Looklyn: Meet Zion, a double-denim diva

By Johnny Cirillo

Personal style isn’t the same thing as fashion. It’s … more personal. It’s rooted in self, an outward expression of attitude, vibe, swag, panache, aspiration, time and place. In this semi-regular series called Looklyn, we hold a mirror up to the borough to show us how we dress now … and what it tells us about who we are.

Here, photographer Johnny Cirillo introduces us to Zion, who plans to study fashion merchandising in the fall, but in the mean time wants to inspire people to get out of their fashion comfort zone. Read more about her below.

Name: Zion Mabry
Age: 17
Pronouns: She/her
Occupation: High school senior
Where are you heading?: I expect to be heading to FIT in the fall for fashion merchandising, in order to further my passion of styling and perfect my craft when it comes to the field of fashion.

Fashion Inspo: A couple of my fashion inspirations would have to be @wuzg00d and @notoriouskia on Instagram, but I mainly gain inspiration from nature, by observing the colors that surround me and the way they compliment each other. However, my main source of inspiration derives from my emotions. I closely observe the way I want to feel on a certain day, and create an outfit that embodies the sentiments that I undergo at that specific point in time.

About the fit: With this outfit, I wanted to go for a more comfortable, yet stylish approach. Hence, my decision to pair the graphic sweatpants (comfortable) with the corset and bralette combo (stylish).

When it came down to the sneakers, I wanted to make sure I wore a shoe that complimented the scrunch of my sweatpants at the bottom, so my Nike Waffle Racers were the best shoe to contrast the bagginess of the sweatpants, due to their sleek, low-cut build. Additionally, the oversized bomber jacket that I bought from L train a couple years ago, perfectly compliments the graphic sweatpants with the yellow undertones on the back of my jacket (the yellow school bus), as well as the front of the jacket with the subtle yellow embroidery on the left-hand side. Since majority of the bomber jacket was black, it really helped enhance the brown within my corset and bralette, which further helped magnify the gold within my necklaces, rings, and bamboo earrings that I purchased from my local beauty supply store.

About me: In the beginning of March of this year, I made the unique decision to stack two pairs of True Religion jeans on top of each other. This unorthodox decision came to me while I was searching for an outfit while getting ready to hang out with a friend, and I realized I was tired of playing it safe when it came to how I wore pants. Therefore, I took two pairs of True Religion jeans that I thrifted from 2nd Street on Canal, and wore them in a way where both horseshoes on the back pockets were able to show; creating a doubling effect. When forming my outfits, pants play a major role when it comes to the composition of my looks.

With this said, the random idea to pair both pairs of True Religion jeans on top of each other sparked a creative side of me that I had suppressed for so long, due to my fear of judgement. Once I released my self from this fear, everything began to fall into place when it came to my fashion sense. Stacking two jeans has become a signature of mine, so I learned how to combine this signature look with various colors and patterns, as well as creating hairstyles that enhanced the artistic side of myself that has been in hiding for so long.

As I continued to post my creative looks on my Instagram page, my following has rapidly increased, and I’ve become more inspired to create out of the box lookbooks to help influence other people to explore out of their comfort zone when it comes to the world of fashion. Ultimately, fashion has saved my life in a plethora of ways that I can’t even begin to explain, and has helped me form great friendships with various artists both within and outside of my age bracket, as well as gift me with amazing opportunities such as this one!