PHOSPHENES 1 - ASTRO

PHOSPHENES

#1ASTRO

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*All text and styling by Scott Shapiro*

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THE GREATBEYONDWhat’s out there? There’s no denying all the scientif-

ic advances that have suggested the possibilities, with potential life everywhere from Mars to the outskirts of black holes, or new environments similar to our own discovered on planets all over the universe. And the mys-tery and curiosity surrounding these uncharted territories throughout the various galaxies has inspired everything from music to film to of course, fashion.

Outer space as a larger concept has long informed fash-ion, emerging over time as a theme in the collections of designers and artists like Paco Rabanne, Thierry Mugler, Lee Alexander McQueen, Iris Van Herpen, Trevor Paglen, Nicolas Ghesquière, and Hussein Chalayan, to name a few. Even up-and-comers like Evin Tison explore the great beyond through intergalactic creations. And then there’s Phosphenes, taking notes from the space-age ideas before us and going one step further.

While we could go literal, saturating Astro in kitschy cos-tumes and belabored iterations, we decided to merge our inspiration with a touch of Earth. We tie personality into the respective traits of the cosmos, creating characters

that are as much “human” as they are “other.” Illustrating a universe of complex souls, multidimensional personas, and fabulous figures, we pose our questions in relation to our perspective and imagination.

What would potential alien life be like?

The majority of interpretations have depicted suspect-ed galactic species as dangerous, evil, even monstrous. But could it be the complete opposite? Is it possible that “aliens” are more tolerant, more peaceful and accepting than humans? Imagine a world without guns or violence, prejudice or hatred. Who’s to say that couldn’t exist in the farthest corners of outer space?

Perhaps it’s human nature to fear the unknown. But why fear what should fascinate us? We’ll never entirely know what every corner of the universe is like until we encounter these places or these beings ourselves, and exploring our own hypotheses can easily be the most exciting journey.

A Letter from the Editor

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Reality

Fashion

Fantasy

06 ET

20 LIFT OFF

14 ALIEN

08 FANTASTIC PLANET

26 VENUS

50 NEPTUNE

36 MOONBATHING

64 SPACE DEBRIS

74 AURORA

80 STARDUST

44 TITAN

16 BLACK HOLE BEINGS

CONTENTS

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AN INTERGALACTIC JOURNEY WITH EVIN TISON

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F or spring/summer 2016, emerg-

ing talent Evin Tison takes us on

an intergalactic, seductive journey

through the complexity of the mod-

ern woman. Predominantly white with

bursts of pastels, the garments make

use of futuristic, space-age materials;

semi-transparent latex coexists with ir-

idescent PVC, while Tison creates one-

of-a-kind fabrics by applying plastic to

three-dimensional neoprene. The end

result is an architectural, extraterres-

trial aesthetic unlike anything on Earth,

making a promising proposition for this

new vision.

Photos by Gaetan Caputo x L’Empire Studio courtesy of Evin TisonAN INTERGALACTIC JOURNEY WITH EVIN TISON

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Sometimes the most otherworldly things are right here on Earth.

FANTASTIC PL ANET

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We’re constantly wondering what’s out there, wheth-er in this galaxy or beyond. But what about uncov-ering the beauty in our own world? That’s what Chicago-based photographers Jackie Robertson

and Anisha Sisodia are doing with their creative brand and pro-duction company, Recognize Duplexity. Going below the surface in the everyday, traveling across all corners of the world, the duo exposes viewers to a new perspective on the familiar. ReDu shows that beauty lies in the juxtaposition and cooperation of diverse visions, a phenomenon that can allow for the development of a new framework of observing our environment. Maybe our planet is the most otherworldly after all.

*All photos by anisha Sisodia and Jackie Robertson*

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ALIEN Watercolor adaptation of the season’s most visionary looks

Illustrated by Scott Shapiro

jacket and skirt VETEMENTS.

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(Left) pants LOEWE. (Right) dress RICK OWENS. gloves MAISON

MARGIELA

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BL ACK HOLE BEINGS

Poems by Danie l l e M. Martin

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I first came to this place to get away from the real world,‘cause, baby, it was freakin’ me out.

Turns out there ain’t no place for day dreamin’ in this town,so I laid pipes in my sleep.

But existential escape has vacated my nighttime paradiseand is playing house in my head.

One day you wiped your mud-caked boots on the not-so-welcome mat and tried to make yourself comfortablein the personal universe that formed within my mind.

The life you discovered inside those walls made your stomach uneasyenough to spill the pit in your gut to all those Joes and Janes

who I’ve been struggling to pull myself down to earth to relate to.

Allow me to explain myself; I’ve been fakin’ it.

The extraterrestrials first invaded my day to day after the big BANG!

that was flesh and bone and brains, smushed and bloodyagainst the metal steering wheel of your ‘67 el Camino,

that, shit, we should’ve opted for the airbags in, but, hell, no, we shouldnt’ve, cause that ain’t true vintage.

Now those rusted chrome wheels ain’t what’s turnin’ in my mind no more, it’s planets swirling and asteroids colliding and space debris floatin’ around

like the sand on that desert storm day, grainy and crusted onto the expository gash across my left eyebrow. Meeting myself face to face in the shattered rearview,

I knew that my forward thinking was about to start losing gravity. The exhaust pipe sparked stars in my eyes and the gas giants began to take over my brain,

bulging against the interior of my skull, inducing migraines.Now everyday, humdrum life is painful to endure.

But you got out of that car and wrapped your wounds in white gauze,casting a bloodied pink fog over what your eyes could’ve opened wide to see.

The problem with me is that I just don’t know how to block it all out. I’m graspin’ at Rumple’s golden straws trying to pull together some mere piece of my old mind

and you’re tellin’ them that my head is still stuck in those smoke cloudsthat rose dark and heavy from the hissing engine and swallowed Mescal Mountain whole.

I weave the vague threads that I’m able to uncover into stories of grandeur, or, as you call ‘em, “delusion”.

Your view’s been filtered to daisies and, in turn, has been twisting my ghost flowers into wilted weeds.

If you’d lift the cloth bandage that’s impairing your vision you’d see that we’re standing on different ground but it’s ground just the same,

the shift lies in atmospheric pressure. But it ain’t going to happen so I’m done trying to confine to your space and your time

‘cause the continuum’s no longer got much of a pull. I’ve found my new home on a planet that’s my own,

I don’t know why bein’ alone means you gotta alienate me.

I know I’m an outliar.

GHOST FLOWER OUTLIAR

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Sister Rosemary caught me sticking my tongue outbehind her back in my second grade math class. Her forefinger and thumb turned into a Venus Flytrap and snatched the words out of my mouth before I could cry “MERCY”. With my wagging tongue in the palm of her hand, she pulled up a chair and sat face to face with me across the school desk, filled with text books on science and out of date history and mis-spelled love notes from Jon Burns. Her eyes matched mine, where tears were beginning to brim. After 4 minutes, she looked me dead in the heart and told me that the clouds forming above my head were dark and that I should yank myself down before it was too late, ‘cause airheads don’t go nowhere in life. She stood abruptly to teach the class to pronounce Yosemite as “yoz-eh-might” and I stood up right after her before crawling under my desk to nurse my broken organ. For the next 16 years I tried harder than anything to foot my feet firmly in some muddy ground. As soon as that sand wrapped its grainy arms ‘round my ankles, I looked up to see the clouds parted, revealing the entire sky; quicker still, regret settled heavily in the depths of my mind. Had I known that behind that grey haze laid sunshine and Saturn and all those shining stars, I would’ve never stepped downto fulfill my loved ones’ desires. So I started runnin’ for the moonbut reality’s holding me downand, as hard as I struggle, I can’t get my feet off of the torturous ground.

And - did you know? - quicksand really ain’t all that quick. It’s taken its sweet time workingits sticky grip up every last inch of my body. It’s hands are holdin’ tight to my necklike Rosemary held my tongue, and I’m afraid that those stifled 4 ain’t so far away.

As it tries to strangle my last breath from my throat, I’m fighting to squeeze out some mediocre last words. The grip is twisted so I’m rubberneckin’while I throw everything I got out at the universeand, behind my back,all those grounded people have had it up to here. They’re goin’ down quick, it’s flop or fly for the fish.I look back up at that world floating just out of my reachto thank those heavens that I’m a bird.I’m beggin’ for the sky to take me back, wailing for forgiveness for my attempt at conformity.I kick and I scream, “I’m sorry,I messed up real bad, I am so fucking sorry”.

Being stuck in the mud,I’ve grown tired of playing tag.Call me a sore loserbut I just thought the chase would take me somewhere,anywhere else but where I’m standing now.

If I hadn’t given up faith it wouldnt’ve taken me reaching the bottomof this goddamned mud pit to realize that being different ain’t a curse, but a blessing.I believed in some harsh god instead of myselfand hunched to the followers of a patriarch’s level.In finding my spine I’m now learnin’ a lessonthat sends slow shivers down each vertebrae:If I can’t pull myself out of the trench, ain’t nobody offerin’.

We’ll all die lonely down here.

FLYING FISH FORGIVENESS

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LI

O

F

F

T

F

(OPPOSITE) SUNGLASSES (WORN THROUGHOUT) VINTAGE DIOR HOM

ME. TOP NEIL BARRETT. PANTS (W

ORN THROUGHOUT) COS.

(BOTTOM ) GLASSES (W

ORN THROUGHOUT) MODEL’S OW

N. JACKET AND PANTS CALVIN KLEIN COLLECTION.

We propel into outer space,thrusting onward and upward.

PHOTOS BY JACKIE ROBERTSON

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Lift Off

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(OPPOSITE) T-SHIRT T BY ALEXANDER WANG. JACKET AND SILK SCARF LANVIN. SNEAKERS MODEL’S OWN.

(BOTTOM ) SWEATSHIRT JUUN J.

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TURTLENECK AND COAT SANDRO.

T-SHIRT T BY ALEXANDER WANG. JACKET DIOR HOM

ME.

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SHIRT SANDRO. LEATHER PANTS ACNE STUDIOS. LEATHER GLOVES LANVIN.

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SENSUAL AND PASSIONATE

WITH AN UNDENIABLE FERVOR, WE MEET

THE GODDESS OF THE UNIVERSE.

PHOTOS & BEAUTY : Giancar lo s KunbardtFASHION in co l laborat ion with Mariana Canu

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HEADBAND :Alexis Bittar

NOSE RINGS (WORN THROUGHOUT) :

model’s ownJACKET :

KenzoDRESS :Vintage

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CHOKER : Paula MendozaBRA :Agent ProvocateurKIMONO :Vintage Lanvin

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TOP :Dion Lee

TROUSERS : Les Chiffoniers

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TOP :3.1 Phillip Lim

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JACKET :Elizabeth and James

BRA : Agent Provocateur

BAG : Missoni

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CHOKER :Paula MendozaBRA : Agent ProvocateurKIMONO : Vintage LanvinBAG : Maria Brito

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[LEFT]NECKLACE :Stylist’s Own

LEOTARD :Donna Karan

SKIRT :Mariana Cantu

[RIGHT]CHOKER :

Paula MendozaTOP :

Dion Lee

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[OPPOSITE] TOP & TROUSERS :

Tibi

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PHOTOS BY SHAYAN ASADI

LET YOUR ECCENTRICITY SHINE UNDER THE LIGHT OF THE MOON’S RAYS

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jacket 3.1a PHILLIP LIM. shirt VINTAGE THIERRY MUGLER. pants (worn throughout) COS. bracelet

(worn throughout) model’s own.

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sunglasses MYKITA. shirt & shoes SANDRO.

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jacket VINTAGE YVES SAINT LAURENT

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glasses CUTLER & GROSS. shirt JILL SANDER.

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sweater ACNE STUDIOS.

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[Opposite] shirt VINTAGE DIOR HOMME. cardigan MISSONI. pants LANVIN.

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Saturn’s largest moon, with an envi-ronment similar to that on Earth, we explore Titan’s possibilities.

T I T A Nphotos by GIANCARLOS KUNHARDT

top J.W. ANDERSON. briefs AMERICAN APPAREL. boots RICK OWENS

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top and skirt ISSEY MIYAKE

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vintage choker. jacket and dress CALVIN KLEIN. shoes STUART WEITZMAN

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jacket and shorts HELMUT LANG

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jacket CALVIN KLEIN COLLECTION

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sweatshirt JUUN J. leggings AMERICAN APPAREL. jacket (around waist) CALVIN KLEIN

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WIND AND SEA WITH CLOUDS OF GAS, WE DIVE INTO THE GREAT BLUE PLANET.

PHOTOS BY JACKIE ROBERTSON

NEPTUNE

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JACKET & PANTS : BALENCIAGA

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TEE-SHIRT : H&M. CHAIN: MODEL’S OWN.

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TURTLENECK (WORN THROUGHOUT): ZARA. TOP : VINTAGE ISSEY MIYAKE.

NECKLACES : PHOTGRAPHER’S OWN.

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SHIRT (WORN THROUGHOUT): VINTAGE THIERRY MUGLER.

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JACKET: 3.1 PHILLIP LIM.

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JACKET: YVES SAINT LAURENT. CHAIN: MODEL’S OWN

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SWEATER (WORN THROUGHOUT): SANDRO.

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(OPPOSITE) COAT: RICK OWENS.

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SWEATER (WORN THROUGHOUT) : SANDRO

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dress MArQUes’ALMeIdA. eArrIng (worn

throUghoUt) ModeL’s own.

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SP

CE

D

EB R

I S

A

photos by

sCott shApIro

Defunct manmade objects collect and collide,

adding a grungy twist to the great beyond.

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top CrAIg green. pAnts (worn throUghoUt) Cos.

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t-shIrt rICK owens drKshdw. jACKet VIntAge

CALVIn KLeIn.

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top CALVIn KLeIn CoLLeCtIon.

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dress MArQUes’ALMeIdA. boots VIntAge

MAIson MArgIeLA.

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top CrAIg green

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sUede jACKet VIntAge MAIson MArgIeLA. LeAther pAnts ACne stUdIos.

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sUngLAsses retro sUper FUtUre. sweAter And LeAther

jACKet sAndro. sneAKers AndroId hoMMe.

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AURORA

PHOTOS BY SCOTT SHAPIRO

A KALEIDOSCOPE OF COLOR DANCES IN THE NIGHT SKY, WITH FLASHES OF LIGHT ILLUMINATING

THE GALAXY

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(OPPOSITE): DRESS (WORN THROUGHOUT) CHRISTIAN DIOR

(THIS PAGE): CHOKER (WORN THROUGHOUT) VINTAGE

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gown EMILIO PUCCI. shoes (worn throughout) JIMMY CHOO.

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DISCO GLAMOR GOES TO OUTER SPACE…AND CRASH LANDS BACK ON EARTH.

Photos by Giancarlos Kunhardt. Styled in collaboration with Mariana Cantú.

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jacket BALMAIN x H&M

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coat and pants CUSTOM HOUGHTON. top ADAM SELMAN.

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[Left] jacket FAITH CONNEXION. skirt LANVIN.[Right] top BALMAIN. pants VINTAGE.

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dress PROENZA SCHOULER. coat VINTAGE.

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The Power of Diversity.

Fashion is fantasy, capable of creating a new framework through which we view our world. But fantasy is rooted in reality, and reality is made up of beautifully diverse individuals. No matter what planet or galaxy on our mind, we believe in the importance of not just considering, but promot-ing diversity and equality in everything we do.

We know that “beauty” is not homogenous, nor is it a concept applicable to only one group of people. And despite the fashion industry’s strug-gle with diversity, we know that different cultures, complexions, features, quirks, personalities, and other unique characteristics are what make us

fascinating. Meanwhile, fashion can often pos-sess enough cultural and social significance to make it capable of empowerment. And empower-ment cannot happen unless everyone is includ-ed, regardless of their race or background.

Our mission is to consistently use fashion as an artistic expression, one that empowers people of all types, especially women of color. We hope that this could contribute to a larger goal of help-ing to balance diversity in the fashion industry, thus expanding the multifaceted definition of what is beautiful.

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FOR MORE CONTENT, INCLUDING RUNWAY AND NEWS COVERAGE, TREND REPORTS, AND STYLE AND

SHOPPING GUIDES, PLEASE VISIT : DESPHOSPHENES.COM

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PHOSPHENES 1 - ASTRO

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