Jon Moritsugu is an American cult-underground filmmaker and musician. His movies are satiric, protopunk deconstructions of popular genres and formats with scabrous and pointedly garish results. The New York Times describes them as "funny, anarchic, provocative and exhilarating". Influenced by the nihilism of Jean-Luc Godard and Guy Debord, Moritsugu's films are often defined by their "lo-fi" aesthetic and were initially shot on 16mm film for a gritty, visceral quality. He states that he often "pay(s) less attention to narrative flow and storyline and put(s) more emphasis on sight, sound and spectacle" to create a movie that is "like a live punk/hardcore show." The works themselves are often absurdist comedies that feature actress, co-writer, stylist, and wife, Amy Davis. Perhaps best known for his cult film Mod Fuck Explosion, Moritsugu's films have been screened at Sundance, Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Rotterdam, Venice, USA Film Festival, New York Underground, Chicago Underground, MoMA, Guggenheim, Whitney and numerous other festivals and museums. In 2001 he received the Moving Image award from Creative Capital.
Diana Eng is a Chinese-American fashion designer, author and fashion technologist based in New York. She is best known as contestant on the second season of the reality television program Project Runway. Eng is a co-founder of an art/electronic group called NYC Resistor, and authored a book called Fashion Geek.
Artstar is an unscripted reality television series set in the New York City art world, considered to be the first in the visual arts. Selected from an open call of over 400 applicants, eight artists participate in a group exhibition at Deitch Projects with the opportunity for a solo exhibition as well. The program documents the selected artists as they interact with leading critics, curators, collectors, and artists in New York, while making new works as part of the collaborative exhibition.
Pauline Trigère was a Franco-American couturière. She was famous in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s. She designed novelties such as the jumpsuit, the sleeveless coat, the reversible cape and the embroidered sheer bodice. She reinvented ready-to-wear fashion, matching form to function with bold prints and architectural silhouettes to create a distinctly modern female aesthetic. Trigère's loyal clients included Grace Kelly, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Kay Wiebrecht, and Evelyn Lauder.
Michael Thomas Holman is a New York-based artist, writer, filmmaker and musician. He is also an early 1980s downtown scene subculturalist and creator of the Hip Hop music program Graffiti Rock. Holman is a founding member, along with Jean-Michel Basquiat, of the experimental band Gray.
Cathy Horyn is an American fashion critic and journalist who worked for The New York Times from 1998 until 2014 where she had the highly noted and provocative blog On The Runway. In 2015, she was appointed critic-at-large for New York Magazine's website The Cut, reviewing the Fall 2015 womenswear shows in New York and Paris. Horyn was only the second New York Times fashion critic, having succeeded Amy Spindler who retired in November 2003. She is a supporter of Belgian designer Raf Simons.
Adelle Lutz is an American artist, designer and actress, most known for work using unconventional materials and strategies to explore clothing as a communicative medium. She first gained attention for the surreal "Urban Camouflage" costumes featured in David Byrne's film True Stories (1986).
Behati Prinsloo is a Namibian model. In 2008, she became a Pink contract model, and moved on to become a Victoria's Secret Angel in 2009. She walked in ten Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows, and opened consecutive Victoria's Secret Fashion shows in 2014 and 2015.
Paper is a New York City-based independent magazine focusing on fashion, popular culture, nightlife, music, art, and film. Initially produced monthly, the magazine eventually became a quarterly publication, and a digital version was made available online at papermag.com.
Eden Wilson, best known as Eden xo, is an American singer, songwriter, actor and dancer. Described by the BBC as a "colourful, ambitious, out-and-out pop princess," she has been compared to Gwen Stefani and early Madonna.
Edita Vilkevičiūtė is a Lithuanian model. Throughout her whole career, she has appeared in 25 Vogue covers. In 2015, she was one of the highest paid models in the world thanks to the frangrace ads for Roberto Cavalli and Viktor & Rolf.
Rosanne Somerson is an American-born woodworker, furniture designer/maker, educator, and former President of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). An artist connected with the early years of the Studio Furniture, her work and career have been influential to the field.
Terminal USA is a 1994 American satirical black comedy film, written and directed by Jon Moritsugu that explores themes of family, drugs, violence, and Asian American stereotypes. It is now considered a cult film. Its run time is 54 minutes and it is estimated to have had a budget of $360,000.
Mod Fuck Explosion is a 1994 low-fi independent film, written and directed by Jon Moritsugu. It is about a young girl named London who is trying to find meaning in the world, or a leather jacket of her very own. Unaccepted by the Mods or the Asian biker gang, she tries to find her own path through life. Meanwhile, the Mods and the bikers have a vendetta against each other that is sure to erupt in a smorgasbord of violence. The film was written by Moritsugu and stars his wife Amy Davis as the angst-ridden London.
Mickey Boardman is an American writer, socialite, philanthropist, and media personality. From 1993 to 2023, he served as an editorial director and advice columnist for Paper magazine.
Amy Devers is an American furniture designer, carpenter, television personality and design blogger. She currently is the host and design expert on A&E's Fix This Yard, the host of Victory Garden’s edibleFEAST on PBS, and a design and carpentry expert on OWN’s Home Made Simple. In the past she has hosted design oriented programs such as Freeform Furniture on DIY, Designer People on Ovation, and was a carpenter on TLC’s Trading Spaces.
Sylvie Kreusch is a Belgian musician.
The SoHo Weekly News was a weekly alternative newspaper founded by music publicist Michael Goldstein and published in New York City from 1973 to 1982. Positioned as a competitor to The Village Voice, it struggled financially. The paper was purchased by Associated Newspaper Group in 1979 and shut down three years later when AMG was unable to make it profitable. Many of the staff went on to have illustrious careers at other New York publications.
Coqueline Courrèges is a French dressmaker and co-founder of the Courrèges fashion company.
Kim Hastreiter is an American journalist, editor, publisher, and curator who co-founded Paper magazine. She served as co-editor-in-chief from its inception until 2017, when she and partner David Hershkovits sold the company. In her column of 32 years, "Note From Kim", Hastreiter observed and articulated cultural movements and trends that she saw forming, deciphering the transforming zeitgeist. She currently resides in Greenwich Village, New York City.
