Photo: Courtesy of David Mushegain1/14Lily-Rose Depp, photographed for Our City of Angels; Stella Maxwell
Photo: Courtesy of David Mushegain2/14Lily-Rose Depp
“Lily to me is awesome, because, number one, she is an Angeleno. I mean, she is European but she was raised in L.A., and I love the energy of kids raised in L.A. There is something about L.A. that makes you grow up quick, so the younger people are so dynamic early on. One day we decided to take pics for the magazine, and I just thought it would be cool for her to be holding her own head. Why I am not sure, maybe because her face is so tiny, actually she’s tiny, and I was like, ‘Wow! Imagine you holding your head in your hand.’ Sounds kind of odd, but why not? Paris is a bit odd. Lily is a bit odd. I am a bit odd.”
Photo: Courtesy of David Mushegain3/14“Veruschka is the real deal. We took this in Central Park in 2002. She always told me, ‘Dave, if you were around in the ’60s and ’70s you would have been one of the biggest photographers.’ I think she said that because the photographer was really one with the model then. All of the photographers then had these amazing muses they loved and married and fought with and loved again. It was much more personal and real as far as I can see.”
Photo: Courtesy of David Mushegain4/14Erin Wasson
“When I first started shooting, this type of photo was considered ‘lifestyle’ and not ‘fashion.’ I tried to get the point across that this is fashion and this was where fashion was heading. Erin has a way of just being so natural in photos. I love this energy. I can’t stand all of the posed nonsense unless of course it’s over the top and not trying too much.”
Photo: Courtesy of David Mushegain5/14Erin Wasson
“Here is one more of Erin. I love mixing locals with the models. It’s really fun, and also if you cast the right people you can get a photo that will have relevance for years to come.”
Photo: Courtesy of David Mushegain6/14Malcolm McLaren, Gene Krell
“Malcolm and Gene and me. What can I say? Two people who effected popular culture so much whether others know it or not.”
Photo: Courtesy of David Mushegain7/14In 2011, Mushegain had an exhibition at Colette, “Don’t Call It Cool.” “This is the cover of my exhibition book. It’s of Ratty Matty. I met Ratty when he was, like, 5 years old, in Newport Beach. We stayed close for many years. He came with me to Colette and set up a tattoo pop-up in the back of the shop. For me, giving kids an opportunity to shine and make connections and get on the road to what they want to be doing is very important.”
Photo: Courtesy of David Mushegain8/14Charlotte Free
“This is the first photo I ever took of Charlotte. I had met her at an arcade the day before. This was on the roof of her grandmother’s house. I remember looking at this photo and thinking, OMG, this girl is incredible. And she was and is. We flew to New York City the next day and she signed with IMG.”
Photo: Courtesy of David Mushegain9/14Staz Lindes
“A couple of years ago Staz called me and was pretty bummed on the whole modeling trip. I told her, ‘Stop trying to be a . . . model and just be yourself. Move back to L.A. where you grew up, play music. Do you and be you.’ She moved back to L.A. and she started playing her music and then everything fell into place.”
Photo: Courtesy of David Mushegain10/14”I was in Japan when the Chili Peppers came to town. I went to the show with the boys and took off . . . to take some pics. Afterward we were sitting backstage eating dinner, and I showed Anthony and Flea some of the photos. Anthony saw this photo and said, ‘Dude, we need to document our fans and reconnect with them.’ It was the perfect theme, as the album was called I’m With You. We basically spent the next couple of years dissecting and connecting and reflecting, and we made a book called Fandemonium. This is the cover image. For me, the book is cool, but I think it will be much cooler in 50 years. The photos of today will look vintage then.”
Photo: Courtesy of David Mushegain11/14Stella Maxwell
“Stella is my family. I met [her] in Paris in the summer of 2011. I thought she was like a 1990s supermodel.”
Photo: Courtesy of David Mushegain12/14Ash Stymest
“Ash is probably one of my favorite people to hang out with. We have a lot of fun together and he’s a solid person. He is a trip, but I like his trip. We were introduced by Jeremy Scott.”
Photo: Courtesy of David Mushegain13/14“Here is Victoria Secret Angel Taylor Hill at 13 years old hanging out in L.A. I knew the second I met Taylor she was going to be a star. It was just obvious.”
Photo: Courtesy of David Mushegain14/14“I’m inspired by someone every time I go out the door, every time I walk down the street, every time I go to get a coffee, every time I go to eat, to the beach, for a bike ride, driving in traffic and looking into the car next to me. So many beautiful faces everywhere. This is Hailey Clauson with her eighth-grade class.”
