There’s a changing of the guard in fashion and culture. Gen Z creators are pushing the conversation forward in ways both awe-inspiring and audacious. Our latest project, Youthquake, invites you to discover how these artists, musicians, actors, designers, and models are radically reimagining the future.
In Hadassah Tirosh’s videos on TikTok, the 19-year-old model will often greet you with a simple “shalom.” From there, however, be ready to go down the rabbit hole, as Tirosh takes you along any number of conversational paths according to her mood that day. It could be a dazzling makeup tutorial, a thoughtful treatise on gender and sexuality, or just playful clips of her hanging out with her equally mischievous friends in Mexico City. It could be Tirosh twirling in her latest thrifted outfit—the common denominator in her wardrobe being sleek silhouettes and bold pops of color—or discussing the elements of her wardrobe that serve as expressions of her Jewish identity, from her star of David necklace to the wide selection of colorful kippahs she’s taken to wearing under her beret.
“In Mexico, the Jewish community is very small compared to the Catholic one,” Tirosh explains. “They don’t know much about our religion and traditions, so on TikTok I love to teach them a little about it.” For that, her distinctive personal style can prove a surprisingly effective tool to amplify her message. “I’d describe my style as quirky and wacky,” she says, breaking into her infectious laugh. “I really define my style day by day depending on how I feel. I had a streak of dressing practically every day in black and about a month ago I dyed my hair and began to combine many colors and patterns. I think that has to do with the fact that I don’t have a favorite brand, I just wear what I like.”
Tirosh’s journey to reach this point—she now has a whopping audience of 2.6 million TikTok followers, and her nascent modeling career firmly taking off alongside it—was one that involved plenty of continent-hopping. Born in Puebla, around two hours southeast of Mexico City, Tirosh moved to Israel at the age of three for her parents’ work, where she lived for around five years before returning to the coastal region of Veracruz. It was here that a photographer first approached her for a shoot he was posting to Vogue Italia’s PhotoVogue talent discovery platform, which in turn resulted in her being signed to an agency in Mexico City. It was around this time that Tirosh came out as pansexual and non-binary, settling on the name Hadassah for its sentimental value.