It’s been a minute since I’ve updated the ol’ grid but this excellent story is as good a reason as any! @akili_ @lauren_valenti and I have been watching hairstylist @evaniefrausto’s rise over the past few years, and it’s a thrill to be able to showcase what @jawnita describes as his “remarkable ability to borrow from nostalgic subcultures while presenting an entirely new proposition on beauty” in #thefebruaryissue of @voguemagazine. To riff on ’60s-era #Vogue covers, when hair was treated more as an art form than something anyone could do at home, Frausto color-matched model @abbychampion’s flaxen lengths with archival extensions he sourced at a small beauty shop in East Los Angeles. The edge work, which has become something of a signature technique, is just freehand magic, a nod to the only unifying hair philosophy Frausto seems to abide by, writes Shepherd: “Try anything and everything—and don’t be afraid to get weird.” But for all of his hard-earned, recent success, which has landed him at the center of the cultural zeitgeist—and the fashion circles that have helped defibrillate the New York shows— Frausto still remembers what it’s like to feel “completely other,” as he puts it. “My parents and grandparents instilled this idea in me that our purpose is to serve and work, you know, the whole maid thing, the whole gardener thing,” he continues, adding that becoming more comfortable with himself and his identity—as a queer, first-generation Mexican American working in fashion—has come with age. “It took a long time for me to be like, You know, I’m not here just to serve. I have something that I can bring to the table.” Link to the full article in Stories. Shout out to makeup superstar @marcelogutierrez for the otherworldly skin—and special thanks to the inimitable @jordenbickham for delivering this dream picture on an insane shoot day. 📷 @stefanruizphoto @voguebeauty #voguebeauty