AIDA AVIS
FASHION & BEAUTY
Words
STACY STEWART SMITH
Photography
KEVIN SINCLAIR
These wings can fly, but you have no place for my voyage, having contained me in a space where I may never put them to the test. We could fly away together, but prophetic revelations grace my mind in perpetual precaution. One day my kind will come for me, and we shall be victorious. I have seen them from your window. They have yet to assemble, for we are patient like a starry sky.
Mules PROENZA SCHOULER, tights PHILOSOPHY DI LORENZO SERAFINI.
Dress HERVE LEGER, shoes PROENZA SCHOULER.
AIDA AVIS
Words by Stacy Stewart Smith
Like a whisper of the feminine, you cannot grasp me, for I am like a snow-white feather floating, descending, and then suddenly ascending in the wind. You reach for me, assisting the force that transports my thoughts far away to my dreams.
Look at me.
Captive among your kind, I am as well overwrought with vi- brating harmonies like plumes stringing from my heart and filling a virtuous cavern. You envision a servant to act and to fetch and to mock and to flutter, but I am not property. Herein dwells a legendary princess garbed in tiers of Chantilly, but you have made me the mere sum of my parts. You envision the surface, but beneath this is a royal maiden waiting for your tender kiss to release me.
Lightness is life.
These wings can fly, but you have no place for my voyage, having contained me in a space where I may never put them to the test. We could fly away together, but prophetic revelations grace my mind in perpetual precaution. One day my kind will come for me, and we shall be victorious. I have seen them from your window. They have yet to assemble, for we are patient like a starry sky.
I love you with all my soul.
Oh, my love, how do I choose between you and my present incarnation? Shall I wrap myself in bridal finery and wait for you? Walking upon delicate glass heels, I can pose in pristine pleats and fancy textiles to attract you. Shall I make a nest with you, or do I look for another? Oh, my love, can you not see that I am an angel imprisoned in your airless palace? Can you not behold that you are not unlike me, as well, a captive bird only in a larger cage?
Is this my own Tartarus, or is it yours?
Shall I love you or despise your existence for enchanting me with your smile? You know, on occasion I watch your lovemaking. Out of the corner of my eye, I once caught the flashing reflection of your chrome belt buckle upon his muscular thigh. On another instance, I gasped at the slight ruffle of your white cotton shirt, clinging to her bosom and over her ripe nipple.
Your ambiguity wraps around me like a majestic, sensual suggestion. You have taken my wings and left in their place your visage as white silk crepe crossing my back. Staring at the ceiling with a hole in my heart, I wait for your embrace. However, the arms of your affection are around another. I long for you each day when I climb the stairs that lead me nowhere, and when I stand near the basin to behold my reflection and to drink thereof.
I see you and scream, but you do not hear me.When all hope has been exhausted, you come to me with a treat. With forgiveness in my heart, I take from you my sustenance. You scream something to me, but I do not understand. How do I get your attention? Perhaps if I call your name, you will take notice? As I try to pronounce it—cracked screams fill the air.
You shriek again. Could this be my name; what are you saying? Let me try and repeat this aloud.
I love you, Aida. I love you, Aida. I love you, Aida. And for this love, I will reach my feathered wing out to you. Until death do us part.
Always
Dress ROBERTO CAVALLI, mules PROENZA SCHOULER.
Shirt PALMER HARDING, shoes PROENZA SCHOULER.
Blouse GARCIA
Photography & Styling Kevin Sinclair Hair & make up Elsa Canedo (using Oribe Hair Care) Model Caroline Neal (Wilhelmina)