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In the surreal world of Kitty Lever, fashion, poetry, humor and performance collide in a colorful celebration of individuality and imagination. Known for her theatrical aesthetic, eccentric characters and delightfully absurd social media presence, the New York-based model, artist and author has built a universe entirely her own, blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality.
But behind the playful persona lies a more introspective creative spirit. Born in Germany and raised in a military family, Lever spent her childhood moving between different places before pursuing Division I college soccer, eventually trading the football pitch for the worlds of fashion and art. Today, with a growing international following and her debut poetry collection, Whiskers of a Kitten, she continues to explore identity, vulnerability and self-expression across multiple disciplines.
I caught up with Kitty, while her first poetry reading and exhibition was running, at Future FWD Gallery, in New York, to discuss her unconventional journey, the relationship between Katie and Kitty, the art of embracing absurdity, and why growing up doesn’t have to mean leaving your imagination behind.
Hi Kitty! It’s a pleasure to sit down with you! First question that I always ask. How does a regular day look like for you in New York?
Kitty: A regular day for me starts with waking up and immediately cuddling both my dog and cat. We call it “having a baby party.” I usually will take my kitten in my arms and onto the deck and his feistiness is eased by the sunshine. Then Gus (my dog) and I will go on a walk to a get an iced cortado. After we do a nice 30 minute walk, I typically start my day. Each day is vastly different but it typically will include one meeting about a current or upcoming project, sorting out logistics for projects, or doing said project. I am either planning or executing in a typical day. On this regular day, I will always get a workout in. I love to move my body!!!!!!!!
Let’s go all the way back to the beginning. You were born in Germany and grew up in a military family, moving around quite a lot. What was that experience like, and how do you think it shaped the person you are today?
Kitty: The experience was tough. I think in the beginning I would alchemize the military lifestyle into resume traits. I’d say things like, “I’m so adaptable and resilient.” These qualities about me are true, but in my 20s I started to realize that I spent all of my childhood in a state of anticipatory grief — hoping my dad would come home from war safe. I think that anticipatory state weighs heavy on a child — I think it made me a busy body, a dopamine seeker. All of these traits — resilient, adaptable, dopamine seeking… have all been integrated into my personality and it is a product of the military lifestyle. The good, the bad, the ugly, the unclaimed, all pets of my void… I am grateful for them.
You’ve previously mentioned that you lived in something like 15 different places growing up. Did you ever feel like you belonged somewhere, or did constantly being the new girl make you feel like an outsider?
Kitty: I grew up with a ball at my feet, throughout my childhood, I belonged on the soccer field. It is how I coped with the reality of having a parent in the military. Being the new girl made me extremely good at being liked… which sounds odd to say but I figured out quickly how to get people to like me. And I was good at it. I have always been really good at making friends. Yes, it made me feel like an outsider but I saw everything as a challenge to overcome.
What were you like as a little girl? Were you already living in your own imaginary universe, or did that part of your personality develop later?
Kitty: I was extremely girly and gritty. I embodied both tom boy and princess. I’ve always been brave, I was an extremely confident little girl. I had pictures of myself taped to my desk in 3rd grade. I loved to play fairies, I loved to teach. I knew in 5th grade that I wanted to play Division 1 soccer so I would set up obstacle courses in the backyard all involving a soccer ball. I have been endlessly curious and hardworking for as long as I could remember.
Speaking of soccer. You were actually a Division 1 college soccer player on a full scholarship. That’s quite a different world from the one you’re known for today! How did soccer become such a big part of your life?
Kitty: Soccer was a big part of my life because it had to be. It was my source of stability, expression… it was where I felt popular, strong, confident. I knew I needed a scholarship to be able to go to college so it became something I HAD to be good at. Growing up, I was Katie the soccer player, it was my main identity because it needed to be. It was who I was at every new school, my talent granting me friends and acceptance… it was the reason I was able to get a college degree.
Growing up, were you always drawn to creative things like fashion, writing, and performing? Do you remember the first time you felt the urge to express yourself artistically?
Kitty: I was drawn to creative writing and fashion but I never grew up thinking a career in fashion or entertainment was possible, it felt like a career that was only in movies. My expression started on Tumblr. I had a hipster blog with 50,000 followers when I was 13. My creativity started in curation but later turned into image making. I loved to take photos of myself and my friends on my digital camera.
Was there a particular moment when you realized that professional sports weren’t necessarily the future you wanted, and that you wanted to pursue something more creative instead?
Kitty: I knew very early that the extent of my soccer career would be college athletics. I thought I wanted to be a publicist throughout my college experience. I majored in Public Relations and Spanish. Halfway through my college career, I began thrifting, sewing, and selling clothing. I think it’s there that I realized I wanted to work in fashion and creation.
You started modelling professionally in 2020. How did that opportunity come about, and what were those first experiences in the fashion industry like?
Kitty: I wasn’t allowed to make money off my name, brand, or face until college athletics were over per NCAA rules. In 2020, I was in my last semester of college living abroad in Puerto Rico to finish my Spanish degree. I began modeling with an agency in San Juan. My first experiences were very awkward, I was learning how to pose and be in my body for the first time that was for aesthetics and not as an athlete. I also became aware of how much weight I needed to lose to be granted access into this world and it crippled and wrecked havoc on my life for a long time.
In 2022, you moved to New York City. What do you remember about those first months? Did you arrive with a clear idea of what you wanted to achieve, or were you still figuring things out?
Kitty: I knew I was going to hit the ground running. I worked 5 different jobs to stay afloat and even then I landed myself in $17,000 worth of debt. I knew I wanted to be as close to fashion as possible but didn’t know exactly what it would look like.
Let’s talk about Kitty Lever herself. I know Kitty was originally your childhood nickname, but at what point did Katie become Kitty Lever, the character the world knows today?
Kitty: Katie and Kitty both exist inside of me. Kitty is extremely spunky and fearless. Katie is more grounded and reserved. I embody both of them. Kitty flourished into the character everyone knows today from the world building that happened after “Can I have a piece?” I started building out a world for this unique character, one who lives in her own universe. She is a full expression of my curiosity about the world couple with my ditzy sense of humor.
With that in mind. Are there things Katie would never dare to do that Kitty can get away with?
Kitty: Katie would never talk about her sobriety journey online, but Kitty has the courage and bravery to share it. Katie would never leave the house with her sparkly underwear showing, but Kitty would stand on a stage in front of millions to do it.
Your entire aesthetic feels like something between Alice in Wonderland, a surrealist painting, and a very strange but wonderful dream. Where does all that inspiration come from?
Kitty: Alice in Wonderland is a lifelong obsession for me but other than that, I am just simply coping with the existential joy and dread of being a human. Duality inspires me.
Do you think of Kitty Lever as a character you’re performing, an exaggerated version of yourself, or simply the person you’ve always wanted to be?
Kitty: She is an expression of self!!!!! She is my spirit on a stage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There’s something cool and unpredictable about your style and personality. Have you always felt comfortable standing out, or did you have to learn to embrace being different?
Kitty: I have always felt comfortable standing out, I think I tend to a popularity wound that seeks validation and specialness. I think every human being craves being special. I don’t purposefully try to be different, but I am curious about going against the grain. So, in my endless curiosity pursuit of understanding what it means to go against the grain, I find myself going against the grain!!
Your work often combines humor, absurdity, fashion, and performance. How much of what we see is carefully planned, and how much comes from spontaneous ideas?
Kitty: The spontaneous ideas hit me like a bolt of lightning, but it takes careful planning to curate the experience of allowing viewers to feel like they’ve been hit by lightning. You have to be a careful planner in the transmission of spontaneity.
Your online presence has grown enormously over the past few years. Do you remember the first moment you realized that people were genuinely connecting with what you were creating?
Kitty: I think when people started to come up to me on the street referencing very personal stories I have shared, specifically regarding sobriety, that made me realize I was really connecting with others.
Your videos, particularly series like “Can I Have a Piece?” and “The Friend That Lives in Her Own Universe”, have developed a world of their own. How did those ideas first come about?
Kitty: “Can I Have a Piece?” came from one day my friend asking me for a piece and me thinking… Wouldn’t it be so funny if I gave her a piece of pizza instead of gum? I love to play!! My best ideas come from my hypothetical day dreams.
Social media can be an incredible platform for creativity, but it can also reward repetition. Do you ever feel pressured to keep giving people the version of Kitty they’ve come to expect, even when you want to try something completely different?
Kitty: Yes! That’s why I had to kill “Can I Have a Piece?” It lost its sparkle to me and it felt like that’s all people wanted from me. So, I turned that feeling into a 2-part performance art piece where I perform the bit then create a visual for how it feels to feed a digital self while your real self feels incongruent.
Has becoming recognizable changed the way people interact with you in real life? Do strangers sometimes expect you to behave like the Kitty they know from their screens?
Kitty: 10000000%. People expect Kitty from their screens and that’s fair!! I give it to them while also serving human realness.
In an industry where everyone seems to be chasing attention, what does success actually mean to you? Has your definition changed as your career has progressed?
Kitty: Success means being invited onto projects with genius crew, cast, talent that see me as value and want to see my point of view brought to an idea.
Do you ever feel that people fall in love with their idea of Kitty Lever rather than the person you actually are?
Kitty: The poem, “COLLECTED LIKE A DOLL AND NOT A PERSON” is about this. I think sometimes people want to collect Kitty like a doll they adore and can point to and say look at what I’ve collected, but I am a real person and human.
One of the things I find particularly interesting about you, is that behind all the playful fashion and humor, there’s also a very sensitive and introspective writer. When did poetry first become an important part of your life?
Kitty: I have always loved words, giving a feeling a body… naming it. I think I first fell in love with poetry on Tumblr when I was 13. I’ve always loved short little poems, thought provoking phrases… I’d write them down everywhere, graffiti them, scribble them on my arm… I have for as long as I can remember, loved to articulate and express through words.
With that in mind… You recently published your debut poetry collection, “Whiskers of a Kitten”. Congratulations! Can you tell me about the book and what inspired you to put all these personal pieces of writing together?
Kitty: Whiskers of a Kitten is a poetry and prose collection about heartbreak, love, grief, joy, moving to NYC, hook up culture, sobriety, and coming home to oneself. I wrote these poems over the course of 6 years, then 3 years ago I started a poetry account for my writing. A year ago, I got a publishing contract. After the contract, an editor and I worked to grow me as a writer. All I did for the first 6 months of this year is read and write. I wasn’t making content as much and was saying “no” to events and even work that didn’t feel completely necessary. I lived in Whiskers world, I opened myself up to it, I rehashed the heartbreak and pain but through a sober and relationship lens. I think the safety of sobriety and being in a relationship gave me the most perfect bungee cord to excavate painful memories and feelings. The book is the portrait of a modern woman and the poetic dealings of what it means to exist in today’s society.
I love the metaphor behind the title, the idea that a kitten’s whiskers can detect even the smallest vibrations in the air. Have you always considered yourself a particularly sensitive person?
Kitty: Yes, I’ve always been a deep feeler and thinker.
Your poetry deals with some deeply personal feelings and experiences. Is it easier for you to express vulnerability through writing than through the colorful, theatrical personality people see online?
Kitty: Vulnerability is a paradox to me currently. It has become easy for me to show myself to others… but if it is easy, does that mean it is vulnerable at all?
Your poems often incorporate drawings, collage, and handwritten elements. What draws you to combining visual art and literature rather than keeping them separate?
Kitty: I can super charge words with texture when I combine it with visual art. There’s a piece that I put my period blood on, a piece I put my ex best friend’s coffee order on… The poetry in text font was never going to communicate the same feeling that me hand writing and adorning was.
And speaking of poems Katie, congratulations on your first poetry reading and exhibition at Future FWD Gallery in New York! What was that experience like, and how did it feel to see your poetry and artwork presented in a physical space for the first time?
Kitty: Showing work that people can walk through and take their time with in a physical space has been one of the most fulfilling experiences. I have achieved a lot in my life, but this is my greatest achievement. I have received millions of likes and hundreds of thousands of followers, but nothing compares to the 500 or so people who have come to the gallery over the last week. Seeing women come into the space and resonate with the work has been the most meaningful and profound feeling in the world. I am savoring it all.
What I realized about the poetry reading and how enthusiastic people were, is that I would love to curate and host more in-person events, especially as it relates to poetry and the arts. I think the people yearn to experience culture and I want to provide an access point that isn’t intimidating. In 2027, I would love to curate more events that amplify voices and poetry.
You’ve shared so much of your creative world through social media, but an exhibition allows people to experience your work in a completely different way. How did it feel to have people standing in front of your artwork rather than viewing it through a screen?
Kitty: I have been attending the gallery everyday and people consistently ask me, “you must be so drained from everyone talking to you.” The answer is, no. Never. I am filled up with every conversation. Every person that walks in the door brings me joy. Whether they like the show or hate the show, seeing people interact with my art has instilled so much confidence within me. I am indulged with a dopamine hit every time someone walks through the door, I surge with pleasure with every question, and when someone commits to buying a book and I get the opportunity to sign it, I really take my time because it might not happen again. I am savoring it all.
The exhibition features original artworks and journal pages that became part of Whiskers of a Kitten. How did you approach selecting the pieces, and what did you want visitors to take away from the experience?
Kitty: When visitors leave the experience, I want them to feel like they want to do something like that too. That’s my favorite, when someone says it makes them want to go write. The gallery features framed pieces of paper where the poetry and art live on, and the accessibility of materials felt important to me. Art doesn’t have to be canvas, paint, rules, art school, it can be anything you want it to be. It could be with the makeup in your bathroom, a receipt from your coffee order, an envelope… it could be anything. That’s what is most important to me.
You also presented a short film called Wonderland, based on one of your poems. Can you tell me about the film and what inspired you to translate the poem into a moving image?
Kitty: The logline for the Wonderland short film is, “A young model’s lethal curiosity and allure to fame leads her to Wonderland — a dream chaser’s purgatory, where drugs and the VIP night life circuit rot the nameless and hopeful from the inside out.”
For a while, I was explaining to people that it’s like a music video but it’s a poem video. Think spoken word narration and a score instead of lyrics and a beat. Actually they sort of sound like the same thing, maybe I did make a music video.
I decided to make it into a visualizer because one day I would like to make it into a full length feature. I thought the poem, the short film, my fashion editorial experience and obsession with Alice in Wonderland would be the perfect intersection of all my worlds.
In 2027, I aim to create more short films and be a part of more projects that allow me to take on characters. This is my closer for this incredible year of poetry and written word, and an opener for what’s to come.
Reading poetry privately and performing it in front of an audience are two very different experiences, particularly when the writing is so personal. Were you nervous before your first reading, and was there a particular moment that stayed with you afterwards?
Kitty: I was incredibly nervous, I think my legs twitched the whole time. There was a catharsis happening in between the pain of being seen and the pleasure of being seen. Reading poems about sex and heartbreak, followed by manifestos of love and resilience… I felt like a song bird. I felt like a lovely swan. I felt like a crow pecking at something decomposed. I felt like I was taking flight out of a nest, gliding, soaring, searing fear and blushing faith, I was a baby bird bathing in porcelain for the first time. I felt so much love. I felt so safe. I was enjoying it, curious about it, and taking my time.
Now that you’ve published your first book and presented your work in a gallery, has the experience changed the way you see yourself as an artist? And has it made you curious about exploring new creative directions?
Kitty: It has instilled in me confidence and validation in ways I never expected. It has given me strength in my voice, my taste, my performance. It has given me a rainbow road into my next adventure, a daredevil’s smile… I am already dreaming of experiences to share with people. My life has changed for good.
You’ve gone from being recognized primarily for your appearance and online personality to becoming a published author. Do you ever worry that people might underestimate your writing because of the image they associate with Kitty Lever?
Kitty: I exist to remind people that you can be both hot and taken serious. you can be both ditsy and intellectual. you can be both fashion icon and athlete. You can embody every contradiction that speaks to you. To those that underestimate my writing, i ask them to unfurl their duality.
There’s a beautiful contradiction in your work: it’s playful and sometimes completely absurd, but there’s also something very thoughtful underneath it. Do you think humor and fantasy can help us communicate things that might otherwise be difficult to express?
Kitty: Absolutely!!!!!!!! Fantasies and humor are a beautiful reprieve from reality and they are very meaningful. Joy is meaningful. Joy matters! Whimsy is a way of saving yourself from darkness. It is finding a giggle from the universe where there seems to be none. I think in order to be whimsical, you have to have a deep understanding of the darkness, you integrate whimsy into your ethos as a means of survival that way.
We live in a time when everyone is encouraged to build a personal brand. Do you ever feel that turning yourself into a recognizable character comes at the expense of being able to change, grow, or simply be yourself?
Kitty: Kitty is a shapeshifting ever changing bug. I am a magic 8 ball, people will never know what to expect next. And if you begin to start expecting… I tend to get antsy and aim to subvert whatever narrative is being projected onto me. I am not attached to any identity except love and light.
You’ve mentioned an interest in acting and directing. Is there something you’ve always dreamed of creating but haven’t had the opportunity to yet?
Kitty: I want to act in a horror film one day.
Some artists create fictional characters to escape reality. Others use them to reveal something about themselves. Which do you think applies to you?
Kitty: I love reality! I love creating fantasies in my reality. Kitty is a fantasy. She reveals the joy that is always on the turn of your lips and the whim of your thought.
What’s the biggest misconception people have about you?
Kitty: That my ditsy sense of humor and joy means I’m dumb… I’m actually a genius.
Looking back at the little girl who was constantly moving from place to place, what do you think she would make of the life you’ve created for yourself today?
Kitty: She would be soooo excited to see what I’ve created for her. It is all for her!
Ok Kitty, now to something totally different. In a parallel universe who would you be? and what would you be doing?
Kitty: Before I moved to NYC, I always said there was a parallel universe where I moved to NYC to chase my dreams… So I guess, the flipside of that, would be the parallel universe version of me who didn’t take the leap. I think she’d be a big shot music publicist or creative director at a record label right now.
Outside of everything we just talked about, what’s something you’re obsessed with right now, maybe a hobby, a show, or even a food, that keeps you grounded or inspired?
Kitty: I love to read. I really do!!! It keeps my vocabulary fresh and my mind constantly flipping and thinking outside of the box. Right now I am reading the Diary of Anaïs Nin. She is incredibly compelling and seductive with the way she writes. She’s erotic without ever mentioning sex.
What qualities do you find most important in the people you choose to spend time with?
Kitty: Reliability, consistency, a point of view, depth, artistry, craft, discipline, freedom, compassionate
Anybody you look up to?
Kitty: I think in an era of wanting to take acting more seriously, I have begun to really look up to Brittany Murphy and the many roles she found herself in. From Girl Interrupted to Uptown Girls, she represents the spectrum of roles that I would love to take on.
What motivates you?
Kitty: Memento Mori. The fact that I will die one day.
How would you describe a perfect day?
Kitty: Giving my all to a project and having a moment when something I write or make really resonates with myself.
Alright Kitty, I always ask these two questions at the end of an interview. The first is. What’s your favorite movie(s) and why?
Kitty: Weeeee, I really love Call Me by Your Name. There’s this quote during the movie where the protagonist repeats, “Because I wanted you to know… because I wanted you to know…” Just a beautiful story of queer love. I love the way the shots play out, one big scene – no cuts… No back and forth, just one long running shot from one point of view. It feels like floating down a river on a sunny day. Just brilliantly shot and written.
The second is. What song(s) are you currently listening to the most right now?
Kitty: PQC – Daine! Daine’s new album! Yes!