Brown leather jacket by THOMAS TAIT and grey polo by McQ

Alessia Cara has a tattoo on her left wrist of a sail boat. “It stands for perseverance,” explains the Canadian-Italian singer-songwriter. “When I was in science class in 10th grade I learnt that boats and ships can float on any heavy waters because of their shape. It just means that no matter how small or big you are, or how fragile you may feel, you can still make it through any heavy waters, or struggles.” It’s hard to believe that the wide-eyed brunette perched on the sofa next to me is just 19-years-old.

Growing up, Amy Winehouse was Cara’s artist of choice. “Seeing her be so honest, real and raw with her music was really inspiring to me. She played guitar and sung as well and that was something I aspired to do.” Has she seen the documentary? “Yes, twice. It’s so sad but so good. It’s a good insight but also a cautionary tale, for me especially. As an artist that’s coming up it’s a good reminder to remember to stay focused.”

Upon graduating from high school age 16, Cara struck a compromise with her parents – a year off, then if nothing came of her music, she’d return to school. “I worked really hard to try get signed and I did in that year.” Thanks to his daughter, EP Entertainment label founder Tony Perez saw Cara’s YouTube cover of Jessie J’s “Price Tag”, flew her straight to New York to start writing songs, a year later she landed herself a deal with Def Jam Recordings and her first single came 12 months after that. “We put it out on Soundcloud, it wasn’t even supposed to be my first single, it was a feeler. But it just blew up!”

With lyrics like: “I can hardly hear over this music I don’t listen to / and I don’t want to get with you/ so tell my friends that I’ll be over here,” “Here” is an infectious slice of soul-infused
pop that views a party from an alt-lense. “I did it because I wanted to bring a new perspective,nI didn’t think much of it, it was just me ranting, then people started calling it this ‘introverts anthem’,” explains Cara. “I didn’t realise it was that deep for people.”

Tiggs wears multicoloured top from MINT VINTAGE and hat TIGG’S OWN

Not unknown to a bit of audience apprehension when it comes to him getting on stage, people instantly assume Tiggs Da Author is about to drop some hard-hitting rhymes accompanied by equally blunt beats. But when the music starts, jaws drop. Far from being a rap artist, his music is a blend of old school jazz and soul, which causes even the most wooden spectator to nod their head in appreciation.

“When I first go on stage, people don’t really know what to expect. I can tell that people think I look like a rapper, but by the end of the set they’re loving it. That’s the general reaction anyway,” he says. His sound can be traced back to his childhood in Tanzania, where Tiggs spent eight years soaking up the culture before moving to south London with his mother and sisters. “It was impossible not to be influenced by the culture and music over there. I took it all on board and added it to my sound. It’s mainly jazz music and melody driven tunes,” he observes.

Brown rabbit fur coat by TOM FORD, black silk bodysuit by CALVIN KLEIN,and black fishnet tights by CAPEZIO

It’s strange to see Billie Lourd laughing. Her lips curled, raspy chuckles to match her whisky bottle voice. In real life, there’s a real jollity so unseen in her character Chanel #3 on the FOX series Scream Queens. No, Lourd brims with a personality totally lacking from Chanel #3, a fast-talking lackey to Emma Roberts’ Chanel Oberlin (Chanel #1), with a permanent pair of pink earmuffs and a secret—Charles Manson is her father.

But the laughter comes when I ask Lourd about a different secret, or rather what it’s like to keep secrets like the ones about her time on the set of the new Star Wars film. “It’s frustrating!” she yelps. “It’s like you have something inside and you’re just like ‘Agh! I want to tell everybody!”

Being anything in Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a dream role even for a veteran actor, but Lourd is very much at the start of her career – it’s her debut film feature-proper. The 23 year- old’s showbiz parents, Carrie Fisher (who you might know as Princess Leia from the original Star Wars trilogy) and talent agent Bryan Lourd, encouraged her into acting. “I went to NYU Gallatin, where you make your own major,” says Lourd. “So I called it ‘Art and Business as Religion.’ It was basically everything but religion that’s religion. I talked about the Grateful Dead as religion, Steve Jobs as a god, Burning Man as sacred space, baseball as a religion. I took economics classes, marketing, music, acting.”

ABRA wears white denim jacket by ALEX MULLINS and underwear by MARIEYAT

Portsmouth singer-songwriter Jerry Williams started penning lyrics at the age of 12. “I remember singing a few songs to my mum and her saying, ‘maybe you’re not much of a singer, maybe you should stick to the songwriting’,” Williams quips. “I was like ‘yeah, okay’, but I just kept working on it. I’m glad she was honest, because it just drove me harder.”

Even as pre-teen, she was picking through childhood heroes for inspiration: Roald Dahl and other children’s novelists. Nowadays, her list of influences reads like a Zane Lowe playlist: Coldplay, David Gray and Johnny Cash.

Williams finds writing songs in the bathroom effective (“it’s really weird”) – but staring
deeply into the mirror is what she does best, metaphorically speaking anyway. Using coming- of-age issues as subject matter – “boys, friends and the things they talk about” – Williams’ tracks are an honest insight into the 19 year-old’s mind. Aside from releasing her four-track debut EP “Cold Beer” last month, this summer Williams has been racking up studio time with the likes

of Whinnie Williams and Newton Faulkner. “I couldn’t believe I was sitting round Newton’s table, having a cup of tea with him and his brother. I was just like, ‘oh my god, what’s going on?’”

Light blue cotton shirt, red knit jumper, black oversized bomber jacket and jersey joggers all by VETEMENTS at BROWN’S FASHION

Last year, a band of almost-brothers (and three nearly-sisters) came together to form fiercely anonymous French fashion brand, Vetements. Group founder Demna Gvasalia and Vetements’ remaining six all had one thing in common before starting the project: they worked, contractually, for someone else. Houses like Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga and Margiela were where the Vetements crowd started out. Initiated as a weekend project to dress the founders’ girlfriends, the brand evolved into a cult buy. Like a true guerrilla collective, their debut collection was stitched together in Gvasalia’s living room, the AW15 show was held in notorious Parisian gay club Le Depot, and the models were Facebook-cast.

“It’s more real, more honest and believable and the people who look at what we are doing know and understand [this]. We would go to weird parties in Paris and take photos of weird girls with bad attitudes, and recruit that way too. Not pretty or girly, but boyish and real. And they became part of our gang. We will continue to do that. What we do is real. They become our friends after the casting. They come hang out and stay in our studio drinking wine and smoking cigarettes.”

Photographer: Piczo

Fashion: Nicco Torelli

Makeup: Amy Conley using Chanel Le Lift and Le Volume Ultra Noir

Hair: Roku Roppongi at Saint Luke Artists

Casting: Bella Robinson at Star and Co

Model: Esti at The Hive

Words: Hynam Kendall