Havana Laffitte is an acclaimed creative director and visual consultant based in New York City. Throughout her 25-year career, Laffitte has been a leader in the fashion marketing and editorial landscape, recognized for her dynamic and innovative approach to creative and marketing strategies. Her influential contributions span a spectrum of disciplines, encompassing visual curation, styling, creative direction, brand strategy, and content creation.
Havana began her career in fashion as a stylist, garnering recognition for her fashion editorials for independent publications such like i-D, The Face, and Spin Magazine. In 1998, she was named the New York Contributing Fashion Editor for i-D Magazine, where she worked under the mentorship of the publication’s trailblazing founder, Terry Jones. In her 16-year tenure at i-D, Laffitte was afforded the creative freedom to develop and refine her signature point of view, merging a deep appreciation and knowledge of the history of fashion, fine art, and photography with her active involvement with contemporary street culture.
In 2005, Havana was named Contributing Fashion Editor for Teen Vogue working closely with Amy Astley to help define the visual identity of an influential fashion, lifestyle and beauty publication dedicated to a younger and more experimental audience within the VOGUE brand, a position she continued to hold until 2016. During her time at Conde Nast working for Teen Vogue, Havana developed a holistic view and method of image-making, combining comprehensive visual and cultural research practices with experimentation to create narratively and visually arresting content that resonates with contemporary audiences on a human level.
In addition to her tenure at Teen Vogue and i-D Magazines, Havana has contributed to several international publications including Interview, Visionaire, Vogue Italy, Vogue Spain and Vogue Japan. Between 1999 and 2004, she held positions as a fashion director and editor at renowned publications including Nylon and UK based Nova Magazine.
Collaboration is a crucial component of Havana’s practice, which involves gathering visual reference materials to share across departments as a foundation for developing new ideas, identities, and expressions. In 2014, she helped launch the independent Fine Art and Fashion bi annual publication Let’s Panic Magazine as its founding Fashion Director, where Havana developed a unique contemporary perspective through fashion visuals set alongside archival documentary and fine artwork, leading the publications fashion department across both image making and brand marketing initiatives. Deriving inspiration from a diverse range of influences, Laffitte's unique perspective and boundary-pushing vision positioned her at the cutting edge of fashion marketing and continues to inform her practice today.
As a creative consultant and brand strategist, Havana has worked closely with lifestyle brands and fashion houses to articulate a visual identity and narrative that draws on a brand's legacy and brings it into the contemporary consciousness. Drawing on her editorial fashion and publishing experience, she creates a framework to initiate unexpected creative collaborations with creatives across a range of disciplines. She has collaborated with both emerging and established artists and photographers, notably including Marina Abromovic, Mark Borthwick, Roe Ethridge, Jim Goldberg, Patrick Demarchelier, Ethan James Green, Alasdair McClellan, Terry Richardson, Davide Sorrenti, and Bruce Weber.
Leveraging her extensive experience and expertise, Havana established the artist representation agency and creative production company Camera Club in 2018. As the Founder and Creative Director, Havana has represented a roster of emerging and established visual artists working in the fields of film and photography with a specialized approach to documenting contemporary culture in tandem with fashion and brand commissions. Camera Club offers comprehensive support to its network of artists and clients across commissioned and personal projects spanning from editorial shoots, advertising campaigns to publishing and exhibitions. Camera Club has developed a niche roster of global creative and production partnerships with brands including Adidas, Bottega Veneta, Carven, Gucci, Levi’s, Loewe, Marc Jacobs and Supreme. Editorial collaborations include i-D Magazine, The Face, M le Monde, Self Service, T magazine and Vogue.
In 2019, Havana established Camera Club’s affiliated gallery and cultural center CCProjects, situated in Manhattan’s Dimes Square area of Chinatown. Functioning as a communal space for an international network of visual artists and cultural curators to connect and exchange perspectives, CCProjects orchestrates a variety of collaborative creative initiatives, encompassing exhibitions, screenings, workshops and philanthropic initiatives with a focus on spotlighting critical social issues through the documentation of contemporary culture.
Editorial Work History:
i-D Magazine (1998-2014) Contributing Fashion Editor
Nylon Magazine ( 1999-2000) Fashion Director
Nova Magazine (1999—2001) Senior Fashion Editor
Teen Vogue/ Vogue Magazine (2004—2014) Fashion Editor
Let’s Panic Magazine (2014-2018 ) Fashion Director