A CHANGE OF SEASON

(Jacket - Helmut Lang / Top - Rick Owens / Shorts - H&M / Boots - Veronique Branquinho / Harness - Zana Bayne Leather)

So the outfit about if slightly fictitious - the heat has come back and I can't quite don leather yet, but there was one day last week when it was cold and my jacket and I had a sweet reunion...I am hoping for a sudden autumn so we can be together once again.

In the meantime, I've been dreaming of knits - wide knits, sheer, oversized, heavy & delicate alike. It was pure serendipity that I stumbled upon my dream pullover today while investigating a shop for the first time. Cameron told me about Change of Season yesterday while discussing Rick Owens shoes (hurry - they have a few pairs of the wedges for a ridiculously good price!). The concept of the store is to stock past season merchandise of very select labels such as Givenchy, Rick, Margiela & Vivienne Westwood to name a few, at 50-70% off of retail value. And as I am a sucker for a good deal, I didn't waste a moment checking it out.

After thumbing through the racks and playing with the Rick Shoes, one of the owners Clinton procured a minty white sheer tunic by Rick Owens that had a curved diagonal line of open knit. He chimed in, "this is 40 percent off!" And the rest became history.

Skull ring - Meadowlark / Spike ring - Leviticus / Long talon ring - Zana Bayne X Meadowlark

CONTINUOUS LOOKBOOK: KRISTIN GALLEGOS

4-Strap Belt

Kristin & I have been trying to coordinate a shooting for the past month, but as she is a makeup artist extraordinaire and I have my own fussy schedule, we kept missing each other. That is, until the past weekend. I've always admired her personal style and didn't want to post any further photos from my continuous lookbook until I shot her!

Basic Harness - Raw

Epaulet Harness

Pentagram Harness

TREY SONGZ - "WHAT IS THAT?" BECCA ALEXIS - "THIS IS A SHOULDERPIECE"

Preface: I am quite the believer that anyone has the power to wear whatever they want, regardless of what they are presumed to look like or what is deemed normal. I am also quite content that most people in the world prefer not to dress the way that I do, in fact I think personal style (no matter what it is) is very very important!

A sharp-eyed twitter angel spotted a shoulderpiece of mine on Trey Songz's reality show, "My Moment". I only know one of Trey's songs (that sounds funny), and had no clue he had a reality show however I had made a couple of custom pieces for super-stylists Becca Alexis & Hachy Mendez (they made the incredible Harper's/Milla shoot happen) to try out for one of his shows a while back. I knew the piece had not ended up being worn, which I accepted and assumed the pieces were never to surface again. WRONG! If you cue up to around 1:25 of the clip at the bottom of this post, you will see Trey being harnessed! He might put up a tough front, but if you read between the lines I think what he truly means is that really wants to be photographed in it. Thank you Becca for believing in my work, and to Mr Songz - if you ever want anything photoshoot-worthy, you know where to find me.

Becca presents the shoulderpiece...

You see? Zana Bayne leather = instant bliss

Buckle tight!

You can see the alternate harness in the hands of the woman to the right...


PROOF!

BACK WITH MY GIRL

Other than time with my family and a rest for my brain, one of my major motivations for coming to San Francisco was to see my best friend in the whole wide world; Hope!!! I haven't physically seen her since November (video chat intervals), which is far too long in my opinion. To celebrate our friendship, we decided to hunt down a few prime tourist spots to take photos but it was impossibly windy (see photo above) so we took the party indoors to the photoboots of Japan Town...

My beautiful best friend wearing her birthday harness








Delicious snacks at Out The Door

DREARY DAY & FRANCESCA HARNESS

Just finished completing my newest sample this morning - the "Francesca" harness (name for the girl who inspired it) is meant to act as the skeleton of a vest, mimicking a ribcage yet covering more of the body than a basic harness. It can be worn buckled & closed, or left hanging open. For sale soon after a few minor adjustments...

HARNESSES IN DAZED JAPAN

My girl Laia just sent these images over to me from a shoot that she assisted with for Dazed & Confused Japan. And what do I spy? None other than a watersoaked Zana Bayne harness!

I'M VERY PROUD OF YOU

This weekend is pride weekend, and like most alternating Saturdays I spent a nice portion of the night at GAG!, Cameron's DJ night at Metropolitan bar in Williamsburg celebrating my favorite sort of man; the gay kind. Surely my life would be severely without them.

Check out Wesley's harness by Bliss Lau!







Cameron took his "CC" harness out for a spin...



Me doing me. Pouty girl in a corner - outfit deets not necessary

CULT OF LEATHER

Worldwide Leather Ambassador Club

I've been meaning to do this for quite some time, and now I finally have a legitimate amount of documentation to provide. May I present to you some of the amazing ladies and gentleman around the world who triumphantly don Zana Bayne leather pieces!

Ladies who Leather: 3-Strap Belt on Meagan, Basic Harness on Nikki, 3-Wing Shoulderpiece on ?

Boys Do It Too: CC Harness on Chris Habana, Basic Harness on Jerome, Basic Harness on Johnny Makeup

There's always an occasion for a Winged Harness

But you can't go wrong with a Basic Harness either

Megan is one of my fit models and product testers (this harness is coming soon)

This is what happens when Michael Magnan lends his one-off harness to his roommate for go-go...

BURNING FROM THE INSIDE

Draft 1, a work in progress. Double pentagram harness inspired by Marina Abramovic's "Lips Of Thomas" (1975).




This is what my life has been looking like as of late.