Gigi Hadid reflects on Watching New York: ‘An important storyteller of our generation’

By Gigi Hadid and Johnny Cirillo

Julian (Photo by Johnny Cirillo)

If you ask me when I first started following Johnny’s Watching New York account, I don’t remember the exact moment, or how many years I’ve been following it. I do remember that his photos sparked the same joy that walking through the city and people-watching do for me. We all tend to see a repetitive group of public figures being photographed and published in their well-known styles, but to me it’s refreshing to scroll through people I don’t know who are so clearly expressing themselves in their own way.

The Bell Brothers (Photo by Johnny Cirillo)

New York is such a melting pot. I find the style here has a certain freedom of expression that, even in its wildest examples, is still based in reality of what you’ll encounter here.

Woman in blue coat (Photo by Johnny Cirillo)

Every time I see a Watching New York post, I am inspired by how the people of New York City find their own language in how they dress and tell their story. It inspires me to do the same. From seeing someone wear a piece in a new way, taking that concept to the design office with me, to someone just carrying their style so well that it makes me smile, I am constantly enjoying and studying what people are saying with what they wear.

Overalls (Photo by Johnny Cirillo)

Watching New York is an important storyteller of our generation in this city and has given the world outside of NYC the chance to experience just what makes the city magical with us.

Gizmo! (Photo by Johnny Cirillo)

This foreword was excerpted from: “Watching New York: Street Style A to Z” by Johnny Cirillo, published April 16 by Abrams Image. Cirillo has also chronicled street style for Brooklyn Magazine in his recurring Looklyn column.