Photos by Bryan Villacres
Wardrobe/styling by Dominic Ciambrone, Surgeon + Nahmias
Style Assistant: Christian Ferreti
Key makeup by Dominique Lerma
There is no child living with spotless textbooks. Scribble in the margin while half-heartedly trying to pay attention is a rite of passage for any student. Brittany Byrd was no exception as she would spend hours drawing and doodling. While most people’s efforts were rewarded with an afternoon scrubbing whiteboards in detention, Byrd’s doodles left a lasting impression at her school.
“In fifth grade, I told my elementary school (Crescent Heights Elementary in Los Angeles) that their logo was weak,” says Byrd. “Those were exactly my words. This logo sucks. Then I set about drawing new graphics by hand. I’ve always been in unity, community, tribe. I was always in touch with spirituality even as a little kid and the logo turned out to be a drawing of a young me holding up the whole world with all my friends my homies helping behind me.
“It’s a crazy true story but the other day I picked up my nephew who is 5 years old and goes to the same school,” she continues. “They kept the logo! It was on the crest of his uniform. Now I got no credit for it [laughs]. But then I knew that I was being taken seriously. When I was 10, I got involved in branding and graphics.”
It’s one thing to be upset with your school’s logo, but it’s quite another to go out and work on changing it. Aside from the muted colors, Byrd can’t remember exactly what the old logo was, but by the age of 10 she knew deep down that it didn’t fit the environment she was studying in.
“I grew up in downtown Los Angeles,” she says. “I went to school with Korean kids, Indian kids, and Mexican kids. I looked at the logo and thought this doesn’t reflect me and my rainbow tribe. It didn’t make me feel good. When I saw this art, I felt something, and that’s when I knew how I wanted to feel.”
Photo by Bryan Villacres
Since her earliest days, Byrd has been attuned to her surroundings and allows everything she experiences to seep into her personal creativity. It may have started with her grandmother’s eclectic sense of style and affinity for Asian furniture, as Byrd saw the time she spent in her home as an influence on her preferred color palettes.
Everything was thrown into high gear when she arrived in New York City to attend St. John’s University. It was at St. John’s that Byrd earned a degree in divinity, an achievement that at first seems atypical but makes perfect sense three minutes into a conversation with the artist. But theology wasn’t the only reason Byrd moved to the city — she came to New York to make her fashion dreams come true, and inspired by every inch of the Five Boroughs, she made it happen.
Byrd’s talent was there from the start — a teacher once told her her creativity was “the only gift she has,” in a somewhat sneaky compliment — and when she was thrown into a new environment, she blossomed.
“I feel like New York is a special place,” says Byrd. “That [essence] reflected in art and fashion over the decades. Whether it’s a subculture like the punk scene or the hip-hop scene, [New York] is a whirlwind for artists. Yes, it’s messy. Yes, it smells like piss. But there’s a strange beauty in the overstimulation of everything.
“For an artist’s mind, this sensory overload makes you think like a kid saying, ‘Look at that! Look at that!’” she continues. “All these different vibes offer an escape from a more mundane reality. Especially post-COVID, there is a renaissance of creative people doing many special things.”
In Los Angeles, where Byrd grew up and lived until recently moving back to New York, people tend to live in a bubble. It is not necessarily a lifestyle choice but is influenced by the environment. People don’t pile on top of each other on the Left Coast, and commuting by car is a very different ballgame than riding the subway. Sure, the weather’s great, but the lifestyle has robbed Byrd of one of her favorite activities, one that’s key to her personal style.
“I love people-watching,” she explains. “Seeing people’s street style is a huge inspiration. You can see a grandpa outfit and think, “I really like how these pants fall on these New Balances, I like that.” Or see an entrepreneur and the energy with which her heels hit the concrete. That’s a different vibe – you’re a warrior! And that is super inspiring.”
Given her penchant for chaotic simulations, Byrd also experiences the downside of a brain that’s always moving at a million miles an hour. Finding a way to switch off and find some stillness was difficult until she was introduced to meditation around the age of 12, so the concept of cultivating quiet spaces is very important to her.
This is evident in the spaces she creates for herself, both through curating the elements she surrounds herself with and through designing pieces of furniture. Most people may not be conscious of the overall flow and mood of their living space, but that doesn’t mean they don’t keep them in their minds all the time.
“That’s why people have FOMO when they go on vacation or why they want to leave their house,” she explains. “What about your home doesn’t make you feel good? You will do the same if you go somewhere nicer. Designing a space to be comfortable and visually appealing affects our mood. If your room is painted black, it creates a much darker mood than yellow or pink. Seeing how this affects our mental health was my personal reason to get into furniture design. Interior design is very important to me.”
Photo by Bryan Villacres
It could be argued that there is no more important space to feel good than your own skin. This is why fashion and style play such a big role in our lives. And what is a tattoo if not fashion that cannot be taken off?
Byrd’s tattoo journey began when she was 16 and had a script that read “Stay True” inked on her inner biceps. Unlike most teenagers, she didn’t make a clandestine trip to the tattoo parlor or go to great lengths to hide the piece — her mom was on board with the decision from the start.
“My mom was always pretty damn cool,” she laughs. “She was the hashtag cool mom in high school. She always allowed me to be myself. I wanted my ears pierced to the cartilage, my hair has been dyed since I was fifth grade, the tattoo was a natural ‘what next?’ She said she’d rather have a tattoo than a piercing, so I went for the tattoo.”
As someone who often finds herself modeling behind the scenes in addition to being the creative director, Byrd has heard everything from people saying she should shy away from getting a tattoo. That she won’t get a job. That no brand will hire her if she’s tattooed. Following the mantra of that first ink, Byrd has stayed true.
“I never wanted to fit into anything, it always freaked me out,” she says. “I got my hands tattooed when I was 18 because I didn’t want to work in an office. If they don’t want that, I get that [laughs]. In front of the camera, people would say I couldn’t model, but I have a variety of modeling contracts. I know it will work, so I create my own reality from that perspective. I love art and couldn’t imagine not having tattoos as it leads to a more artistic life.”
Byrd certainly lives her life artfully, with an emphasis on “life.” When people collect designer clothes or expensive sneakers, many view the purchases as buying art rather than just buying clothes. But these items weren’t designed to sit on a shelf, they were meant to be carried.
“I spend money on my clothes wear them,” she says. “If it gets dirty, yeah that sucks, you can clean it. And if it doesn’t, it makes the story more interesting. I feel like in this era of Instagram influencer content, a lot of people are turning dress strictly for photos, but there’s still nothing better than going to dinner in an outfit that you make an effort to wear. It feels good.”
Byrd will make no exception for the pair of sneakers gifted to her by this issue’s guest creative director, Dominic Ciambrone – a custom-made pair of Travis Scotts with snakeskin. “These are my new favorite sneakers, they’re crazy,” she says. “I’ll carry her into the ground. I know a lot of people buy a pair of Dom’s shoes and hang them on the wall, but the art is that they’re shoes. They have a functionality and the art is in how you put them together. Art is how people perceive it.”
Art and creativity flow into every aspect of Brittany Byrd’s life. She uses her gift to transform the world around her into a place she wants to be while being inspired by all the good things around her. Many aspire to live artfully; Brittany Byrd is one of the few who actually do it.