Surfing, Skateboarding, Music, Photography, Travel, Culture and general antics of the youth on the run.

Girl We Adore: Chelsea Elayne Young Thug, MOB grip and Tech shame. Photography by Darren Ankenman

what youth girl we adore chelsea elayne photographed bydarren ankenman

What’s your full name?

Personal brand guideline to never disclose my full name online ;)

Where are you from and where do you live now?

I’m from a suburb outside LA and live in Franklin Village.

What exactly is your day to day job as a social media strategist?

Anything from crafting a brand’s voice to directing the creative of what’s being posted to shit posting on twitter.

Being a social media guru, what can you say about the importance of social media today?

From a brand perspective it’s absolutely necessary that you have a strong presence, obviously. From a personal perspective – meh. Depends what you want out of your account. Not gonna lie though, being found on tumblr (cringe) is how I got a bunch of freelance writing gigs in college.

What is the best piece of advice you could give to someone who is trying to gain a [respectable] audience?

Stop trying to make memes.

How in the F*** did you end up on MOB grip tape?

Lmao I was at the San Diego swap meet with my boyfriend and we we passed a booth and I was like holy shit that’s my ass on that grip tape. I shot with Van Styles a few years ago and I guess he did a collab with MOB? I was never contacted about it. My boyfriend was mortified. We walked away but then he realized if he didn’t buy it, some kid would have my ass on their skateboard. We went back and bought it, then he made me carry it around all day as a scarlet letter. Anyway still waiting for that check to be cut.

Has anyone ever recognized you from it?

Haha not from the grip tape specifically, but from social media yes.

Tattoos have clearly become a big part of your self expression, when did you get your first?

I was 21, it was a graduation gift from my parents. Now they try to roast me as a way to dissuade me from getting anymore.

What makes a good tattoo/what is your personal favorite?

My guy @duncanlemmon makes a great tattoo haha. I think my favorite is the scorpion on my leg that he did, or the rose on my upper thigh.

How would you describe your sense of style?

Grown-up tomboy? Something like that. My mom calls me “a little scruffy” but I take that with a grain of salt because if she styled me I’d look like the 2017 version of Summer from the OC.

Where do you find inspiration?

I try to look offline for inspiration, not in a tech-shame “get off your phone and go on a walk!!” way, but mostly because a large chunk of visually interesting books haven’t been digitized. Also we exist in aesthetic bubbles online that are sometimes hard to escape (for example, every fucking feminine brand we see on Instagram is branded with millennial pink, a fig leaf plant and proxima nova typeface).

What are you listening to?

Title Fight, Trapped Under Ice, Young Thug, The War on Drugs, Vince Staples.

Where do you go to find new tunes?

Spotify, Soundcloud.

What modern album have you been most impressed with?

Young Thug’s Beautiful Thugger Girls.

Check Chelsea out on Instagram here.

Photograpy by Darren Ankenman.

Girl We Adore: Bleu Archbold Painting, Japan and underwear dancing. Photography by Shayna Colvin

WHAT YOUTH: What’s your full name? Bleu Grace Archbold. Do you have any nicknames? My real name is already kind of a nickname, but my friends call me “Baby Bleu” and my brother calls me Biru — but I have no idea why [laughs]. Where were you born and where are you currently living? Dana…

Girl We Adore Sara Tansy

Girl We Adore: Sara Tansy Don’t get married and when the world ends

What’s your full name? Sara Tansy. Do you have any nicknames? Letans. Where were you born and where are you currently living? Born in Fiji, living in Melbourne. What are the last 5 songs you Shazmmed? Sometimes – the Drones, 1977 Ana Tijoux, Welcome to the world – Gorillaz ft Snoop Dog, The Neighborhood –…

what youth girl we adore

Girl We Adore: Chloe Lynn Bilsland Stick and poke tattoos and getting naked at school

What Is your full name? Chloe Lynn Bilsland Do you have any nicknames? Either Chlochella or Mick (I guess my friends think I look like Mick Jagger). Where were you born and where are you currently living? I was raised near Malibu and for some reason moved to Chicago to study art. Will you send…

what youth girl we adore leah darren ankenman

Girl We Adore: Leah Doornick A flower-drying musician from Los Angeles

What is your full name? Leah Doornink. Do you have any nicknames? Sometimes Oko if somebody doesn’t really know my real name yet, otherwise noooope. Where were you born and where are you currently living? I’ve lived in Los Angeles my whole life. I’ve been in Echo Park for the past few years. Will you…

what youth girl we adore valentina darren ankinman

Girl We Adore: Valentina Ruby Sykes A model seamstress jeweler from Melbourne, Australia

WHAT YOUTH: What’s your full name? VALENTINA SKYES: Valentina Ruby Sykes Do you have any nicknames? Vee Where were you born and where are you currently living? Born in Melbourne, currently in Sydney and moving to LA next week! Will you send us a selfie? What do you wonder about the most? What do cats…

what youth girl we adore grace

Girl We Adore: Grace Van Dien From What Youth Issue 12 shot by Darren Ankenman

Do you have any nicknames?  “Spacey Gracey” is my most fitting one. When I was younger my family called me Smeagol and loved hearing me say “My precious.” And my friends call me Grachalingus Van-Dingus. Where were you born? I grew up in Malibu and moved out of my parents house to live in Santa…

what youth girl we adore Molly Steele

Girl We Adore: Molly Steele A train-hopping wanderer from a swampy puddle in Florida

We heard about Molly through a friend of ours and the first thing they told us is: My friend Molly is crazy and shoots rad photos and she’s a babe. Ask her about hopping trains and how many times she’s been arrested. Say no more, we were in. And here she is. WHAT YOUTH: What’s…

what youth girl we adore

Girl We Adore: Clare Gillies The president of the Jane Austen book club lives in New York

Do you have any nicknames? Bear/Clarebear and sometimes queaks…I have a…unique voice;) Where did you come from and where do you now live? I’m from CT originally, but I live in NYC now. If you could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, who would it be? I would pick my great grandma. She…

Girl we adore rachel what youth girls

Girl We Adore: Rachel Yampolsky A transplant from the Arizona desert

What’s your full name? Rachel Ann Yampolsky Do you have any nicknames? Sweet Potato. Where did you come from? Tucson, Arizona. What do you love about that place? I love waking up super early in the morning, before the heat and riding my bike around the neighborhood. Least favorite thing about that place? The summers….

Shayna Colvin Photography, Annie McGinty, Girls, What Youth Girls, Girl W Adore

Girl We Adore: Annie McGinty A Nick Cave fan from the Midwest

What Youth: What’s your full name? Annie: Annie Elizabeth McGinty Do you have any nicknames? Annie-banannie, McG Where did you come from? Columbus, Ohio. What do you love about that place? Sports, family and friends. Least favorite thing about that place? Freezing cold winters Would you send us a selfie?   What do you wonder…

what youth girl we adore

Girl We Adore: Yvonne Logan The new California girl

WHAT YOUTH: Do you have any nicknames?  YVONNE: If people can’t pronounce my first name right, they usually call me “Livy.” Where did you come from? I’m from Costa Mesa, California. Would you send us a selfie? What do you wonder about? I wonder about the future, like most people, and wonder why we haven’t…

girl we adore what youth irie jean

Girl We Adore: Irie Jean Calkins Presented by Amuse Society

Meet Irie. A rare and delicate discovery from Huntington Beach of all places. We recently did a shoot with her for our Cluster issue way back when [What Youth Issue 10], and we got to hang out with her. Then this other time we got mexican food with her and asked her silly questions. Like these: WHAT…

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