a couple of months ago, a blog reader of mine from miami emailed me with an offer to make a book. he dropped the right names, so i took him up on the deal. downtown new york has always felt like high school all over again for me, like never never land, a place where people can stay young forever. so i decided to make a high school inspired downtown yearbook highlighting some of the young and creative faces of nyc. my buddy came up with the name, “the young and the banging” after describing the concept to him.

at the exact same time, i had been toying with a pet project called LAGIRLSNY, a bi-coastal lifestyle blog providing a look into the daily lives of real girls in both L.A. and New York. i thought a book deal would be the perfect vehicle to launch this new blog of mine, so i invited 15 friends around me to help make the book under the LAGIRLSNY name, with plans of doing Los Angeles next. i asked them to pick people they felt should be in the book and also gave them 2 spreads to design on their own to best represent the creativity and lifestyle of their friends. as this was a first for me, i didnt want to out-do myself. i wanted to keep the process simple and sweet. so i restricted myself, and only allowed the girls to put 10 people each in the book by taking polaroids of them to act as their “class” photo. 5 people was too little, and 20 was just way too much to be asking of them. so i thought 10 was the perfect amount each girl could balance. after that, it was just a big waiting game and called for a great deal of patience. nearing completion of the yearbook, i thought to myself “why should a project like this only live in LA and New York?” there’s youth around the world! at that moment, THE YOUNG AND THE BANGING became an attractive idea to bring people together in a really cool and fun way. like a facebook of sorts, but in a nice tangible form.

i started to look for media sponsors to help me blow out a launch party for the book release. after a failed attempt with one, i decided to show some people at nike. i had no idea how they would be involved, but thought it was a good idea to at least have it on their radar. they ended up fully backing the project with an offer for me to curate a month long gallery show, bringing the pages of the book to life within their 255 Elizabeth space.

who knew what a blog could turn into?! it’s not everyday when a book deal and gallery show comes along. i had no dreams of even making a book! so i thought i’d share the love, and turn it into a platform to expand the creative energy of the young up and comers around me. something all about the people, for the people and by the people. the not yet professionals, but the do it yourselfers. one of our naked truths, “people are your partners” really came to life with this project and it just goes to show how meaningful something can become if you provide the proper tools for communities to co-create neat things on their own with a tiny bit of your help. in a way that is not so forced, but instead very supportive and open. the playfulness of the idea in “high school” played a huge part in making this happen as well. every person from every walk of life could relate to high school, even if they didn’t go to high school!  you can see opening night photos at the supreme modeling blog.

local sweetheart and stylist stella greenspan (pictured w/ me below) styled this entire back to school photo shoot. we hired a local school photography company to set up shop in the gallery. they brought 4 different backgrounds, and stella supplied the props, accessories and wardrobe. people were allowed to dress up as classic high school characters of their choice, from nerds to jocks to punk goths, cheerleaders and more. some even combined outfits. totally insane!