HEY, WHAT'S UP, HELLO

Free at last, free at last, thank god almighty, we are free at last…

…Except, of course, for the fact that I quote these words to you fresh from Paris Fashion Week, in seat 4A on an airline that is now barely regulated by the FAA, on an aircraft that –more probably than ever before– could crash it’s landing into a country with a regressing economy, conservatizing society, and backsliding democracy… Earth is so cool right now!

In moments like these, I look to fashion for fantasy, escape, and inspiration to imagine another way. Fashion has always provided affirmation of my own liberation. Fashion meant possibility. Fashion meant the future. And we were building one I wanted to live in… we were building a community.

Here’s the rub, though: I wasn’t. I’d spent so much time mistaking the convenience of my otherness for acceptance. I confused my presence being tolerated with my perspective being appreciated. When I started realizing this, it was a shock to the system– one that required sabbatical and a complete re-evaluation of how I engage with this industry.

And now, more than ever, it’s become clear to me that I had gotten very good at performing “fashion,” so high off rarefied air, that I failed to find meaningful ways to cultivate an authentic community. And when talking the talk turned into walking the walk in the fall of 2023, I found myself pounding the pavement alone.

…With the gorgeous exception of you lot…

“Brain Matter” was born of a desire to make space– to be truly, holistically myself, in all of my multitudes and contradictions, with all of the colors of my freak flag on full display. It’s about engaging in this industry with humor and heft, embracing the fact that like all art, ours must be intersectional, and inclusive, and to carve a landscape out of stale white limestone as diverse and colorful, and full of personality as the world around us. Most importantly, “Brain Matter” is a place to commune, create, and be curious. To read, and chat, and respond. To ask questions. To reimagine.

In atypical fashion for an anxious avoidant person, I’ve always been fight AND flight. Such a fun little cutesy duo!

So, here I am, attempting to do this thing my way.

Am I still a stylist (curiously a question I’ve encountered this PFW– more on that later…)? Yes!

Will I continue to work editorially? Yes!

Will I still be unhinged on my IG main feed? Yes!

Will I persist in my goal of expanding the bounds of what this industry can, and should be? You bet your sweet ass.

I’ll just have this perfect little moon, with all of my people, to help me hold the center. While the planets of my tiny universe continue to orbit.

This is a home for all of the ideas BIG and small, important and silly, funny and stoic, and it’s one that I built myself. I know that I want to bring you everything–from long slow burns to micro essays and interviews to quick, hot takes about the mess I can’t get out of my brain. Video (is that dated??), guides…all of it. But let me know what you want from me (brain.matter.substack@gmail.com)!

The shackles around my brain, and the bumpers keeping my thoughts in politesse are nowhere to be found. Here, there are no rules about who can engage in discourse, or what can and can’t be said. There are no advertisers to appease (although I do hope to engage the right sponsors meaningfully). I will do my best to speak from a place of expertise, but there is also room for debate, because making it in the system is only one piece of the pie. Let's all learn from each other, get loud, and pop off.

Not to be unspeakably pick-me but: mi need community and I hope we can make one here– for all of us freaks, and geeks, and filterless foes of “respectable” and boring society.

So: may I have this kiki?