SPIN

On a slurred Saturday night in Hollywood, the flagship late-night stumble is Freak City, the '90s-nostalgia shop and underground epicenter co-owned by Delicious Vinyl impresario Rick Ross. It's the hub for a loosely affiliated network of self-styled fashion and pop-art provocateurs that keeps Los Angeles safe for glamorous misfits.

Photographer Nick Haymes, writer Jeff Weiss, and stylist Brett Bailey introduce us to the anti-stars of this East Hollywood Babylon.

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Left on Adri Law, 21, singer for electronic duo Deathface: Jeremy Scott dress, Steve Madden shoes, Hello Kitty duct tape. Hair by Patricia Morales for Redken/Cutler Salon at Jed Root. Makeup by Erika Abe using Koh Gen Do.

She's a 21-year-old with Bible-black eyebrows and turquoise streaks sprayed into her bleached-blonde hair. Four-inch platforms, 5'9", 115 pounds. Chameleon eyes currently celery green. Lips big and blue as water balloons. Her credit cards say Lauren Avery, but the silver scrawl on the back of her leather jacket reads MEG RYAN.

But who is she? A seasonal "it" girl and occasional muse. Jeremy Scott wants to cloak her in his designs. Hipster-party photographer Cobrasnake says she's "the future." She includes French filmmaker Gaspar Noé (Irréversible) among her friends. And now, she's launching a singing career, her sound plucking from the handbag house of Ce-Ce Peniston and Crystal Waters.

Niko Karamyan is 19, Van Nuys–raised, and resembles an Armenian Edgar Allan Poe dressed like Jazzy Jeff on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. A half-decade ago, he started ditching school to document Hollywood and its party-photo parallel universe. He became best friends with Peaches Geldof, tagged along on Vegas trips with Cobrasnake and Benihana-heir-cum-DJ Steve Aoki. And he met Lauren Avery.

Karamyan neither drinks nor smokes, and speaks with messianic self-possession about how he amassed followers -- other teens amused by his stylized contortions of himself and adolescent girls in absurdist poses and scenarios (including a trip to Chuck E. Cheese).

Left, on Niko: Somper Furs leopard coat, model's own faux snakeskin pants, model's own necklace, Versace sunglasses.

Sometime Lady Gaga doppelgänger (and, proudly, a nationally ranked Halo champ), Vigiletti is another of the self-styled, multi-hyphenate model-artists/scene-queens who move loosely in the orbit of Meg Ryan and Niko Da Ikon.

Left, on Edward: Jeremy Scott underwear; Carven shoes; studded and woven-leather collar by Fallon; metal plate, mesh and rhinestone stud choker and studded tassel necklace by Glyneth B.; Gaston Marticorena pipe.

"It boy," scenester, club kid.

Left, on Cody: Lloyd Klein blazer, American Apparel turtleneck, Jeremy Scott faux fox stole, Lloyd Klein pants, Versace sunglasses, Moschino belt (worn as necklace), Steve Madden shoes.

Fashion illustrator, and another of the scene's prominent faces.

Left, on Luis: Falguni & Shane Peacock graphic bodysuit, All Saints wool blazer, Richard Chai cowhide ankle boots.

Lead vocalist and beatsmith for Blok, an avant-hip-hop trio featuring his two real-life siblings, Gianna Gianna and Jesse St. John.

Left, on Damien: Champion sweatshirt, Brett Bailey leather jacket, Diesel jeans.

Johnny Love and Adri Law make up the digital hardcore duo.

"People respect his creativity, aesthetic, and self-expression," says 21-year-old Deathface singer Adri Law of Niko. Adds Lauren "Meg Ryan" Avery: "Niko was the only person who didn't think that I was crazy for wanting to sing or wear mink coats with cat-eye sunglasses."

The Deathface singer fell into the scene when she was 16 after landing an internship with Steve Aoki's Dim Mak Records.

Natasha leads Freak City scene band NAR, whose sound she describes as "surf-punk jazz reggae."

Left, on Natasha: Calvin Klein briefs, Skingraft leather garter belt, NAR T-shirt.

Left, on Natasha: Schott NYC leather jacket, Calvin Klein bra.

The electro hip-hop trio, from left to right: Gianna Gianna, Jesse St. John, Damien Blaise. "People aren't afraid of taking things to a costume level," says St. John. "It's runway mixed with flea markets. It's taking what we've idolized growing up, and regurgitating it back in an iconic and ironic way."

On Gianna: Basso & Brooke dress, Jeremy Scott trench, Dr. Martens boots. On Jesse: Jeremy Scott crop top, Adrienne Landau fur jacket, Katie Eary pants, Dr. Martens boots, Burberry sunglasses, Syren chrome hinged ring choker and Syren leather and chain leash.

"Meg Ryan is the woman Lauren wants to become," says Niko, "empowered and able to get what she wants."

Left, on Meg: Model's own fur-trim silk dress, All Saints brass and onyx necklace, Marc by Marc Jacobs suede shoes.

Left, on Luis: All Saints black tail coat, Micro Giovanni black "tarantula" dress, Lako Bukia leather bullet boots.

Left, on Meg: Mango black/red rhinestone heart mesh bodysuit, Lloyd Klein black straight skirt with slit, Steve Madden shoes.

Left, on Edward: Kimono by Toshiko Okawa.

Left, on Natasha: Calvin Klein metallic suit pants, Tommy Hilfiger shirt, Balenciaga belt, Stührling watch, Ray-Ban sunglasses.

On Niko: All Saints suit.

After Meg Ryan's performance debut, during which club-goers were chanting her name, Lauren Avery woke up the next morning, still at Freak City, and her phone was missing. When Weiss reached her a few days later, he asked who were the people chanting her name. She said she didn't know.

"How do they know you?" he asked.

"They know the future."

On Meg: Jeremy Scott skirt, Lloyd Klein blazer, Burberry sunglasses.