Meet Jennifer Vanilla, the New York–Based Performance Artist Designing One-of-a-Kind Merch

Entering the closet-size kosher diner B&H Dairy off of Saint Marks Place on a sweltering August afternoon, Becca Kauffman—otherwise known by her stage name Jennifer Vanilla—is easy to spot. Wearing a white T-shirt that says, “I’d Rather Be Jennifering,” her hair is cropped into a short bowl cut and dyed bleach blonde. Kauffman is a performer at heart: She reels off jokes in the old-timey voice of a ’40s movie actress, but within minutes of chatting, we move onto her creative process—at which point she begins speaking with the utmost care. She’s here, after all, to help me understand the link between her onstage persona as Jennifer, and as the artist Becca Kauffman.

Originally from Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Ridgewood, Queens, Kauffman has spent her life deeply entrenched in the performing arts. As a child, she took dance classes, already picturing herself as an experimental artist living in the East Village. When she first graduated from college and relocated to New York a decade ago, Kauffman sang jazz standards at bars and participated in what she refers to as a “radical marching band.” Shortly afterward, she took her talents as a vocalist to Ava Luna—the Brooklyn art-rock ensemble known for, among other things, covering Serge Gainsbourg’s Histoire de Melody Nelson in full—and began writing music with the kind of intricate melodies that drop off seemingly in midair. But while on hiatus from the band in 2015, Kauffman revisited her early childhood dreams of becoming a performance artist, and Jennifer Vanilla began to take shape.

For Kauffman, Jennifer Vanilla became a multifarious object that allowed her to explore questions of gender, fashion, and the complexities of her own self-confidence. Jennifer Vanilla is a surrogate, or “a fake,” as Kauffman calls her. “I have to put her ahead of me to sort of clear the way, and then internally I’m making all these decisions in the moment, but through this sheen or presentation of total fluency and trust in herself,” she adds. This self-assuredness often comes from what she wears. In the past, that’s taken the form of clip-on, Ariana Grande–inspired ponytails and all-pink outfits, but Jennifer’s aesthetic has also gone down a Laurie Anderson–inspired route too. Think: Cheeto-orange hair, neon blue windbreakers, and silver bodysuits in the vein of the late noughties. Lately, however, Kauffman’s byzantine performance project has shifted, and these days Jennifer Vanilla can more often be found living backstage—metaphorically, anyway.

The change came during her second U.S. tour this past February. Kauffman notes that things began as usual: She arrived in Athens, Georgia, to headline a music festival that highlights solo artists. Then, like any artist touring the country alone, she befriended a group of students—they all had mullets, so she got one herself, marking the beginning of what Kauffman refers to as a “transformative hair journey.” As she moved across the country, her hair changed continuously. She dyed it red, then orange; later, she chopped it even shorter. By the time she returned to New York, she felt like a completely different person—and, more significantly, a different artist. “Usually, my ideas will dictate how my hair is going to change, but this time the hair changed and then dictated who I would become. The whole process had to shift as a result. I feel like there was Jennifer Vanilla before the hair and Jennifer Vanilla after,” says Kauffman.

Several haircuts and six months later, Kauffman has thought a lot about how she wants to evolve her act and her aesthetic. For starters, she’s moving away from pure performance art, and lately has opted to DJ during her sets. “The risk that I’m taking right now is learning how to DJ, and working that into my live set. [Jennifer sets are] becoming a little less performative, [and I’m] changing up [my audience’s] impression of who Jennifer is. I’m curious to find out what happens when I’m slightly more subdued,” she explains of the pivot. The result of this transitional phase is an EP titled J.E.N.N.I.F.E.R., which is a blend of techno-oriented production and Kauffman’s highly stylized and performative vocals. The first song, “Space Time Motion,” is out now along with an accompanying video that perfectly captures Kauffman’s offbeat style.

One thing that has remained constant is Kauffman’s one-of-a-kind merch. She makes T-shirts where the only parameter is that they must include the word Jennifer; to make the shirts, she’ll iron on letters individually and construct a phrase spontaneously. For custom orders, sometimes she’ll ask a little bit about the person who ordered. She almost never repeats a phrase, although when we chat she mentions that she’s making five T-shirts that say “100% Jennifer,” (long story short, the musician Jerry Paper wore a shirt with that phrase on it, then someone in the audience saw it and formed a band of the same name).

As for Kauffman’s personal style? She tells me her sartorial inspiration lies in the concept of the handsome woman: Kauffman doesn’t feel super comfortable in dresses and skirts, and prefers to err on the side of androgyny. “I’ve been somewhat liberated from the need to come across as accessibly feminine, without feeling as if I’ve failed in some way,” she adds. And even if her understanding of this alter ego has developed radically across the course of this year, it eventually comes back to her work as Jennifer Vanilla. For Kauffman as a DJ and a performer, it’s all about feeling free. By coming to terms with her own vulnerabilities, she’s finally able to make art that feels like an authentic extension of the self.

The Story Behind Leon Bridges’s Show-Stealing Afropunk Look

A few days before Afropunk took over Brooklyn’s Commodore Barry Park this past weekend, singer-songwriter Leon Bridges stopped by designer Emily Bode’s sun-dappled Chinatown studio to pick out the perfect onstage look. Bridges first discovered Bode when he was getting a suit tailored at Martin Greenfield a few years ago, and spotted one of her shirts hanging in the shop. “I had never seen anything like it,” says Bridges. “I thought it was such an interesting piece.”

The musician’s style has evolved over the years, and Bode has played a central role in that transition. “I started out with a very specific ’50s, ’60s kind of thing—suits only—and the more I’ve grown and matured, I’ve wanted to keep that same aesthetic, but do it in a more modern way.” When it came to updating Bridges’s wardrobe, Bode was the obvious answer. From the day he first laid eyes on Bode’s work, the pair have developed a fruitful working relationship: Bridges memorably wore a custom mustard yellow Bode suit—covered with hand-drawn references to Bridges’s home state of Texas—to the Grammys this past year. Surprisingly, perhaps, the two have only recently met for the first time in person.

Bridges, dressed in an olive green bowling shirt, flared black pants, and gold-accented Gucci loafers, carefully combs through the racks of Bode’s historically grounded handiwork. “The foundation of the brand is domestic textiles that are female-centric in nature, so quilting, mending, appliqué,” Bode says while Bridges picks out three pieces that exemplify this ethos. First, there’s a linen jacket made in India emblazoned with a classic tiger patch, which Bode recreated from the central emblem of a ’50s sports sweater that she originally bought while at college. Then, Bridges sets aside two different shirts made from souvenir tablecloths: typically purchased by World War II soldiers who were stationed abroad, one is more sheer than the other. “They purchased them for their wives or their girlfriends who were back home,” Bode says. “I have one from my grandfather. You see it a lot in vintage stores—sometimes they’re table runners, or sometimes they’re silk underwear from the ’40s that are too delicate to be touched.”

Bridges knew that he wanted to wear one of Bode’s standout pieces to Afropunk. It’s partly thanks to her breathable pieces being capable of withstanding the New York City summer heat, but also because the festival shifted his understanding of his audience in a crucial way early on in his career. “I played Afropunk Paris when I released my first album, and it was a beautiful experience—just beautiful black people. At that time I had the perception that my music wasn’t reaching the black community in a way, but that [performance] totally squashed that perception.”

By the time Bridges takes the stage at the festival itself, he’s narrowed down his selection to the more lightweight shirt of the two: embroidered with miniature trees and pagodas, it serves as a neat reminder of the textile’s WWII-era origins. Bridges has worn two jackets from Bode in that same silhouette in the past. “It’s kind of cropped—soldiers would take military shirts and crop them themselves and have them embroidered, so that’s the idea that we translate into our classic silhouettes,” Bode says.

It’s this preoccupation with the past that is woven through both Bode and Bridges’s work, making their partnership feel completely natural. “I feel like with our brand, the goal is to have shapes that are classic and materials that are comfortable and historic,” adds Bode. “You can take one of our garments and put it in a photograph and not really know what period it’s from. I think Leon’s music speaks to that as well.” She’s right: the very same could be said of the sight of Bridges onstage at Afropunk. Dressed in that sheer shirt and classic blue jeans, his outfit feels somehow both utterly timeless and perfectly of the moment.

Priyanka Chopra Has Found Summer’s Perfect Slip Dress

If summer has one essential, it’s a slip dress. When temperatures rise, it instantly becomes the most cherished closet staple: both effortlessly chic and lightweight enough to withstand the heat. And while there’s no shortage of options available, today Priyanka Chopra stepped out in New York wearing a patterned version that stood above the rest. The actress’s ice blue look, from LA-based label Hale Bob, featured a paisley print filled with illustrations of marine life. Though it took a moment of closer inspection to appreciate the details of coral, fish, and crustaceans, the playful print is what instantly makes the dress more than just a standard summer staple.

Priced at $338, Chopra’s silk dress isn’t Zara-level affordable, but it’s the kind of conversation starting statement piece that ends up earning far more than its value through cost-per-wear. Paired with a petite Ferragamo Boxyz bag in a coordinating shade of blue and glossy nude sandals, the outfit had just the right amount of cool to counteract the current warm front. And fresh from her birthday celebrations last week, what better way to indulge than in a little window shopping to find new sartorial options to beat the heat? For now, though, it seems Chopra has summer dressing covered.

Kim Kardashian West Introduces Kimono, a Shapewear Line “for Every Body”

This morning Kim Kardashian West finally lifted the curtain on her latest project, which has been buzzing about the news for a while now: a line of inclusive shapewear that she’s calling Kimono. The Vogue cover girl, lawyer-to-be, and beauty mogul has been working passionately on this collection for the last year, as she noted in the caption for her Instagram post featuring Kimono’s campaign imagery, which was shot by Vanessa Beecroft (a frequent collaborator with Kanye West). “Kimono is my take on shapewear and solutions for women that actually work,” Kardashian West added. “I would always cut up my shapewear to make my own styles, and there have also been so many times I couldn’t find a shapewear color that blended with my skin tone, so we needed a solution for all of this.” Kardashian West follows in the footsteps of Rihanna, who made her game-changing push for inclusivity and diversity at Fenty Beauty and Savage x Fenty. Describing the imagery, Kardashian West continued, “The third pic is a solution short. I developed this style for all of those times I wanted to wear a dress or skirt with a slit and still needed the support.”

The Kimono Solutionwear line (not officially shapewear) will be available in sizes XXS to 4XL and in nine shades. There is no official launch date as of yet, but Kardashian West has undoubtedly stirred up excitement around the drop through this sneak peek. Of everything Mrs. Kardashian West has done, from makeup to perfume, this launch seems particularly apt for a woman whose body has, controversially, been the subject of many a conversation on TV and social media and in the news. “I’ve been passionate about this for 15 years,” Kardashian West added in her caption this morning. Beecroft’s imagery certainly evokes a sense of female empowerment, and we’d venture to guess that Kardashian West will reach countless women with her new Solutionwear, helping them to feel as confident in their own skin as she is in hers.

First Kendall, Now Gigi Is Bringing Back This Grungy Shoe

While many stylish celebrities are embracing quirky shoe trends such as plastic heels or dad sneakers, there’s a crew of models who prefer the timeless appeal of the grungy Dr. Martens lace-up. The thick-sole’d shoe, which was a classic choice on the ’90s punk scene, has been repeatedly worn by Kendall Jenner in the past month and now, Gigi Hadid is putting her stamp on it, too, albeit with an unexpected twist.

Hitting the streets of New York City today, Hadid was spotted wearing the original black Dr. Martens combat boot. But instead of styling it with an obvious rock ’ n ’ roll getup, she slipped on her signature athleisure instead, giving the chunky footwear a fresh, modern feel. She paired the shoes with a white hoodie by Mandkhai and monogram-printed sweat pants by Burberry, which had a side racing stripe detail. Meanwhile, a navy baseball cap, cross-body buckle bag by Prada, and tiny, round sunglasses finished the look off with sleek polish. Now, the official saying is that three’s a trend, but when both Kendall and Gigi wear something? It means the trend is fast-tracked towards becoming a thing.