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Entries tagged with 'Stefan Campbell Presents'
Posted Jul. 7, 2008,
Stefan Campbell Presents: A Cartoon Cutie in Crayola Colors
By Stefan Campbell
This is a Technicolor dreamgirl whom I recently spotted on Greenwich Street, while hanging out at hair guru Ben Skervin’s annual Gay Pride Day (formerly known as Gay Freedom Day in the ‘80s) blow-out extravaganza. She was like a walking MTV graphic that hit my eyes like a meteorite. Yes, I loved her love of all things rainbow and bright, but it was her neon naughty and nasty nympho paraphernalia that sparked my imagination. Her wicked whip she carried was whimsically wild and wonderfully wacky. She was so on point with her look (check out this shot from John Galliano’s Paris S/S 2009 men’s show from style.com) that I insisted that she crash Ben’s Gay Day fest (note the cocktail in her hand).
Her inspired multi-colored three-haircuts-on-one-head look (she had the perfect rat tail); the gold dokey boner chain around her neck; the bubblegum-pink high top Converse sneakers (they almost felt like go-go boots on her); her cosmo-pink eye shields (sooo St. Mark’s Place) and pink Day-Glo fingertips (sooo Debbie Gibson) were all pure ‘80s magic, the opposite of all the drag queen Dynasty looks that were unleashed on that same Sunday. With all that pink, there wasn’t a triangle to be seen (times have changed), though she did have a rainbow button pinned on, of course. She, in all her glamorous glory, had a posse of at least 20 other brown beauties decked out ‘80s techno-style in tow. You go, candy girls! They almost made you forget how devastating the ‘80s actually were for gays in the wake of the AIDS crisis (RIP Rommel Wilson and David Seidner… fashion misses you).
Posted Jun. 2, 2008,
Stefan Campbell Presents: Chadd, From Normal to New York
By Stefan Campbell
There are more photos in this gallery. View them all.
This is Chadd Curry, a hauntingly boyish man, conceptual dresser and artistic mind. He’s also the unofficial gatekeeper of the women’s designer section of Jeffrey’s on 14th Street. Chadd arrived to New York City from, of all places, Normal, Illinois. I spotted him on May 18th at 2:31 p.m. while avoiding Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus at the Meatpacking District boutique. While Miley's people were trying to get her attention with "Miiilleeyyy, look at this" and "Milleeeyy, did you see that," it was Chad who was the true star at that moment in his Mr.-Peabody-slash-LeStat-Victorian-chic look, getting attention for his originality and passion for promoting difference. “We live in New York. We are all artists,” he believes. Some days while taking the subway to work from DUMBO, were he resides in a warehouse, his Edward-Scissorhands-meets-Elizabethan makeup and costume (which is basically New Wave meets New Romantic highlighted with a strong pinch of Goth) cause many a mind to wonder and fearless kids to taunt him by laughing and pointing, “Look it’s Casper!” But Chadd ghoulishly plays along, uttering back, “but I’m not a friendly ghost!!”
Posted Mar. 27, 2008,
Stefan Campbell Presents: The Details-Oriented Dad
By Stefan Campbell
This is Franco Bastoni, a 22-year-old father of a 16-month-old baby boy. Franco is neither a rock star nor a fashion editor, but a factory production assistant for a leather goods company in the small town of San Mauro Pascoli outside of Bologna (one of my absolute favorite cities in Italy). I spotted him in Milan last month during Fashion Week wearing a look that was so head-to-toe that I wondered: “Where did he find the time?! And where did he find the FASHION?!”
He had on a giant fur hat that towered and puffed like an ‘80s-era hair-rocker’s wig (think Poison or Van Halen-style fabulousness) which he ordered online from estore.com; a snug Dsquared skunken navy peacoat (note the red threads holding the brown buttons and how they match the red cord on the hat) over a grey, sculpted pinstriped blazer (the hem perfectly peaking from the bottom of the peacoat), a precise, fitted black cardigan over a white starch shirt and with a black tie. And that’s just the top half. Below the waist, he found a pair of Dsquared shiny grey bondage trousers ( how could he make them seem so un-punk?) and even shinier Converse sneakers covered in iridescent sequins ( how did he make them seem so un-vulgar?). All this and I still have not mentioned the gargantuan brown sunglasses from Tom Ford (so Jane Fonda ) and the enormous alligator overnight-bag-as-day-bag from Emporio Armani (Giorgio, take note, this boy made it work!!). He looked like one of those genius mannequins from Fred Segal in Los Angeles that Brett Brooks creates. However, Franco has never left Italy to have seen them.
Posted Mar. 24, 2008,
Stefan Campbell Presents: Sean Fitzergerald, the Anti-Abercrombie Kid
By Stefan Campbell
This is Sean Fitzgerald, a 20-year-old, lanky, Jodie Foster-circa-Freaky-Friday of a boy, and a drama major at NYU and Lee Strasberg from Ohio. I spotted him at ODIN on Lafayette Street last June one afternoon around 1:20 p.m. before having lunch with Aussie photographer and director James Huston (look for James’ documentary on sex in America). What caught my attention about Sean were many things… from his “Southern punk trash look meets deliverance chic”; to his classic black Wayfarers and Clockwork Orange-style bowler hat; to his perfectly scruffed up, square-toe vintage dusty boots and ratty bobbed hair. But what blew my mind was Sean’s skinniness that made him seem as if he attended the Rachel Zoe School of Dieting. He was so thin his skinny jeans were too baggy... and all his gestures while browsing through the racks of the hipster-wear looked like couture poses. “I have all brothers, and we are all this way," he said of his Vivien Leigh meets manorexic waistline.
Posted Feb. 27, 2008,
Stefan Campbell Presents: Lakis Gavalas, a Man of Distinction
By Stefan Campbell
This is Lakis Gavalas, a majestic 56-ish “guru of fashion” from Greece. Every so often you witness someone who happens to be so comfortable with him or herself in a way that you can’t help but be intrigued by -- in a “I can’t believe you exist” kind of way. Lakis was one of those people for me. With the grace of a seasoned Martha Graham-trained dancer and the self assurance of a male Diana Vreeland, it looks as if perfume fragrant air magically follows him around and lavender rose petals fall to his feet with every gentle precise footstep. But as unapproachable as he appeared, Lakis is one of the most endearing “charmsters” I ever met. His charm and style will someday make a great how-to guide.
I spotted Lakis while having lunch with designer Edmundo Castillo at The Four Seasons Hotel on Via Gesu during Milan Fashion Week, Feb. 19th at 12:44 p.m. With my back to the entrance and facing the exquisite garden, it was Edmundo who advised me to turn around and look at what was coming through the door (only as a fashion person would suggest). My first thought was, “who is she?!” This guy was carrying an enormous Hermes Birkin bag in alligator (or what is the Hermes Kelly Lakis), which must have cost about $50,000. I was pleasantly amused.
Posted Feb. 18, 2008,
Stefan Campbell Presents: Lyndell Mansfield, the Pink Lady-Girl
By Stefan Campbell
This is Lyndell Mansfield, a high voltage tornado of an "It" girl from London via Austraila who you can imagine holding court at Boombox on a typical Sunday night. But when I say "holding court," I mean "ruling the joint," stimulating fun and outrageousness through telekinesis or some sort of Jedi mind trickery. She's the kind of good time girl that makes you smile the moment you see her but at the same time makes you wish you had put a little more effort into your own look. When I first met Lyndell a while back, she was wearing a 1920s sheer beaded flapper slip dress, worn and torn, black, high-heeled mary-janes with Pepto-Bismol pink opaque tights and explosive pink hair, which instantly brought to mind "Beauty School Drop-Out."
She looked like something that could have stumbled out of Baz Luhrmann's attic. And she just happens to be one of the most soughtafter hair geniuses in the fashion business.
Posted Feb. 4, 2008,
Stefan Campbell Presents: Eric and Becca on Their First Date
By Stefan Campbell
This is Eric, a guitarist and music major at Hunter College, with Becca, who works for an advertising company in Chelsea. They are both 22-year-old, born and raised New Yorkers on their official first date, complete with hair twirls and the classic “yes, I’m listening to your every word” forward-leans. It was very Marcia Brady and The High School Jock. I spotted them on January 24 at 7:25 p.m. at Le Pain Quotien on 17th and Seventh Ave. while I was editing the portfolio of photographer Enrico Dungca. Eric, whose personal musical style is “electro-folk,” and Becca met in 9th grade when he was dating her then (and still) best friend, however she always thought he was “cute,” she confessed. They were together for hours having coffee talk (I wonder how long they texted and IM-ed before deciding to meeting up face to face) then next off to see Juno. ( Most of us know how Juno’s first date turned out with her high school crush.)
Posted Jan. 29, 2008,
Stefan Campbell Presents: Avry, the '80s Revivalist
By Stefan Campbell
This is Avry, a 14-year-old student and the self proclaimed leader of his 1980 revivalist clique at his middle school. I spotted him on the platform of the L train last Wednesday at 3:28 p.m. on my way to meet photographer/agent Peter Pugliese at Norwood on West 14th. When I first realized that it was a young boy strutting toward me in shocking, neon bubblegum pink, skinny jeans, I thought “Finally!” Ever since young boys and grown men started wearing T-shirts the length of dresses and jeans that sagged like diapers two sizes to big with giant boots, I was wondering when the style change would come. I understand the oversized look acts as fabric body armor which disenfranchised kids wear to hide and protect themselves from their vicious urban jungles. Their layering of coat over jacket over sweatshirt over T-shirt over tank top over jeans over sweatpants over basketball shorts over boxers over briefs allows them to hide many things, especially themselves. But with airport security the way it is today, who needs the bother. A few seasons back I tried having this conversation with some editors at The New York Times Magazine (I worship T magazine) but all they could see were messy kids in oversized rags. Then, Marc Jacobs came out his famous extreme post-grunge luxe collection -- dress over skirt over pants over oversized boots all under gigantic oversized caps in drab yet rich colors in February 2006 right after survivors of Katrina in late August 2005 were piling all they could on their backs.
Posted Jan. 24, 2008,
Stefan Campbell Presents: Wellington
By Stefan Campbell
This is Wellington Adames, a 20-year-old stockboy at H&M on 34th Street and Seventh Avenue. I first spotted him in late July boarding the F train at West 4th Street one rainy Sunday afternoon. He was on his way to a friend’s art opening on the Lower East Side I later found out. Wellington has a skin tone that you really only see in Manhattan -- I call it “International Brown.” Sometimes it comes in “Global Yellow,” especially in the Bronx. Wellington was rocking an Uptown Boookworm look with heavy-framed Gucci specs, though he lives in Queens. At first I thought he was maybe a shy 15-year-old kid from India, or perhaps Egypt, until he told me he was a “special blend” of Dominican and Puerto Rican. A true café con leche with olive green eyes and a mane of hair tied back in a fashionable messy ponytail look -- very Keira Knightly at the Oscars sans Rico Sueva but edged in traditional jailhouse gangsta style. Nevertheess, he was tall, slim and appeared humbly innocent (a quality I appreciate in overly attractive people). We both got out on the Second Avenue stop at Houston and I asked him if he was a model ( it’s part of my job, people). Anyway, he responded “No… not at all.” So, I had him over for a casting later in the week with his GIRL (that’s what he called her, the same way he calls his male friends his BOYS… you get the picture). After some coaching, I sent him over to meet the people at Ford Models. They responded well, however his friends at work, aka competitive model wannabe haters, told him that “Ford was a racist agency” so he stopped trying, because he thought the agency was “shady." Bethann Hardison and your “OUT OF FASHION” mission please take note….
Recently, Wellington shaved off his bouffant lion’s mane for a clean cut baller look. I asked him how he felt with his fresh look and he replied, ”Like new pussy.” Well, there goes the innocence.
Posted Jan. 21, 2008,
Stefan Campbell Presents: Superpunks in Hair Hats
By Stefan Campbell
This is a 12-year-old Baby Huey of a boy whom I spotted on my street in the far East Village. In my neighborhood, hip-hop glammed-out ghetto-boy style still reigns supreme in his age group. However, this pre-teen, as tall as a 17-year-old, was begging to be noticed in his gothic-skater-thrash-punk-meets-hip-hop-warrior get-up. And notice him I did! I loved his confidence and originality because I remember a time when guys his age and size would do anything not to be seen or seek attention from the outside world (all you former husky boys know exactly what I’m talking about). But this face-pierced Latin kid, sporting his techno superhero bi-colored Mohawk mullet, took great pleasure in telling me, “this is not my hair -- it’s a hat I made myself.” And yes, he did lift up the sides to show me his own thick, dark matted hair. Well, if he needs to find comfort in wearing a wig by calling it a hat, then so be it. Regardless, I loved it. Just as much as I love the expression I imagined on his mother’s face when he steps out of the front door of their apartment to strut around the hood with such style heroism.
Posted Jan. 16, 2008,
Stefan Campbell Presents: Lindsey Bloom
By Alexis Swerdloff
Welcome to the first installment of STEFAN CAMPBELL PRESENTS wherein PAPER’s go-to fashion stylist Mr. Campbell will regale us with the various people, buildings, artworks, objets that catch his fancy and ultimately inspire him to do great things! Campbell’s first shoot for us was an East Village punk-abilly spread many a year ago, and since then, he’s been styling for us up the wazoo. “He’s been here so long that he’s really part of the family,” Mr. Mickey mused when asked his thoughts on Campbell. Without further ado, here is blog numero uno.
This is Lindsey Bloom, an artist/sculptor/seamstress/Texan, who is new to New York City by one week, after having traveled abroad for some time. I spotted her yesterday at 12:40 p.m. on the L train on my way -- already late -- to meet Michael Hirschorn of VH1 for lunch at the legendary diner Café Edison in Times Square. I liked her Biker Babe Nerdy Girl look with her Rosemary’s Baby cropped hair-cut and mom-colored almost skinny jeans. The geek chic glasses were linked with a beaded eyeglass chain, perfect for any great grand-mama. Please note the mace spray as fashion accessory/protective device. I love bad girl nerds! I missed my stop at Union Square because I was chatting with her: “Fashion is a passion of mine,” she told me.