︎001: Xander
Photography: Chad Hilliard
Interview: Ian Giocondo
It’s hard to imagine a dancefloor presence more quintessentially New York than Xander’s. From Tunnel to Twilo in the late 90s, to an iconic stint as doorgirl at Meatpacking club APT, and now as a central figure and original family member of New York institution The Carry Nation, Xander has been turning it severely to the sound of the city’s queer house music for the last 25 years. There’s no doubt: the looks are untouchable. She continues to raise the bar for New York City It Girls while also being a steadfast champion of authenticity and bringing out the best in everyone around her. Xander is head cheerleader for Team New York.
My prompt to Xander for the shoot was to style three looks and choose a location in the city that means a lot to them. We shot an editorial look, a streetwear look, and a third look on the playground at Maria Hernandez Park, Xander’s chosen location, just a few blocks away from his home. Our conversation begins with a reflection on the shoot and from there we talk about his upbringing in North Carolina, his early years in New York, the influence of Junior Vasquez, the value of time versus money in fashion, what it means to be a fabulous eccentric, and a feature on an upcoming Eli Escobar record. The look goes as follows…
Interview edited for flow and clarity.
My prompt to Xander for the shoot was to style three looks and choose a location in the city that means a lot to them. We shot an editorial look, a streetwear look, and a third look on the playground at Maria Hernandez Park, Xander’s chosen location, just a few blocks away from his home. Our conversation begins with a reflection on the shoot and from there we talk about his upbringing in North Carolina, his early years in New York, the influence of Junior Vasquez, the value of time versus money in fashion, what it means to be a fabulous eccentric, and a feature on an upcoming Eli Escobar record. The look goes as follows…
Interview edited for flow and clarity.
Xander: Look 1, the editorial look, held the most emotional weight for me. The silhouette honors my good friend Bobbie who loved Vivienne Westwood. Bobbie’s not here anymore but her thoughts and ideas still live with me, and I wanted to use this opportunity to honor that. When she passed, her parents gifted me the mirror you see in the photos, and I wanted to make sure this Westwood reference was so strong that I could feel her presence telling me “bring it sis!” It was so important for me to capture that moment.
The street look represents my everyday attire. The two backdrops we used represent the modern realness of the streets of Bushwick. When we were walking down the street and saw the eye in that mural, I knew that shot would be impactful because I’m always trying to put myself in dialogue with the idea of the optic. I’m looking at the camera, and the eye is looking too, and there’s so much color that color itself is staring back at you. So much color that I’m actually camouflaged into the wall. I didn’t expect that, but that’s what I was going for.
Then, the shot of me shopping for fruits. I mean, there’s something to be said about the idea of me blending into my natural habitat around a bunch of fruits, you know what I mean?
Haha. I do. So what’s the significance for you of being photographed on the streets in Bushwick?
Well, there’s really no debate — Bushwick is now an epicenter of culture. The speed at which creative energy flows from the mind to the streets here through art, music, and conversation is really fast. So to be on these streets that have inspired me so much really means a lot. I moved to Bushwick to be closer to my friends and to have access to locations that are meeting grounds for our community.
Yes. Exactly. And I answered every question, I checked every box, I’m every pronoun in this shoot. Like, looking at these photos, you can’t choose a category for me, a pronoun for me, a situation for me. He, she, they, all of it. And everything in between, from high fashion to street fashion, to ready-to-wear to easy-to-wear to difficult-to-wear… to where is she going? To why are they there? And you can see it because I’m living in it.
And what about Look 3, the playground look?
The playground shoot was really important. As a kid, playgrounds were places of turmoil for me because the bullies and the mean girls would come for me. I had to learn how to be myself in a place that wasn’t always safe for me. So I chose the playground as a way to repurpose that space into one where I can finally play and be myself safely.
Speaking of your childhood, what do you want people to know about your background and the way you grew up?
Well, it’s what, 2023? And I moved here in 1998, from North Carolina. I always wanted to be somebody different. I knew I was gonna be somebody, but I wanted to be somebody different, so moving to New York was a natural transition. My mother lived here before me — she was a dancer.
What kind of dancer?
Modern dancer. And she loved New York. She went to Studio 54 and really understood the vibe and energy of being an artist in the city. And she also understood what it meant to be an “other” because she was a black woman from the South and moved around to all these different places in her life. And then when she got to New York, she realized she was among a bunch of others, but amazing others. So when I told her I wanted to move to New York, that was kind of a no-brainer for her; she was like “that makes sense.” So I moved here when I was seventeen to go to NYU and I’ve been here ever since.