2.16.22

Hey,

Some of you have been with me for a while and some of you are brand new. This right here, is brand new. For those of you who are not brand new, you might be familiar with my long-winded Instagram posts where I pose existentialist threads of why my brain does what it does to do what I do but instead of me doing that there, Im doing this here. Caught up?

Recently I directed and styled a shoot with a good friend of mine and talented photographer, @TyreThwaites. We got together with a crew at his space, Blanc Studios, and set out to create a shoot that encompassed where my stylistic brain is at in the moment. The shoot had three looks and throughout the flow of that style story you’re able to see my vision of transitional fashion going from Winter into Spring. 

With that idea in mind I took it back to my roots, referencing one of the first shoots I styled and directed called, “With Love”, drawing from the stylistic aesthetic which happened to be contemporary men’s streetwear. 

Contemporary streetwear has been a style that has resonated with me for awhile but I didn’t quite have the words for it. I’m a dance kid who since 5 years old has done, ballet, contemporary, jazz and hip-hop as well as an artist, music and fashion kid who grew up around boys 7+ years my senior. Essentially for me, that means I was equipped with the technique, grace and precision of a ballerina mixed with the fluidity, flare and masculine tendencies that hip-hop as well as my older cousins instilled into me. Inspired by my roots, I set out to direct another set of shoots that correlated with these very artistic tendencies.

With this shoot in particular I wanted to focus on the style and let the looks speak for themselves while paying homage to the very things that got me to where I am today. By using excessive layering, pattern and style clashing,  you’re able to see the numerous paradoxes that reside within these images. Primarily, I wanted to focus on the presence of masculinity and femininity as well as the representation of streetwear and upper echelons as my main parallels. 

Here today, you are able to see how I transmuted and elevated all of these ideas and personal resonances into womenswear while utilizing some of my favorite brands in both men’s and women’s clothing;  Aime Leon Dore, A.P.C and COS.

- Karlita