You wouldn't think that chemistry class would be a particularly sartorially inspiring environment. But you would be surprised by what sort of people waltzed in and out of that class on a daily basis, and especially by what they were wearing. One girl in particular caught my eye nearly every day. Yup, you guessed it, it was Ajani. I'd never really spoken to her in chemistry (I'm not the most enthusiastic science student and it was 9th period), but I always admired her fearlessness and originality when it came to her clothing. She would wear crop tops with tight pants and cape-like shawls one day--no matter the weather--and maybe some cool shorts and a t-shirt with her hair in little
dumplings another day. And she always had the coolest effing shoes. I'm not too much of a shoe person just because I value comfort over appearance since I'm big on walking places (THE MTA SUCKS), but I can definitely appreciate a sample of ~
fine~ footwear, which Ajani was wont to displaying on the daily. I asked her if she would do this interview with me a week before finals, seeing as I figured it was my last chance to feature her before she becomes some sort of fashion-mogul-model. Her and I met last week at a park and she showed up with a backpack containing four outfit changes and two pairs of shoes, equating a grand total of five outfits and three pairs of shoes. So the usual "Just wear whatever you feel like exemplifies your style" turned into a full-on photo shoot. Since Ajani is a natural
smizer, we took dozens of wonderful photographs, but sadly I cannot put all of them on this blog so I'm posting the best of the extras on my
Tumblr. Another thing I loved about doing this with her is that she gave fantastic answers to my questions. She pulled the "I use fashion to express myself" card a lot, which I totally love because people are usually scared to say that for fear of sounding too cliché, which it's not. It's just the straight up truth, and she was not afraid to deliver it. Get ready to take in the awesomeness that is Ajani.
Odelia: How would you describe your
style?
Ajani: That's a
tough one. Mostly I just like to be comfortable. I wear a lot of
baggy t-shirts and baggy jeans. I try to wear bright colors but I
usually end up wearing a lot of black and gray and white. I don't
like to use too many patterns, like I don't like to mix patterns. I
collect sneakers, so I usually base my outfits around my sneakers.
That's usually where the color will be.
Odelia: Who are your fashion icons
and who do you admire aesthetically?
Ajani:
CaraDelevingne, definitely. Well, there's this model named
Cassie who's
also a singer, but she doesn't sing that well so I just like to say
that she's a model. To me, she's the most gorgeous person I've ever
seen. Her and this Victoria's Secret model named Lace. I met her the
other day.
Odelia: Really? Where did you meet
her?
Ajani: She was
walking down Broadway and I was like—I almost had a heart attack. I
couldn't move for a second! I was like, “Oh my gosh, she's
gorgeous!” and then I was like, “Oh my gosh, it's Lace!” I
freaked out.
Odelia: You said hi to her?
Ajani: Yeah, I was
like, “Hi, I love your work...” She was like, “Thank you!”
Oh, she was so nice. Stunning in person. In pictures she's gorgeous,
but in person... I think
Theophilus London has really cool style.
Although sometimes his pants are too tight. The way I dress I feel is
pretty basic, and going to our school it's a lot to compete with, so
I don't try to compete. I like parts of all different types of
styles. I might not like the whole thing, but I can find something
that I like about it.
Odelia: Where are your favorite
places to shop?
Odelia: If you could own one or more
items that you don't have, what would it or they be?
Ajani: Well first,
there's this pair of
Rick Owens sneakers that I'm in love with.
They're black suede and they're really tall, they're just regular
sneakers, but they're just black, and I love them. And there's these
Alexander Wang sandals, and they're white, and they have snake
print-style straps on the toes, and a gold—ugh, they're so nice.
Odelia: Are you a shoe person?
Ajani: Yes, I'm a
shoe person. I'm definitely a shoe person. Like, I would want the
redYeezys of course, that's something I need.
Jordans, I love Jordans.
There are these Bulgarian camo
Vans I wanted but I can't find them
anywhere in my size. But clothes-wise, there's a brand of bags called
Furla and they have these jelly bags, and they're clear and plastic
and shiny and I want one. There's this
gradient one, it starts dark
green and goes to light green, I love that one.
Odelia: Would you say that fashion
is a big focus in your life?
Ajani: It is,
because I don't do much else. Fashion is a way for me to express
myself, and I do that through art, but it's not always enough. I
can't always get something right how I want it on paper that I can do
in real life, on myself.
Odelia: How would you describe
personal style as a concept? Like, what does it mean to you?
Ajani: It just
gives you an outlet. I think for everyone it gives them an outlet.
For some people it might not mean much, but for others it could be
their whole life. Like, they have no other way of expressing
themselves, no outlet, 'cause they don't have the resources like I do
at school to express myself through art, they might not have that so
they have to find other ways, and I think fashion is a big way that
they would express themselves.
Odelia: How do you feel that high
school has influenced your clothing choices?
Ajani: A lot. Just
being at our school, people are always trying to be better than each
other in the way they dress, so I stopped trying to be better and
bigger and I just started to try to be myself. 'Cause I found that
sometimes I would think, “Oh, it's nice how they're wearing that,
but it's not something I would wear.” And they do big things,
they're really bold, and at one point I found myself trying to try
this stuff and I was like, “I don't like that! Why am I doing
this?” I think it's [high school] helped me find my own style.
[Photos by me.]
Look at that hair. Mm.
She's got this awesome athletic-inspired deal going on that I really dig and have actually sort of begun to emulate myself.
Rings are best when they're simple.
(This goes on a case by case basis so in essence I am disagreeing with myself)
Peep the third shoe switch.
This might have been my favorite outfit, perhaps merely because of how she modeled it. LOOK AT HER JUST OWNING THE CAMERA.
So much summertime sass.
Ajani is a really awesome gal with bangin' style and freaking amazing hair. You should join me when we raid her house to try and take her closet, yeah?
Up next will be my friend Ditiya. She rocks. Case closed.
