Edited by Sophia Dearborn. Art direction by Kilo Kish. Foreword by Chioma Nnadi.
A vibrant photographic portrait of Los Angeles’ dynamic population by one of the city’s foremost stylists
American photographer and costume designer Jasmine Benjamin is a California girl. She represents the ease of Northern California, where she was raised, and the cosmopolitan pace of Hollywood, where she lives, and has brought her ever-creative spirit, considerable talent and infallible eye to music industry titans and anonymous citizens alike. City of Angels features more than 120 portraits of daring, expressive Los Angeles creatives shot in locations across the length and breadth of this vast metropolis. The book features iconic streetwear creators, free spirits from Topanga Canyon, surf and skate kids in Venice Beach, edgy Echo Park hipsters, Los Feliz vintage aficionados, shop girls and guys working at boutiques on Melrose, Chicano punks, K-Town cuties, Hollywood royalty, LGBTQIA+ fashion designers, Laurel Canyon bohemians, Black musicians and artists from South Central and Inglewood as well as from the affluent suburbs of Baldwin Hills and historic Leimert Park. With photographs exclusively by Benjamin, this book also features a unique illustrated map of Los Angeles by the artist Isaac Escoto, also known as Sickid, adding an additional artistic dimension. City of Angels is both a tribute to and an in-depth exploration of the essence of LA street culture. It celebrates the rich and diverse style scene of Los Angeles, highlighting a blend of celebrities, local figures, and everyday residents who embody the city’s authentic spirit and fashion. Notably, approximately 80% of the individuals featured in the book are native Angelenos or hail from the greater California region, offering an intimate, homegrown perspective that enhances the project’s authenticity. This body of work perfectly juxtaposes beauty with edginess, glamour with urban rawness. Jasmine Benjamin has worked as a stylist and sometime creative director for Miguel, Anderson .Paak, Donald Glover, Vince Staples and Chaka Khan, as well as a costume designer for commercials by Nike, the WNBA, Apple Music and Google. Benjamin has been featured in Vogue and Billboard and was named “Top Stylist of 2016” by i-D magazine.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Vogue
Emma Specter
[Los Angeles] is set apart by its sharp and distinctive street style, and Benjamin skillfully captures its evolution across the various zip codes and demographics that make L.A. one of the most diverse cities in America.
Los Angeles Times
Julissa James
With 'City of Angels' the world is invited to understand that L.A. style has never just been about the clothes. It’s about the way people move here, the way they contribute to the city and each other.
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Saturday, May 17, from 4–5 PM, photographer and City of Angels: A Book about L.A. Style author Jasmine Benjamin will appear in conversation with artist, director and Born x Raised creative director Alex/2Tone at Printed Matter's L.A. Art Book Fair as part of the Printed Matter Classroom series. Register here!
Please join us immediately following the Classroom talk in Artbook Booth C19 for a City of Angels book signing with Jasmine Benjamin.
If not on site you can order books to be shipped to you.
Featured photograph—of model, educator and Highland Park native Sara Fernandez—is reproduced from Jasmine Benjamin’s highly anticipated new monograph, City of Angels: A Book about L.A. Style. Collecting 125 portraits and short interviews with rising, free-spirited and style-savvy creatives, it’s also a love letter to homegrown LA street culture. “To me, that’s what Los Angeles style is all about,” Benjamin writes, “hybrid practices that travel far beyond the fashion narrative into visual art, cinema, music and social activism. The entire City of Angels project is about this way of seeing, and asks readers to see past the clichés and stereotypes … City of Angels is a true-to-life, positive, and inspiring portrait not just of clothing or style but of the diverse, dazzlingly eclectic character of this captivating city.” continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 6.5 x 9.5 in. / 160 pgs / 125 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $45.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $68 ISBN: 9788862088350 PUBLISHER: Damiani AVAILABLE: 5/6/2025 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA LA
Jasmine Benjamin: City of Angels A Book about L.A. Style
Published by Damiani. Edited by Sophia Dearborn. Art direction by Kilo Kish. Foreword by Chioma Nnadi.
A vibrant photographic portrait of Los Angeles’ dynamic population by one of the city’s foremost stylists
American photographer and costume designer Jasmine Benjamin is a California girl. She represents the ease of Northern California, where she was raised, and the cosmopolitan pace of Hollywood, where she lives, and has brought her ever-creative spirit, considerable talent and infallible eye to music industry titans and anonymous citizens alike. City of Angels features more than 120 portraits of daring, expressive Los Angeles creatives shot in locations across the length and breadth of this vast metropolis. The book features iconic streetwear creators, free spirits from Topanga Canyon, surf and skate kids in Venice Beach, edgy Echo Park hipsters, Los Feliz vintage aficionados, shop girls and guys working at boutiques on Melrose, Chicano punks, K-Town cuties, Hollywood royalty, LGBTQIA+ fashion designers, Laurel Canyon bohemians, Black musicians and artists from South Central and Inglewood as well as from the affluent suburbs of Baldwin Hills and historic Leimert Park.
With photographs exclusively by Benjamin, this book also features a unique illustrated map of Los Angeles by the artist Isaac Escoto, also known as Sickid, adding an additional artistic dimension. City of Angels is both a tribute to and an in-depth exploration of the essence of LA street culture. It celebrates the rich and diverse style scene of Los Angeles, highlighting a blend of celebrities, local figures, and everyday residents who embody the city’s authentic spirit and fashion. Notably, approximately 80% of the individuals featured in the book are native Angelenos or hail from the greater California region, offering an intimate, homegrown perspective that enhances the project’s authenticity. This body of work perfectly juxtaposes beauty with edginess, glamour with urban rawness.
Jasmine Benjamin has worked as a stylist and sometime creative director for Miguel, Anderson .Paak, Donald Glover, Vince Staples and Chaka Khan, as well as a costume designer for commercials by Nike, the WNBA, Apple Music and Google. Benjamin has been featured in Vogue and Billboard and was named “Top Stylist of 2016” by i-D magazine.
