On a late Miami morning, Sophie Mains awakes in what feels like a dream from the night before. Rubbing her eyes, she throws a red and gold baroque print Versace comforter over her shoulder and sits on the side of the bed with her head in her hands. She’s wearing an oversized Tupac t-shirt we just thrifted a few days before. It was a crazy night—one of many—at the Villa Casa Casuarina, the luxury boutique hotel and restaurant operating in what was once the home of legendary fashion designer Gianni Versace. I’m making “that me espresso” in the Mosaic Suite, where Madonna was known to stay when she visited back in the day. Sir Elton John was just across the hall. Less than a week ago, we decided to stay here on a whim simply because we would be working in Miami. Where better to go on a week-long bender and prepare to shoot this month’s issue of 21 Artistry? “There’s so much history within these walls,” Mains says. “I feel the presence of all the artists who came before me who have been here. These are people who have changed the world and continue to change the world. It’s incredibly inspiring in that way, but it’s also just so iconic, and as Drake once said, ‘We stay at the mansion when we in Miami,’ she says, laughing.

Photograph by Philip Hiblovic for *21 Artistry*

The third most photographed home in the United States after the White House and Graceland, the Versace Mansion boasts that just about every celebrity and their mother has been here. In fact, Shakira shot here for Billboard just last year. Being the fashion kids we are, it’s especially awe-inspiring to see a villa that is the living embodiment of one of our favorite fashion houses. Greca borders, baroque prints, and Medusa heads ornament every corner of the property. “Versace wanted his house to follow house code,” Mains says. “He loved his brand that much. What is most inspiring to me about Gianni is how he was always a staunch champion for women. He created the definition of ‘supermodel’ as we know it today. He brought high fashion into pop culture and pop culture into high fashion. He was very Waholian in that regard, which is fitting since Warhol was one of his friends and collaborators. I see this phenomenon coming back in fashion today. The social media world and influencer culture are infiltrating high fashion. The line between Instagram model and fashion model is blurring and gatekeepers are waking up to the power that social media has. I think it’s really exciting, but at the same time, when it comes to fashion, a lot of influencers don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about.”

Sitting before me is a Mains who has completely evolved from the last time we worked together just a few months ago. “My inspirations have shifted from influencers and social media stars to true fashion icons such as Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Julia Fox,” she explains. This comes at a pivotal time in all these women’s careers. Madonna just concluded her career-spanning Celebration Tour with a free concert in Rio de Janeiro, setting the record for the largest audience ever for a stand-alone concert by any artist in history with 1.6 million fans in attendance. “Forty-five years into her career, mind you,” Mains interjects. Lady Gaga is starring in Joker: Folie à Deux alongside Joaquin Phoenix, slated to drop later this year, as well as working on her new album. (We’ve been playing “Donatella” on repeat the whole time we’ve been here.) Julia Fox is co-hosting her new fashion competition series OMG Fashun with probably the most groundbreaking stylist in the world right now, Image Architect™ Law Roach. She somehow also found time to release her first single, “Down The Drain,” following her memoir of the same name, just as fellow icon Charli XCX shouted her out on “360” and brought her in for the music video alongside a laundry list of fashion icons currently dominating the cultural landscape. Mains is obsessed.

“It’s easy when you’re a college girl to just idolize other college girls with fame,” she says. “A lot of influencers I absolutely love, and they have done incredible things with their brands. But in the past few months, I’ve expanded my thinking. I prefer to look up to people who do cool, original stuff that not everyone else is doing. I gravitate towards ideas that haven’t been done before. It’s so much more unique and has a bigger impact if it’s your own.”

This is the same Sophie Mains who vowed to “make Instagram casual again” back in 2020. She gained around 5,000 followers on Instagram and 40,000 followers on TikTok simply by being her authentic self, posting about life’s small moments, such as Target runs with her friends, after-party cuddles, and attending an all-girls Catholic school back home in St. Louis, Missouri. Although her aesthetic has changed drastically since then, she still holds on to the lessons it taught her. “I think the reason so many people resonated with my casual aesthetic is they were tired of the fake world of social media,” Mains says. “Almost every photo you see is retouched in some way and curated to fit a specific narrative. I think using social media as a tool to tell your story and control your narrative is really powerful, but there should always be authenticity behind it. I think it’s easy to tell when there’s not.”

Originally from St. Louis, Mains moved to South Florida last fall to begin her college career as a Digital and Social Media Marketing major at Florida Atlantic University. She was also seeking more opportunities as a model. “Growing up in St. Louis my whole life, it’s such a tight-knit community where everyone knows everyone,” Mains shares. “It just got too much for me towards the end of high school. I wanted to get as far away as possible. Since I started doing more modeling, I wanted to expand on that and knew there would be opportunities here in Miami. I wanted to leave it all behind. I didn’t know anyone out here. I wanted a fresh start.”

After a poolside breakfast at Gianni’s Restaurant, we check out of the Villa Casa Casuarina and make our way to Patch of Heaven Sanctuary, a 20-acre forest and garden in Miami Rock Ridge. We’ve come a long way from St. Louis, where the world-renowned Budweiser Clydesdales of Grants Farm and the Anheuser-Busch Brewery stand proudly as symbols of our city, up there with the Gateway Arch. Today, we would be shooting with one. “My first week out here, I was thrifting and saw a Budweiser hoodie,” Mains recalls. “I picked it up right away as a little reminder of home. I think it’s really cool that we get to shoot with a Clydesdale specifically because of its relation to Budweiser and our connection to home.”

When we get out of the car, we are greeted by a kitten who quickly runs away and hides in the palm trees. In true Mains fashion, she chases after it, unfortunately to no avail. After a three-hour shoot, we are now headed to dinner before I have to fly back home to St. Louis. “Shooting at Patch of Heaven was unbelievable,” Sophie says as she’s cutting her steak. “From the second we walked in, we were given a warm welcome. When we were led to our dressing room, my breath was taken away. It was stunning. I was taken back in time with the 1800s decorations of the room. The femininity of it all…it got me really excited for the shoot. When we went out and saw the white Clysdale, it was so angelic. I had never seen a horse like that before. I have been riding horses since I was a little girl, but the horses were always saddled, and with the reins, I felt like I was in control. This was my first time without reins, and I wasn’t sure how it was gonna go down. Once I got on the horse, I felt more confident. You encouraged me to lean into it and embrace the discomfort. I felt powerful even as I was almost falling off the horse.”

The styling for this shoot was inspired by Adelaide White, my friend from our hometown whom I have looked to for fashion inspiration since high school. In 2021, she posted a picture on Instagram wearing cowboy boots and a bikini with the caption “Boots & bikinis.” As simple as it sounds, I remember thinking it was such a genius combination that I had never seen before. Bringing the cowgirl aesthetic of the cowboy boots together with the tropical aesthetic of the bikini just made sense to me. She went on to recreate this look in many different ways, using boots that are more high fashion and bikinis of all different styles.

Unbeknownst to me, Mains was also inspired by the exact same look. “Last summer I went to my friend’s lake house, who’s a couple years older than me, and she brought some of her friends who are from St. Louis but go to college elsewhere. I didn’t know them before, and on the way back, they were pulling up a girl’s Instagram and fangirling over her. They pulled up a picture of Addie doing “boots and bikinis,” and one of them specifically said ‘Oh my God. I’m gonna recreate this. I think this is the most iconic idea ever.’ That was the first time I had heard of Addie White. Even though we went to the same school, I hadn’t put the pieces together. Then I went and deep-stalked on my own and became such a fan from afar, and I thought, ‘Boots and bikinis. Why isn’t everyone doing this?’” Well, we are.

The concept of “boots and bikinis” takes two different worlds and brings them together. These two worlds don’t necessarily make sense together on paper, but when you see them as one, it makes all the sense in the world. Patch of Heaven Sanctuary is similar in this way. The tropical Florida palm trees and climate juxtapose the gorgeous Western-style barn and Friesian horses, not to mention the stunning decorations from cultures all throughout Asia. Indian statues and antiques adorn the interior of the barn. Just outside, you hear waterfalls flowing into Japanese koi ponds and gardens. “This location screams Philip and St. Louis to me,” Mains says. “Nelly described St. Louis perfectly with his album ‘Country Grammar.’ We are country and city at the same time, and it makes us beautiful. This idea of bringing two completely different or even conflicting styles together and marrying them in a way that works is super inspiring to me. The Miami culture of bikinis combined with our Missouri roots of cowboys and horses…it worked together perfectly.”

Mains’s experiences in the industry have not always been this positive, but her grit and passion have carried her forward. “After I had done some work for a senior photography agency in my hometown, an older male photographer DMd me on Instagram asking if I wanted to shoot with him,” she describes. “His portfolio looked good, so I agreed to it. I went to the address, and when I got there, it was literally just his basement with the door closed, and it was super creepy. Nothing bad happened, but looking back, that wasn’t a safe decision. I was young and naïve. A lot of girls I know have had similar experiences. When you’re a young woman eager to start her career, especially in an industry with its fair share of exploitation such as the modeling industry, people will try to take advantage of you. Don’t let them.”

When considering the future, I remind Mains this is only her first editorial. It’s hard to believe considering her professionalism. Not only did she work incredibly well under pressure, but she treated everyone we encountered with the sweetness and gratitude of a brand new puppy. She is a class act with a prolific career ahead of her. “As I begin my career, I am reminding myself only to take on projects that are meaningful to me and I feel push culture forward in some way,” Mains says. “I have to believe in the work that I’m doing. I don’t want to do something just to do it.”

As Mains is driving me to the Miami airport just in time to make my flight, I’m reflecting on the past week of creating together. I always knew she had star power, but it feels like she transformed into an icon before my eyes. I'm already thinking about all the art we will make when she comes back home to St. Louis this horse girl summer. Giddy up, bitch.

“To me, ‘Horse Girl Summer’ is about grabbing life by the reins, even though there were no reins on the horse,” Mains jokes. This shoot specifically was so different from what I have done before. It was the perfect preview of the summer. I want to go wild this summer, take all the new experiences life throws at me, and carry them forward into the rest of my career. I want to take risks. I want to create love and art and memories that will last forever. That’s what life is all about.” •

Styled by Philip Hiblovic; hair by Philip Hiblovic; make-up by Philip Hiblovic; production by 21 Artistry

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