V129: DOJA CAT CASTS HER SPELL

8 0 0 .9 2 9. D I O R ( 3 4 67 ) D I O R . C O M

8 0 0 .9 2 9. D I O R ( 3 4 67 ) D I O R . C O M

V Magazine is a registered trademark of V Magazine LLC. Copyright © 2021 V Magazine LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A. V Magazine is published bi-monthly by V Magazine LLC.

THE WORLD EDITORIAL

Editor-in-Chief / Creative Director Stephen Gan Managing Editor / Production Director Melissa Scragg Editorial Consultant Owen Myers Deputy Editor Gautam Balasundar Photo Director Goran Macura Editor, Entertainment Greg Krelenstein Editor / Sales & Distribution Director Czar Van Gaal Office Manager / Editorial Assistant Nicholas Puglia Contributing Editor-at-Large Derek Blasberg Copy & Research Editor Lynda Szpiro

ADVERTISING/FINANCE

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ART/FASHION

Associate Art Director Shibo Chen Consulting Creative / Design Greg Foley Contributing Fashion Director Gro Curtis Fashion & Market Editor Aryeh Lappin Assistant Market Editor Sam Knoll Contributing Fashion Editors Paul Cavaco Nicola Formichetti Anna Trevelyan Jacob K Amanda Harlech Joe McKenna Melanie Ward Jane How Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele Panos Yiapanis Beauty Editor Stella Pak

DIGITAL

Digital Director Mathias Rosenzweig mathias@vmagazine.com Digital Editor Dania Curvy dania@vmagazine.com Social Media Manager Kevin Ponce kevin@vmagazine.com Weibo Editor Meng Ji Consulting Digital Editor Ian David Monroe ian@vmagazine.com

CONTRIBUTORS

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PRESS & EVENTS

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Digital Art Jon Jacobsen

On the covers Cover 1 Doja Cat wears jacket Tom Ford Earrings Bulgari Cover 2 Doja Cat wears dress Versace Earrings Bulgari

Gucci At top left and right: Ken Scott Jackie 1961 bags At bottom left to bottom right: Crochet chain flap bag with horsebit detail Ken Scott Dionysus bag On wrist from bottom to top: Lion head bracelet in gold metal resin Snake bracelet in gold metal, red resin and crystals G Charm chain belt, Lion head bracelets in ivory and blue resin At center: floral broach in gold metal On sides: G chain tiger belt ($410-$2,980, all items available at Gucci.com)

THE MOON IN THIS ISSUE: 36. HEROES 40. CELINE’S THINKING SPRING 41. HER DIOR 42. ZERO GRAVITY 44. AJANI SHINES BRIGHT 46. V GIRLS 50. V TRENDS 52. DOJA CAT’S NEW DIMENSION 60. THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL 76. PRECIOUS METAL 84. NEW ORDER 96. DAWN OF THE NEW DIVAS 104. INDYA UNLEASHED! 112. WHAT V WANT

Louis Vuitton At top left and right: Twist MM bags in white and black From top to bottom: LV Volt one band rings in white gold and diamond, yellow gold and diamond LV Volt upside down rings in yellow gold, white gold and diamonds LV Volt one small pendant in yellow gold and diamonds LV Volt upside down bracelets in yellow gold, white gold and diamonds LV Volt multi ring and bracelets in yellow gold and white gold LV Volt one cuff in yellow gold and diamonds ($2,910-$26,800, all items available at select Louis Vuitton boutiques)

Magic is in the air...can you feel it? This spring is all about indulging in creative fantasies, and there’s no better platform to do that than fashion.

And who’s more emblematic of multi-faceted artistry than Doja Cat? The hip-pop star is a dazzling antidote to the dull, and with the release of her album Planet Her, that vivid perspective is only becoming more palpable. Depicted by Steven Klein in collaboration with Jason Ebeyer and interviewed by R&B sensation SZA, Doja is captured in this issue with an audacious flair befitting her vivid personality. Creativity is born out of constraint, so this season needs to be marked by the bold: models Precious Lee, Alexandra Agoston, and Indya Moore epitomize beauty in three striking fashion stories; the most individualistic models of London come together for a collection of impressionistic images; even our “V Girls” features four musicians who all used the past few months to explore their identities with all new sounds. When reality begins to feel labored we can—if only for a brief moment— create our own fantasies. It’s so important to create little worlds to escape into, and remind ourselves that life may require us to confront the challenges in front of us. Art allows us to do so in the most magnificent way we choose. No matter what happens in the world, life will always be filled with magic, and even when things begin to look uncertain, we’ll take it upon ourselves to bring some of it to you. MR. V

Dior At top and center: Dior Caro bags Throughout page: Gem Dior Fine jewelry ($3,600-$30,600, available at Dior Boutiques nationwide)

Technical assistant Javiera Allende (@c.efalea) Tarot assistance Gabriel Orrego

TWO OF CUPS

Makeup Loren Canby (A-Frame) Hair Cynthia Alvarez (The Wall Group) Photo assistant Braden Moran

THE POP CULTURE VETERANS RESHAPING HOW WE SEE THE WORLD WITH THEIR WORK

RUTH E. CARTER LEGENDARY COSTUME DESIGNER Photography Kwaku Alston Ruth E. Carter’s ascendance has been nothing short of a tour de force. Back in the ‘90s, she was the industry’s best-kept secret, working from behind the curtain to bring classics of Black cinema like Spike Lee’s Crooklyn and Do the Right Thing to life. The costume designer took center stage in 2019, winning an Oscar for her richly symbolic costumes for Marvel’s Black Panther, which fused traditional African techniques with sci-fi futurism. “Throughout my career, I always thought about how there has never been a Black woman to win that award,” she says. “I would say to myself, ‘I’m going to be the one to do it.’”

Born and raised in the small town of Springfield, Massachusetts, Carter’s childhood was enriched with Black culture and influences. “As a young girl, I was able to go on church outings,” she says. “We took bus trips to New York and saw Broadway plays like Mama I Want to Sing!, For Colored Girls, and The Wiz. I would say that’s where it all began.” The youngest of nine artistic siblings, she was exposed to various art forms, from sketching and spoken word to theater. During a post-college internship at New Mexico’s prestigious Santa Fe Opera, her creative sensibilities found a new focus. “I’d walk over to the large drafting table and would marvel at the beautiful sketch left by the costume designer,” she says. “That really was a huge inspiration for me; it let me know I wanted to be on that side of creating.” The intricate and opulent design process left a mark on Carter; her creations today feel similarly unbound.

After a chance meeting with then-emerging director Spike Lee at a South Central L.A. creative hub held in a speakeasy, Lee helped Carter navigate the industry before giving her first credit as a costume designer on 1988’s School Daze. Avoiding stereotypical depictions of people of color, the costumes 36

Ruth wears coat Prada Shoes, glasses, gloves her own

captured young, well-adjusted, socially-conscious Black scholars in moderately preppy yet Afrocentric attire. Working alongside Lee, the two were bonded by their innate flair for Black storytelling. “We wanted to uplift the race, and show a side of us that has not been shown before. That’s why you don’t see any gold chains” Carter says. “We were cognizant of what we think of ourselves and our communities, that is what we projected on-screen as a representation of us.

Not the buffoonery and the gangs, but a true representation of Black people.”

Carter went on to tell the stories of Black visionaries through her designs, from the cascading-fringe micro-dresses of music icon Tina Turner (What’s Love Got to Do with It, 1993) to the subtly suave suits of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (Selma, 2014)—all undoubtedly preparing her for the game-changing Black Panther. Bringing Wakanda to life, she created a modern-day Black utopia inspired by traditional Maasai and Ndebele designs tailored to each character. Carter’s objective was to amplify the beauty and strength of a marginalized race—but she did so much more. Transcending beyond boundaries with her Oscar win, Ruth E. Carter opened a door for Black costume designers that had been shut since the dawn of the Academy’s 89-year-existence. “There was a system in place that was preventing us from being seen,” she says, reflecting on her career. “And this was my opportunity to say no more. I am opening this door, and I am opening it wide. I’m going to let as many Black creatives in as I can.”

Showing no signs of slowing down, this month, her work will be seen in Eddie Murphy’s Coming 2 America, and she’s already gearing up for Black Panther’s sequel, which starts shooting in July. CZAR VAN GAAL Head to Vmagazine.com to read the extended interview.

www.mcmworldwide.com

heroes Amy wears all clothing and jewelry Alexander McQueen

AMY LEE ICONOCLASTIC EVANESCENCE FRONTWOMAN

Photography Josh Hartzler “I feel like I might as well be on Mars,” Amy Lee says drily. In reality, the incandescent Evanescence frontwoman is speaking from Nashville, Tennessee, where she’s lived for two years with her husband Josh Hartzler and their son, Jack. The joke, obviously, is that Music City is just as much of a surreal, sci-fi setting as any other city in early 2021. However, it’s home, as well as where she and her rock band Evanescence have recorded much of their first full-length album in over a decade.

An epic rock blast propelled by Lee’s soft yet weighty voice, The Bitter Truth will be released incrementally throughout this year and was halfway done prior to the pandemic. It was later completed in lockdown through a series of voice notes, text threads, and COVID safety protocols before recording again. Such circumstances were obviously unimaginable to Lee when Evanescence released their canonical, game-changing debut LP Fallen in 2003, of which they sold 17 million copies and won two Grammys including Best Rock Performance for “Bring Me To Life.” And even though the band had actually formed eight years prior, Lee’s apparent “overnight success” made her a poster child for symphonic gothic rock, a genre completely off the mainstream music industry’s radar. Obsessive fans clamored to mimic Lee’s look and straightforward, no bullshit grandeur–the pitch-black hair and even blacker eyeliner, the gothic rock ball gowns paired with her piercing baby blue eyes, the melancholic ballads that were as emotionally wrought as they were 38

supercharged with the vigor of metal guitars and ominous bass. She became, in a word, iconic. “[I was] a 21-year-old person, just out of high school really, trying to figure out who I was or what our band was or what it all meant,” she says. “But in the last few years, things are definitely coming around full circle.

I’ve grown...and the journey has been all over the place.”

Lee’s journey over the last decade has involved a solo career, awardwinning film scoring for the 2014 sci-fi movie Indigo Grey: The Passage, relocating to the South, and becoming a mother. That last bit, of course, was fairly monumental. Yet, oddly enough, pandemic-mandated pressures of homeschooling actually cemented Lee’s desire to return to new music. “I’m at home just feeling like a failure,” she says with a laugh. “I suck at being a teacher, my son has too much energy, everything is hard.” But I can play music….it’s just a feeling of, “Yes, this is something I’m good at! This is something I can control!”

“You transform in a way where you don’t feel like a rock star anymore,” she adds with a tinge of humor. But she felt the magic of returning to a stage in Tokyo after a few years of not performing, an experience that illustrated how music would always remain steadfast in her life.

Another constant for Amy Lee, even after all these years? Her own sense of artistic identity. “I wasn’t lying [when our first album came out],” she says. “That really was me, and all of those words and all of that heart that went into all of our albums, it’s still true. I don’t want to run away from it. I am who I was.”

MATHIAS ROSENZWEIG

Makeup Yui Ishibashi (De Facto) using FACE atelier Hair Yohey Nakatsuka (De Facto) using Bumble and bumble Model Dominique Babineaux (Heroes) Manicure Nori (SEE Management) Digital technician Matt Shrier Photo assistant Romek Resenas Location Liberty Studio Retouching Kenan Atmaca

CELINE’S THINKING SPRING THE HOUSE’S NEW COLLECTION OF BAGS ARE THE SEASON’S BREEZIEST AND BRIGHTEST Photography Erik Lee Synder Fashion Aryeh Lappin

Domonique wears all clothing and accessories Celine by Hedi Slimane Clockwise from top right: The Triomphe bag, Ava, Sulky, Patapans Triomphe Canvas

Picture yourself walking through the stone streets of Paris—what bag are you carrying? If you’re looking to turn heads, maybe it’d be the Sulky bag. If you’re strolling along the Seine, perhaps it’s the vintage-inspired Ava. Want to tour the Louvre? Grab the Triomphe. Celine’s new collection—which includes four small bags and one new canvas—embodies a light and airy feel, from the shapes 40

to the spirit. The intention is that of classic Celine, but this time, effortlessly elevated. Summery canvas and butter yellow adorn structured bags that also feature bold hardware, bringing together the Celine of the ‘80s and silhouettes of a new millennium. It’s an inherent honoring of the past, but a deliberate sail into the bright, crisp future. ALLISON FOSTER

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©Brigitte Niedermair

HER DIOR

MARIA GRAZIA CHIURI EXPLAINS DIOR’S LATEST CREATION—ALTHOUGH NOT FROM THE ATELIER, THIS RELEASE IS DEFINITELY THE SEASON’S MUST-HAVE

Since her 2016 appointment as Dior’s Creative Director, the collections of Maria Grazia Chiuri have held up a mirror to the dualism of womanhood today. Her creations for the 74-year-old french luxury house have a social conscience and unbound verve. From reimagined takes on the working women’s power-suit to extravagant, feathered couture gowns and everything in between, she is turning a “man’s world” into her playground—one seam at a time. Now chronicling every milestone of her reign at Dior in the new fashion tome entitled Her Dior: Maria Grazia Chiuri’s New Voice, Chiuri debuts a series of dazzling images celebrating 33 female collaborators who have aided in her evolution of the formerly male-led brand’s DNA. The hardbound book is an ode to self-affirmation and the beauty of cultures and couture that not only delivers a snapshot of Chiuri’s five years at the helm of the French maison but also its future—ultimately materializing her manifesto of fashion for women, by women. CZAR VAN GAAL V: What was your main goal when publishing this book? How did this project come about? How long did it take to complete the book?

Maria Grazia Chiuri: The idea was to create a chronology of the most important shots taken by the many female photographers I have collaborated with over my years as Creative Director, in order to have a sort of roadmap of the different viewpoints the collections expressed. I commissioned women photographers because I wanted a female look into the differing ideas of femininity. This allowed different insights into the representation of women in relation to feminism, which is the foundation of my project and of Dior’s identity today.

The book is a living entity: it seemed to be constantly growing on its own, becoming richer with visions and definitions of ideas that turned into images.

The perceptions included were not only those of the photographers but also of the models displaying the fashion and making it an experience that is worn and lived. I’m certain that the photos in this book express an idea of a sisterhood that is creative and aware of its strength and special beauty.

V: How did you go about selecting this group of female collaborators?

MGC: The photographers in the book have all worked with me over the last few years—I prefer to think of it as a research project rather than a selection for the book. They are diverse talents with different training, backgrounds and styles

creating a polyphonic work of voices in perfect harmony.

V: The book’s cover is the “We Should All Be Feminists” T-shirt from your first collection. What is the significance of that runway show, and how has it shaped your work today?

MGC: I chose to use [the] Brigitte Niedermair photograph because that T-shirt became the icon of my first Dior collection. It is a symbol of the path I set out on as Creative Director of the House. I love that image, as it takes a piece of clothing and turns it into a totem, lifting up its message, exalting it, and making it timeless. I consider my first Dior collection to be the start of a journey; the first meeting between the codes of a brand with such an important history and the place where my own personal vocabulary was developed. It brings an idea of activism to fashion, which is needed now more than ever. This is what continues to orient and instruct not only my work, but also my whole way of life.

V: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s essay from We Should All Be Feminists is prominent throughout the book. What draws you to her writing?

MGC: With decisive and skillful grace, she updates the definition of feminism and brings it in line with our current era. I was particularly taken by her thoughts on fashion: Adichie takes pleasure in how she dresses, just like any woman or man can, and has no qualms about admitting her love for fashion while also defending it as a right. She considers fashion something fun, a beautiful, almost therapeutic game through which you can find yourself. She is a model who shows young women that they can be whatever they want without giving up caring for themselves and their image, if that’s what they enjoy.

V: Having been the Creative Director at Dior for four years now, what legacy do you hope to leave on the brand?

MGC: I can’t predict the future. I prefer to keep working passionately and consciously to ensure that the House is recognized as a symbol of evolving, modern, self-aware femininity. I hope that my work expands the codes that define Dior’s identity in a way that allows my successor to keep building on what I have done.

Head to Vmagazine.com to read the extended interview.

Her Dior: Maria Grazia Chiuri’s New Voice—Written by Maria Grazia Chiuri, Text by Maria Luisa Frisa available March 2021.

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ZERO GRAVITY

LET YOUR IMAGINATION FLY THIS SEASON WITH THESE BEACHREADY ACCESSORIES Photography Geray Mena Fashion Aryeh Lappin

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Clockwise from top left: Bag Chanel Sunglasses Versace Hat Burberry Bag Louis Vuitton Shoe MSGM

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Set Design 240x120 Retouching Ruben Chase

Clockwise from top left: Bag MCM Scarf Bulgari Shoe Salvatore Ferragamo Hat Hermès Bag Fendi Shoe Bottega Veneta

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Makeup Seong Hee Park (Julian Watson Agency) Hair Hos Hounkpatin (The Wall Group) Manicure Nori (Artlist Paris) Production Alexey Galetskiy (AGP NYC), Felix Cadieu (Catalysme) Digital technician Kevin Lavallade Photo assistants Chad Hillard, Mia Andre Location Sid Studio

AJANI SHINES BRIGHT

ACTOR AND SKATER AJANI RUSSELL SPARKLES LIKE A STAR IN A CLOUDLESS SKY IN ARMANI’S NEW HIGH JEWELRY COLLECTION Photography Max Papendieck Fashion Aryeh Lappin

It’s not often you find yourself teleporting to enemy battle stations in an effort to save the earth from acid pollution. But for Ajani Russell, this is just one of her many vivid dream experiences. The model and mixed media artist uses the metaphors and experiences in her dream-state to form the basis of her work. For the Brooklyn-born, L.A.-based multi-hyphenate, art is the medium through which she heals: “I just want to keep making things that inspire people to fight those oppressive barriers and obstacles that make them feel like they can’t be themselves,” the 22-year-old says. “I hate seeing people unhappy.” Here, she’s photographed wearing Giorgio Armani’s new high jewelry collection, Si, which reimagines the female olfactory system as a black onyx flower encrusted by clear and black diamonds.

When she’s not making Carrie Mae Weems-inspired photographs, sculpting pseudo-bodies out of clay, or working on her senior thesis project for CalArts, Ajani’s skating down the streets with Skate Kitchen, an all-female skate collective she helped found. Theirs is an evolved womanhood, where femininity can mean whatever, and solidarity matters over all else.

A few members of the girl gang caught indie director Crystal Moselle’s attention on the subway and their stories inspired the plot for the 2018 film, Skate Kitchen and subsequent HBO series, Betty (its second season premieres later this year).

In response to sexist “go back to the kitchen” comments that internet trolls had made on female skateboarding videos, the name “was about reclaiming that stereotype and making the whole world our kitchen because there’s no one place for a certain person to belong,” Russell says. The series chronicles their day-to-day lives as they ollie through the maledominated skateparks and navigate the winding road of adulthood. “All of the stories were not easy to share, like making myself vulnerable to a large audience, but I also know the weight it holds in inspiring a younger generation of women,” she says. Here, Russell is a true one-off, and its seedings of an oeuvre already in bloom. KALA HERH 44

v news Ajani wears all clothing and jewelry Giorgio Armani

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ZSELA R&B INNOVATOR

L.A.’S POWERFUL NEW POP VOICES Photography Connor Franta Fashion Aryeh Lappin 46

Zsela wears bikini top and shorts Etro Shoes John Fluevog, jewelry her own

After living in New York for most of her life, signing a lease for a house in L.A. was a major change for the mesmerizing singer-songwriter Zsela Thompson. “I move a lot,” she says. “Settling into the idea of having a house and building a home here has made a lot of sense; once I signed the lease, it felt really good to just know where I’m rooted. In New York I’m obsessed with walking, being out, and seeing people. I get really introspective here.”

That introspection isn’t entirely unprecedented for Thompson. Before her sonorous debut EP Ache of Victory came out last year, she maintained a low profile, allowing music to be a personal pursuit for much of her adult life. “So many people around me didn’t even know I made music because I was that private at the time,” she says. “I didn’t really think I would step into it in terms of a career.” That makes the quiet confidence of her debut all the more impressive, with sparse musicality from Daniel Aged (Frank Ocean, FKA twigs) that allows her deep voice and evocative lyrics to be front and center. Songs like “Earlier Days” and “Undone” touch on quiet moments of relationships when cracks begin to form, reminiscing on better days. Yet Zsela has found that as time goes on, she contextualizes her work differently, recognizing how viscerally emotions manage to manifest in her music. “I’ll even be unaware of what certain songs were about at the time. Writing has always been this outlet of a lot of feelings and lifetimes that I’ve lived. And it’s been a space I kind of pour that out into. I’ve had those absolute, ideal, lucky moments of receiving a song—when it just fully pours out of you.”

With the release of her first EP behind her, Thompson is looking to broaden her artistic scope. Her move has afforded her proximity both to her frequent collaborators as well as her family while giving her enough space to build out a studio and retain her independence. Now she’s ready to channel that renewed focus into her music. “It’s a one-year lease and in this year, I want to make a lot of shit and the people I want to make shit with are all here,” she says emphatically. “It feels good to just commit to that and see how it goes.” GAUTAM BALASUNDAR TRACK TO HEAR NOW: “EARLIER DAYS”

Makeup Holly Silius Hair Ramdasha

v girls Annahstasia wears all clothing and shoes Miu Miu Jewelry her own

ANNAHSTASIA SINGER, ARTIST, AND MODEL

In 2019, multi-hyphenate artist and musician Annahstasia released her resonant debut EP Sacred Bull, an experimental neo-soul project that introduced the world to her deep, melodious voice. Yet somehow, a year later, she was considering giving up music altogether. “I just didn’t know what to do, or how to continue,” she admits. “I didn’t know if it was worth it. I considered switching careers, even though it’s my passion. I just felt so disillusioned with the world changing. I didn’t see how I could feasibly go on.” Right when she was at her breaking point, she came to a realization that has defined her outlook since. “Up to that point I had been working with other producers, and putting my music in other people’s hands, because I was too afraid to see what I had to give on my own. I decided to make a project that, if I died the next day, I would be proud to have made. I realized that I hadn’t made any music that I would be satisfied leaving behind.”

The result is a new EP due this spring titled Revival, which not only reflects a different sound, but also reflects a broader shift in Annahstasia’s relationship with music. “My choice to make a folk album is because that’s where I started, and that I’m going to bigger, more opulent places with my music. I called the project Revival for that reason, because for me, it was kind of like a rebirth. And my name, ‘Annahstasia,’ means resurrection in Greek. I was just playing with that concept of reviving myself as an artist, and coming into my power and coming into my voice.” Contrary to streaming norms, she’s planning it as a vinyl-only release, emphasizing the value of both creating and consuming something in a personal way. “There’s nothing better than discovering an album, taking it home and listening to it, and falling in love with that artist, purely off of the chance that you walked into the right record store that day.” She appreciates the experience music can provide, and it’s only reinforced something she’s always known. “The art is for me. If anyone else likes it, I’m ecstatic. But I come from the place of, did I do myself justice in putting this here? And how do I make sure that I respect that in how I present it to the world? You know, as an ethos, you have to ask for what you deserve.” GAUTAM BALASUNDAR TRACK TO HEAR NOW: “SACRED BULL”

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v girls

REMI WOLF ZANY ALT-POP STAR

Remi wears dress Guess Hat and necklace her own

There comes a time in every musician’s life when life suddenly fills with purpose and they see no other way forward, but to make music. For Remi Wolf, this time came freshman year when she and her best friend and bandmate Chloe Day Zilliac performed at a local art fair. “Very Simon and Garfunkel, but a lot worse,” the 24-year-old DIY pop star laughs from her L.A. home, as her adorable French bulldog Juno Jameson takes a nap on her lap. Despite being allergic, Remi adopted Juno at the beginning of quarantine. Her 2020 album, I’m Allergic to Dogs! pokes fun at this hypersensitivity in a record where her emotions ooze through her songs in an idiosyncratic blend of pop, funk, and soul that creates a beautiful, almost hallucinogenic sonic kaleidoscope.

“I very rarely go in with a concept,” she says of her music process. “It’s all very improvisational, very jam band. The best and quickest idea normally wins.” Whether she’s coating “Woo” with syrupy, sugar-pop melodies, referencing past relationships in “Hello Hello Hello,” or tripping out her vocals with the Little AlterBoy plugin on “Photo ID,” Remi takes us on a joyride to the outer realms of music. Remi started messing around with format shifting her voice in her first EP, You’re A Dog! “I get bored and annoyed with my normal vocal tone,” she says. “Guitar players get to mess with their guitars with pedals, so why can’t I do the same thing?”

Featuring funk links, dog barks, and babbling babies, her unconstrained music makes even the most recluse yearn for carefree post-lockdown partying. “I want people to listen to my music to feel f*cking good,” Remi smiles. “For people to just feel like they can let loose, be themselves, and be free.” Until that time comes, Remi has been making her fans comfortable at home, chatting with fans over DMs, creating hilarious TikToks, and of course, making new music. This spring Remi will be releasing a remix package. “Expect the same but different,” she says coyly. If one thing’s certain: the one party in town you don’t want to miss is Remi Wolf’s. KALA HERH TRACK TO HEAR NOW: “HELLO HELLO HELLO”

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Maggie wears all clothing Burberry Jewelry her own

MAGGIE LINDEMANN SOUL-BARING SINGER

Maggie Lindemann is pop’s prodigy no longer. After cutting her teeth with the streaming megahit “Pretty Girl” six years ago, the singer-songwriter reintroduced herself this past January with a soul-baring debut EP Paranoia, unveiling her most authentic body of work to date. Ditching her signature bubblegum-pop ethos for an electrifying alt-rock aesthetic, Lindemann’s latest project encapsulates the feelings of a trying year spent reckoning with old wounds and rediscovering her sound. “I was 16 and in an industry that I had no idea about,” says Lindemann. A label deal that seemed to be a golden ticket to stardom quickly morphed into a creatively-crippling ball and chain. “[The] turning point for me was when I realized that I didn’t want to make that kind of music anymore...But also when I found the courage to vocalize that I wanted to make something edgier, something that resembled me more.”

Lindemann tapped into her roots for inspiration, drawing from her early love of hard-rocking guitar heroes like Disturbed, No Doubt, and Black Sabbath. But while full speed ahead onto the highway of heavy metal the budding musician was quickly met with another roadblock. Lindemann was imprisoned while touring overseas, spending five days detained in Malaysia. The harrowing ordeal triggered a wave of anxiety—which only heightened as time elapsed, resulting in her sleeping with a knife under her pillow every night. Desperate to regain a sense of normalcy, Lindemann channeled her terrors into the uptempo headbanger “Knife Under My Pillow” and ultimately her debut EP. “[Paranoia] tells the story of how I was dealing with my paranoia, how [it] has affected different aspects of my life, and how I’ve worked through it,” she says.

Newly emboldened, Lindemann now confronts all facets of her angst laced over hasty guitar riffs—from the remnants of fractured love affairs with the track “Crash and Burn”, to the somber soliloquy that is “Loner,” an unofficial anthem for those who take solace in solitude and sadness. Cleaning out your emotional closet has never sounded so good and Maggie Lindemann has done it with ease. CZAR VAN GAAL TRACK TO HEAR NOW: “LONER” 49

V TRENDS

THE SPRING LOOK IS MAXI DENIM, TECHNO-GLAM, LUXE JOGGERS AND BARELY-THERE SWIMWEAR Photography Erik Lee Snyder Fashion Aryeh Lappin

Dominque wears from left to right:

Swimsuit Monot, visor and bag Dior Earrings and bracelet throughout Tiffany & Co.

All clothing Louis Vuitton Shoes Giuseppe Zanotti

Bodysuit and bag Fendi

Andrea wears from left to right:

All clothing Prada necklace Tiffany & Co.

All clothing and accessories Celine by Hedi Slimane

All clothing GUESS Originals Bag Emporio Armani

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Makeup Yui Ishibashi (De Facto) using FACE atelier Hair Yohey Nakatsuka (De Facto) using Bumble and bumble Models Dominique Babineaux (Heroes), Aamito Lagum (Heroes), Laurel Taylor (Next), Andrea Ramlall (APM New York) Digital technician Matt Shrier Photo assistant Romek Resenas Location Liberty Studio Retouching Kenan Atmaca

v trends

Laurel wears from left to right:

Jacket AG, pants Gucci

All clothing and bag Alexander McQueen

Jacket and shirt MM6 Maison Margiela Shorts GUESS Originals Earrings and necklace Tiffany & Co.

Aamito wears from left to right:

Jacket 2 Moncler 1952, skirt 1 Moncler JW Anderson, bag DKNY

Poncho and skirt K-WAY Necklace Tiffany & Co

Top and coat Burberry Skirt Kenzo 51

DOJA CAT’S NEW DIMENSION THE SHAPESHIFTING NEW STAR OPENS UP TO SZA ABOUT HER STRATOSPHERIC RISE, BREAKING BARRIERS, AND EMBRACING DIVINE FEMININITY ON HER NEW ALBUM PLANET HER Imagery Steven Klein and Jason Ebeyer Fashion Patti Wilson Interview SZA Text Dania Curvy “I don’t even like champagne to begin with,” says Doja Cat, as she pops open a bottle of Dom Perignon Rose and pours herself a flute. Hip-pop’s most thrilling new star takes a sip and nods with approval as she waits for SZA—her friend, collaborator, and today, her interviewer—to arrive. “But I bet you this one is going to be good cause it’s pink.”

With each of Doja Cat’s hit singles sounding nothing like the last, the self-made Los Angeles-born singer, producer, and rapper transgresses the stereotypical constructs placed on Black female artists with intent and fervor. Her serving an authentic dose of unconventional hot bubblegum-pop, ass-shaking hip-hop bangers, and a splash of introspective lyricism.

Born Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, Doja was raised in L.A. by an artistic Jewish-American mother and South-African father and performer who goes by the name “Crocodile.” While her lineage meant that artistry seemed predestined for Doja, she didn’t take that path for granted. She was making GarageBand tracks for SoundCloud by her teens, and signed to RCA on the back of online 52

buzz at age 17. But a hilarious DIY video “MOOO!” made her a true Internet sensation, and she parlayed that buzz into 2019’s earth-shattering record, Hot Pink, which pinballs from turn-up anthem “Juicy” to TikTok pop sensation (and Billboard number one) “Say So,” and the velvety R&B ballad “Streets”—which became her latest smash hit this February, over a year after its initial release.

In an attention-deficit world, Doja’s slow-burn success feels like proof of her staying power; her dedication has been rewarded with three Grammy nominations this year, and she’s nearly done with her third album, Planet Her, which is due this summer. Today she’s in high spirits, recounting her latest truecrime show obsession or TikTok drama between puffs on her vape. Hate her or love her, but Doja Cat is light years ahead of femme pop—she’s also just one of the girls.

“Hello, can y’all hear me?” asks SZA, popping onto the zoom screen with matching wine-colored hair and bangs. “I’ve been on here for mad long, I heard all y’all talking shit,” she says only half-joking. “What’s good?”

Doja wears jacket Tom Ford Earrings (throughout) Bulgari

Dress Versace Earrings Bulgari

SZA: I’m going to ask the questions that I would want to know as a personal fan of yours. Ok, so did you just fuck around and do every single genre because that’s what we wanna hear? You could do literally anything. I know our little ditty “Kiss Me More” is a different strut and I’m just excited.

Doja Cat: I’ve always wanted to try things. I commend artists, like you, who stick to something. It feels pleasing aesthetically and very driven. For me, I want to try all these things, but I’m starting to learn what I’m falling into is a lot of the house, disco, vintage-y essences—that’s where my heart kind of lies. But I still am doing shit that I don’t understand. It’s still really fun!

SZA: The title of the album, Planet Her...Is it giving like, a “Planet Her is me” meaning? Is it about discovery of self? What’s good?

DC: It’s giving divine feminine.

SZA: Ok! DC: It’s giving full, “Fuck these niggas, fuck what people feel about me just cause I’m sexy…” Just all the shit we have to go through.

SZA: Ok, collaborations. Do you want to talk about any of them on your album?

DC: It’s people that I respect and I’m extremely excited about having on the album and it’s a full circle moment for me, basically. Just knowing that I have you on it is just sexy. It’s perfect. I feel confident. It doesn’t feel like something out of myself, you know? I feel like I’m doing what I want to do.

SZA: I really feel like I relate the most to you because between the pre-TDE [Top Dawg Entertainment, SZA’s record label] shit and crossing that path, I always felt like I couldn’t fit into anything. That my music isn’t “Black enough” with “Drew Barrymore.” Or I’m doing shit that’s strange. I never felt that as a Black girl, I could make music and be in these realms. You make music in all these other realms and make it sound like it touched my inner mind and spirit. It’s like, you’re exactly who I needed when I was in high school [and] college. I just wanted to feel like it’s ok to be an individual that isn’t really planted but is highly mutable and superfluid.

Working with you was literally my dream.

Because you’re so versatile, do you find that it’s a balance to keep your hip hop fans happy? Because you can dance between many things, do you feel pressure from people to infuse that rap essence or is that part of genuinely who you are?

Do you even count yourself as part of that hip-hop conversation?

DC: I wanted to be a rapper before I was a singer at all. And I always wanted to sing because singing is amazing when you hit a note and you’re like, “Wow.” It’s a feeling that a lot of people can’t really describe. It’s amazing to be able to sing and create melodies and whatnot but I always started off wanting to rap. They’ve just melded together, and I’ve just been able to make those two come together.

You know what I mean? I definitely get shit for making pop music and then rapping with it—and then when a pop song that I’ve done does well in a category that I don’t match, it’s like…I get it. But it’s not rap, or it’s not R&B. It’s pop shit. But it’s hard. A lot of things are one genre, but a lot of people are putting shit together so how are we supposed to perfectly place things in categories anymore? When experimentation and whatnot is a huge thing.

SZA: You’re doing yourself a disservice if you do that. Ok, wait, does “Say So”establishing a number one chaotic-ness [make] you feel pressure?

DC: I feel great about “Say So.” I’m glad that I like the song. (laughs) There’s songs that I’ve made in the past that I really don’t like that much because it’s more of me finding out what I want to do and it just happened to be released to the public.

But with “Say So,” I feel great. Thank God. I’m so happy that Nicki was a part of it [Minaj guested on the “Say So” remix] and just seeing it do well makes me happy, cause I’m proud of it.

SZA: Same. It’s fucking stellar. And watching you perform it on TV is probably one of my greatest highlights. You fuck it up in every single choreo television performance. Where does that dedication to just really be a fucking star come from? Outside of being Doja and sharing your personal youness, where does that drive [come from]? Cause I can see it! You’re not just on autopilot; it’s very intentional and it’s very directed energy. Where does that energy come from? You don’t give me the type of energy that gives a fuck about being “cool” or “big.”

DC: I’ve always loved dance. I’ve always loved performing arts. I mean I went to art schools and whatnot. But I feel like when I watch people, like Beyoncé or Janet or anybody on stage, doing what needs to be done, I genuinely smile and look at it like “This is perfect.” I can tell when something is treated with care.

I appreciate the work they put into their craft, so who would I be to not do the exact same or almost as good? I’m not trying to compare myself to them, but I’m just saying that I want to give people something interesting, something they can lock their eyes onto, and take with them in the future, however they will and enjoy.

SZA: Yeah, it’s an experience. You really create an experience so much for me.

DC: Yeah! Yeah, you can dance and you can sing but you sometimes taking it to another level is important.

SZA: Do you watch yourself back a lot on your rehearsals? Cause the way you give it up gives me like, “I’ve done this in the mirror 50 fucking times. I know that it’s hitting right now.”

DC: You know what? Yes. I lived in front of the mirror, locked myself in my room for years and that’s probably why. What I wanted to do is take whatever I did in front of the mirror and put it there for people to enjoy and know that they can do that shit, too.

SZA: It’s a gift to watch. Wait, your parents! I didn’t know your parents were artists!

Do you feel heavily influenced by the fact that your family is hella artistic?

DC: Yeah. My brother also produces and he sings and raps.

SZA: Have I seen your brother before? Have you ever posted him? Did I miss something?

DC: No, no, I keep my family pretty private. I have like, one picture with my grandma on my Instagram. But that’s as far as that went. My dad, the same.

SZA: Word. You are probably the pioneer of TikTok sounds going crazy. And now all of a sudden everybody else is reaping the benefits. Do you try to be this media powerhouse? Is it intentional when you’re on the ‘Gram or TikTok and running that shit up?

DC: It’s definitely part of me. I didn’t know, also, that “Streets” would be doing

well right now, of all times. I loved “Streets” and for it to blow up on TikTok a few weeks ago is completely out of my expectations.

SZA: I love that song! And I love your live performance of that song as well.

DC: Thank you! That’s my favorite song off that album. And I’ve been saying “Won’t Bite” is my favorite song but “Streets” is truly my favorite. I don’t really try to do stuff like that, but I know that I’m goofy on TikTok, so I hope that those do well but it’s not really in my agenda. I’m just a goofy ass bitch.

SZA: I’m screaming! I like that you’re hyper-comfortable with yourself and it’s kind of inspiring cause I am not, and I feel very comforted by you being that way.

Where does that driving force really come from?

DC: I really don’t know. I think that it might be ADHD. (laughs) You know my mom is basically a hippie. I just grew up around different kinds of people. After living on the ashram, I moved to the suburbs and that was completely the polar opposite, so living there was a weird change for me. It might be that, though! It might be that moving around made me kind of a goofball. I think I’m just hyper.

SZA: Yeah. I mean, it manifests itself in the most pure, effervescent way.

What’s your writing process like? Are you freestyling? Do you write everything down? Is it like just off the top of your head when you feel like, whatever?

DC: Right. I guess I start mostly with a beat. I never really write a lyric and then take it to the studio. But when I hear a beat, if I hear a melody, if it’s interesting enough, I’ll just start mumbling over shit and sometimes I’ll get in my feelings and want to write about some shit that makes me feel a type of way. And those are probably the most fun songs but usually I just start with a beat and that’s it. And I do that with singing—like mumble with singing, I mumble with rapping.

SZA: And then they just all go live all the time, randomly. They’re very like, hit songs type shit. Where do you feel like you write your best lyrics? One time I saw you rapping about poop and I liked that a lot.

DC: Which one was the poop rap?

SZA: Like “scoopity poop, I poop on the dick.” Something like that.

DC: Oh! I remember that!

SZA: It was so lit! Everything you say, I think about that when I’m trying to rap or I start doing some syncopated shit and I’m like, “She can make anything sound so fucking amazing.” I reference back to that video and all of your random [Instagram] Live song videos because, to me, that’s like, the flow. I peeped you in the flow. How is it that you make things sound good on Live, in front of other people, and you’re literally fucking anything and it sounds like masterpiece energy. So where do you write your best lyrics? Does it matter?

DC: Sometimes it does. If I’m not on Live for a long time and I get on, I’ll be like “This is weird.” I do feel that feeling that people are like, “do you feel like that?” I feel that.

SZA: Okay, we’re Black. And being Black, we don’t have to emphasize us being Black, but I feel like your contribution to the Black community is you in your essence. You’re who stops separating interesting, weird Black kids from being randomly excommunicated or separated from Blackness. My niece–who is 19-years-old—loves you. I mean, she banged you four years ago when she was living in Texas surrounded by all white kids. She’s genuinely artsy, separated by herself, Black by herself, and it’s like that’s the space I feel like you’re giving that visibility to the weird Black art kid, that is protective. That is how we move to protect the Black community. Do you feel that? That you’re really being that beacon for alt Black kids, or kids who are multifaceted?

DC: I mean, it is just me, but also there are little girls and there are people out there who look like me and can relate to me in that sense. And it is important to have artists like Tyler, the Creator and Pharrell, you know what I mean? That came from a different way of life. Just grew up a weird kid. The skater or the whatever, the nerd. It’s important to have those kinds of influences in your life when you’re like that and feel completely cast out of…the world. I grew up listening to them and that’s what kept me knowing that I could do it, too. I felt like I had friends who didn’t even know me.

SZA: Word. So your videos: when you go through all of that, are you directing them yourself? Cause it looks very much like a brainchild, straight from your uterus. It has so much intrinsic Doja value in it.

DC: For my videos, I used to write treatments even when I knew I didn’t have a budget for a music video, whatsoever. I just wanted to create a visual point for everything I’ve made audio-wise. I still do it now, but not as much…

SZA: I kind of remember the video with you in the back seat and you’re like, licking on your hand and you’re on some pimp cat goddess shit.

DC: Yeah! I said I wanted to have henchmen, and I wanted to have them rolling up the mice in the plastic. I wanted that entire vibe. I wanted to own the crazy-catlady -boss-bitch type energy.

SZA: That’s iconic...Every single video you’ve ever put out is so lit to me. It’s so funny being a genuine fan and getting to ask you shit. I’m like “What else do I want to know as a genuine fan?”

Production-wise, I feel like for me, there’s certain beats or a beat type that I feel like is the easiest or the most gravitating. Is there something that you just feel like “This is Doja’s home. This is the sound?”

DC: I think when I hear a song that’s something out of the box, like Tyler, the Creator or Monte Booker, very produce-y type shit, that I feel is more about the beat [and] less about the artist kinda stuff, I like that. I kinda don’t care. I would jump on that shit in a hot-ass second, absolutely. But it’s hard to find producers like that. Like really, genuinely very meticulous producers. Everyone I’ve worked with so far is incredible and we’ve made solid, solid, solid songs. I can do the kind of stuff that’s pop and simple, but my dream is to really get into doing things that feel more experimental and more in that abstract production world.

SZA: Are you ready to be Britney Spears? Cause that’s where you’re headed. Do you know that? You’re going to be a fucking global, like, number one sensation.

Cause there’s never been anybody like you. You’re literally about to be Britney Spears, and I can’t wait.

DC: I just want to have the moment to say “It’s Doja, bitch.”

Head to Vmagazine.com to read the extended interview.

“PRAYING, FOR ME, IS WHEN I’M IN THE STUDIO, LISTENING TO A BEAT AND IMAGINING WHAT IT CAN BE. I THINK THAT’S HOW I FIND MY DEEPEST JOY AND CONFIDENCE.” - DOJA CAT

Earrings Bulgari All other clothing and accessories (throughout) designed by Jason Ebeyer

THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL THE VARIED FACES OF LONDON PROVE THAT TIMELESS BEAUTY CAN ALWAYS BE FOUND IN UNWAVERING INDIVIDUALITY Photography Sølve Sundsbø Fashion Gro Curtis

Arizona wears top, shoes, jewelry Chanel Briefs Eres, socks stylist’s own

“In my life, I’m deliberately replacing an emphasis on my individuality with an emphasis on building community, through the lens of a climate activist.”

—Arizona Muse 60

Caren Jepkemei wears dress Saint Laurent

by Anthony Vaccarello

Freddie wears dress Olivier Theyskens Rings Di Petsa

“The industry has made big changes, although there can sometimes still be an underlying feeling of tokenism. I hope that eventually I can increase the accessibility to every form of role model.”

—Freddie Finch

Maggie Maurer wears all clothing and accessories Giorgio Armani

Hannah Motler wears all clothing and accessories Dior Claudia Contortionist wears headpiece and sleeves Aziz

Lewis Burton

Alva wears dress Di Petsa

“I feel very driven to keep applying pressure on having better size representation in the fashion industry. I’m hopeful for the future and I’m excited to continue to push boundaries.”

—Alva Claire

Georgia Palmer wears coat and shoes Prada Gloves Cornelia James

Laura Morgan wears all clothing and accessories Louis Vuitton

Claudia Contortionist wears headpiece House of Malakai Jewelry Cartier

Nora Attal wears dress and necklace Gucci Rings and bracelet Cartier On hair R+Co ON A CLOUD-Baobab Oil Repair Splash On Styler

Stella Jones wears dress Burberry On Skin Biossance Squalane + Vitamin C Dark Spot Serum

Lara Mullen wears dress Moschino

Alice wears all clothing and accessories Givenchy On hair IGK Good Behavior Spirulina Protein Smoothing Spray

“I’m studying for my master’s in neuroscience. I am lucky to be entering a field which flourishes through a constantly adapting eye for the future.”

—Alice de Cherade Horswell

Jeny & Georgia Howorth wear all clothing Maison Margiela

Makeup Val Garland (Streeters) Hair Kei Terada (Julian Watson Agency) using Bead Head by TIGI Models Arizona Muse (DNA), Caren Jepkemei (Titanium), Freddie Finch (The Squad), Maggie Maurer (IMG), Hannah Motler (DNA), Claudia Contortionist, Lewis Burton, Alva Claire (Wilhelmina), Georgia Palmer (IMG), Laura Morgan (Premier), Nora Attal (DNA), Stella Jones (KMA), Lara Mullen (DNA), Alice de Cherade Horswell (iDAL), Jeny & Georgia Howoth (NEXT), Jade Parfitt, Tabitha and Silver (Storm) Manicure Chisato Yamamoto (Caren Agency) Set design Robbie Doig (Dragonfly Scenery) Animal Handler Trevor Smith Production Sally Dawson, Paula Ekenger, Emily Brown Casting Director Shaun Beyen (Plus Three Two) Digital technician Lucie Rowan Photo assistants Samuel Stephenson, Sebastian Kapfhammer Stylist assistant Aurelie Mason-Perez Makeup assistant Laisum Fung, Yumi Hair assistants Takuya Morimoto, Takumi Horiwaki, Ryo Narushima Manicure assistant Tomoko Komiya Retouching Digital Light Ltd

“My children are the reason I get up every day. Their endless creativity has inspired me to take up painting—and their endless busyness has inspired to take up meditation.”

—Jade Parfitt

Jade wears dress Erdem Jewelry Cartier Tabitha and Silver wear dresses Little Bevan Jewelry Chanel

ARMED WITH ONLY HER NATURAL BEAUTY AND A LITTLE GOLD, PRECIOUS LEE GLISTENS IN SCHIAPARELLI’S SHOWSTOPPING SPRING 2021 COUTURE JEWELRY Photography Richard Burbridge Fashion Patti Wilson

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Precious wears all jewelry and accessories (throughout) Schiaperelli Spring 2021 Couture

On brows Clarins Bust Beauty Extra-Lift Gel

On lips Clarins Lip Comfort Oil

On eyes Clarins 4-Color Eyeshadow Palette in Flame Gradation

Makeup Emi Kaneko (Bryant Artists) Hair Mustafa Yanaz (Art + Commerce) Model Precious Lee (IMG) Manicure Eri Handa (Home Agency) using CHANEL Les Beiges Production Hanna Scott Corrie (PRODn @ Art + Commerce) Digital technician Nick Barr Photo assistant Peter Siskos Stylist assistants Sergio Mejia, Sam Knoll Hair assistant Kazuhide Katahira

On skin Clarins Moisture-Rich Body Lotion

NEW

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RDER

COVERING BOTH REBELLIOUSNESS AND SENSUALITY, ALEXANDRA AGOSTON CAPTURES THE DIFFERENT SIDES OF FEMININITY IN A SERIES OF INTIMATE SCENES Photography Chris Colls

Alexandra wears the MUSA mule

by Giuseppe Zanotti

The DETROIT biker by Giuseppe Zanotti Necklace Panthère de Cartier Watch Santos de Cartier

The ALEXANDRA pump by Giuseppe Zanotti

The AGATA sandal by Giuseppe Zanotti Bracelet and earrings Cartier Love On skin Clarins Tonic Body Treatment Oil On hair Clarins Nourishing Beauty Hair Oil with Argan and Camellia Oils

The ALEXANDRA pump by Giuseppe Zanotti Necklace C de Cartier On eyes Clarins 4-Color Eyeshadow Palette 06 Midnight Gradation

The NAUSICAA mule by Giuseppe Zanotti Watch Panthère de Cartier On hair Clarins Nutri-Lumière Day Cream

Makeup Frank B (The Wall Group) Hair Shay Ashual (Art Partner) Model Alexandra Agoston (IMG) Executive producer Carly Louison (Serlin Associates) Digital technician Jeanine Robinson Photo assistant Daniil Zaikin Makeup assistant Natsuka Hirabayashi Hair assistant Taichi Saito

DAWN OF THE NEW DIVAS L.A.’S NEW WAVE OF DARING CREATIVES STEPPING INTO THEIR OWN POWER Photography Damon Baker Fashion Nicola Formichetti

Pants Tommy Hilfiger All jewelry and accessories her own 96

XOWIE JONES VISUAL ARTIST AND TIKTOK STAR

All clothing and accessories Gucci

MARIEME SOULFUL SINGER AND SONGWRITER

JANTHAVY NORTON VISUAL ARTIST AND SKATEBOARDER

Dress Celine by Hedi Slimane

Corset bodysuit Burberry Jewelry Bulgari Boots stylist’s own

GABBRIETTE MUSICIAN AND PHOTOGRAPHER

Gabbriette wears dress Fendi Jewelry Bulgari Hairbow stylist’s own

Jacket Etro

JILLIAN MERCADO ACTRESS AND MODEL

Jillian wears dress GUESS Shoes Fendi

Makeup Selena Ruiz Hair Patricia Morales (The Visionaries) Executive Producer Sacha Di Bona (Savvie) Production Manager Anderson (Savvie) On-Set Producer Hunter Bernardi Digital technician Antoine Gonzalez Stylist assistants Marta Del Rio, Hunter Clem Location Concrete Studios

Marieme wears jacket Chanel All jewelry and accessories her own

INDYA THE ADVOCATE, POSE ACTRESS, AND TOMMY HILFIGER CAMPAIGN STAR ON THE IMPORTANCE OF RAISING YOUR VOICE

Photography Adrienne Raquel Fashion Anna Trevelyan Interview Adrienne Maree Brown Text Czar Van Gaal

Indya wears jacket, pants, shoes, belt, briefs, socks Tommy Hilfiger Jewelry stylist’s own 104

UNLEASHED!

Scarf Tommy Hilfiger Earrings stylist’s own

Jacket, pants, belt, shoes, socks Tommy Hilfiger Jewelry stylist’s own

Jacket, pants, belt, briefs Tommy Hilfiger Jewelry stylist’s own

On their increasingly bright pathway to global stardom, actress, model, and activist Indya Moore joins forces with Tommy Hilfiger for the latest installment of the brand’s Moving Forward Together campaign, designed to help create a more diverse and inclusive fashion future. Joining renowned author Adrienne Maree Brown for a powerful conversation about identity, Moore’s unapologetic sense of self proves they’re not just a pretty face fronting a campaign, but in fact the perfect embodiment of its trailblazing nature. In true form, the Pose actress gets personal detailing the importance of trans visibility, their life’s mission, and the key to authenticity. CZAR VAN GAAL Adrienne Maree Brown: So, Indya. First of all, how are you today, twenty-six years into your life and eleven months into the pandemic?

Indya Moore: Damn. I’m so many things. I mean...I made it, you know? I am really happy to have made it. I’m surprised every day that I’ve made it. I’m really grateful to be alive and to be here. I feel like I’m just on a really interesting timeline right now. I feel like we all have been, for a while. So I’m just navigating emotions as much as I can, and just trying to stay healthy through all these motions and movements. Through this time right now. I don’t know if that makes sense...what a big question.

AMB: It is a big question, and all my questions are going to be big, so you just have to get used to it (laughs).

IM: I love it!

AMB: So, the moment that I met you, as an actress, I was also immediately aware of you as a force for change. I’m curious, do you remember when you began to feel yourself to be an activist? Or do you feel like you made a choice to live as a person shaping the future?

IM: I did. I definitely made it a choice. It definitely was a choice, and I love that you asked that question, because I feel like so much of people’s grounding is rooted in the purpose we feel we have. In this world, a lot of us feel stateless and purposeless, and I think we all come into this world knowing there’s something to be done. And identifying how we connect to whatever it is that needs to be done is a life journey for a lot of us. But I find that in the realm of purpose, it’s a question that comes to all of us and I know it comes to all of us for a reason. I understand purpose as something you create for yourself. Intuitively, however, it feels wrong, whatever you feel that you can impact.

AMB: And what drew you? What was the spark for you?

IM: I think just my experience in the world. It was very easy for me to say, I don’t want people to go through this. I don’t want the cycle to continue, I want to move forward. I think every queer person goes through a time in their life where they’re at a crossroads of understanding queerness through a ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ kind of binary. It’s like “alright, is who I am wrong, or not? What is this? Because I’m getting so many messages.” It’s all very confusing. I know how I feel, but the world seems to continue to create messages that it’s wrong for me to exist in the way that I do and feel the way that I do. I think when I came to my crossroads, I realized how stupid it was that we live in a world that just so heavily criminalizes queerness. For me, in my experience, it was spiritual. I was raised very Christian, my mom was a Jehovah’s Witness and my dad inherited Catholicism.

AMB: And now they come hang out with you in your lingerie.

IM: It was just really interesting to see myself process my own principles around myself and my own ethical grounding around myself, and realizing how stupid it is that spiritual bias exists. That’s how it came to me. It was just like, wow, how can we simultaneously create these teachings about God being such a loving person, but there seems to be character traits of who is spiritually eligible to access God. So I realized how stupid that was, and I just knew that God would not be pleased or happy with the ways that I suffered because of what people thought they were doing in the name of God, or whatever excuse peoples used to create false harm and misery. But every way that I felt that was outside of the gendered expectations of my parents was vilified. I was disciplined frequently, abused a lot because of it. So I just came to a point where I realized, there’s something really wrong here, and I want to investigate what that is. What is the language that I can form around this issue that makes it easier to understand why it’s important for us to change this culture?

AMB: So it was both activism and divinity playing out?

IM: Yeah. Much of that is intersected for me. Because as a child I was taught to expect doom. Taught to expect my own demise at a very early age. Just coming into life, I was expecting death, just because of the feelings that I had.

AMB: And you had them from the beginning?

IM: Yeah. Growing into myself was really fast. But there were so many different things that I felt growing up. But there was so much concentration on who I couldn’t be, who I was not able to be.

AMB: Right. I mean, it’s so beautiful, what you’re saying. And it’s like, how could your own imagination of yourself be more expansive than God, or the idea of God? You’re someone who’s like, is this a container? Is this a limitation? I will break that, I will burst that, and go further and further. And I feel like it makes so much sense to me that you ended up as one of the first cast members of Pose, given that it was a show that was like, we’re going to burst open this industry.

When you were invited to be on Pose, did you see it as an indication of a change that had already been happening in terms of how trans and queer people were viewed in the industry, or did you join it thinking this is going to be that catalyst that changes everything?

IM: Both. I think change is just progress, and progress isn’t necessarily the end. And it’s not necessarily an extended beginning either. I think it was both, definitely both. I came into Pose already impassioned about the way change was possible, but I think the communities that I had access to—nobody can grow in a room by themselves, and so much of that was my experience. Growing up, I was frequently isolated. Being raised Jehovah’s Witness, they’re very strict, so I didn’t have any friends or get to practice social skills with other people. So finding a

community in foster care was very complicated. Foster care is very much...it was just very hard. I was traumatized, and they didn’t know how to navigate that in foster care. They medicated me because I was traumatized from abuse and PTSD. They misdiagnosed me, as happens to a lot of kids in foster care and in group home spaces. It was just like living in trauma soup all the time. Having to experience the manifestations of trauma in other people in my community. And that was often really violent and harmful, as well. So it was just a lot. It’s very hard to find community and build and grow in a direction that I was really happy with.

Just not having influences or directions for a long time made it very hard, but my spirit wanted change nevertheless.

I was just having a conversation about how I chose peace and joy for myself at a very early point in my life. When I was twelve years old, I remember constantly choosing that I could claim peace and joy for myself. It was corny for a lot of kids in school, the thought of peace and joy. But you know, for me, I was just like: why can’t I claim that for myself? Why isn’t peace something that I can say that I want for myself and other people? So I feel like that was the beginning of my interest in being a part of change. So Pose was a really beautiful conduit for that.

AMB: Do you feel like it was a healing experience, Pose? Like, it sounds like so much of that—choosing peace and joy as a twelve-year-old is also in some ways planting the seeds of your own healing arc. Like, ‘I see how hard my life has been so far and I will have peace and joy in my lifetime,’ which is so revolutionary. I think that’s what a revolution is to me, is reclaiming from oppression our joy. Reclaiming from oppression our peace. And then, each of the steps you’ve taken, it imbues it in a different light because it’s like, ‘this is a choice I’m making intentionally as someone who’s moving towards peace and joy.’ So do you feel like Pose, the fashion industry, these different things, do you feel like they have met you in that peace and joy?

IM: No. I feel like I’ve had to find my own peace and joy, and navigate it. It’s hard to find peace and joy in an industry that romanticizes everything.

AMB: (Laughs) You can say that part again.

IM: There’s not much sincerity, [in] the culture. It’s a culture that seems to be like, “let’s continue pretending.” And that’s how it feels for me, and I can’t. Every other day I’m like, oh my god, I can’t.

AMB: Because you want to live very authentically? So part of your peace and joy is rooted in the authentic.

IM: Yeah. But then there’s also so many conflicts in the way that I chose to survive. And just wanting to be an artist, right? Wanting to have a certain thing, but then that thing being gatekept by a whole other culture/monster/beast. It’s just like, ‘Okay, you want to do that, this is who you have to be to do that.’ And I’m like, I don’t want to play that, I don’t want to be that either. It’s so complicated.

AMB: This is what I appreciate about you...you keep making these major moves, these major public growth moves, and then you still say, ‘but I’m going to do it on my own terms. I’m going to be myself inside of this.’ And part of us talking today is that you’re doing this again. On February 1st, Tommy Hilfiger released the “Moving Forward Together” campaign, and you’re one of the faces of it. And it’s a huge thing. It means your face is on billboards all around the world. And yet, you’re Indya Moore. You’re going to be yourself and do it on your own terms in an authentic way. Why were you drawn to partner with Tommy Hilfiger?

IM: I feel like I’m a very autonomous person and I need to have the ability to discern for myself if I’m going to create change. If I’m going to lead in my own vision, I feel like my contributions are made out of what I discover from me practicing my autonomy. To involve myself and take risks and be a part of whatever I choose to, and the lessons that I take from that, that’s what I learn.

The decisions that I make, when I make them, even if there’s stigma attached to a decision that I make for myself, I feel like I’m not going to be able to create change or investigate what change is necessary if I don’t step in.

AMB: So you were saying, you feel like you’re able to hold the autonomy inside these decisions?

IM: I feel like, yeah, I’m able to hold the autonomy inside decisions that I make, whether it’s love or it’s work. And I think when I step into a space, I feel particularly in fashion or film or tv, I feel like the environment is going to have to shape itself according to my principles, and that’s the only way I can guarantee that it’s a safe project for me. From the circumstances [of the] project, to the people that I involve in it with me. As long as I have power in a space that I know is a part of a corrupted system, I feel safe. Tommy’s interest in working with me was really beautiful and wonderful for me. I really appreciate it. I always appreciate it when brands see me, see what I’m about, and I don’t ever try to hide my socio-political boundaries or standards, because they’re very important [in creating] greater safety for people like me. When I see them reaching out to me I’m always very flattered. So I made sure that my involvement in Tommy was as inclusive as possible, in every way that it could be. I made sure that the team was right, also making sure they’re hiring our folks behind [the scenes] and in front. I made sure that this is a project that is a continuum of something they’re actually working on, not just a moment.

AMB: Right, because they’re doing the whole, ‘welcome all’ and ‘waste nothing’, and it seems like there’s all these campaigns inside the campaign.

IM: Yeah, and I think this is great. These are the things that we’ve complained about and made grievances around, so it’s good to see campaigns around it—it’s good to see change happening. I also think it’s important to acknowledge that change is happening around things that we’ve written grievances about. [This partnership] is really beautiful, and it’s even more so, to see them trust me, my direction, and my own investigations [into] what they’re doing. Like is this also something that they’re working on internally in corporate? Are there corporate buildings where black and brown people are there too? Are we body-inclusive in the way that we’re hiring in the offices as well? So, all these things were important to me.

Head to Vmagazine.com to read the extended interview.

Jacket, pants, belt Tommy Hilfiger Jewelry stylist’s own

Makeup Renee Garnes (Exclusive Artists) using Path McGrath Labs Hair Hos Hounkpatin (The Wall Group) Manicure Naomi Yasuda (Management + Artists) Set design Mat Cullen (Lalaland Artists) Producer Bill Galusha Production Manager Charles Caesar Digital technician Jennifer Czyborra Photo assistants Roxanne Hartridge, Julius Frazer Stylist assistants Kristtian Chevere, Timothy Luke Garcia Production assistant Alexis Ruiseco Location Pier59

Coat and bracelets, worn as necklace Tommy Hilfiger Earrings stylist’s own

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