Richard Pier Petit Photography

Justin Gaston @ Vision; Styling by Eugene Ong; Hair by Kali (Celestine); Makeup by Geoffrey Rodriguez (Ford Artists); Photo assistant Conan Thai;  leather chain maille tank by Michael Schmidt Studios.

Vintage leather pants – Henry Duarte; belt – Veronique Branquinho; vintage boots – Helmut Lang; necklace – model’s own.

Vintage leather pants – Henry Duarte; belt – Veronique Branquinho; sterling silver chain maille bracelet – Michael Schmidt Studios

On April 27th,  Deadline Hollywood reported that Justin Gaston will co-star as Levi Johnston in the HBO movie Game Change, starring Julianne Moore, and produced by Tom Hanks.  For the worshipful many who follow his every move – from singer-songwriter to DNA model to Nashville Star to paparazzi candy (those seemingly endless nine months with Miley Cyrus), to Glee, to If I Can Dream, to PETA spokesmodel – this is very good news.  Justin was, after all, born to be a star; a grown-up, high-profile project like this could seal the deal.

Nylon dinner jacket – Comme des Garcons Homme Plus; ruffled shirt – Ann Demeulemeester

Leather chain maille tank – Michael Schmidt Studios

T shirt – Jeremy Scott; steel mesh cuff – Michael Schmidt Studios

Tattered steel mesh scarf (worn as bracelet) – Michael Schmidt Studios

Trousers – Martin Margiela; shoes – Martin Margiela Replica; sterling silver chain maille bracelet – Michael Schmidt Studios; necklace – model’s own

Not long ago, I acquired a stack of vintage magazines, and among them was a 1982 copy of After Dark, with Maxwell Caulfield on the cover, shot by the legendary dance photographer Kenn Duncan. When the opportunity to shoot Justin came up, I thought it would be interesting to pay a winking tribute to  some of those earlier images – after all, Caulfield’s career trajectory was similar to Gaston’s – from actor to pin-up, to paparazzi candy (Olivia Newton John), to feature film star (Grease II).

Nylon dinner jacket – Comme des Garcons Homme Plus; ruffled shirt – Ann Demeulemeester

special thanks to Joe at Vision, to the incredible team, and to Michael Schmidt Studios