#also the kawaii prima one

[tortuga-aak]

Meet Poppy, the 22-year-old YouTube star who has already inspired her own religion

Titanic Sinclair

Poppy is a YouTube star whose strange videos have become an online phenomenon.

The artist is the subject of several rumors, including that she might be a robot, a member of the Illuminati, or a pawn subjected to mind control.

  This is Poppy. A 22-year-old YouTube prima donna and pop princess, Poppy currently occupies one of the weirdest corners of the web — and, in her two-year existence online, she has already inspired her own religion.

Her YouTube channel, "Poppy," is a hallucinatory digital wormhole with hundreds of videos, many of which have garnered millions of views. 

And it seems that Poppy's hold on pop culture has only just begun. This year, Poppy released her first studio album, embarked on a nationwide tour, was featured in a Sanrio ad campaign, and teamed up with Comedy Central for a Snapchat show.

Poppy makes music, but given the scope of her output on YouTube (she produces a new video nearly every day) that's only a marginal part of what she does. She also brushes her hair, eats cotton candy, talks with plants and sinister mannequins, applies makeup, paints, crawls, jumps,  and lays on the floor. Her videos depict a chilly, robot-inflected reality that's rendered in candied pastel hues. Tell Poppy that you find her videos to be creepy, and she'll answer, sweetly, "Thank you."

Poppy's personality is a cross between a chatbot and a child. If you ask Poppy a question, she's sure to answer with demure, algorithmic precision. Where is she from? The internet. What does she like to do for fun? Listen to "the sound of rain falling" in "videos on YouTube.com." How old is she? She doesn't identify with age. "Age is just too 2016," she says. 

The phenomenon known as Poppy has been the subject of protracted profiles and ponderous think-pieces. Among her ardent fan base — "Poppy Seeds," as they're called — she's a figure worthy of worship. Commenters on Reddit and YouTube profess to their undying love for Poppy and call her "the queen" and "goddess." One fan has even gone so far as to establish a religion dedicated to Poppy, called "Poppyism." 

But Poppy's pre-packaged persona isn't entirely of her own making. The character known as "Poppy" can largely be attributed to Titanic Sinclair, Poppy's director, whose bleached platinum hair makes him look as though he could be Poppy's older sibling. According to Sinclair, he met Poppy at a party in Hollywood two years earlier.

YouTube

Sinclair says he was immediately struck by Poppy's originality. "I'd never met someone who is as creative as her," he says, "Her workflow and the way her brain works is similar to mine. It just made sense that we would work together."

According to both Poppy and Sinclair, there is no Poppy that exists prior to the internet version of Poppy. Like the Poppy video in which she repeats the words "I'm Poppy" for 10 minutes straight, we're reminded that Poppy is Poppy is Poppy: She exists in a continuously self-justifying loop, a character unfettered by the constructs of time and boundaries of logic. 

Of course, in the internet age, it's not difficult to find the identities of Poppy and Sinclair online. A quick search reveals that Poppy and Sinclair's real names are Moriah Pereira and Corey Mixter, respectively. She's from Nashville and he's from Michigan, and they have a shared interest in video-making and pop music.

But attempting to piece together the historical realities of the people, or characters, now known as Sinclair and Poppy, isn't really all that fun, nor is it very interesting. It's more fun, for instance, to be in on the illusion, or at the very least, to suspend disbelief and believe along with the rest of the internet, that Poppy might be the first real iteration of a flesh-and-blood AI manifestation.

Rumors swirl among Poppy's fans. Is Poppy real? Is she a pawn subjected to mind control? Is she a member of the Illuminati? Is she even human?

Titanic Sinclair

On the surface, Poppy and Sinclair have done their best to quash these stories. In their videos, they've both openly stated that Poppy isn't involved in a cult and even gone to such impish measures as to emblazon the message "I am not in a cult led by Poppy," on a T-shirt, available for purchase on Poppy's website.

But at the same time, the duo obliquely fuels the occult fantasies within their work: In one video, Poppy softly repeats, "I am not in a cult" as masked figures in white body suits leverage Illuminati iconography above her head. At a recent concert, Poppy passed out cups of Kool-Aid right after announcing that "Poppy is not responsible for any fatalities."

Poppy's intrigue is only heightened by the conspiracy theories, which orbit her persona like satellites. These rumors, in part, are one of the key reasons Poppy is entirely unique, and why she's so successful.  In an age of immediate internet access, Poppy has achieved the impossible: She's managed to maintain an aura of mystery. As more and more pop stars provide their fans with intimate access to their personal lives through documentaries and social media, Poppy is a refreshing counterpoint. 

Poppy won't ever dish up the drama of her love life. Poppy doesn't want you to wonder about her past, and she certainly isn't going to tell you about the turmoils of being an artist. She's an otherworldly, semi-Warholian product, and she's here to entertain you. 

"People are going to dig into whatever they want to," says Titanic, but this line of rhetoric "isn't interesting."  He likens people who attempt to pin down Poppy's real identity to an audience attempting to deconstruct the method in a magic trick. 

And Sinclair maintains that Poppy isn't an illusion at all. She's the real deal. A bonafide kawaii child Barbie doll who only wants "to fill the world with love."

"The world is a lot more exciting when you don’t have the curtain pulled to reveal all of the wires," says Sinclair. "It’s always a huge let down when a magic trick is revealed and you realize it’s just sleight of hand or some sort of simple illusion." If you pull aside the curtain, and attempt to crack Poppy's hyper-curated persona, in the end,  the only person you've cheated is yourself. 

NOW WATCH: I've been an iPhone user for 10 years — here's what happened when I switched to the Google Pixel 2 for a week

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[ramialkarmi]

Meet Poppy, the 22-year-old YouTube star who has already inspired her own religion

Poppy is a YouTube star whose strange videos have become an online phenomenon.

The artist is the subject of several rumors, including that she might be a robot, a member of the Illuminati, or a pawn subjected to mind control.

  This is Poppy. A 22-year-old YouTube prima donna and pop princess, Poppy currently occupies one of the weirdest corners of the web — and, in her two-year existence online, she has already inspired her own religion.

Her YouTube channel, "Poppy," is a hallucinatory digital wormhole with hundreds of videos, many of which have garnered millions of views. 

And it seems that Poppy's hold on pop culture has only just begun. This year, Poppy released her first studio album, embarked on a nationwide tour, was featured in a Sanrio ad campaign, and teamed up with Comedy Central for a Snapchat show.

Poppy makes music, but given the scope of her output on YouTube (she produces a new video nearly every day) that's only a marginal part of what she does. She also brushes her hair, eats cotton candy, talks with plants and sinister mannequins, applies makeup, paints, crawls, jumps,  and lays on the floor. Her videos depict a chilly, robot-inflected reality that's rendered in candied pastel hues. Tell Poppy that you find her videos to be creepy, and she'll answer, sweetly, "Thank you."

Poppy's personality is a cross between a chatbot and a child. If you ask Poppy a question, she's sure to answer with demure, algorithmic precision. Where is she from? The internet. What does she like to do for fun? Listen to "the sound of rain falling" in "videos on YouTube.com." How old is she? She doesn't identify with age. "Age is just too 2016," she says. 

The phenomenon known as Poppy has been the subject of protracted profiles and ponderous think-pieces. Among her ardent fan base — "Poppy Seeds," as they're called — she's a figure worthy of worship. Commenters on Reddit and YouTube profess to their undying love for Poppy and call her "the queen" and "goddess." One fan has even gone so far as to establish a religion dedicated to Poppy, called "Poppyism." 

But Poppy's pre-packaged persona isn't entirely of her own making. The character known as "Poppy" can largely be attributed to Titanic Sinclair, Poppy's director, whose bleached platinum hair makes him look as though he could be Poppy's older sibling. According to Sinclair, he met Poppy at a party in Hollywood two years earlier.

Sinclair says he was immediately struck by Poppy's originality. "I'd never met someone who is as creative as her," he says, "Her workflow and the way her brain works is similar to mine. It just made sense that we would work together."

According to both Poppy and Sinclair, there is no Poppy that exists prior to the internet version of Poppy. Like the Poppy video in which she repeats the words "I'm Poppy" for 10 minutes straight, we're reminded that Poppy is Poppy is Poppy: She exists in a continuously self-justifying loop, a character unfettered by the constructs of time and boundaries of logic. 

Of course, in the internet age, it's not difficult to find the identities of Poppy and Sinclair online. A quick search reveals that Poppy and Sinclair's real names are Moriah Pereira and Corey Mixter, respectively. She's from Nashville and he's from Michigan, and they have a shared interest in video-making and pop music.

But attempting to piece together the historical realities of the people, or characters, now known as Sinclair and Poppy, isn't really all that fun, nor is it very interesting. It's more fun, for instance, to be in on the illusion, or at the very least, to suspend disbelief and believe along with the rest of the internet, that Poppy might be the first real iteration of a flesh-and-blood AI manifestation.

Rumors swirl among Poppy's fans. Is Poppy real? Is she a pawn subjected to mind control? Is she a member of the Illuminati? Is she even human?

On the surface, Poppy and Sinclair have done their best to quash these stories. In their videos, they've both openly stated that Poppy isn't involved in a cult and even gone to such impish measures as to emblazon the message "I am not in a cult led by Poppy," on a T-shirt, available for purchase on Poppy's website.

But at the same time, the duo obliquely fuels the occult fantasies within their work: In one video, Poppy softly repeats, "I am not in a cult" as masked figures in white body suits leverage Illuminati iconography above her head. At a recent concert, Poppy passed out cups of Kool-Aid right after announcing that "Poppy is not responsible for any fatalities."

Poppy's intrigue is only heightened by the conspiracy theories, which orbit her persona like satellites. These rumors, in part, are one of the key reasons Poppy is entirely unique, and why she's so successful.  In an age of immediate internet access, Poppy has achieved the impossible: She's managed to maintain an aura of mystery. As more and more pop stars provide their fans with intimate access to their personal lives through documentaries and social media, Poppy is a refreshing counterpoint. 

Poppy won't ever dish up the drama of her love life. Poppy doesn't want you to wonder about her past, and she certainly isn't going to tell you about the turmoils of being an artist. She's an otherworldly, semi-Warholian product, and she's here to entertain you. 

"People are going to dig into whatever they want to," says Titanic, but this line of rhetoric "isn't interesting."  He likens people who attempt to pin down Poppy's real identity to an audience attempting to deconstruct the method in a magic trick. 

And Sinclair maintains that Poppy isn't an illusion at all. She's the real deal. A bonafide kawaii child Barbie doll who only wants "to fill the world with love."

"The world is a lot more exciting when you don’t have the curtain pulled to reveal all of the wires," says Sinclair. "It’s always a huge let down when a magic trick is revealed and you realize it’s just sleight of hand or some sort of simple illusion." If you pull aside the curtain, and attempt to crack Poppy's hyper-curated persona, in the end,  the only person you've cheated is yourself. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: I've been an iPhone user for 10 years — here's what happened when I switched to the Google Pixel 2 for a week

[silviascorcella]

Fashion Conversation: RAMONA TABITA

Stylist very famous & Editor very brilliant: presta la sua opera di moda e passione ai nomi dei magazine più celebrati e patinati. Nonché designer di una capsule collection di hats one of a kind. Ma prima di tutto è la fondatrice dell’inconfondibile tabita-style: una mischia pressoché perfetta, trionfalmente eye-catching e dannatamente coinvolgente di pop, kitsch e giappo mood che dal suo immaginario variegato si traduce nel suo lifestyle ammiratissimo e di lì si riversa con pienezza coloratissima nei suoi fashion works. 

Lei è Ramona Tabita e qui ci racconta il suo tabita - world.

Giovanissima eppure già affermatissima, si direbbe adeguandosi all’anagrafe del Fashion World: eludendo consapevolmente il cliché per cui il talento sembra essere questione di maturazione con l’età, tu dimostri davvero che è piuttosto una questione di passione intensa, naturalmente allacciata alla formazione e alla cultura. Prima di conoscere meglio chi è Ramona Tabita talentuosa fashion stylist ed editor nota per il suo inconfondibile tabita style, raccontaci dunque: chi è Ramona Tabita, tra le origini in famiglia e terra siciliane, il percorso di formazione romano e l’approdo lavorativo a Milano?

Che dire, sono nata in un piccolo paesino della sicilia in cui da qualsiasi lato ti giri puoi vedere il mare, come per tutti gli adolescenti la mia città mi stava stretta, e trovavo rifugio nel disegno,e nel writing. Subito dopo aver preso la maturità classica mi sono trasferita a Roma per frequentare l’Accademia di Belle Arti, negli anni accademici ho scoperto varie discipline, dall’incisione alla serigrafia fino ad arrivare alla fotografia. Le mie foto erano colorate e d’impatto e un gallerista vedendole mi chiese di farne una mostra, e da li  a poco ne arrivarono parecchie. Nel frattempo avevo cominciato a scrivere di moda per vari magazine e la forza delle mie  foto era sicuramente lo styling colorato, cosi la Naba di Milano mi selezionò come borsista per frequentare il biennio specialistico in fashion design Trasferita a Milano, da subito icominciai a lavorare e come stylist e le mie collaborazioni editoriali aumentarono. Sicuramente la vera svolta lavorativa è stata a Milano, infatti è una città a cui sento di dovere molto.

Moda, ma anche Fotografia e Arte: discipline sicuramente diverse tra loro, ma allo stesso tempo universi estetici in cui il Bello fluisce costantemente, anche attraversandoli e contaminandoli. Che ruolo hanno la fotografia e l’arte nella tua vita e come s’intrecciano alla tua dimensione fashion? Quali sono i fotografi e gli artisti che ti hanno maggiormente ispirata nel tempo, e quali quelli che oggi segui con più interesse?

Sono entrambe parte integrante del mio lavoro di stylist. Mi capita spesso di fare dei riferimenti stilistici a famose donne dell’arte nei mie look e la fotografia è alla base della mia ricerca, prima di fare un servizio, concordo tutti i tagli e le luci con il fotografo e aver studiato fotografia è sicuramete un punto a mio favore per riuscire ad ottenere il risultato che ho in mente. Fra i miei fotografi preferiti da sempre Terry Richardson e Juergen Teller

Si diceva del Bello: le tue origini siciliane rievocano l’estetica per eccellenza, intanto il tuo immaginario è una magnifica mischia di pop, kitsch e, why not?, quel giusto tocco di kawaii a rendere tutto davvero coinvolgente! Com’è dunque il mondo di Ramona Tabita che poi prende forma nel tabita-style?

È un insieme di tutto quello che sono e che sono stata, come tutti ho avuto vari periodi della vita, di ogni uno mi è rimasto qualcosa, che forse è quello che forma il mio gusto. Da piccola non uscivo mai senza un mylittle pony lilla che chiamavo “mami”, il lilla è stato in assoluto il mio colore preferito infatti. Nell’adolescenza mi avvicinai molto alla cultura hip hop, di quel periodo mi è sicuramente rimasta la passione per le sneaker l’attitude street. ho poi  avuto il mio periodo Giappo, studiavo giapponese e non uscivo di casa senza il mio Bento di quel periodo è sicuramente rimasta una certa estetica pop. e potrei andare avanti cosi all’infinito, credo che lo stile di una persona è fatto di eventi.

Ramona designer: la capsule collection di hats: di certo cappelli, ma un po’ quasi opere d’arte da indossare tanto sono unici e crazy (nel senso bello del termine, naturalmente)! Come nasce questa collezione, a chi o a che cosa s’ispira e chi ama indossarli? La collezione rappresenta il mio modo ludico di vedere la moda. Il primo è stato fatto sezionando una bambola gonfiabile, il secondo è una presa in giro dei cappelli a falda larda da fan fatal e l’ultimo rappresenta il mio desiderio di essere Sailor moon per un giorno. Li immagino sicuramente su una donna che è sicura di se e che vuole giocare con il look trasformandosi nel cosplay di qualcos’altro.

Fashion editor per magazine molto importanti e stylist di grande talento: raccontaci, cos’è e com’è per te la moda? Tra vecchi cliché e la creatività fervente di chi nella moda oggi è sì giovane, ma ne è insider nel vero senso della parola: cioè la vive e le dà forma da dentro. Inoltre: quali figure, personaggi, sono per te un’ispirazione e con chi invece ami e ameresti collaborare? Per me la moda è creatività misto a disciplina. una celebrazione del bello, che prende ispirazione dal brutto della vita quotidiana. Le inspirazioni le prendo spesso dal web, qualche anno fa da tumblr adesso da instagram, seguo alcuni profili interessanti che generano imput continui per il mio lavoro. Ho anche  molti punti di riferimento lavorativi, come Nicola Formichetti, Carlyne Cerf De Dudzeel

Desideri, progetti, aspirazioni per il futuro? Un giorno mi piacerebbe aprire un mio negozietto vintage ad Harajuku.

[ENGL.]

Very famous stylist and very brilliant editor offering her work and passion to renowned names of the glossy fashion magazines world.  As well as designer of a capsule collection of hats one of a kind. But first of all she’s the founder of the unmistakable tabita-style: an almost perfect, triumphantly eye-catching and awfully enchanting shuffle of pop, kitsch and Jap mood, that from her manifold imagery is rendered into her revered lifestyle, and from there it pours out with its colorful fulness into her fashion works. She is Ramona Tabita and here she tells us about her tabita-world.

Truly young yet already famous, we would say adapting to the civil registry of the Fashion World: by wittingly eluding the cliché according to which the talent seems to be a question of age growth, you actually prove that instead it is a matter of deep passion, of course tied to education and culture. Before better knowing who is Ramona the talented fashion stylist and editor famous for her unmistakable tabita-style, just tell us: who is Ramona Tabita, within the Sicilian origin, the Roman education and the working achievement in Milan?

What to say, I was born in a small village in Sicily where you can see the sea from whatever side you turn to: as for every teenager my city was too small for me, so I took shelter into drawing and writing. Soon after the degree I moved to Rome to attend the Accademia di Belle Arti, during which I discovered various disciplines, from engraving to serigraphy: until I came to photography. My pictures where colorful and eye-catching and a gallery owner that saw them asked me to have an exhibition. And from then on several other exhibitions took place. In the meantime, I started writing about fashion for various magazines, while the stronger point of my photography was surely the colorful styling, so the Naba Academy in Milan selected me for a scholarship to specialize in fashion design. After moving to Milan I immediately started working as a stylist and my editorial collaborations increased. Definitely the actual working turning point was Milan: I feel I owe a lot to this city.

Fashion, but also Photography and Art: disciplines that are truly different from each other, but at the same time they’re aesthetic worlds where the beautiful perpetually flows, even crossing and contaminating them. What is the role of photography and art in your life and how do they interlace into your fashion dimension? Who are the photographers and artists that inspired you the most in the past, and which ones do you follow today?

They’re both essential parts of my work as a stylist. I often bump into styling references to  renowned artist women in my looks and photography is the base of my research. Before making a shooting I always set the cuts and lights with the photographer, and my studies about photography are certainly a good mark to reach the result I have in my mind. Among my favorite photographers since ever: Terry Richardson and Juergen Teller.

We were talking about the beautiful: your Sicilian origins evoke the aesthetic par excellence, while your imagery is an amazing blend of pop, kitsch and, why not? the proper touch of kawaii that makes everything captivating! So, how’s Ramona Tabita’s world that then get shaped into the renowned tabita-style?

It’s a combination of all that I am now and what I have been before. Like everybody I passed through various periods in my life: and I kept something from every one, that maybe are the things that have been shaping my style. When I was a child I never left home without a lilac My Little Pony that I called “mami”, actually lilac was absolutely my favorite color. During my teens I enjoyed hip hop culture: from that period I absolutely kept my passion for sneakers shoes and the street attitude. Then I had my Jap time, I was studying Japanese and I never got out without my Bento: that period has definitely left me a certain pop aesthetic. And I may continue like this endlessly: I believe that  style is made of events.

Ramona as a designer: the capsule collection of hats. Hats of course, but nearly art pieces to wear since they’re unique and crazy (in the good sense of the term, of course)! What is the inspiration for this collection and who loves to wear it?

The collection symbolizes my ludic point of view in fashion. The first one has been made by dissecting an inflatable doll, the second one is a mockery of the wide brim hats typical of femme fatale and the last one represents my wish for being Sailor Moon for a day. They’re supposed to be worn by women that love to play with their look and turn themselves into the cosplay of something else.

Fashion editor for very important magazines and very talented stylist: please tell us, what’s fashion, and what is it like for you? What figures, celebs or not, are an inspiration for you?

For me fashion is creativity blended with discipline. A celebration of beauty, that is inspired by the ugly of the every day life. I often draw my inspiration from the web: some years ago from Tumblr, now from Instagram where I follow some interesting profiles that create continuos inputs for my work. I’ve also some points of reference for my work, like Nicola Formichetti and Carlyne Cerf De Dudzeel.

Desires, projects and aspirations for the future? I’d love to open a small vintage shop in Harajuku, one day!

Silvia Scorcella

[Published on Hachi Magazine issue n°3]

[Photos via Ramona Tabita official website]

[askmeiko]