GAYLETTER

Last week, Tom, Abi & myself went to check out the OAK SS17 presentation. We liked the clothes — a cute, very New York, and wearable direction for the brand — but the model casting was fucking correct. Abi told me to go up and get in the models faces for our GAYLETTER Snapchat (add us, queen! @gayletter) because I was gagging five feet away, so I guess he figured I had an excuse to be thirsty in their personal space.

While we were carrying and reading the fashion queens post-presentation, the models came out in the street clothes and we might have enjoyed that moment even more, considering they all got to serve it in their personal style, and needless to say, they came through. One boy stuck out in particular, because while everyone was sanctioned off in small circles, sipping their vodka tonics, he was throwing it… for his phone! I’m always in awe of kids who can give public performance for Internet content. I mean, he was lip-synching for his life… alone… against a blank wall, but he added so much color to the black and white room.

This boy turned out to be Mister Wallace, the Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based rapper. His single, ‘It Girl,‘ premiered on the FADER today, and it captured all of that energy and personality we saw at the presentation. ‘It Girl,’ off his debut EP ‘FAGGOT‘ is vibrant and full of envy-worthy looks. There must be like, five or six different looks in this video, each one more gaggable, but my favorite is the cotton, long-sleeve leotard with the cropped white coat to match. Wallace shows all of his lean thighs and an appropriate amount of tasteful bulge.

“ ‘I wrote ‘It Girl’ over the course of 2014 as the Black Lives Matter movement was gaining national recognition,’ Mister Wallace told The FADER over email. ‘It became clear to me that before I could realize any dream of being a successful artist, I was more likely to become world famous for being gunned down by a racist cop under the protection of the law. I started to imagine how my image would be used by the media to perpetuate this horrific narrative to younger people and it sent me over the edge. ‘It Girl’ became my anthem and it kept me alive at a time when lovers and employers felt my blackness and my queerness had gone too far from what’s acceptable to mainstream society. My hope is that this song, my truth, gives you LIFE and inspires you to appreciate the lives of those who look and feel like me.’”

Mister Wallace is one to watch. Young, talented, making something out of widespread societal strife. Excited to see where he goes! On and off the runway! Life has been given!

Check out the video for ‘It Girl’ below: