CITY Issue 58 - (Page 54) CITIZENS / NICOLA VASSELL PRIMA GALLERINA A fashion model makes an artful debut at New York City’s Deitch Projects By Angela Cravens F 54 ashion has had a long — and sometimes stormy — relationship with the visual a ts. Think of John Singe Sa gent’s Madame X and he scandalous st apless gown, o Gilbe t and Geo ge making mischief in thei p im business suits. But lately the a t and fashion fusion is eve ywhe e: witness the Louis Vuitton shop in the middle of the B ooklyn Museum’s ecent Takashi Mu akami exhibit (on view in F ankfu t this fall), o photog aphe Ryan McGinley’s two-timing between W and the Whitney Museum. Even me ica’s beautifully disheveled youth wande city st eets wea ing limited-edition T-shi ts designed by thei a tist f iends. What’s inte esting about this hot-and-heavy elationship is that it is still fai ly unusual fo membe s of each t ibe to jump allegiances. CITY TY Ente fo me fashion model Nicola Vassell. ou may have al eady spotted he holding cou t at SoHo’s Deitch P ojects, whe e fo the past fou yea s she has enjoyed “p ima galle ina” status. O pe haps you ecognize he f om he p evious inca nation, beautifying ad campaigns fo The Gap, mani, and Cove Gi l and sp eads in fashion’s most glamo ous titles. He s is one of those New o k success sto ies that entice ho des of b ight-eyed hopefuls to stampede to the island eve y yea . Vassell had ba ely completed he exams as a high school student in he hometown of Kingston, Jamaica, when she was discove ed at the local cineplex. She was invited to take pa t in a local modeling competition, which offe ed a fi st p ize t ip to New o k. She won. “It just cut a swath th ough PORTRAITS BY M. SHARKEY
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