I’m back to shooting around Los Angeles and wanted to show you the times when it’s far from glamorous! I tend to post a lot of higher end shops, but it’s streetwear, indie and thrifted styles that really pull me in. I’ll be posting a range of Substack and Instagram shopping stories, mixing archival and current over the next couple months and will start folding in the new street fashion faces in June. I’ve found some fun people!
Behind the Scenes
I spotted this skater guy with a cool Supreme bandana print this weekend. I had to go in for the shot at the same time I asked permission, so it was up close and personal. If you formalize everything too much, they usually become too self aware and either get stiff or pose. (I’ll show you an example in a future Telfar story).
NYC vs LA
It was obviously so easy to shoot in NYC.
From the archives, I spotted models Joan Smalls, Candice Swanepoel and Ruby Aldridge, still sporting their exaggerated eye makeup as they exited a Prabal Gurung fashion show when I was new to this, a decade ago. Shooting during New York Fashion Week back then was an embarrassment of riches.
However, shooting in LA is much more challenging, logistically.
I had planned to start shooting again a few years ago, which takes a lot of hunting in high traffic areas, which sounds easier in writing than it is in reality. It was 2020 when I was literally dusting off my Canon 7D and charging batteries. Then the pandemic hit.
This sign on Blue Bottle spelled it all out. The world was shutting down.
This woman in orange, below, shuffled past me as I read the sign, shaken. We were the only two humans on this street.
I just had to study her as she waited for a green light. Normally, I wouldn’t have turned my head, but it was literally the first time I had seen a woman in a matching sweatsuit, in real life, for decades. Then, it became a pandemic trend (evidenced below), that soon bled into high end.
The new normal here soon became sweatsuits and fanny packs. (I don’t think I carried a purse for a couple years and was an early adopter to a variety of waist bags). Erewhon, a high end fan favorite here, had grocery lines outside that sometimes took up to an hour. Then, you had to compete for carts, much like a game show. (Notice the woman’s yellow sweatsuit, in front of me?)
When the pandemic lifted, I wasn’t ready to saunter up to strangers, but just started up again and had forgotten the high.
The point is, I’m back to shooting and stylespotting in the shops and on the streets. I’ll be folding in more street fashion in June and am excited about the people I just found and look forward to [over]sharing.
Want to see Van Cleef & Arpels on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills? It was adorned with 3D flowers over Easter weekend.
I’ll also be publishing more pop culture, social media and entertainment stories to balance the scales. ;)
JH
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