The dress code caused mass chaos in the group chats: “Dripping in romance,” taking inspiration from the night’s theme, “L.A. Vie en Rose.” Any good prompt is both esoteric and hyper-specific enough to let your imagination run wild (and trigger an existential crisis). But mostly, we used it as a framework for the kind of night we thought L.A. deserved: a sexy one — where we dressed up in patent leather boots, wore red lipstick and crushed rose petals under our feet on the dance floor.
The party, hosted by Soho Warehouse with drinks by 400 Conejos, felt like the only fitting way to celebrate our biggest issue of the year (our biggest issue ever, actually): Image Makers, a love letter to the creative directors, photographers, designers and artists who are shaping the look and feel of the city with their work, day in and day out.
The event featured a photo exhibition highlighting our subjects: leather designer Zana Bayne; latex designer Mariano Cortez; global girl group Katseye and their fashion fairy godfather Humberto Leon; stylist and Saint Helen’s House founder Zerina Akers; photographer Emanuel Hahn; costume designer Natasha Newman-Thomas; stylist Ann-Marie Hoang; Peruvian Parisian creative director Claudia Rivera; Parisian fashion designer Vincent Frederic-Colombo; creative director and photographer Eric Solis in collaboration with Planeta and Wavey; and leather goods craftsman Guillermo Cuevas. Earlier that night, the Image Makers gathered for an intimate dinner on the Soho Warehouse roof, where they received gift bags curated by fashion director at large Keyla Marquez. Each bag included a pair of Nike Shox contributed by Nike L.A., a custom keychain with charms personal to each Image Maker and a bandanna featuring every Image logo ever commissioned, created by Image’s design director Jessica de Jesus.
Party guests danced to the sounds of NoNo, Mia Carucci and Bianca Lexis late into the night and posed in a custom photo booth inspired by the party’s theme, created by production designer Zoe-Zoe (the artist who created our lettering for the Image Makers issue) and floral designer Gray Hong. Collectively, we dripped.
Advertisement
Curator Anita Herrera (left), Hoza Rodriguez, designer and co-founder of Planeta, and 2024 Image Maker.
Artist Barrington Darius.
Artists Alfonso Gonzalez Jr. (left) and Isaac Psalm Escoto a.k.a. Sickid.
Advertisement
Keyla Marquez, Image fashion director at large.
Actor Raquel Rojas.
Eric Kim, co-founder of Firmé Atelier and a 2023 Image Maker.
From left: Michael Anthony Hall, Blessing Greer-Mathurin, Shanelle Infante, Adigun Atanda and Meka Boyle.
Featured stylists Zerina Akers (left) and Ann-Marie Hoang.
Gotha Shakira, digital director and Image contributing writer (left), and Ann-Marie Hoang, featured stylist.
(Julissa James / Los Angeles Times)
Advertisement
Aria Davis, Nike Catalyst Brand Marketing Manager (left), and Maria Maea, artist and Image contributing writer.
Eric Solis, creative director, photographer, and 2024 Image Maker.
Keyla Marquez, Image fashion director at large (left) and Julissa James, Image staff writer.
From left to right: Humberto Leon, Elisa Wouk Almino, Image editorial director, and Jessica de Jesus, Image design director.
Dinner guests applauding Image’s editorial director Elisa Wouk Almino.
Dinner party photography by Image photo editor Calvin B. Alagot.
Advertisement
Musician, DJ and Image-featured artist Mia Carucci.
Image photo editor Calvin B. Alagot.
Model Lex Orozco-cabral (right).
Advertisement
Image contributing photographers Brittany Bravo (left) and Emanuel Hahn (center) with Leah Sarnoff.
“L.A. Vie en Rose” DJ, NoNo
Mario Ayala and Nathaniel Santos.
Advertisement
Stylist and costume designer Sailor D. Gonzales (left) and Rebecca Marquez.
Geo Solis, Image contributing photographer.
Paul Yem, Image contributing photographer (left) and Kate Kuo, Image Director of Photography 2021–2023.
(Calvin B. Alagot / Los Angeles Times)
Artist Jan Gatewood.
Advertisement
Image contributing photographers aliana mt (left) and Jennelle Fong.
(Leeban Farah / For The Times)
Image contributing producer Imani Lindsey of Mere Studios (left) and photographer Richard Brooks.
(Calvin B. Alagot / Los Angeles Times)
Mia Carucci, musician and DJ (left), Keyla Marquez, Image fashion director at large (center) Celina Rodriguez, creative director.
(Julissa James / Los Angeles Times)
Angel Martinez.
Advertisement
Artist Lance Rico.
Maria Maea and Zerina Akers.
Designer Zana Bayne.
Artist Sebastian Hernandez and Shirley Sosa.
From left to right: Gray Hong, floral designer and founder of Moon Jar Design, Zoe-Zoe, production designer and Image contributing artist, and Jessica de Jesus, Image design director.
Julissa James is a staff writer for Image, where she covers culture, style, fashion, art and L.A. She has been with the Los Angeles Times since 2019 and has written for the magazine since 2021.
