“You Can Eat My Pussy”: Luis Venegas on 15 Years of Candy Magazine Realness

16 years ago, Spanish editor, publisher and creative director Luis Venegas published the first issue of Candy, which he dubbed “The First Transversal Style Magazine.” The annual publication became home to a whole range of queer personalities, including but not limited to Connie Fleming, Hari Nef, Arca, Laverne Cox, and even James Franco, styled in drag by Interview’s own Mel Ottenberg. And while the world has changed quite a bit since 2009, Candy‘s contributions can’t be overstated. “I threw a stone, and those little waves that the stone rippled started to [affect] change,” Venegas told us. To celebrate 15 years of Candy, he’s has launched 15 covers, starring a rogue’s gallery of legends, from Candy Darling and Tilda Swindon to Amanda Lepore and Ottenberg himself. Last week, the two editors hopped on the phone to reminisce on nearly two decades of pushing the envelope, one wig at a time.

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LUIS VENEGAS: Hi, Mel.

MEL OTTENBERG: Hey, how are you?

VENEGAS: I’m all good. I’m at the printers now, actually.

OTTENBERG: Oh, wow.

VENEGAS: Your camera is so blurry.

OTTENBERG: Let me try to clean it. Is it better? My hair looks like George Washington today.

VENEGAS: That’s more like Thomas Jefferson.

OTTENBERG: Maybe Thomas Jefferson. This is what you wanted for my Candy shoot, like an Andy Warhol look. I know what you wanted.

VENEGAS: We did the Bob wig and everything, but in the end, it was yourself who felt like, “Nah.”

OTTENBERG: Well, I look really ugly in that wig picture. It just was not working. You never know, right?

VENEGAS: You never know.

OTTENBERG: Well, most importantly, our talented photographer, Trevor [Stones], did not see me with the wig. And you know that when you look at the pictures. Luis, congratulations on 15 years of Candy Magazine.

VENEGAS: Thank you for being part of the magazine since the beginning.

OTTENBERG: It’s my pleasure. Thank you for asking me to be a part of it. I’m on the cover of Candy Magazine. This is my third Candy cover. Wait, when was James Franco? Was that the second cover of Candy?

VENEGAS: That was the second issue, in 2010.

OTTENBERG: Yes. In 2010 I styled James Franco in drag for the cover of Candy Magazine, shot by Terry Richardson.

VENEGAS: The Viva Franco cover.

OTTENBERG: Exactly.

VENEGAS: You know in Spain, we had this dictator, Franco.

OTTENBERG: Yes.

VENEGAS: I was born way after Franco was there, and actually in Spain to say Viva Franco is like saying “Long live Franco,” which is something that people from the right wing say. So, to me, it was fun to put Viva Franco with a drag person on the cover of a Spanish-born magazine.

OTTENBERG: It was an incredible cover. It’s definitely one of my best covers of my entire career.

VENEGAS: I agree.

OTTENBERG: What was your first cover?

VENEGAS: It was Luke. Do you remember that model, Luke Worrall? He was Kelly Osbourne’s boyfriend for a while.

OTTENBERG: Yes.

VENEGAS: It was shot by Brett Lloyd and styled by Kim Jones, who brought many clothes from Lily Allen. Actually, they’re friends. He was wearing a wig in a very Marilyn, Madonna way. It was a note to the typical blonde, bubblehead blonde girl, but in drag.

OTTENBERG: 15 years ago, what was going on that made you start Candy Magazine?

VENEGAS: I was doing Fanzine137, which is about the arts and creatives that I like in the fields of fashion and photography and all of that. But it was more like an arty, niche magazine. Then I started EY! Magazine about sexy boys, but I always wanted to do a fashion magazine. There were so many fashion magazines at the time and I thought, “What’s the point of making one more regular fashion magazine?” What will be new and seen? I was seeing many fashion students going to shows, looking very sissy. I don’t know if sissy is a politically correct word, but you know…

OTTENBERG: Sissy is okay.

VENEGAS: A lot of the younger generation feel more free to relate to the clothes. This is probably because there’s been people who have been gender-bending how to dress, and those were mostly transgender people, transvestites and drag queens. Somehow I felt that there’s no other group of people for whom what they wear and how they present to the world, the makeup they put on, how they put their hair, is as relevant and important. In those cases, it’s fundamental for the identity. Fashion is fundamental for all of our identities, but when you want to present yourself as you really feel and you dare to play into what’s supposed to be the opposite gender, that’s even more meaningful. There were people doing that, but there was never a magazine documenting a focus and documenting all of that. I saw this and thought, “Let’s do this as a fashion, celebrating the style.” It was never a political statement. There are other queer magazines who focus on fighting for rights, which are great. But I wanted Candy to be a fashion and style magazine celebrating everything that was trans. Transgender, transvestism, drag queens, gender-bending people, androgyny, all those gender non-conforming non-binary people, all of that. Even though I know they are very different things, they all have something in common. They are the opposite of the outdated roles of gender. That was something new happening that no one was documenting properly, and I went for it. It was 2008 when I had the idea and 2009 when I first published the magazine. It was a complicated time because there was a big recession, so it wasn’t the most flattering time to start a magazine.

OTTENBERG: Definitely not.

VENEGAS: But I was so into this idea. I mentioned this to Jimmy Paul, the hairdresser, who famously starred in the Nan Goldin photos of Jimmy Paulette when he was doing drag. Jimmy was fundamental to me because I’m thinking of doing this magazine and he told me, “Luis, this is the greatest idea I’ve ever heard for a new magazine. You have to do it now before no one else does it.” He really encouraged me a lot, and I felt that I had to do it. Somehow I made it happen. I spent money on putting it together, and I was mentioning this idea to potential advertisers, and they were saying about trans people, “Oh, that’s going to be tacky.” It’s weird to say, but in 2008 and 2009, all of these manifestations were still very related to prostitution and dark sex desires in the general mindset of people. In a way, this was an obscure thing. But look at the magazine’s namesake, Candy Darling, who was very inspirational for me. She was one of the main role models and inspirations of what I wanted the magazine to be.

OTTENBERG: Interesting.  So when you were talking to advertisers 15 years ago, they were like, “No, that’s trashy. That’s a sex worker magazine. It’s not for us.”

VENEGAS: Yeah, trashy.

OTTENBERG: You started it at the worst moment of that decade, and since then it’s been a home for so many different voices.

VENEGAS: I remember very recently you asked Hari Nef, “What’s the trend that you started?” And she said trans. She definitely did that, but I think Candy did too. Six months after Candy started, there was Lea T, this Brazilian model, starring in a Givenchy campaign done by Riccardo Tisci at that time. Andreja Pejić also became one of the most glamorous models at the moment. So somehow, I threw a stone, and those little waves that the stone rippled started to change. Trans started to be seen as it has always been, something much more inclusive.

OTTENBERG: What’s the issue of Candy that really put Candy on the map?

VENEGAS: Definitely the James Franco one. Now Candy exists, but at first I was just a Spanish guy doing this thing. Now I have an assistant, but apart from that, my magazines were done by my computer, my phone and my cell. That’s it. But to make an impact in the world and to see your work on an American TV show like that changed things.

OTTENBERG: At the time, there was no gay-baiting.

VENEGAS: Absolutely.

OTTENBERG: Celebrity men weren’t wearing feminine things. This is a decade before Bad Bunny in a dress, or Young Thug in a dress, or Timmy in a backless Haider Ackermann thing. It was shocking and, dare I say, brave for James Franco to be in the makeup look that Kabuki did. And he fucking did the wig. There was a blonde wig.

VENEGAS: There were a couple of wigs, yeah.

OTTENBERG: Anyway, we’re in a different time now, but the time that we’re in now wouldn’t exist without that shift. We’re in the time now where people are mad about Emilia Pérez. By the way, I like Emilia Pérez.  The culture is very different now. It’s a lot more rigid about how people are seen. But it really was interesting to start the magazine at a time that was very different from that. This was so far before straight guys that were famous were wearing dresses. Candy really got its start there because that didn’t exist then.

VENEGAS: It’s true. I know so many trans people or non-binary people in their thirties who tell me, “When I saw the James Franco cover, I felt so seen, I felt so represented.” In 2010, it was seen as something progressive and supportive, which is what it’s supposed to be. That was the goal. It’s different now, as it’s an allegedly straight man in drag and could be easily read as queer-baiting. But I felt it wasn’t planned as a way to promote a movie or to promote any specific project of James Franco. It was showing support in breaking the rules.

OTTENBERG: Definitely.

VENEGAS: To me, it was even more meaningful that it wasn’t allegedly a straight cisgender man doing that. 

OTTENBERG: It’s interesting. Magazines need to reflect the times and push what things are. If trans people at that time felt seen by this cis actor going out on a limb like that, and it was very popular while still shocking, that means it’s a success. I can’t gloss over how amazing that moment was. I’m so grateful that you’d let a guy like me be involved with that.

VENEGAS: Even though there are all these elements that could easily provoke backlash, I think people still get it somehow. There’s an energy in that cover, in that project, that was done well.

OTTENBERG: Also, I thought it was genius that you were getting really famous people like Miley Cyrus and James Franco to be on the cover of a magazine. 

VENEGAS: Having these mainstream celebrities on the cover was the hook for people to go buy it, and then you suddenly discover many other people inside. Maybe that’s how some people will find an amazing artist like Tabboo!. Or maybe some Spanish, trashy character like Carmen de Mairena, who’s a very famous transgender woman who was 80 years old. I say it with the utmost respect and I love her beauty, but actually she looked like a Spanish fat toad. But that was great. There was a great beauty in her. So I thought, let’s use these famous people as a hook. In the fifth issue, we worked with Connie Fleming, a person who is known underground in New York terms. Connie Fleming is definitely not Miley Cyrus in terms of popularity. But to me, I couldn’t care less. I like her beauty and the idea of having her pose as the first transgender Black woman president of the United States. At the time, when Candy started, having a publication documenting all that was great for collectors. Luckily it’s not news anymore that transgender models are doing campaigns or shows. I was thinking, maybe I should stop doing Candy because it’s not so exciting anymore. You can find that content in other publications and on social media. Alex Consani won Model of the Year—well-deserved because, well, she is. But then a transgender friend told me, “Luis, you’re not only showing the new hot people, the new young people, you’re also showing obscure figures from the trans legacy and helping to build and document culture.”

OTTENBERG: I love that.

VENEGAS: I like the idea of saying I got her first cover. As an editor, it’s exciting.

OTTENBERG: This time, you did 15 covers to celebrate.

VENEGAS: I know it’s crazy to do 15 covers, but when you’re an independent publisher as I am, it helps for people to see. There will be more people noticing when you do the magazine only once a year, like I do with Candy. It’s going to help to spread the visibility of the magazine. And if a brand like Saint Laurent or Celine contributes, they want it to be a cover story. 

OTTENBERG: We did multiple covers for our 55th anniversary issue last year, but it was such an undertaking that I don’t know how soon we’ll do multiple covers again.

VENEGAS: At Interview, you do one issue every three months, and also it was an anniversary. Also, you are Interview. You are known no matter what. So for us, doing a bit of a lower level…

OTTENBERG: No, not lower level, just different.

VENEGAS: I like that. This magazine is supposed to be about diversity. So putting out only on one cover, it’s leaving out lots of possibilities. I like to have different ages and genders to show awareness of the possibilities in the world.

OTTENBERG: Who are your ultimate trans goddesses that shaped your brand besides Candy Darling?

VENEGAS: Candy Darling, for sure. Many people were asking me, “Is Karla Sofía Gascón in the new issue?” I wish she was. I discovered her a little bit too late. She’s fabulous. I love that she’s always putting her hair to one side.

OTTENBERG: I wish we had her in Interview too. She’s just so cool.

VENEGAS: She’s a Spanish woman and I love how outspoken and how rude she is at times. She’s like, “I’m not going to accommodate you. If you don’t like me, you can eat my pussy.” I understand there’s a message that has to be said, it has to be constructive and all of that, but at some point you have to get tired of teaching people. Live your life, let me live my life and if you don’t like it, shut the fuck up, eat my pussy. In a moment when all the new policies are a backlash to queerness, we have to be rude and strong. In a way, Karla plays that role. She’s not afraid to. I also love Connie Fleming. She’s a role model for so many people. I also love Aaron Philip. She’s doing so great and is so persistent in fighting for the rights of disabled trans people.

OTTENBERG: Absolutely.

VENEGAS: And for sure, Alex Consani and Colin Jones. They have the best walk these days. Colin Jones, for me, is like the new Shalom Harlow. I tried to have Colin and Alex in the new Candy issue, but I think their agencies wanted them to be in different magazines. The girls themselves, when I see them on social media, are very outspoken, brave, and beautiful. I like their energy, but I also understand if someone prefers to manage their career in a different way, total respect for that. There’s many other people that I’m interested in, including a photographer who has been featured in Interview, Angalis Field.

OTTENBERG: Yeah.

VENEGAS: Angalis shot a Cruz Valdez story with trans boys. It’s always been a goal for me to have transgender people and drag queens working on the content of the magazine, also. Creating the text, creating the photography, doing all of that. The content is not only representation, but real inclusion.

OTTENBERG: Yeah. That goes with the history of the magazine that I want to harken back to in a modern way. But also why I wanted Hari Nef to interview me for Candy.

VENEGAS: Of course.

OTTENBERG: Because she’s so Candy and also a friend.

VENEGAS: Hari is the first person asked to become a guest editor for an issue. She’s a girl who’s sexy, fun, and clever. At some point, she told me, “I’d like to be for Candy what Chloe Sevigny is for Purple,” and I totally agree. I couldn’t think of a better relationship than this one. She’s also working on this biopic of Candy Darling, so it also makes sense to have her related to Candy.

OTTENBERG: Absolutely. Amanda’s on a cover, right? How many covers does Amanda have?

VENEGAS: I love all the covers, but I save Amanda’s for last. They say you save the best for last. Amanda was on the cover around three years ago and it was some Polaroids that you had shot of her in the early 2000s.

OTTENBERG: That’s five years ago because it was your 10th anniversary.

VENEGAS: Exactly.

OTTENBERG: The one shoot that I’ve ever shot in my life was Amanda Lepore for Candy. I was actually showing those Polaroids to someone in my office. I’m like, “Fuck, I’m a good photographer. In 2001, I should have become a photographer.”

VENEGAS: You have time to do it.

OTTENBERG: Anyway, I love being on your cover. Why not?

VENEGAS: Many people think Candy is only about trans people. It’s the main focus, but as long as someone is doing progressive stuff, looks good, and has the right energy and talent, I’m interested in them. Also, it is the 15th anniversary issue. I like to bring people back again to celebrate and reinforce the idea of family and legacy. I love your tribute to Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele. Have you seen a bigger queen in fashion these days than Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele?

OTTENBERG: Absolument pas.

VENEGAS: I love seeing her videos and how she disapproves of everything.

OTTENBERG: I’ve always been in love with her because of her styling, but I fell in love with her in a personal way over 10 years ago. She would tell me when she hated something that I had done.

VENEGAS: She was saying that about what?

OTTENBERG: It was a Rihanna look that people were crazy about. They loved it. I saw her and she was like, “It’s so bad. It’s so tacky. It’s just so horrible. Why did you do that? Je deteste,” or whatever. It was so amazing. I’m like, “Carlyne, I’m obsessed with you. I wish I could put you in a bottle and have you with me at all times. I would drink you every day because you’re so real.”

VENEGAS: Candy is about that realness. Being independent makes me feel more free to try things and not to care much about what people are going to think.

OTTENBERG: Who do you want to be on the cover of Candy Magazine in the future, besides Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele?

VENEGAS: I always think of Barbra Streisand.

OTTENBERG: Ooh, yeah. Barbra.

VENEGAS: Actually, Tilda [Swinton] told me, “Next time I see Barbra, I’m going to tell her she has to be in Candy.” I don’t care about what people say about queer-baiting all of that. You had a very hot Shawn Mendes on the cover of Interview. I would love to have Shawn Mendes wearing nothing but a bra and makeup and a fabulous wig, the excitement of having the chance of seeing those pretty boys in drag. I remember there were some photos of Mark Mark by David LaChapelle 30 years ago wearing a wig. I love to see that image. Some things have to be done for the sake of playfulness. I feel like, as human beings we should be able to be playful and I hope Candy remains a space for that.

OTTENBERG: Absolutely. Well said. I have to go close the March issue of Interview, but I adore you and I’m excited to see all of your covers.

VENEGAS: Perfection. Thanks so much, Mel.

OTTENBERG: Bye babe. Love you.

VENEGAS: Sending you a big kiss. Bye-bye.