Something’s off with the camera. Even when I turn on the auto-focus the image is blurry and I can’t change the aperture. I try every button, lever and switch, but nothing’s working, except – ironically – the battery. This is extremely unfortunate timing for a technically impaired amateur. I am at the Rose Bowl Flea Market for the very first time – I’ve been dreaming about this moment for years – and Stella Maxwell is locked in a loving embrace with Jeremy Scott a few feet away. How am I to capture these sweet, historic junctures with failing equipment? Or is it me? It must be me! “I wish there was a photographer around to figure this out…” I moan, desperately pivoting to locate people with big cameras. “David is here!” exclaims Stella with noticeable concern for my anguish. “Do you want me to call him?” I thank the heavens and the ever-so-gratifying concept of having a photographer for a boyfriend. “It’s fantastic!” laughs Stella with reference to her own fortuitous situation and growing Instagram following. “It’s like having someone document all the beautiful moments of my life!” A few minutes later, like a Deus ex Machina, David Mushegain appears and clicks the lens in place. That’s all it was.

Twenty-one year old Stella Maxwell lives between Los Angeles and New York so the odds of her catching the monthly Rose Bowl in Pasadena are more favorable than mine. She goes every chance she gets, even if she describes her relationship with vintage as “just friends”. She loves it but it’s not a must. “Is the Rose Bowl the cheapest market? For sure, not. Is it fun? For sure, yes,” she claims. “There are so many vendors that you can always find at least one thing. Even if it’s a salt and pepper shaker you never knew you wanted. But honestly I think a lot of people go just to walk around and socialize. You will always run into friends. Or enemies!!! Just kidding. No enemies. But really you can run into anyone and everyone there. It’s a hang.” And she’s right. Over the course of our two-hour shopping/shoot we bump into Annabelle Dexter-Jones and Andre Saraiva, Jeremy Scott, a few stylists and Stella’s cute model friend Staz. What’s missing though is food and toilets. And quality. Besides a few expertly-run stands like Shanana Mil & Co, Fuzzy Bellas Vintage and Vintage Rosemond, I am having a hard time finding the great pieces. Everything seems to be recycled bulk and it gets exhausting after a while.

Stella was born in Belgium to Irish parents – her dad was a diplomat for the European Union – who relocated to New Zealand when she was thirteen. In 2009 she was scouted by a modeling agency and began to travel the world. The Fashion Spot has a job-per-job, almost to-the-minute rapport of her career so far. It mentions Testino, British Vogue, Alexander McQueen, Luella and more. She’s not the tallest, and with her short blonde hair definitely not the most marketable, but she’s certainly one of the most beautiful and coolest girls I know. Her dewy, fresh skin, full lips and big, blue eyes remind me of a baby Claudia Schiffer’s, and it’s absolutely impossible to take a bad photo of her. I love how David describes his first meeting with her in Paris. It sums up exactly – minus the love story – how I experienced shooting her: “You don’t have to pry the photograph out of her like some hidden treasure. It’s just there for the taking and that is such a gift.”

It’s also clear that Stella is destined for greater things than just being a pretty face. Whether it’s making music, or buying a puppy, or making her favorite fruit salad with chili and lime, I am confident she will find a way to pour her heart into it. When I ask her if she collects anything she thinks for a second and responds: “Well maybe I collect love. I try and surround myself with the most amazing friends. I love my friends a lot. I don’t collect them but I love them.” She just got back from a surfing trip (with some for those friends) to Indonesia and can’t stop talking about it. “Indonesia is incredible!” she cheers. “When you think about how many islands make up the country it’s mind blowing. Something like seventeen thousand islands. Unreal.” They rode around on motorbikes, crossed suspension bridges, visited little fishing villages and beautiful temples and braves jungles. But then she gets serious:  “Can we please take a little moment to send love and thoughts to families affected by the recent volcano outburst in Indonesia? Natural disasters or any disaster that cost lives are such a tragedy. Sometimes we see things in the news and they are there for a moment in our lives. But for people affected the effects of these disasters go on for years and years. It’s important to keep things in perspective. We are discussing my style and where I shop. And that’s beautiful. There is a time and place for that and fashion has done wonderful things for people. But let’s not lose sight of who we are as people. At least who we strive to be. And for me compassion and love and caring are such important qualities. Our actions really define who we are as people. Our actions outshine what we are wearing. True style is in how you carry yourself.”