:
Caroline Symons
Assistants: Marina
Alphin, Hannah Seifart
Beauty: Sarah Cusick, Sarah Avant, Sabrina Aruz
Photographers: Anna Fox, Bianca Blevins
Graphics: Josie quick
Designers: Caroline Symons, sophia poole, Sophia Maslyn, Zara Mendoza, Shadaria Jackson, Riley Hartfield,
Models: Marina Alphin, Sydney Bass, Breana Bass, Angelina Rosario, Breeze Warnock, Noah Sprague, Harrison Trask, Mallory Smith, Zahara Cooper
Editor in Chief: Sophia Poole
Creative Director: Annakathryn Shelton
Photoshoot Director: Sunny Stephan
Assistants: Ashlynne Smiley, Ariana Shahheidari
Beauty: Sunny Stephan, Maren Kay Loveless, Sarah Cusick
Photographers: Lisa Kolley, Bianca Blevins
Model: Gabriella Webb
Art by Alivia Corral
Writing by Jade Brant
I yearn for familial comfort the way my nostrils yearn for the scent of my mother’s perfume that filled her master bath. That which fogged my brain as I listened to the hums of her getting ready as I sat on the edge of her bathtub.
Like I yearn for airyness I felt as I was thrown up in the air in the pool by my father. Like I yearn for the rampage that would ensue with my older sister.
Like I yearn for the sight of blooming bougainvillea framing our doorway. And like I yearn for the sweet summer scent of growing pineapples in the backyard signifying the end of whirlwinds and the beginnings of June.
Sophia Poole
Creative Director:
Annakathryn Shelton
Photoshoot Director:
Caroline Symons
Assistants: Marina
Alphin, Hannah Seifart
Beauty: Sarah Cusick, Sarah Avant, Sabrina Aruz
Photographers: Anna Fox, Bianca Blevins
Graphics: Josie quick
Designers: Georgia Rowe, Donovan Vandyck, Julia Haughery, Zara Mendoza, Jordyn Jagoda, Grace Drzata
Models: Claire West, Donovan Vandyck, Bella Ricci, Maren Kaymak- Loveless, Mia Tully, Riley Joyner
Editor in Chief: Sophia Poole
Creative Director: Annakathryn Shelton
Photoshoot Director: Jordyn Jagoda
Assistants: Halle Colbert and Beth Tingley
Styling: Caroline Symons, Zara Mendoza
Beauty: Tiauna Hall
Photographer: Julian Gomez
Models: Kya Akins, Jaida Barrett, Rilan Jensen, Zea Yu
This city is large, this city is vast
And yet, I still want more
Let’s not think about our pasts
Just join me on the dance oor
Forget our sorrows and move to the beat
I never want this night to end
Swing your arms and shu e your feet
Write that risky text and click send
Writing: Nikki Sajja
Editor in Chief : Sophia Poole Creative Director: Annakathryn Shelton
Photoshoot Director: Sunny Stephan Assistants: Ashlynne Smiley, Ariana Shahheidari
Beauty: Sunny Stephan, Maren Kay Loveless, Sarah Cusick
Photographers : Lisa Kolley, Bianca Blevins Model: Grace Coombs
My claws are sharp once again. They decorate my soft face, my feathery fur.
As they scrape into the pavement, they dwindle down to dull artifacts of what once was.
Do I use them to fight? Do I use them to crawl?
Here I am left with silver-gray remnants of the pointy edges that I still crave.
Now, as they become sharp once again, I use them as tools.
As weapons of desire and domination. With these claws, nobody can take from me, or so much they dare tame me.
Thrashing like little swords, I make myself big, competing with the version that has always been small.
A cat must fight for what she wants, though jaguars and lions and leopards remain.
But I too, I too am fearless
Written by Rylie Mayer.
Editor
Creative
Photoshoot
Assistants:
Styling: Zara Mendoza, Charlie Sanchez, Julia Haughery
in Chief: Sophia Poole
Director: Annakathryn Shelton
Directors: Zara Mendoza, Charlie Sanchez
Lisa Kolley, Jade Membreno, Taylor Hill
Beauty: Sarah Cusick, Sabrina Aruz, Zara Mendoza Nails: Bianca Blevins Nails: Bianca Blevins
Models: Amy Acosta, Tessa Nicely, Mina Dinh,
A rejection
Unlearn how to sit how to speak how to touch how to be
Unlearn how to prove yourself to those who don’t see mess as beauty
Who don’t know the difference between manners and a facade
Who can’t comprehend the idea that maybe we are just inherently feral
Art by Josie Quick
Art by Sofie Dericks
Art by Sofie Dericks
the problem
the fashion industry is the second largest polluter & cosnumer of water.
fashion produces more co2 than international flights & shipping combined.
⅓ of all microplastics come from textles.
Art: Skylar Glastonbury
