The first time I saw this photograph of James King (taken by Nan Goldin backstage at the Karl Lagerfeld Show in Paris) it was on the cover of the New York Times Magazine in 1996. I was on the cusp of becoming a teenager, and I remember being impossibly intrigued by the vivid picture that the article painted of the fashion world.
In 2006, exactly a decade later, I found myself backstage in the tents attending my first Fashion Week (show). People whirled around tossing clothing and teasing hair, cigarette smoke clouded around the corners of the room like ill-fitting curtains… As I watched, temporarily mesmerized, I remember catching myself (foolishly) smiling as I remembered James is a girl.
