LIAR magazine cover and fashion story: The Sound of Silence with Tina Veshaguri, styled by Sofia Karvela

fashioneditorial

Nov 13

Sound of Silence is my second assignment for LIAR magazine — and I think it might be my favorite fashion story I’ve ever done.

Christine Be, the editor-in-chief and longtime collaborator, brought in stylist Sofia Karvela, and that’s where the magic started. Sofia’s clothing rack held what seemed like artifacts from a parallel universe — pieces I would have passed over, yet somehow perfect vessels for the story we were putting together. This is what true collaboration looks like: not someone mirroring your ideas, but building something greater with you. Sofia understood what I was trying to create before I could fully articulate it myself. Stylists with this gift are unicorns, and I remain in awe of her vision and talent.

The final element arrived in Tina Veshaguri, our model. Some talents announce themselves unmistakably, inevitably. Tina has the kind of face that doesn’t need explanation, with eyes that hold both distance and magnetism. During her casting, I kept thinking of Robert Longo’s figures: bodies in mid-motion, frozen between collapse and control. The David Lynch line floated into my mind: "This is the girl."

The narrative we constructed was simple: a club after closing time, and a woman dancing to music only she can hear. Tina brought grace and otherworldliness to those moments, as if she'd been dropped into human rituals she neither recognized nor cared to join, her body holding contradictions that most models would find impossible.

And if you look closely at the opening shot, you’ll see something else: a projection behind Tina, a flickering ghost haunting the frame — this is a still from my ongoing Assume Form series. This is the first time I wove a developing non-photographic art project into my editorial work — I'd left negative space knowing this conversation between projects would complete the composition. Assume Form is still evolving, still finding its shape, but it belonged in this story.

If you come across a copy of this issue, make sure to get it. Ren Hang’s in there too, and the work throughout is thoughtful, sharp, and beautifully assembled. One worth keeping.