photos /  Ryan Slack

hair + makeup /  Kodo Nishimura

stylist /  Kerri Scales

location / Mediumplex Studio, Brooklyn

post/ Michelle Ma

story / Benjamin Gustafsson

starring/ Vera Lesavoy 

Vera Lesavoy is one of our favorite woman right now – actress, model and muse, she has a tendency to light up a room wherever she appears. Hailing from Amsterdam she moved to New York at the tender age of 17 and has been building up her reel and portfolio ever since. Catch her in the upcoming Dutch comedy Toon, coming out this fall. We talk to Vera about ex-lovers and new projects.

Were you born in the Netherlands? Where did you grow up?

I was born and raised Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After graduating high school at 17 I first moved to New York.

I hear you just wrapped up a short film. What is it about? Are you the writer, director, and protagonist?

This is a project I’ve been involved with for the past two years. I was cast 2,5 years ago, and the actual shooting started in March two years back.  It’s Silvia Martes’ debut film, and my first lead role. It’s a very visually striking film, lots of focus lies on colors and the minimalistic settings. It’s a film about materialism, a love for objects but also about losing those objects and finding them again. This is all translated into the story of a girl (my character) who loses precious belongings in and around her house but obtains them again throughout the film.

The premiere should be in September at the Dutch Film Festival.

As a model, how do you feel about still vs. moving pictures? Which has the greater artist value to you?

I don’t like to start off calling myself a model, I’m an actor first and a model second. I have always loved moving pictures, and my appreciation for still photography came in later after I had been modeling for a while. Particularly ‘fashion magazine’ pictures had pretty much always all looked the same to me. I don’t think either one has a bigger artistic value though. Sometimes a photograph can express as much in one shot as a whole movie in 90 mins in order to achieve the same thing. I can definitely appreciate photography more now, but my love for film will always be stronger.

Shirt: Protagonist

Can you explain “Mailing My Tits to Old Lovers”? Is this a form of art or a form of revenge?

It definitely started out as a form of art. I’m obsessed with Ancient Greek and roman sculptures. It’s fascinating to me how many of those sculptures can translate so much passion and movement and stories really through hard rock stone. So that’s where I drew the inspiration to make a sculpture of my own body in the form of a simple body cast of my breasts. I then felt like I didn’t want a bunch of copies of my boobs lying around my house so I needed to give them a purpose. The reason I’m sending them to my exes is not so much for revenge, but more of a memory, a tribute to the past. I have a boyfriend now. Before, the guys I dated often realized that they liked me when it was too late and I had already moved on. The only people actually receiving a copy are the ones I’m still on good terms with and I consider friends still. Haha!

If you found an old time machine that only had one more ride left, would you take it? Where/When would you go?

I think I would use it to hang out in the seventies for a bit. I’m one of those people that claims that they are born in the wrong era. However if it were broken would that mean it’s unable to return? I’m not so sure if I would take it then, I’m pretty content with my life as it is right now.

sweater: AYR

overalls: Levis