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Saturday, February 5, 2022
Friday, February 4, 2022
ART: No More Rulers Launches Capturing Creativity
No More Rulers just launched a new project called Capturing Creativity — a digital talk and book series centered on multidisciplinary artists and their creative processes. Spanning the fields of art, design, music and fashion, the platform seeks to transcend the finished product, by questioning and productively deconstructing key artifacts of contemporary popular culture.
The creative process comes in all forms — where seemingly mundane occurrences can often be the missing piece in a project or cultural movement. Capturing Creativity seeks to unearth these instances by examining the artist’s methods of documentation, ideation, process, and execution.
Capturing Creativity’s digital talk series features 20-30 minute episodes made in conjunction with The Andy Warhol Museum. Each installment includes the museum director, Patrick Moore, who speaks with a number of acclaimed artists — the first three begins with A$AP Ferg, Futura, and Marilyn Minter. Capturing Creativity is available now via The Warhol TV channel.
FASHION: LOVE IS IN THE AIR WITH NODALETO'S BRIDAL COLLECTION
Inspired by the designer’s Julia Toledano’s engagement, Nodaleto’s Bridal Collection is fit for a 21st century blushing bride. The release is overflowing with pop culture references and frothy feminine fabrics. Inspired by icons Madonna and Sharon Stone, the wedding range celebrates classic Americana culture, while looking forward to the future.
Shot in Las Vegas where countless love-struck hopefuls exchange vows, a girl’s girl is the true muse behind the collection, which is comprised of baby blue chunky heels and sky-high platforms fit for a catwalk down the aisle.
Start planning for your nuptials by taking a closer look at Nodaletos’ Bridal collection in the gallery above. The range is available on the brand’s website.
ART: MEKIA MACHINE TO PRESENT NEW ARTWORKS IN "NOW YOU SEE" EXHIBITION Featuring the “Witness” and “Dead Lovers” series.
Mekia Machine — a Jamaican-born multidisciplinary artist who grew up in the U.S. — creates artworks that encompass painting, sound, music and performance that focus on themes of loss and trauma in the context of identity, memory and place. Her “Witness” and “Dead Lovers” series will be displayed at the upcoming “Now You See” exhibition.
“The Witness” comprises four paintings that detail the four-week trial of Derek Chauvin, who is responsible for murdering George Floyd on May 25, 2020. His death led to global protests demanding the arrest of the four officers involved. Through the collection, Machine hoped to document her lived experience alongside the emotional trauma that resurfaced in people who witnessed the hate crime.
The “Now You See” exhibition is a tribute to the world of art outside traditional mediums, such as street art and graffiti. In an effort to depict the trials and tribulations of urban dwelling, eight renowned artists of color will showcase their work to represent various spectrums of gender and orientation.
The event will be held daily from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. EST beginning February 24 with location details below.
Now You See
Blue Building
222 E. 46th St.
New York, NY 10017
KIM KARDASHIAN'S SKIMS INTRODUCES LIMITED-EDITION VALENTINE'S DAY COLLECTIONS
Kim Kardashian‘s SKIMS has launched a limited-edition Valentine’s Day shop made up of both classic and new collections: Fits Everybody, Soft Lounge and Sleep, Micro Cording, Sheer Mesh and Woven Shine.
The brand’s latest drop features thongs, camis, bikinis, bras, front tie teddys, shorts, bralettes, body suits, slip dresses, bike shorts, crop tops and more, ranging from sizes XXS to 4X.
This year, Kardashian is off to a strong start with SKIMS as she previously dropped a collection in partnership with the US Olympics team. Since then, it was reported that the brand is valued at $3.2 billion USD — twice as much as 10 months ago.
With the help of her recent collections, as well as drops expected later in the year, SKIMS will possibly generate a total of $400 million USD in 2022.
The Valentine’s Day collections are now available to shop for on the SKIMS website. Check out Kardashian posing in some of the pieces in the gallery above.
STYLE:
LEGO continues its offerings to Marvel fans with the release of Thor‘s Hammer – Mjölnir.
Standing a little over 18 inches in height, the toy hammer is made from 979 pieces and features an Infinity Saga plaque, and a secret compartment that houses a Thor minifigure and Infinity Gauntlet, Tesseract and Odin’s Fire.
Set for a March release, the Thor’s LEGO Hammer can be pre-ordered now for $99 USD.
Reportedly accompanying a “Pure” colorway restock, we now have a release date for the adidas (XETRA:ADS.DE -0.89%) YEEZY SLIDE “Onyx.”
The expansion of the YEEZY SLIDE lineup turns its focus back on tonal looks with a sleek all-black colorway releasing this spring. The upcoming take sees the injected EVA foam slipper expressed in clean black to highlight the chunky lightweight, durable slip-on design. While prominent toothed outsoles help provide additional height with comfort and traction.
Priced at $60 USD, the adidas YEEZY SLIDE “Onyx” is now set to release alongside a “Pure” colorway restock March 7.
College athletic programs that have the luxury of being sponsored by Jordan Brandwill often get treated every year with special player edition sneakers inspired by their own respective institution’s colors. And this year, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels football program is being blessed with a fresh Air Jordan 6 “UNC” PE that is crafted with special details.To piggy back off of the design of the Air Jordan 5 makeup that the gridiron gang received in 2021, the folks over at Jordan styled this latest iteration with a similar presentation. Upper sections are brought to life with leather overlays and side panels, all of which are fittingly clad in “University Blue.” Chenille-infused patches stand out on each shoe, the right side featuring a “23” hit while the left is adorned with a Jumpman logo. The official UNC logo also gets to show face here as it arrives atop the lace toggles as well as the heels in embroidered fashion. Tongues and heel pieces are tinted with a lighter gray hue and dark navy accents accompany via the former’s trimming as well as on the midsole molds.
Check out an in-depth look at the pair above and note that these will not be releasing to the public.
Francesco Risso has taken Marni to newfound heights, introducing the Sabot Mule to a cozy footwear-hungry audience and must-have mohair cardigans that elevated our WFH fits, and now it continues to break the mold with its latest offering: a basketball tank top shopping bag.
Coming in “Yellow/Green” with red branding on the front, the bag is made entirely from polyester and does a good job at convincing you that this is indeed a basketball top. However, the bottom has been stitched together to create a bag, meaning the top’s straps now become handles and the open scooped neckline acts as a portal into the bag.
Marni released the bag as part of its Spring/Summer 2022 offering, and appears in various colors on Marni’s website — many of which are inspired by traditional sporting hues such as black and red. This particular example is available from Très Bien and costs $330 USD. Take a closer look at the bag above.
NEWS: I COULD HAVE BEEN LAUREN SMITH-FIELDS - What the 23-year-old’s death reveals about racism and gender violence.
Lauren Smith-Fields and I are both Connecticut natives, as I grew up and live an hour away from where the 23-year-old died. While the aspiring physical therapist preferred the beauty side of TikTok, I personally have a penchant for posting fashion content on Instagram. Although I may not have an active Bumble account, I have met older white men on online dating apps and walked away from dinners with these potential suitors, whereas Lauren did not survive her date on December 12. The stark similarities Lauren and I share are enough to terrify me, and since becoming engrossed with the facts of her life, I have had to relive my own near brushes with death. After surviving an abusive relationship, the news of Lauren’s death has put me in a state of paralysis, unable to continue pursuing the online courtships I once felt ready to start. As a 20-something Black woman living in the United States, I have come to accept my entire existence as precarious.
Six days after Gabby Petito went missing, the New York Times posted a thorough timeline chronicling her disappearance. It took almost seven weeks for the same publication to tell Lauren’s story, mostly prompted by the deafening uproar caused by concerned citizens on social media. After speaking with her Bumble date, Matthew LaFountain, on the day Lauren was found dead, the Bridgeport Police Department concluded that he was “a really nice guy,” and let him go. On January 24, the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner released the cause of Lauren’s death, ruling it as accidental overdose of fentanyl combined with prescription medication and alcohol, leading Bridgeport Police to initiate a criminal investigation the following day, a month after her passing.
If Lauren wasn’t Black, her family probably wouldn’t have had to wait for a detective to arrive, only to enter the crime scene on their own, finding a used condom, pills and bloody bed sheets. In LaFountain’s account of the date, he reports that she fell asleep on the couch, too ill from drinking and carried her to bed, falling asleep beside her only to wake up at 6:30 a.m. to find her unconscious. I wonder what Bridgeport Police made of the used condom, given Lauren’s unconscious state.
What frightens me is that Lauren could have been any woman, and more upsetting is the blatant and even worse, subtler ways our habitual and ingrained rationalization of gender violence blames Lauren for her own death.
What I find most chilling about Lauren’s death is not the event’s proximity to me, but its disturbing normalcy. In 2022, Lauren’s story is not new. Plagued by “missing white woman syndrome,” a term coined by the late journalist Gwen Ifill, the delayed media coverage and law enforcement’s neglect of Lauren’s death affirms what Black women have always known, that our lives don’t matter. What’s worse to see is the internalization and obsession with perfect victims. While Gabby fit the role of the attractive, white girl next door, many are quick to paint Lauren as the opposite, justifying her untimely death.
While many are confused by the murky circumstances of Lauren’ death, the Black manosphere, a community of Black conservatives, view her voluntary coupling with a white man as the reason for her passing. A light search into the subculture’s corner of the internet reveals a handful of Black men on Youtube using their free time to urge Black women to remain virgins, using Lauren’s death as an example of what happens when we “divest” or date folks outside of our race, i.e. not them. On Twitter, a few Black women affirm Lauren’s passing as their decision to exclusively date Black men, with one user writing, “Black women, quit trusting white men.” Through therapy, I’ve been able to realize that dating someone is not an invitation for assault, that there is no action that warrants a non-consensual act. However, conservative and honestly even mainstream trains of thought, will make allowances for sexual and gender violence.
These well-intentioned urges for women to be more vigilant of who we surround ourselves with immediately call to mind survivors’ stories of their trusted partners and friends betraying their trust and assaulting them.
What frightens me is that Lauren could have been any woman, and more upsetting is the blatant and even worse, subtler ways our habitual and ingrained rationalization of gender violence blames Lauren for her own death. It seems as though where white women are offered sympathy and protection, Black women’s hypersexualization and dehumanization continues, even in our death.
While TikTok has been instrumental in creating awareness around the case, a deeper dive shows some pointing to Lauren’s decision to use online dating apps as the reason for her sudden passing. Commenting on a breakdown of Lauren’s Bumble date, one user wrote, “People should all know the dangers of internet dating. You never know who someone is behind a screen. She was too trusting and it cost her life. We are all accountable for our actions and we control who we allow in our lives. I said what I said … take it how you want to.” Notwithstanding the fact that this victim-blaming rhetoric ignores that more than 90% of rape and sexual assault victims know their abuser, it saddles women with the burdensome and impossible order of being able to control and predict the actions of other. These well-intentioned urges for women to be more vigilant of who we surround ourselves with immediately call to mind survivors’ stories of their trusted partners and friends betraying their trust and assaulting them.
This commonplace acceptance of violence against women maintains the harsh reality that we are raised to brace and prepare ourselves for a potential — and almost inevitable — form of sexual violation in response to the lack of accountability placed on our male counterparts.
Bridgeport Police’s absolute negligence, as well as the victim-blaming occurring in certain pockets of the internet, reveal the inescapable truth that women’s lives do not seem to matter — and Black women’s even less. Holding women accountable for men’s actions, or asking that we become part-time detectives and masters at psychology, only further perpetuates this dangerous level of misogyny. This commonplace acceptance of violence against women maintains the harsh reality that we are raised to brace and prepare ourselves for a potential — and almost inevitable — form of sexual violation in response to the lack of accountability placed on our male counterparts. While online dating apps need to take care to perform background checks, the extent to which society will go to avoid naming and looking male violence in the face, and blaming everything else, is almost comical.
While it should go without saying that Lauren did not deserve to be harmed, regardless if she was meeting her date with the intention to start a long-term relationship or not, the overall dismissal of Lauren’s death is a harsh reminder of the reality for women. We could just be walking home like Sarah Everard, backpacking with our boyfriends like Gabby, or simply going on a date enjoying ourselves like Lauren, only for our bodies to be objectified, used and discarded. The absurd acceptance and rationalization of male violence, that “boys will just be boys,” is killing us.
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