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RABÔT FEMALE PORTRAIT SERIES. MEET RACHEL AND ANISE
We’re celebrating female creatives based in Los Angeles who are inspiring to us at RABÔT.
Meet Rachel Ly and Anise Mariko photographed on film by Bella Gadsby.
Look 1: Rachel is wearing our Mimi Cardi and Mesh Paloma Dress and Anise is wearing our Mimi Dress.
Look 2: Rachel is wearing our Paloma Dress and Anise is wearing our Ramblas Dress.
Rachel Ly is a poet, actress, and model who has made Los Angeles her home. She is of Vietnamese and Israeli-Moroccan descent. Her alter ego is a librarian, and she likes to stand out in the subtlest ways possible. She grew up the middle child in a small town in Northern Minnesota before moving to Florida for college, where she studied literature. She stayed a brief stint in New York post-graduation, before settling in L.A.
Anise Mariko Lew is a Japanese-Cantonese American Creative Director and Photographer. She has lived between the US & Asia and creates visual identity through art. She began as a Music Video Director in New York, but discovered her love for the medium of Film Photography in Tokyo & Hong Kong. She continues to find the beauty of people, their human relationships, & fleetingness of memory the most profound thing to convey in her work, and couldn't be happier to be on this path.
Q: How has living in Los Angeles fostered your career?
Rachel - "When people ask if I like living in Los Angeles, I have to say it has been good to me. I always had a feeling about this place. One of the reasons they call it la la land is because it’s so easy to dream about. I was working 3 jobs my first few months out here, and I distinctly remember thinking that moving here mid-pandemic with little to fall back on was putting all my bets on myself. LA teaches me risk and relaxation. I earnestly feel that this city is full of blessings (as well as traps); the more you work on yourself deep in the core, the more doors you will see open. It’s like a magic trick."
Anise - "I actually grew up in Los Angeles and really wanted to "Get Out" for most of my adolescence. I moved everywhere- Pretty much the furthest you could go- And ended up back in LA during the Pandemic to stay with family. But it was only here that I truly grew as an artist. I found the best group of friends and a supportive community. I didn't really have that in any other place except maybe New York, but New York... Is a very hard place for flowers to bloom."
Q: What inspires you about each other?
Rachel - "Anise inspires me with her grace. There’s a certain charm of weird girl I think we would have both been in high school. She’s a fellow daydreamer with grounded souls on her feet. As I’ve grown to know Anise, I can spot a strength in her that’s both gentle and unbendable. She’s also the queen of hosting and dresses like a ballerina with a knife up her skirt."
Anise - "Rachel has an effortlessness about her, but always makes you laugh by being pretty transparent on the reality; She's extremely reflective. Rachel is very honest and I love that she puts herself into her writing. She is talented & well-read: I feel like an intellectual being around her! Rachel is an incredible friend, and I value her so much- She is like a sister to me."
