“Shoot Drunk, Edit Sober”: Cruz Valdez Presents Dara Zine

 

FRIDAY 7:15 PM OCTOBER 24, 2025 EAST VILLAGE

If you thought the heyday of DIY zines had come and gone, think again. Last Friday, photographer Cruz Valdez and her very favorite muse, our fashion director Dara, took over Climax Books in the East Village to launch Dara Zine, the product of their fruitful, decade-long collaboration. Inside you’ll find Valdez’s photos of Dara in various states of glamour and gaggery. “That is really part of the ethos of the book,” she explained. “Turning your life into cinema and not ignoring what’s around you.” The morning after, the collaborators hopped on a call to recap the evening, from the setlist to the VIP guests.

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DARA: Good morning, Cruz.

CRUZ VALDEZ: Oh, shit.

DARA: What a wild, wild, wild night.

VALDEZ: Oh my god. I want to get into the pieces, but I don’t know if we’re on or off the record right now.

DARA: We are on the record. So whatever you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.

VALDEZ: Noted.

DARA: What an amazing turnout. I was so gagged by how many people showed up last night.

VALDEZ: We didn’t have a moment to breathe. It was like being spun around in a circle a million times, and then it was over in a flash.

DARA: Yeah. Not to give a sappy Oscar speech, but I was so surprised at how many people came and I was so appreciative. I got home at 5:00 AM and just was crying. And you sold out, girl. You sold out.

VALDEZ: I know. I was only going to bring 50 copies.

DARA: Thank god you didn’t, because we would’ve been there for 10 minutes and everyone would’ve been mad. Okay, let’s get into some pieces. What were we there for and who did you see, and what was going on? Tell me what I’m talking about.

VALDEZ: Well, you and I made this zine over the course of the last year, and we were having a launch for it and a signing at Climax Books. Shout out to Isabella [Burley]. She was someone who I asked early on for advice about printing and how to publish a book, so it felt really full circle to have it there.

DARA: Yeah, she was so supportive the whole way. And you shut it down. You shut down Climax Books, girl.

VALDEZ: It’s funny because I had gotten there early to drop off the copies with Chris and Sebastian, and then we went around the corner because we were early and I was having matcha, he was having a martini. Because I was like, “Oh, Dara’s going to be late. Maybe only a few people will show up anyway. Let’s take our time.”

DARA: I rolled up to a crowd outside and I was like, “Cruz, where are you!?” All the kids were so cool and they were dressed so cute.

VALDEZ: Yeah, I love seeing the kiddos for sure.

DARA: And there were some stars in the line. I was really gagged to see my spiritual mother and father, Inez & Vinoodh, waiting in line.

VALDEZ: It’s kind of surreal having someone wait in line to buy a book, where that book wouldn’t even exist if not for them.

DARA: Literally, that’s so true. And Melzy was there.

VALDEZ: Of course.

DARA: I saw Chicken Shop icon Amelia Dimoldenberg. Who else? Ian Bradley, and this would not exist if he didn’t give me a job when we first moved here.

VALDEZ: That’s right. You assisted him on some Dua Lipa Teen Vogue shoot. [Laughs]

DARA: Wait, girl. This amazing person in what I assumed to be an archive piece—but it looked like they could have made it themselves, this crystal Margiela face mask—came and was like, “I can’t afford the zine, but I had to come here and tell y’all how much I love what you do.” And I was like, “Oh my god.” I couldn’t even get it together.

VALDEZ: Well, we know the best way to make up for being empty-handed is to come in a look.

DARA: Yes. I always say, “If you don’t have a gift to bring the host, you better be the decoration.”

VALDEZ: Absolutely. Don some gown.

DARA: Who else? Martine was there. Lynette [Nylander] was there.

VALDEZ: Oh, she’s so chic.

DARA: And Connie Girl! The VIP parting of the Red Sea for Connie Girl Fleming. This would not be without her.

VALDEZ: Absolutely.

DARA: How could two dolls ever have made anything where there’s people in the line waiting to buy it without Connie Girl?

VALDEZ: It’s crazy to think how we photographed her for the first time in our apartment during fucking COVID. And then to think I’ve photographed her a number of times since then, which is amazing. It’s a pinch me thing when I think of the scope of our friendship and collaboration.

DARA: Yeah. I mean, 10 years ago we were in Southern California, hadn’t moved to New York yet, just dreaming of even seeing Connie Girl walk by us.

VALDEZ: No, literally.

DARA: It’s just crazy. My dear, sweet twinks had to fall in line and wait because Connie Girl had to come through, and we had to give her a copy. Sorry, twinks!

VALDEZ: I mean, the times are absolutely due and more than happily given.

DARA: Yes. Wait, can you tell me about some of the tunes? DJ CCV, what were you spinning?

VALDEZ: Well, I started off with—

DARA: My theme song.

VALDEZ: But you were absent. I don’t know why that seems to happen.

DARA: I was in a deep convo with an old friend.

VALDEZ: As one does.

DARA: I’m sad I missed hearing it in real life.

VALDEZ: Well, I was trying out different options to transition into it around the same BPM, and one of them was “All My Love,” that Ariana Grande and Major Lazer song.

DARA: Oh my god, that’s perfect.

VALDEZ: And I was like, “Oh, this is perfect because you love Ariana into ‘Breathe On Me’ by Britney.”

DARA: Oh my God, thank you for playing my theme song from Funny Face that I have terrorized the entire TikTok universe with. I’ve been privileged to get to experience a DJ set by you, going all the way back 10 years ago. Back when we used to just take over your dad’s record store in… wait, where?

VALDEZ: Santa Ana.

DARA: In Santa Ana, and you would just DJ the night away and it would be like four of us just dancing, dancing, dancing all night going off like we were at Studio 54.

VALDEZ: Literally. Wow.

DARA: Okay. I’m holding the zine and I’m looking at this beautiful thing designed by John Patrikas. Now I’m looking at the page with all the dancing Dara’s in the black turtleneck.

VALDEZ: Yes.

DARA: This was part of the first time we shot a year ago. Sonny Molina did the hair, and we just were playing around doing all the tropes and all the girls we love.

VALDEZ: It’s amazing because even just from those shots alone, the amount of shapes and—

DARA: Pictures. That was going to be basically the whole book for certain, and then we just couldn’t stop ourselves.

VALDEZ: But it was amazing because of the way that they were then repurposed in the layout by John. Sometimes you shoot a look, you only get a few images.

DARA: What is the thing Kim K says? You have to take 20 selfies to get the perfect one?

VALDEZ: Yeah, I am a big believer in the warmup, but there’s so many great images just from that shot alone.

DARA: Well, these will definitely find their way into different iterations. TBD.

VALDEZ: Well, the merch is being plotted.

DARA: Yeah. Llet it be known here and now that Dara Zine is, has, and always has been intended as a multi-medium project. So other objects are incoming…

VALDEZ: Watch this space.

DARA: And then I’m turning the page and it’s a bunch of… I don’t even know what? Little cyborg Dara and Hamburglar and Ms. Hamburglar are terrorizing stuff. Brooklyn, Coney Island and Flatbush, which is where we live.

VALDEZ: Yes.

DARA: Helmut Newton talks about how he shot all his most famous pictures and favorite photos within 15 minutes walking distance of where he lived in Paris. And I think this is a real testament to that. These are the streets we’ve walked around just on the pump to the grocery store.

VALDEZ: Well, there’s that image of you in the parking lot that’s not in the book. That’s one of my favorites. So I’m trying to scheme some kind of life for her to live because that’s also a very iconic grocery store parking lot. It speaks to the banality of what you’re talking about, the spaces of the familiar.

DARA: The mundane is magical.

VALDEZ: I love that the diva in line was like, “Oh, I loved your grocery store vlog.” That was actually right across the street from where we put it. Remember that?

DARA: Yes, oh my God.

VALDEZ: She said, “Thank you for shouting out Coco Peru.” I was like, “Absolutely. I’m not afraid to represent Coco Peru.”

DARA: Where would we be, who would we be, without Coco Peru, another terrorizer of the public?

VALDEZ: Yes.

DARA: And speaking of, I turned the page and it’s the red explosion.

VALDEZ: I love her being the raw wound.

DARA: Yeah, she’s a raw wound.

VALDEZ: I know a little something about raw wounds.

DARA: Yes, you do. Ms. Diva is always in the ER.

VALDEZ: I’m talking about my vagina specifically, but I do be having bouts of appendicitis.

DARA: Yeah, I guess vaginoplasty is not ER vibes.

VALDEZ: That’s scheduled surgery.

DARA: And then we turn the page into my favorite spread, which is Dirty Dara covered in soot. Cinderella’s spell broken, and then it’s Cinderella’s shoes and her carrying all her fucking stepsisters’ laundry, which really ends up being some Commes des Garcons fantasy, which is fun. This is just my reality. I live amongst a mess of clothes and I need someone to take them away from me.

VALDEZ: Right.

DARA: Oh, and shout out to Alex Levy for the dirt.

VALDEZ: Yeah, the dirt tore.

DARA: Another picture that I love that and we’ve not spoken about is this spread of these doorways, one in Chinatown and one in Flatbush near where we live. I’m so gagged by this picture because this green doorway was just in the middle of some alleyway and it goes nowhere. It’s like, a doorway to nowhere. It was like walking onto a set, some weird dreamscape set, just a five-minute walk from where we live, which is so crazy that you can just find these things in and around you. I think that is really part of the ethos of the book: turning your life into cinema and not ignoring what’s around you. God, I’m rambling. Is there anything else that you saw last night or want to talk about that you feel that people must know about Dara Zine?

VALDEZ: That’s a good question. I feel like it’s all in the work. Just right now, I’m just feeling a lot of gratitude, obviously, but I’m also just so proud of it.

DARA: You gave birth to an idea.

VALDEZ: I felt like giving birth, my funeral, my birthday, my wedding all in one. But it was amazing to see something come to fruition. A year ago, we were just talking about this and then to have it just be exactly right feels amazing, and for people to really vibe with it was amazing.

DARA: Somebody came up to me last night and was talking about how they were surprised at how narrative it was, and I was saying that was the intention. It’s this ability to make work that took its time so that we could really build a story in.

VALDEZ: Well, it’s funny because I don’t want to be misunderstood by saying that we were open to the process, or that there wasn’t an intention. Because for me, it’s about the cut-up method. It’s like, shoot drunk and edit sober. I think all the pieces of the story naturally fell into place to create the mood and tone that we wanted, and I think that’s such a beautiful way of working for me because it’s very revealing of things that you can’t know if you are planning. It’s about the chance moments or just responding to intuition, which is beautiful to me.

DARA: Yeah, definitely. I think it’s said in the intro of the book that this is a reaction to feeling like you’re in a world of darkness. You can’t control and you can’t divorce yourself from the fact that you live in a world of destruction, and you separate yourself from that. And yet, you continue. So where and what do you do when you continue? And I think one must keep going. Even if you can’t see where that is, you’ve got to do it.

VALDEZ: Yeah.

DARA: I’m on my motivational speaker vibe.

VALDEZ: Well, I think getting to the fundamentals can be a really cleansing, grounding experience of renewal, and that’s what a lot of it was. Because I feel like our collaboration, our artist-muse relationship, is this very innate, almost compulsory thing. I couldn’t stop it if I wanted to. So it’s just about giving it a space.

DARA: I always tell everyone, it doesn’t matter if I was on an island alone, I would still pick some shit up and somehow stick it on my body and look into the water at myself for nobody, because we can’t help it.

VALDEZ: Yeah, you’ve seen my hospital selfies.

DARA: Surgical table vibes! We can’t help it. We were infected by this problem at a very young age, and it’s just going to keep fucking going. Glamour and beauty and fashioning. The bug just bit us and there’s no stopping it.

VALDEZ: But also, other than it being a conduit for our creative impulses, it’s also meaningful in that it marks 10 years of our working together and friendship, because our first shoot was July 3rd, 2015.

DARA: Oh my god. Whoa.

VALDEZ: It was the day before we went up to L.A. with Hari to go to Miley [Cyrus]’s house for a barbecue.

DARA: Oh my god.

VALDEZ: Remember?

DARA: Yeah. The first day I ever spent the entire night out of my parents’ house.

VALDEZ: Yeah. That was deflowering for you.

DARA: Also, shout out to Hari. She’s out filming so she was not there, but also this would not be without her and that craziness.

VALDEZ: Everyone’s played a part in the grand design of the Cruz and Dara experience. Now we can enjoy it.

DARA: Well, I’m going to stop recording and then we’re going to gossip.

VALDEZ: Oh my god, absolutely. We got a lot of pieces to get into. We got to scrape the bottom of the bag.

DARA: Love you, Cruz.

VALDEZ: I love you.