Is New York Still Cool? Just Ask Them
Photographing a collection of musicians, artists, and writers who are keeping the city alive—and wearing the latest SSENSE emerging designers, naturally.
What happens when cool people meet up and hang out? Before social media became the de facto language of mass culture, the only way to understand the scenes defining a city was to find them in its bars, parties, and cafés. (Not in its offices, though, even if some of the scene-builders held day jobs.) Staking out these spaces is the best way to estimate the gap between youth culture as it’s captured and metabolized via mainstream social media trends and commentary—the Bravoification of subculture and trend forecasting, if you will—and the on-the-ground realities for the young and creative of today’s New York.
This is a snapshot of 11 individuals who are making 2024 more interesting. They’re not offline by any means—the Luddite anti-phone kids were hard to get in touch with—instead, they’re instead at the Cannes Film Festival with Paul Schrader; showing their work at MoMA PS1 or the Brooklyn Museum; writing cover stories for international magazines; headlining Osheaga; smoking a cigarette on a fire escape. Maybe in a building near you. Go say hi.
What are you working on right now?Do you have a strong creative community?How’s Paul Schrader?
I’m half financed for my feature film, the first that I wrote myself. It’s called . I also wrote a feature, a coming of age story set in Phoenix, Arizona, where I’m from, about a girl learning how to drive—which I learned how to do two years ago because I lied on a job application.You need to have writers around you. It can be such a lonely, in-your-head thing. Over the past six months I’ve really prioritized having that. I think we all have to hold each other accountable. You need somebody who’s going to text you and be like, “Do you have any pages for me to read? Pages tonight, queen?” My boss literally texted me that. Well, he’s 80 years old. He didn’t say “queen.” But he did say, “Pages?”He’s a really fantastic mentor. He is such a fighter. He always says making a movie is entering a cage with a lion, and sometimes the lion wins and sometimes you win, but you got to get in the cage.
What are your rules for a good party?What songs are in your set right now?The label It Girl—do you love it or hate it?
When you try to overthink it is when you start to stress out and end up fucking up the most. Just try to have fun. Play your favorite music.I love baile funk, Brazilian-inspired music, house, and techno. I love mixing all different types of genres. I find it boring when you go out and you hear a DJ set and it’s the same thing the whole time.I can’t lie, I love it. Everyone has their own It Girl in them. What I love about New York is all It Girls have jobs.
How would you describe your music?What’s been the vibe of the summer?Do you guys think New York is still cool?
Shanny Wise: Party? Jackson Walker Lewis: That’s what I would say.Wise: Party. Ben Scharf: Rats.Wise: Yes. Lewis: Yeah. Scharf: Can’t ever not be, right?
When did you move to New York?Do you feel like there’s a big creative community?Do you think you’ll live here forever?This is a chronic issue with New Yorkers. They turn 30 and they move to LA.
In 2022, from Japan. In New York, you got to be tough just to live and I’m really glad that I am having this experience.There’s definitely a big community. I didn’t go to art school, but I’m figuring out how I can step into the art industry more.I don’t know. I like LA. I can see moving to LA when I’m 30.Yeah, exactly. But LA is pretty dope!
What do you hope someone takes away from your work?Where do you find inspiration?What are you working on?
I hope they laugh and feel sorrow at the same time—that they can be able to feel a juxtaposition.The definition of ecology is geared towards the natural world and how we interact with the natural world, but I’ve always viewed New York City as a natural world. It works as a habitat. We’re animals. We live in it, and the way we treat each other is based off of our habitat.I’m working on painting and drawing to hone my skills. I did a really big project earlier in the year, and I feel like a lot of times artists aren’t given a lot of breaks in between. I am allotting myself a little bit of time to refine and understand better what I’m doing and what I want to do.
How have you navigated the art scene in New York?Is New York still cool?What are you working on now?
I feel very lucky. I’ve met so many great people, and especially younger artists who are going through similar journeys in the art world. It’s very hard to navigate. There’s not really any guidance. It’s very self-driven and really depends on who you meet and where you show. Once you get out of college, it’s hard to critique and talk about your work, so it’s important to me to have a community in New York.Absolutely. It’s better than LA.I’m working on my next solo. I can’t say where! It’s not announced yet. I’ve been really obsessive with the studio, reasonably so, making lots of work. It’s been flowing.
When did you arrive in New York?Is New York cool?What’s on your agenda for the rest of the year?No, that’s the New York dream. You’re a fab girl publically and a wholesome GF at home.
I moved here in 2018 for school and then I dropped out. I was two years in, and then life took me in a different direction. I started assisting makeup artists and that felt like reason enough not to go back.I don’t know about New York as a whole, but my friends are really cool.Spend more time in Chicago with my family. But I do think I’m just going to be working and hanging out with my boyfriend. Is that boring?Exactly. Cooking, chilling, Nara Smith mode.
Where do you find inspiration?You’ve written about fashion, and as a model you’re in the fashion sphere. Good experience? Bad? Fun?
I go on a lot of really long walks, especially in the summer. It can be social if I want to see a friend, but I like wandering. I live in Manhattan and I like seeing how the landscape and the neighborhoods change so quickly while you’re moving through them.I’m very lucky as a writer to have been involved. It wasn’t something I’d anticipated would play a role in my life. Through my experiences working in fashion, I’ve met so many different people. There’s a lot of really intense personalities. There’s a lot of really unique situations. You’re meeting people from all over the world, which I think is one of the best parts. Those experiences are invaluable. And being a writer, it’s just thinking about different kinds of people trying to understand people.
Where do you write?What’s your For You Page like?You’ve been called an It Girl. Do you accept the categorization?How have you seen New York’s creative scene change?
I write anywhere I can. I used to be very precious about writing spaces and now I’m like, stop, drop, and roll. I always have my computer. Every bag I own can fit my computer in it. That’s a rule.So much ASMR. I’m really obsessed with Levi Coralynn. A lot of people whispering, a lot of makeup tips, a lot of throwback videos, and sometimes people eating, but never foods that look delicious.Hari Nef said that somebody asked her about this and she was like, “I’m an actress.” To be an It Girl, you have to be undefined and mysterious. I wish I was mysterious but I have to write every single thought that comes into my head. So I think I’m a writer. Not really an It Girl.I grew up in the Chelsea Hotel and that’s experienced so much change over the course of my lifetime, from this gritty artist-run place to what it is now, which is so chic and fabulous and amazing. It’s so incredible that everybody who moves here feels that they have a piece of the city and that they can leave some kind of print on it, even if that print is washed away in a couple months.
