Cool people like cool things, which is why we asked Justin Moran to share a taste of his taste on Perfectly Imperfect.

Justin Moran is the Digital Director of PAPER Magazine where he oversees their editorial department and has helped build its reputation as a coveted platform in pop culture. He’s profiled major icons like Lady Gaga, but also helped introduce the world to artists like Kim Petras by booking her first-ever magazine cover. He’s also collaborated with the late SOPHIE, Gwen Stefani, Demi Lovato, Lil Nas X, Flo Milli, 100 Gecs, PinkPantheress, Bree Runway, Kaytranada, Christine and the Queens, Big Freedia, Carly Rae Jepsen and more. Lucky for us, Justin is here to tell us what he’s been into.

Without further ado

Justin Moran (instagram)

🌀  Mrs. Dutchie

I’ve never been so possessed by a TikTok Live as I have with Mrs. Dutchie’s, which happen consistently throughout the week at night. Some people unwind with a glass of wine, but I decompress with hours of watching this Kentucky Queen create custom tumblers that she swirls in color, glitter and something she calls “glow” (said in a Southern drawl, no less). Her process never changes, which is the type of reliability I crave after my daily chaos and anarchy, and she even has catchphrases, like “Mercy Sakes,” which fans have turned into bootleg merch that I’ll be purchasing soon enough. 

✔️ Choice Market

When I was an editorial intern at PAPER in college, I sublet a room in Clinton Hill for the summer and would stop by Choice Market every morning before heading into the office (sweaty, nervous and eager). I recently moved back to Brooklyn from LA and found my own apartment in the same neighborhood, just down the street from Choice, which I took as a full-circle sign from something somewhere to follow and lean into. Everything is worth trying on the menu, and one of the baristas has giant, featherdust eyelashes that make my black coffee purchase a bit more exciting. 

🧖‍♀️ Wi Spa

I’ve been flying to LA nearly every other week at this point for different PAPER shoots, which I love and am thankful for. On the last night in town, right before flying back home, I’ve created a ritual where I skip sleep and instead go to Wi Spa in Koreatown until I’m ready to leave for LAX. I like this because my phone can’t reach me — and no follow-up emails or unhealthy scrolling temptations — which gives me some time to reset. Mental health aside, it’s also a fascinating social experience, seeing who comes through late at night and into the early morning. Perfect people watching. 

👛 Private Policy

Back when I was a fashion editor at the now-defunct BULLETT, I first collaborated with the designers behind Private Policy and have stayed close ever since. They’re my go-to for events, from the last Life Ball ever in Vienna to the recent 2022 Grammys ceremony, and I currently own at least five different Private Policy bags — all in different shapes, colors and sizes. I think they do an incredible job taking thoughtful, sociopolitical ideas and injecting that into wearable streetwear (and I recently took home an oyster mushroom kit from their last NYFW show as a gift, which was cute). 

😈  Addison Rae Demos

I’ve always been a fan of it-girls turned pop stars and Addison Rae sits perfectly in that intersection paved by the likes of Paris Hilton or Heidi Montag before her. Spotify Wrapped is a painful mirror to the truth and I’ll admit here (and only here) that Rae’s debut single, “Obsessed,” was my most played song of 2021. I’ll also admit that I’ve found the full leak of “I Got It Bad,” and pray that the final version gets an official release alongside her controversial cover of Lady Gaga’s demo, “Nothing On (But the Radio).” If it makes people upset, I’m interested. 

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