adidas FYW S-97 featuring Dylan Ali, Jose Girona, Maya Margarita Monès and Elvin Tavarez

To provide the latest adidas FYW S-97 with its deserving spotlight, we highlight the '90s-inspired silhouette with New York City-based nightlife trailblazers Dylan Ali, Jose Girona,Maya Margarita Monès and Elvin Tavarez. The quartette of colleagues turned friends shapes the NYC nightlife on a regular, either together or solo, DJing between fashion week events, illegal raves, and LGBTQ+ parties. So, we asked them to give us some insights on who they are, and their take on the state of community in NYC’s nightlife scene.

The retro design of the adidas FYW S-97s caters to expert-level style moves, which have been set in the right mood by photographer and New Yorker Stephen Velastegui.

Available from the 17th of April online at sneakersnstuff.com and all SNS locations

Dylan Ali aka dylanthegypsy

I love DJ’ing for a diverse, open-minded crowd that enjoys music and dancing. I like being able to take risks in my sets. I always appreciate a welcoming/accommodating event staff, my friends being taken care of, and being paid promptly. My favorite venues in NYC are h0l0, Dumbo House, VNYL and Cafe Erzulie.

Nightlife is driven by socioeconomic status and social currency (social media engagements/followings, proximity to power and fame, aesthetic appeal, etc). Many venues prioritize catering their experiences to the demographic spending the most money above creating an overall fun party space. I believe that it’s diluting New York City's sense of culture. However, being the melting pot that it is, diversity is inevitable. New Yorkers are also significantly less concerned with looking cool when the music is right, and people are drinking with their friends. I love nightlife because it’s the only time where complete strangers come together to celebrate existing. It’s an opportunity to express gratitude and ignore one's problems for the evening. I am blessed to be able to contribute to that experience for people.

Elvin Tavarez, aka Fried Platano

My ideal gig is a party like the one in Matrix Reloaded where everyone in Zion is going off in a cave. But mine would be in the Dominican Republic Taino caves! NO CELLPHONES. Just pure primal energy and everyone is there to dance. I don't really have a favorite venue yet, but Good Room in Brooklyn has a bomb sound system.

I can only speak from an LGBTQ+ point of view when it comes to a community within NYC's nightlife scene, and I feel like its getting stronger. We have collectives like Bubble T, Papi Juice, Club Glam, Shock Value, and Ragga, just to name a few, who’ve all contributed to weaving a stronger web between our brothers and sisters. My relationship with Maya and Joselo are a direct result of co-existing in these spaces. Joselo has always put me on without question and pushes me to be better when it comes to my DJ'ing. I'm inspired by Maya’s talent and hope to be as good as her one day! This is why the community is very important to me because, in order to build strong ones, you need respect and support. If the world’s inhabitants respected and supported one another more, we'd be in a very different place today.

Maya Margarita Monès aka br0nz3_g0dd3ss

An ideal gig is any that I get to be surrounded by queer, black and POC fam! I love playing at Elsewhere in Bushwick. They have a gorgeous space, and the staff always makes me feel at home. It feels like folks are holding each other tighter and dancing with more passion than ever before. Nightlife spaces are sometimes the only place we get to release and just be, which in the world we currently live in, is so essential. I think it’s imperative that we continue to cultivate spaces where we uplift and celebrate each other now more than ever, without the hope and light they provide I don’t know where I’d be.