23 NYC Creatives Break Down Their Style for PAPER
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23 NYC Creatives Break Down Their Style for PAPER

Story by Jael Goldfine / Photography by Nicholas Needham

Fashion week is as good a time as any to ask: how do we create and define personal style? Is there even such thing, when every image is prismatically shared across the internet, subcultures are gobbled up by the mainstream at a carnivorous pace, we rely on whistleblowers like @dietprada to call out constant copycatting, and it feels like everything's been done before?

We'll be honest: we're fashion optimists. This year's NYFW has already seen a number of powerful and original statements. But beyond the fashion industry, everyday folks architect magnificent styles of their own, using their simply imagination and resourcefulness.

Related | Pyer Moss Put On the Biggest, Most Powerful Show at NYFW

To celebrate this fashion week, we asked 23 creatives who live here in New York City to explain their style to us, all of whom Nicholas Needham captured at Pier 59 Studios. To avoid the typical, long hyphenated chains that follow "how would you define your style," participants had the choice of using a Lana Del Rey lyric, a Zodiac sign, a period of Lady Gaga's career, a movie and a drink to decipher their looks.

Nicholas Needham (@nicholasjneedham) and Corey Grant Tippin (@coreygranttippin)

Nicholas Needham (Left)

Song: "If It Makes You Feel Good" by Donna Summer

Zodiac Sign: Taurus

Movie: Orlando (1992) by Sally Potter

@nicholasjneedham

Corey Grant Tippin (Right)

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Movie: Toby Dammit, Directed by Federico Fellini and Starring Terence Stamp

All about a sensitive decadent falling into a cypher of exquisitely painted beauties.

Song: "Mixed-Up, Shook-Up Girl" by Patty and the Emblems

The title fits, plus it was a favorite song of my mother's. Style is whatever I find in my closet that day which has been referred to as "that of an adolescent."

@coreygranttippin

Photography: Nicholas Needham

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