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30 YEARS OF

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30 Years of Looking Back, Looking Forward.
The Out100 designates All That’s In.

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OUT100: SOPHIE, Artist of the Year
Out Exclusives

OUT100: SOPHIE, Artist of the Year

“My music is political, but talking about politics is boring. I’d rather have a more emotional conversation through the music."

There's electricity among the youthful crowd awaiting SOPHIE's emergence onstage inside Brooklyn Steel, a repurposed manufacturing plant. I stand mid-orchestra, pressed against Juul-sucking fans, as crimson lasers buzz overhead and a hum rumbles from the speakers. At stage right, the artist manifests, her form distorted behind a maze of screens. Slowly, she traverses the stage, a lithe silhouette, until she takes her place at its center. Swaddled in a gauzy wrap that billows over a latex skirt and rhinestone bralette, she arches her spine. Sounds crescendo into a cry of "Take me to Dubai" -- a tease of a new track of the same name -- and SOPHIE commands me to move.

That was September, and what I witnessed was a metaphor for the Scotland-born, Los Angeles-based producer-turned-pop-star's rising career, which has involved a hard-won struggle toward stepping into view. A little more than a year ago, "SOPHIE" was still a faceless moniker for a musician affiliated with producer A.G. Cook -- with whom she worked on material for soda-sapphic pop persona QT -- and the subgenre of PC Music, known for its exaggerated electronic riffs. Soon, questions swirled about SOPHIE's biography and gender. As she invited other artists to perform onstage in her place and avoided questions about her provenance, SOPHIE left most fans with only her name to go by. Many presumed she was a male studio geek hiding behind the feminine alias, a notion bolstered by interviews in The New York Times and Rolling Stone, in which the masculine pronoun was used.

But with the October 2017 release of the video for her single "It's Okay to Cry," we finally saw SOPHIE. I, was that a teardrop in your eye? I never thought I'd see you cry, she croons straight into the camera, her face framed by a pyramid of auburn-red curls and her hand caressing her cherry pout. The green-screen weather behind her shifts from marshmallow clouds to a thunderous downpour. This, clearly, was the moment that SOPHIE was ready to bare herself -- visually, emotionally, sonically -- and to fully embody her art as a singular entity.

Xeon_sophie_out100_100118_0554_f"That was just a time when everything aligned," SOPHIE says, speaking to me just after that September show, with a soft sense of hurt crackling in her voice. "Even now, it's difficult for me to reenter the headspace I was in before. It's not a totally natural state of being for me to be visible. But it's something I'm learning a lot from -- it can be helpful and nourishing to feel embodied. I didn't used to feel like my physical self bore any resemblance to what I felt inside."


Her reluctance to appear as a frontwoman was also, perhaps, an effort to detangle the whole identity narrative before it eclipsed her work. "My music is political, but talking about politics is boring," she says. "I'd rather have a more emotional conversation through the music. You can say something more multidimensional. Pop music is the most relevant format we have to discuss anything. A song can have meaning to people anywhere, without any context."

SOPHIE's music is an innovation when it comes to the electro-pop formula: a brain-tingling ecstasy of disparate (and often disorienting) synthetic sounds that are at once conceptual and surprisingly danceable. Her 2015 compilation album, Product, caught widespread attention with the sped-up, high-pitched vocals of "Bipp" and the fizzing bubble-pops of "Lemonade." SOPHIE says, "I make music to process my feelings;" however, the saccharine sweetness of her songs is often born of hard times. "Living in London -- sometimes I was really miserable, and [Product is] the music I created at that time. It certainly wasn't a celebration of feeling great or lemonade."

With this past June's release of SOPHIE's first studio album, Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides, which contains "It's Okay to Cry," the artist stuck to her signature plastic-pop vernacular while expanding to new, experimental territory. It's a vulnerable departure, with singles like the beat-heavy "Ponyboy," as well as "Faceshopping," which interrogates the line between artificiality and reality. It also boasts a roster of increasingly ambitious tracks, like "Is It Cold in the Water," a composition that swells with synths as a voice breathes, I'm freezing / I'm burning / I've left my home. "I'm trying to get to a point with my music where I'm just responding exactly to the way my body feels in that moment," she says.

Xeon_sophie_out100_100118_0387_fIt's three days after SOPHIE's Brooklyn Steel performance, and she's drowsy, having spent a late night polishing new tracks in the studio. "My sign is Virgo," she says, noting that she identifies with Virgo's perfectionist tendencies. It's a proclivity that resulted in her canceling a string of European tour dates -- as well as a controversial Tel Aviv show -- in lieu of finishing new songs, but it's also drawn high-profile collaborators like Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Madonna. "It's a long way to come for someone who felt completely isolated from the music world and music experiences," SOPHIE says, invoking a word that might describe her own art. "It's surreal."

Photography by Martin Schoeller.
Styling by Mindy Le Brock.
Makeup: Christina Waltz.
Photographed at The Studio, Los Angeles

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Amiri; Louis Vuitton; Prada
​Amiri, Louis Vuitton, Prada
Amiri; Louis Vuitton; Prada
Out Exclusives

Faux Fur! Velvet! Chocolate! See 2025's hottest menswear trends

Here are the menswear looks catching fire from Paris Fashion Week 2025.


How Dreadful

Egonlab

Egonlab

Egonlab

The Komondor, popularly known as the “mop dog,” was trending on the runways of Paris’s très cool designers this season. Dreaded wool pieces at Hed Mayner came in oversized coats with an almost fringe-like pattern to them. The dreads also showed up in a pair joining the coat. At Egonlab, the dreaded wool was taken in a more romantic goth route with a long white sweater with an exaggerated dread neckline and bell sleeves, which was echoed in another look attached to a fine black overcoat. Never to be outdone, Acne Studios also presented an XL dreaded wool coat with a high neck and extra long sleeves that would keep you warm during the freezing winter months.

It's Chocolate!

Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton

You’ll definitely want this color to melt in your mouth and not in your hands. With no putrid puns intended, several designers sent out monochromatic light brown looks that looked quite delectable. We can thank Bottega Veneta for bringing dark chocolate back to the runway a couple of seasons and designers ago, but the milky version has us wanting more. Award-winning designer Bianca Saunders opened her show with a milk chocolate leather jacket and waxed trousers. Sacai sent out two full utilitarian looks down the runway, while Louis Vuitton sent down a brown Damier checkerboard print suit complete with pink motifs. Dries Van Noten showcased a scrumptious overcoat, and Zegna sent the chicest chocolate overcoat complete with a matching scarf and trousers.

Seeing Spots

Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton

The leopard print is a tough fabric to confidently wear, even as a supplementary layer, but as outerwear – now that is a statement! Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabbana sent down leopard overcoats in tailored and oversized silhouettes, respectively. What bonds these two looks is the toned-down styling underneath – the casual denim with white tee (and a gold chain) plays down the strong leopard print and gives it a more accessible feel, whereas the white shirt/black tie styling plays it up, but doesn’t clash with the print. The new Lanvin (now helmed by the legendary ex-Nina Ricci designer, Peter Copping) show featured an oversized leopard coat paired with grey denim. MSGM and No. 21 (Numero Ventuno) decided to up the ante by a millimeter by combining the look with a blue shirt and khaki shorts/trousers. I’m telling you – subtle styling is the way to go when pairing with such loud outerwear!

Fur Sure

\u200bPrada

Prada

Prada

You know those vintage fur shawls in the thrift shops that you always overlook? Well, maybe take a second look (and a pair of scissors to it), because it seems that menswear is really leaning into the fur pelts that were seen on the runways of Milan and Paris’s biggest menswear shows. Although a bit more deconstructed than your grandmother’s shawl of yesteryear, the pelt acts almost like a rug thrown over your shoulders. The trend began with the latest Prada show, where pelts were draped over wool coats and sleeveless padded bubble vests. It appeared in a more refined look on the runway of Emporio Armani and then made its way to the Paris shows, where Sacai offered a more luxe utilitarian approach to the styling. David Koma went old school, albeit maximalist, throwing a superfluous amount of faux fur over a grey sweatsuit (honestly, my favorite version). Not to ever be outdone, Saint Laurent’s American Psycho suit styling included a pelt or two toward the end of its show. If you live in New York or L.A. (or have a fabulous fabric store near you), then just head over to the faux fur section, grab a couple of yards, and throw it over your shoulders – because she’s trending, honey.

Velvet Crush

Amiri

Amiri

Amiri

I have always been obsessed with velvet — so I am always excited to see the return of velvet suiting on the runway. In Milan, Emporio Armani and Giorgio Armani sent out the most luxurious fabrics. At Emporio, velvet came out in olive pinstripe, gold pinstripe, black pinstripe, and even a sultry chocolate velvet trouser! In contrast, Giorgio Armani sent out a relaxed but shockingly vibrant blue suit with matching blue velvet sneakers. At Amiri, velvet was sent out in the form of casual jackets, blazers, and even a brown pinstripe suit. The showstopper though, was the finale look — a black velvet suit with gorgeously painted red, gold, and pale lilac roses throughout. Epic. And then my heart melted on the floor of a cathedral, in Paris this time, when Willy Chavarria sent out a slew of brightly hued, strong-shouldered crushed-velvet suits complete with matching brooches. Heaven.

This article is part of the Out March/April issue, which hit newsstands April 1. Support queer media and subscribe— or download the issue through Apple News, Zinio, Nook, or PressReader starting March 20.

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