JUST KIDS

AFTER ANDY WARHOL’S DEATH IN 1987, there was a void. The iconic artist had commandeered the New York scene for his own devices for decades—and when he died, there was a short window of opportunity for someone else to step up and into the spotlight. Enter the Club Kids, a rag-tag band of misfits with oversized, personally crafted personas and outrageous looks, their moniker minted in a 1988 New York magazine cover story.

You know their names: Lady Bunny, RuPaul, Amanda Lepore, and more. Unofficially helmed by club promoter Michael Alig and bouncing around nightlife hotspots like Pyramid, Aria, The Tunnel, and Limelight, the group represented a seminal moment in culture, notably encapsulated in the 2003 film Party Monster. Walt Cassidy, an artist and jewelry designer then known as Waltpaper, was there when it all happened, as documented in his new book New York: Club Kids.