The series “Young LA” captures a certain something about the youth in LA – this time with Beaine Boylston, Ruby Murnik, Tyger and Chessa. In the interview they talk about nowadays fashion and style.
Interview and Photography and Film by Keitaro Cloward
Make up done by Joyce Platon
Film: Music by Ian Hagen
What does style mean to you?
Chessa: Being who you are, showing the world who you are , showcasing who you are.
Beanie: Especially living in LA, style is a huge part of our lives. Just by looking at someone you can get a feel for what type of person they are, what they are into, just by what they are wearing.
Chessa: Yes, this city is so based on your cover, you want to make sure that it’s read right.
Ruby: Same, style to me is all about self expression, the way you want people to perceive you in the world. When I dress, I dress in something that will make me feel comfortable and confident. So if I leave the house and if something isn’t right and I don’t feel good in the clothes that I’m wearing, my day is ruined. Because I don’t feel comfortable, so personally it’s more it’s more how I feel, then how I am perceived.
Tyger: I personally believe , style is definitely a reflection of self, I think a lot of ppl try strive not to be bland or boring, so they depend on style for that.
Beanie: I went to schools that used uniforms for so long, before, that style was a way to show my creativity and personality outside of school.
What role do you think it plays in culture or the environment you’re in?
Ruby: The way people perceive or rank each other in their brains, based on social status or attractiveness. Clothes have a lot to do with how other people rank you , because a lot of time you dress for other people, in order to impress other people. Which is fine, definitely, because people want to be liked. But, that also just feeds into the whole judgmental society we have. It’s fine, because it expected if you are doing anything different or expressing yourself in anyway, of course, people are going to react to it. So they go hand in hand and I don’t think any one is worse than the other.
Tyger: A lot of ppl that I know, generally revolve around the same style , they draw inspiration from each other and social media so it turns out to be a mesh of a similar style.
Ruby: I have different friend circles, because, I’m socially blessed in that way, haha (everyone else laughes along). Honestly, I have friends who are more artistically focused. But I’d hope that by the way I’m dressed they are gonna hype me up about it, you know what I mean? I hope, I pull up to somewhere and they are like “You look so good!” , no? But yeah, I think it’s really fun, you go out with your friends you get dressed, you get ready, and you hype each other up. Like, “You should wear that with this” , “Yeah that’s sick and you’re gonna look so good!”, “Everybody is gonna think you’re sooo cool!”. That’s really fun, fashion to me is such a personal endeavor that I try not to think about how other people will react to it, but just how I feel at the time. Also since I’m an artist, it has a lot to do with self expression and color coding. Creating a composition through clothing, shape and silhouettes is really fun for me.
Think of the first time you can remember style/fashion playing a part in your life?
Chessa: When I was really young I used watch old classics over and over , “Gentlemen prefer Blonds” , “Pillow Talk (With Doris Day)”. Everyone was so put together, I loved how everyone wore suits and dresses. In elementary and middle school I use to dress in vintage gloves and hats, and because of that, ever since then I wasn’t scared of wearing whatever I wanted to wear.
Beanie: When I was really young, I visited Texas. I brought back cowboy boots. Since you don’t see cowboys boots so often here, I would have people commenting and coming up to me to talk about them. It was just such a conversation starter and I really liked that attention and how it opened up the world for me.
Ruby: My name has a lot to do with my style, because my name is Ruby. Since I was born, people were like “Ruby Red” , “You like Red”. Because of that relation to my name, my parent would also always buy me red stuff, and pink, my room was definitely red color schemed. So I really fell in love with it and adapted that color as part of my identity. I try to wear something that’s red everyday. It just ends up happening, because I love that color. I really like my name also, I have my name tattooed on me, which is kinda silly, haha.
Tyger: I grew up in a punkish scene, everyone looked a little nonchalant and like they didn’t care, but it looked really cool, like baggy pants, sneakers, climbers, it was cool to see everyone being comfortable with whatever they put on and executing the style they did.
“I think style like history will repeat itself. But at the same time it will be different because we are mixing the old with the new.” Chessa
Where do think fashion is heading?
Chessa: I think, style and fashion is moving backward in time as you know people are always pulling references from the 90’s and 2000’s. If we are staring there now I think style like history will repeat itself. But at the same time it will be different because we are mixing the old with the new.
Beanie: I agree, I think we are seeing a lot decade fashion coming back esp 90s fashion. I’m interested to see, if peoples interest in vintage fashion grows. I see a lot of people wearing vintage here in LA, I wonder if its going to become a norm everywhere.
Ruby: I haven’t been alive that long, but my mom is always saying “Fashion repeats itself” when I was in middle school everybody was super down for the 90’s grunge, everybody wanted to wear Nirvana shirts, really large flannels, ripped jeans that were baggy and plastic chokers around their necks. And now it’s 90’s in a way that has to do with hard wear, verging on 90’s to early 2000’s. So I wonder, if in 5 years or so we are gonna start channeling the 2010’s. That was just a really weird era for fashion, a really bizarre time for the whole world, I think that would be really interesting if that happened with fashion.
Chessa: It probably has something also to do with whether you go to the thrift store, or steal something out of your mom’s closest, chances are that it gonna be from one of those eras.
Ruby: True.
Tyger: I personally don’t keep up with fashion. I personally just observe what’s going on in my immediate area. I have friends from all groups of fashion so its pretty abstract and I honestly don’t know where fashion is heading.
“I want other people to be able to explore their individuality a little more, feel comfortable enough with themselves to dress the way they want.” Ruby
What would you change about how society sees or interacts fashion if you could?
Chessa: I would change how money based the fashion industry is. Because a lot of talented people don’t get the chance just because of lack of financial resources.
Ruby: Elitism in fashion, I would want to change. When I walk down the street , I’m use to people being a little put off by me, the way I look, the way I dress. I want other people to be able to explore their individuality a little more, feel comfortable enough with themselves to dress the way they want. When I was I in middle school , I was like, “OMG I need to shave my legs, underarms , wear skinny jeans and crop tops”, but that was super not me. And now I feel comfortable in a creative sense to express myself the way I want. So I guess, I want everyone to feel more confident and wear whatever they want, and if they want to wear Forever21 and stuff that’s cool too. Because on the other side of the spectrum, there are all the people that go to art school or like alternative fashion that look down on people who dress in Forever21 or Brandy Melville and that’s a different sort of elitism, where they are like “ they are all sheep and have no sense of style”. But person style is all totally different and shouldn’t have to fit into any boxes and boundaries and I wish people would just except individually and difference across the entire fashion society of the world.
Styled by: Chessa – @chesssssssa
MUA: Joyce Platon – @joyceplatonmua
Models:
Beaine Boylston – @beanieboylston
Ruby Murnik – @guccivirgin
Tyger – @tygerleyva
Chessa – @chesssssssa
Film:
Music by:
Ian Hagen – @hagendaaz
Photographer: Keitaro Cloward – @keitarocloward
