LA Weekly |
| Courtesy of Sephora |
| Alexis Krauss is all about the nails |
By Liz Tracy
Fashion and music are the funniest-looking twin sisters. They're always together, always kinda sloppy. Sometimes they dress up like a swan or wear a big mouse head. Together, they're always looking to make a bold statement.
If you follow Sleigh Bells' Alexis Krauss on Instagram (@KraussingAround), you know what it is: It's all about her nails.
See also: Girl Talk on S.S. Coachella and the Art of Getting Your Cat to Meow to Collective Soul
Krauss has taken her love of nails a bit further than the normal rock star. She even invited Ria Lopez, her 24-year-old manicurist, aboard the S.S. Coachella, where Sleigh Bells is a featured act.
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| Photo by Ian Witlen |
| Broward/Palm Beach New Times music editor Liz Tracy (left) and manicurist Ria Lopez. |
The Sleigh Bells singer lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, where Lopez's mom owns a shop, Maritza's. “One day, I just popped in,” Krauss tells me, “and we initially started doing very traditional manicures, and then I would come in and go, 'Can you try this?' And Ria just kept getting more adventurous and creative.
“We spent more and more time together and then I would bring her on photo shoots, video shoots. Now she just has her own totally unique thing going.”
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| Photo by Ian Witlen |
Lopez, with the crew of the Celebrity Silhouette are sawing down the gnarly nails of S.S. Coachella cruisers and making them gorgeous. Lopez's options are exquisite. There's a little dripping, inverted pentagram for the metal-heads; an eye in a pyramid, presumably, for the Egyptians; a peace sign and an orange yin-yang which, honestly, made me wish I weren't such a nail biter.
Krauss wasn't getting hers done this time, but I brought press-on nails called “Deceptions” and glued them to my poor hands and asked Lopez to go at 'em. She was game, painting all over my odd-fitting plastic claws. Nia was still working away long after the 1 p.m. cut-off time, even as a group of ladies moved over to the “Boats and Crafts” table to make things like snazzy sailor hats with plastic flowers on them.
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| Photo by Ian Witlen |
“She's always coming up with ideas and a lot of times I'll literally like, 'Whatever you want to do, I trust you.'” Krauss says of Lopez. “But then we're always referencing fashion, patterns, album art, you name it.”
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