Andre J. | |
|---|---|
 Andre J. at Dick's Bar in the East Village, March 2007 | |
| Born | Andre Johnson October 16, 1979 [1] |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Party promoter [1] |
| Known for | Androgynous personal style |
Andre J. (born 1979) is an American party promoter who is a presence in the New York City fashion scene. They are known for their distinctive, androgynous personal style and have been featured in photo spreads in French Vogue and V magazine. [2] [3]
Born Andre Johnson in Newark, New Jersey, Andre J. was raised by a single mother in a housing project called Academy Spires [1]
For several years in the early 2000s, they lived in Los Angeles, California. [1] [4] During those years, they worked at a boutique on Melrose Avenue and made three brief appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno segments "devoted to human curiosities". [1] They typically wore a fur hat, a hole-covered beige fishnet shirt, and jeans so low that they revealed their pubic hair, though they changed before leaving for fear of being mistaken for a transgender prostitute on their way home to the $60-a-night Sunset Strip hotel in which they lived. [1]
Andre J. later moved to New York City "for the liberation, the freedom, the action" and worked variously as a perfume salesperson at Lord & Taylor, as a publicist for Patricia Field's boutique, and as a party host for the clubs Lotus and Hiro. [1] While on the street one day in summer 2007, they were spotted by stylist Joe McKenna, who was then on the phone with fashion photographer Bruce Weber. [1] With McKenna's encouragement, Weber decided to shoot Andre J. for French Vogue, and Carine Roitfeld, the magazine's editor, deemed Andre J.'s photos the freshest of all Weber's images. [1] Roitfeld put a photo of the bearded Andre J., dressed in a women’s blue neoprene Burberry trench coat, ankle boots, and a cocktail ring, on the cover of her magazine. [1] [2] "There is not a special message in the cover, I just loved it," she said later. [1] Andre at one point had a day time job at a boutique in Melroe and is known for their intricate style that people see as creative and unique. [5]
Though Andre J. often wears feminine clothing, they do not consider themself a crossdresser. [1] Rather, they see themself as unconfined by gender and social conventions. [1] "Most people are conditioned to think of a black man looking a certain way," they told The New York Times . "They only think of the ethnic man in XXX jeans and Timberlands, and here Andre J. comes along with a pair of hot shorts and a caftan or maybe flip-flops or cowboy boots or a high, high heel." [1] Most recently, Andre J.'s style inspirations have included Cher and model Donyale Luna. [1] They describe their aesthetic as a "60s, not mod, but mod-ish, and hippie look" that is also influenced by the style of 1970s blaxploitation films. [1]
Called a "cheerful muse" by New York Magazine , [4] Andre J. says their positive outlook on life has influenced their style: "I want people to look at me and feel inspired, to feel hope, to smile. I want to surge positive energy in your body, confirm that you too can be yourself." [1] They said they have been affirmed by strangers telling them that they were glad they are alive, and believe that they were put on the earth "to be a bodhisattva, to just glow, emanate love, respect, peace, pizzazz". [4]
Linda Evangelista is a Canadian fashion model. She is regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential models of all time, and has been featured on over 700 magazine covers. Evangelista is primarily known for being the longtime "muse" of photographer Steven Meisel, as well as for the phrase: "We don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day."
Dame Anna Wintour is a British-American media executive, who has been serving as editor-in-chief of Vogue since 1988. Wintour has also served as global chief content officer of Condé Nast since 2020, where she oversees all Condé Nast publications worldwide, and concurrently serves as artistic director. Wintour is also global editorial director of Vogue. With her trademark pageboy bob haircut and dark sunglasses, Wintour is regarded as the most powerful woman in publishing, and has become an important figure in the fashion world, serving as the lead chairperson of the annual haute couture Met Gala global fashion spectacle in Manhattan since the 1990s. Wintour is praised for her skill in identifying emerging fashion trends, but has been criticised for her reportedly aloof and demanding personality.
Jessica Elizabeth Stam is a Canadian model. She is considered to be part of the crop of models described as "doll faces." In 2007, Forbes named her fifteenth in the list of the World's 15 Top-Earning Supermodels, earning at an estimated total of $1.5 million in the past 12 months.
Marc Jacobs is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was discontinued after the 2015 fall/winter collection. At its peak, it had over 200 retail stores in 80 countries. He was the creative director of the French design house Louis Vuitton from 1997 to 2014. Jacobs was on Time magazine's "2010 Time 100" list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and was #14 on Out magazine's 2012 list of "50 Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America". He married his longtime partner Charly Defrancesco on April 6, 2019.
Youthquake was a 1960s cultural movement. The term was coined by Vogue magazine's editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland in 1965. Youthquake involved music and pop culture, and it changed the landscape of the fashion industry. The movement is characterized by looking to youth culture for a source of inspiration, taking dominance away from the English and Parisian couture houses.
Raica Oliveira is a Brazilian model known for her work with numerous companies, including Emanuel Ungaro, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Yves Saint Laurent, Vogue, Chanel, Lancôme, Victoria's Secret, Pepe Jeans, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, JLO, H&M, Elle, Marie Claire, TNG, Ann Taylor and XOXO. As of 2008, she has been working as a fashion reporter for Jornal Record.
Steven Meisel is an American fashion photographer, who obtained popularity and critical acclaim with his work in Vogue and Vogue Italia as well as his photographs of friend Madonna in her 1992 book, Sex. He is now considered one of the most successful fashion photographers in the industry. He used to work regularly for both US and Italian Vogue, and W and now exclusively for British Vogue.
Fashion of the 1960s featured a number of diverse trends, as part of a decade that broke many fashion traditions, adopted new cultures, and launched a new age of social movements. Around the middle of the decade, fashions arising from small pockets of young people in a few urban centers received large amounts of media publicity, and began to heavily influence both the haute couture of elite designers and the mass-market manufacturers. Examples include the mini skirt, culottes, go-go boots, and more experimental fashions, less often seen on the street, such as curved PVC dresses and other PVC clothes.
Carine Roitfeld is a French fashion editor, former fashion model, and writer. She is the former editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris, a position she held from 2001 to 2011. In 2012, she became founder and editor-in-chief of CR Fashion Book, a bi-annual print magazine headquartered in New York City.
The Sartorialist is a fashion blog by Scott Schuman in New York City.
Grunge fashion refers to the clothing, accessories and hairstyles of the grunge music genre. This subculture emerged in mid-1980s Seattle, and had reached wide popularity by the mid 1990s. Grunge fashion is characterized by durable and timeless thrift-store clothing, often worn in a loose, androgynous manner to de-emphasize the silhouette. The style was popularized by music bands Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam.
Emmanuelle Alt is a French fashion editor who was the editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris from February 2011, succeeding Carine Roitfeld, to May 2021.
Vogue France is the French edition of Vogue magazine, formerly called Vogue Paris from its inception until 2021. The magazine started publication in 1920 and has since been regarded as one of the top fashion publications.
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.
Sarah Elizabeth Stephens is an Australian model and actress, best known for winning Girlfriend magazine's Model Search 2006 and walking in the 2008 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at the age of 18.
Limbo was a boutique which was opened in 1965 by Martin (Marty) Freedman, originally at 24 St. Mark's Place between Second and Third Avenues in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The shop moved to 4 St. Mark's Place on the same block in 1967, and closed in 1975.
Xiao Wen Ju is a Chinese model. She was the first model of Chinese descent to be the face of Marc Jacobs.
Alex Wiederin is a New York-based creative director, graphic designer and typefont designer. He is currently the Executive Design Director of Town & Country Magazine and has previously served as creative director of Italian Elle, AnOther Magazine, 10 Magazine, Vogue Hommes International, Glamour Italy and BIG Magazine, among others.
Karl Templer is a British-born New York-based fashion stylist. He is creative director of Interview and his work has appeared in publications internationally including Vogue Italia, Vogue Paris, W, and The New York Times. Templer has styled brand campaigns and shows for designers including Alexander Wang, Calvin Klein, Sacai and Valentino, and collaborates frequently with photographers Fabien Baron, David Sims, Craig McDean, Steven Meisel.
Kellie Wilson was an American model who worked in the 1960s and early 1970s.