Her first trip to Atlanta was for another job, but it ended up being a pretty quintessential Atlanta experience. “I was with the client, and they just said, ‘Okay, let’s go to a strip club,’” she says. “From the first time, I was obsessed. Coming back, I wanted to forge more of a connection with the women I saw, who I feel are raw and real in the same way as the women I grew up around in the Bronx. I feel that hustle and spirit.”
The magazine features sleek black-and-white and cool-toned photography of girls with sculptural hair, animal-print makeup, latex bodysuits, and black netted veils to play video vixens, phoneline operators, cartoonish characters, and go-go girls. There’s also an Ice word search and off-beat, vintage-looking ads for hair care within the pages.
The shoot with Eve sees her stare straight to camera in a hooded black Alexander McQueen jacket, a plunging R&M Leathers bodysuit, and Louboutins. “Eve is a dream,” says Medrano. The two were introduced by Swizz Beatz. “I learned to ride a motorcycle because of her. She’s an OG Ice girl to me, a badass and a boss.”
Ice works with an all-female crew, among them first-issue collaborators Raisa Flowers and Marika-Ella Ames. Hairstylist Amidat Giwa “We’re able to flow together in this very authentic way,” Medrano says.
Photo: Renell Medrano
