Mira was born and raised in Fairfield, Iowa. After receiving her BFA in Visual Communication Design from SAIC in 2013, she moved to New York and now currently lives in Brooklyn. Mira is the graphic designer at CMA and also runs Sanguis Ornatus, her leather body wear line. This fall she will be launching Cixous72 with her business partner Elizabeth Scott, an online boutique and collective that showcases artists and designers.
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Meet NYC Passerby, Rachel Howe, an Artist and Spiritual Advisor. Since attending Parsons, she started her own business making functional ceramics under the name Small Spells, and after two and a half years with ceramics as her full-time job, she is now moving on to working on many other projects, mainly design projects and healing services.
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Grace is an artist and curator living in Brooklyn. She runs Art Baby Gallery, an online exhibition space that as well as her clothing line, Art Baby Girl. Currently, Grace is working on publishing a book of her illustrations through Belly Kids Press.
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“From journalism studies at Howard University, to covering Earth and Science for NASA, to a ballsy move to NYC, Christina Coleman has carved out a space for her work in the news industry. Now a News & Culture Director at Glamour Magazine, when we first caught up with her for this feature, she was working as the Managing Editor for NewsOne.com. Before that, she was one of the founding editors for Solange Knowles’ SaintHeron.com, a wannabe chef, journalist/activist, and a fierce advocate for black women.”
Top, Urban Outfitters ; Jeans, Levi's ; Shoes, Nike
I’m usually up by 7 a.m. to do two things – walk my dog and assign stories to my writers. As a managing editor of a news site I need to know what’s going on at all times so I’m searching the wires. Between 7-9 I’m glued to my computer writing and editing so I don’t grab breakfast (always oatmeal and pineapple) until about 10 or 11 when I head into the office.
This sounds silly, but making up short stories and poems with my brother are my earliest memories of writing. And I was always good at it; my teachers in grade school encouraged it because they could see I had ‘something.’ And so I decided to dedicate my life to that ‘something.’ I went to school for it and have been fiercely defensive over my decision to be a writer/journalist even if that means sleeping in a cardboard box the rest of my life. Sorry, Mom.
“‘Between the World and Me’ is a brand new favorite and I recommend it for any household that wants a clear understanding of the scourge of living while Black in America. It’s a heavy read, but no one promised that healing this nation and its people would be easy.”
Top, Vintage ; Earrings, H&M ; Skirt, H&M
I’m really lucky to have stumbled into what became Saint Heron. While the site has undergone a restructure, the first iteration allowed me to be a part of a collective of young, Black women who were passionate about art, politics, culture, music, inclusivity, freedom…women who I’ve remained friends with and continue to watch grow in their own fields. I’m thankful that Solange’s vision has blossomed into what it is today because it creates a space for individuals like myself who are interested in a range of hobbies and music and topics separate from the ills of mainstream.
Sometimes I think about my time at NASA and it’s so surreal I have to remember that, yes, I really did that. Working closely with scientists and engineers, attending launches, witnessing the last of the manned space missions and translating all that science jargon into stuff millennials cared to read didn’t seem big then.
“Aside from my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer (the best Christmas gift to date), my hands are my best cooking ‘appliance.’ Nothing gets the job done quite like they do. My mother isn’t the best cook so I’m not sure where my sister and I got the talent from. But looking up to her (she’s the coolest person I know), I’ve secretly challenged myself to out-cook her. I’m losing, she’s awesome. But I have to say, my eggplant meatballs are to die for.”
Top, Zara ; Pants, Urban Outfitters
Mandatory routine, no matter how tipsy I am: Wash with Mario Badescu Acne Facial Cleanser. Follow up with Mario Badescu Cucumber Cleansing Lotion. Depending on the night, I may use Mario Badescu Seaweed Night Cream or the Oil Free Moisturizer. I also recommend Mario Badescu Glycolic Eye Cream, Mario Badescu Drying Lotion, Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture Lotion, and Vaseline Cocoa Butter Petroleum Jelly.
For my hair I’m curbing breakage with Pure Shea Butter on my curls. I use what I have in the kitchen otherwise – coconut oil and olive oil are lifesavers for both hair and skin. I recently started to use coconut oil to shave my legs. You’ll thank me later.
I recommend Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer, Bare Minerals Original Foundation, MAC Powder Blush, Audacious Lipstick - Rita, Topshop Lipstick, Revlon PhotoReady Kajal Eye Pencil, Benefit they're real! lengthening mascara, MAC Matte Lipstick in Russian Red.
“I’m increasingly frustrated with shopping in stores but if I need an item fast for a meeting, interview or if I’m going to be on camera I run to Awoke Vintage (if I’m in Brooklyn) and the nearest Zara (if I’m in Manhattan). But I tend to do most of my shopping online – my clothes need to translate from office to camera to covering an event so I’m often wearing feminine dresses with sneakers or boxy men’s attire with strappy heels. Best of both worlds.”
top, urban outfitters ; jeans, levi's ; bag, marc jacobs ; shoes, nike
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Sula by Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter Godwin Woodson, PhD, The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Aurora for Brunch
Alice's Arbor for Dinner
Sisters for coffee and amazing cocktails
Whisk for kitchen supplies
Awoke Vintage for clothes & jewelry
Tamara Santibañez relocated from Georgia to New York at a young age and has made the city her home for the past decade. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn, combining a fine art practice of drawing, painting, and printmaking with tattooing full time at the legendary Saved Tattoo.
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Natalia Mantini, is a self taught photographer based in New York City. Often turning her focus onto women, her work materializes as a great praise to the female form and its emotional complexities. When not photographing, she enjoys reading about astrology, watching true crime, and making candles. Her work has been featured in various publications including VICE, Bullett, S Magazine, Rolling Stone, and Billboard. Natalia is from Redondo Beach, CA and she moved to NYC 2 years ago.
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Born in Tehran, raised in So-Cal, Sunny went to UCSC to study Politics & Sociology. After college, she worked in LA for 3 years in various fields. Unfulfilled with the post-college 9 to 5 life, Sunny uprooted and moved to NYC to pursue her passion in photography and attend ICP. Today, she is an acclaimed photographer with a wide variety of clients like Barneys, Oyster, Nylon, & Levi's. Right now she is very stoked to be working on a long term book project with Brooks Headley of Superiority Burger.
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Meet NYC passerby, Erika Spring, a musician based in Astoria, Queens.
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Olivia is a writer and editor, working for online publications like Vogue.com and Elle.com, as well as a jewelry designer. (Shop her newly launched mood rings here.) Born in New Zealand, Olivia moved to New York for the first time in 2008, but then relocated to Sydney in 2009. She eventually moved back to NYC in 2011 and has been there since.
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Meet NYC passerby, Katie Garcia , a co-founder & Manager of Bayonet Records/A&R for Secretly Label Group.
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“Originally from Coronado, CA, Janine Lee is co-founder/CEO of Floss Gloss, an independent Brooklyn-based nail lacquer brand. She studied fashion design at California College of the Arts (2010) in San Francisco and co-founded Floss Gloss with Aretha Sack in 2011 out of pure necessity and bad (bad) recession job availability. After years in SF, she recently relocated from the Bay Area for Floss Gloss & life to Bushwick in 2014. At this time, currently thriving and always striving for success.”
Top, DKNY
Normally I’m up around 8. I take Bodie out with Brett and grab an Americano at AP Cafe or Wyckoff Star. Then Brett and I both get ready for work and maybe make breakfast. I read some emails and do some light work, pack a lunch before I’m off at the Floss Gloss office.
I always was into coloring, arts & crafts and reading. I read a lot as a kid and worked at a library. I started really doing nail art and painting my nails in middle school and high school. I got Klutz Nail Art Book as a gift when I was a pre-teen and basically never looked back. Floss Gloss was born out of necessity. Aretha and I didn’t have a brand that we really felt was speaking to us and to who we were as consumers. We took about a year and wrote a full business prospectus, pitched investors, got money and found excellent manufacturing. We took a big leap and are still going!
Aretha mixes up a bottle of color we both love and we send it to our factory, they send back a matching sample, we approve or disapprove and either re sample or go into production. We have caps, bottles and brushes already at our factory and within 6-8 weeks with sampling we have a new baby! This process can be very challenging because everyone sees color a little differently.
““Art class was my favorite and I was in a fine art program at my high school in Connecticut that challenged me to get into art school. I love to paint, sew and create.””
on her inspiration
I paint on 10 tiny canvases these days. But my biggest art influences have always been Matisse, Guagain, Leroy Neiman - color! As for fashion I love fashion history, but in college and still to this day I’m inspired by eastern designers Isse Miyake, Rei Kowakabo and Junya Wantanabe with some American sportswear idols like Geoffrey Beene and Liz Claiborne.
My everyday routine is pretty basic! Lately I’ve been really into the Naked 3 pallet by Urban Decay and the Pro Paint Pots by Mac. Mascara and I’m out! But always moisturize, moisturize, moisturize! I always look at the ingredients in products. And of course sometimes I like to experiment with beauty, because I like art and painting and essentially it’s all the same vibe. I went through a very long glitter eyeliner phase in 2014. If I have a redder blemish on my face, I get a few drops of OpCon eyedrops onto a q-tip and apply it to the redness. It reduces redness of the eyes and basically does the same thing to the skin. Not sure how- but it does! I also run my eyelash curler under hot water before curling my lashes like a heat perm! I would also recommend: the MAC eyebrow pencil, Shea Moisture lotion, tea tree oil, coconut oil, Purlisse moisturizer, Batiste dry shampoo, and Davines nourishing conditioner.
I’m obsessed with anything true crime right now. But specifically Ann Rule. I’ve read 3 of her books this year! She is an incredible story teller and nobody really has time for fiction. I need the truth! I also have a lot of art books. I Wonder is just stunning to look at. Mexican Art and anything ancient is super fascinating to me. If I wasn’t in the arts I’d probably be in sociology or anthropology. The Book of the Hand is about palm reading and your life thru your hands. Because its essentially my business I am really into anything related to hands and nails! I would also recommend : And Never Let Her Go by Ann Rule.
Top, DKNY ; Skirt, Express
Janine's favorite makeup products
Nail polishes from Floss Gloss
Top, Soffee ; Pants, Vintage ; Shoes, Modern Vice ; Bag, Echo Club House ; Sunglasses, Ray-Bans
The AP Cafe/Wyckoff Star for espresso
Northeast Kingdom for dinner or brunch
The Keep for a cocktail and a free* Tarot card reading (*with tip-- totally worth it!)
Urban Jungle for vintage. They have great prices and huge selection if you like to dig and independent boutiques on Knickerbocker!
Right now I’m really feeling these babies: The Pink Nugget, Smoke on the Nail, Dinge (always), Lavish and Honey!
Meet NYC passerby, Andrea Toscano, a designer based in Greenpoint.
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Leta is a multidisciplinary designer and art director based in New York City. She combines traditional graphic design elements with photography, art, and styling to create unique visuals. Her client list includes Bloomberg, Google, IBM, Kiehl’s, Refinery 29, Tate Modern, and more.
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“Hello” is tattooed on her arm if she ever has laryngitis when you meet. If not, you’ll probably talk about her transition from writing for Opening Ceremony to writing for BBDO—and how the latter is not a lot of writing at all. She’ll likely also mention her unexplained obsession with boxes, lipstick packaging, and French 75’s.
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