BEST FRIEND IN MY HEAD

Captured by Mitchell Royel in the Fashion District, the bustling streets served as an urban backdrop to a story of raw expression and self-discovery. Now playing "MISS YOU" by Marzi, its haunting melody perfectly complements the emotions etched into every frame, turning a fleeting moment into a timeless memory.

2017

There’s something achingly bittersweet about remembering the year 2017. It was a time when the world felt like it was both too loud and too quiet, where loneliness wrapped itself around me like an oversized sweater I couldn’t take off. Back then, Brandy Melville was my best friend in my head. She was the cool girl at the party I could never quite reach, the effortless beauty with the perfect messy bun walking along sun-drenched streets, a symbol of everything I wasn’t and maybe didn’t even want to be.

I was spiraling—heartbroken, lost, and endlessly scrolling through social media in search of something I couldn’t even name. That’s when I started sending out those cryptic tweets, half-drunk on nostalgia and caffeine, about starting a brand. A brand for girls like Brandy, but more fractured, like the way my heart felt at the time. I joked about “one size fits all” knowing deep down it was a metaphor for how life chews us up, trying to fit us into molds we’ll never quite fill. And somehow, out of all that mess, Mitch Leyor was born.

Mitch Leyor / Gospel Glamour wasn’t a brand. It was a moodboard, a fragmented love letter to the sadness and beauty of being young and bruised. It was late-night drives with no destination, the sting of salt air against tears, and the way heartbreak can taste like freedom if you sit with it long enough. To the ladies of Brandy Melville, I owe you an apology—not for those references, but for making you synonymous with my existential longing. You weren’t the villain I made you out to be; you were just there when I needed a placeholder for my pain.

And to Brandy, my best friend in my head, I’ll always love the way you made me feel like I could belong, even if it was only for a fleeting second—in a life where we’re all just trying to find the perfect fit.

-Mitchell royel+Gospel Glamour Collective