Get to know our summer talent

Taken from the new print issue of THE FACE. Get your copy here.

The writer posting frantic online thoughts about the world

Biz Sherbert, 25, says that living in London makes her feel like she’s Paddington Bear. That’s what setting up home in Maida Vale, a quick electric bike ride from Paddington itself, will do to a person. Raised in South Carolina, the writer and critic moved to New York aged 18 to study art and fashion history at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Since then, she’s been using academia as a framework to write seriously about niche internet trends and digital trivia. ​“At that point, I’d gone through a bad breakup and had a lot of creative energy,” she says, laughing. She also hosts the culture and fashion podcast Nymphet Alumni with pals Alexi Alario and Sam Cummins, alongside posting long-form Insta captions about forgotten fashion history and fascinating micro-trends. ​“Posting is such a kinetic way of sharing something. I love print, but there’s an instantaneousness to hitting send that’s electrifying.” JW

@markfisherquotes

The Manchester rapper with an ear for leftfield beats

Nemzzz wears jacket MONCLER and T-shirt talent’s own

“Chilled, but hyped at the same time,” is how Nemzzz, aka Nemiah Simms, describes his music. Now 19, he blew up in 2021 with low-key track Elevate and has since amassed more than 100 million Spotify streams. From Gorton, East Manchester, an area where ​“people rarely come out having done anything”, Nemzzz felt motivated to make it as a musician. He quit playing for City as a kid (“I didn’t like being told what to do!”) and started sneaking into the studio his Jamaican dad had built in the garage to make his own tracks. Nemzzz’s biggest influence? Michael Jackson. ​“I knew every single song off by heart. I had the glove, the hat – my Nan’s got all my dances on her old camcorder.” Nemzzz’s gearing up for his first EP drop this summer and a performance at Glastonbury. ​“It’s all history from here,” he says. Or HIStory, hmm? JW

@nemzzz_

The Estonian fashion designer making clothes for two wheels

Joanna wears top and harness talent’s own

It wasn’t until Johanna Parv, 30, moved to London to study fashion that cycling became her mode of escape. Missing the fresh air of her hometown Tallinn, Estonia, Parv took up biking and swiftly realised it limited the clothes she could wear. She’s been on a mission to dress city-dwelling women ever since. The devil is in the details: from waistbands that conceal bike locks to triangular trouser cut-outs that can house both cycling shoes and stilettos. Having built close-knit relationships with her bike community, Parv spends as much time observing real-life hacks as she does taking their feedback into practice, from bulldog-clipped layers to people wearing cycling shorts over suit trousers. ​“The hacks are quite funny, but you understand people are coming from a place of true practicality. We’re looking for constant protection, coverage, comfort and convenience – while hoping no one sees us on the way to work!” BM

@johannaparv_

The Marvel fanatic who joined the MCU and thrived

Rish wears jumpsuit VALENTINO

Rish Shah never misses the opening night of a Marvel film. It’s a tradition he shares with his oldest mate – in fact, while he was studying English and Linguistics at King’s College London, Shah even travelled to Manchester so they could catch a midnight screening of Avengers: Infinity War. Now, the 25-year-old Londoner has himself been inducted into the MCU, starring in Disney+ series Ms. Marvel, which launched last year. ​“I have to remind myself that I’m involved when I watch other [MCU] projects,” Shah says. You’ll probably also recognise him from Netflix’s teen romcom Do Revenge. But Shah can do the serious stuff, too: he played Riz Ahmed’s younger brother in short film The Long Goodbye and you can currently see him in Netflix’s erotic thriller Obsession. Next up: a return to romcoms in Prime Video’s Sitting in Bars with Cake later this year. Sweet. OP

@rishshah

The boarding school kid turned West African video hitmaker

Ebenza wears jacket GUESS USA, T-shirt DSQUARED2 and necklace and sunglasses talent’s own

Born in Holland, raised in London, filmmaker Ebeneza Blanche’s life was flipped upside down when he went to boarding school in Ghana aged 13. ​“Mum sent me to learn a lesson,” he recalls, ruefully. ​“It was a culture shock, the Ghanaian mindset. It’s eat or get eaten.” He didn’t go back for nine years after returning to the UK. But now Blanche is music’s go-to guy for shooting in West Africa, directing a music video for Jae5, Rema and Skepta in Accra, as well as the award-winning short for Little Simz’s Point and Kill in Lagos, Nigeria. ​“Simz actually hit me up on Instagram,” says the 29-year-old. ​“She gave me full creative freedom.” Represented by film production company SMUGGLER, Blanche has even mined his boarding school days for inspiration on his recently released short film Mathlete. Ultimately, the filmmaker wants to show the world how people in Ghana can ​“live the happiest lives with less”. Mission accomplished. OP

@filmbyebs

The bad bitch musician blending sex, melancholy and nostalgia

Mya wears jacket GUESS ORIGINALS and top and skirt GUESS USA

A proud British-Punjabi trans musician, Mya Mehmi moved from Leicester to London at 17, before finding her voice with renowned nightlife collective Pxssy Palace. ​“I used to be afraid to be girly in my lyrics,” says Mehmi, waving around her super-long acrylics. ​“I have tits now, so I can do what I want!” In February, she released the poignant Parivaar (Interlude), a soulful track dedicated to her late uncle, while continuing to host a podcast, Straight No Chaser, where she chats to straight men about their secret love for trans women (“I’m getting messages from guys who are listening in jail!”). Though tight-lipped about the details, Mehmi has teased a ​“bop” for release this summer, promising a full-length project by the end of the year. ​“My music always has a sexiness to it, which can sometimes be inappropriate. But I‘m leaning into that, talking my shit and being unapologetic.” JW

@myamehmi_

The fast-rising girl band in search of a name – and a Christmas Number One

Maddie wears hoodie GUESS ORIGINALS and top, skirt and shoes talent’s own
Yssy and Amelia wear clothes talent’s own

Maddie, Yssy and Amelia – Britain’s next great girl group – have held weekly meetings since the Londoners became roommates last November. The agenda? Choosing a name to replace the too-literal (but still brilliant) placeholder: needanamebro. Their debut single Better Love only came out in spring, but they’ve already got 250,000 fans on TikTok. ​“Everyone suggests, like, Destiny’s Sisters,” grins Maddie, 19. ​“Or The Magic Trio,” says Yssy, 19. Amelia, 20, stifles a giggle: ​“But we appreciate the love!” There’ll be many more meetings ahead, then. In fact, Maddie calls an emergency conference mid-interview to decide on the perfect answer to our would-you-rather: go on tour with Beyoncé, win a Grammy or bag Christmas Number One? ​“Christmas Number One!” announces Maddie. ​“Because that will get us a Grammy, and Beyoncé will love the song so much that she’ll play it every Christmas.” If only they could decide on a name that quickly. OP

@needanamebro