Beautiful People 2009: Bad Brilliance

"It's like becoming a tranny -- but instead of having a gender change, I'm establishing myself as a brand," says 27-year-old Andrew Strasser of his alter ego, Bad Brilliance, a conceptualized identity that shows up at downtown parties and uptown silver-tray soirees alike. Fans turned friends include Andrew W.K. and Sophia Lamar, who, "would drag me out to some event at the Guggenheim, and you'd see these PR girls talking and then two security dudes would flank me on either side, like, 'You have to go,'" laughs Strasser.

Strasser came up with the idea while working the late shift at PatrickMcMullan.com, where his job included identifying socialites and celebrities for the photo captions. "You recognize this person when you look at their face, and I was like, I can circumvent that by creating a character who has a name as its face. That alone was the energy of the project. It's a recognizable character by definition." Sans the balloon, Strasser is a photographer and artist -- he's done album covers for good friends Greg Gillis (Girl Talk) and White Williams, and the logo and flyers for Andrew W.K.'s club, Santos Party House. It's work he calls the hamburger and fries of his business, while "Bad Brilliance is like when you order one of those apple pies."
WHITNEY SPANER

Bad Brilliance wears a suit by Stacy Adams and shoes by Air Jordan.

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