em Magazine F/W 2013 "Americana"

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Volume 16 - F/W 2013 editor in chief design director fashion director photo director senior editor creative editor

Catherine Pears Dillon Sorensen

marketing coordinators

Kate Amery Max Kondziolka

copy editors

talent coordinator writers

staff photographers

Jon Allen Kathleen Allain Colin Faherty Hunter Harris Sofya Levina Sienna Mintz Isabella Pierangelo Elise Sabbag Brendan Scully Daniel Tehrani Jacqueline Weiss Carina Allen Augustin Demonceaux Chelsea Foster Joanie Jenkins Sam Massey Rory McCann Evan Tetreault Evan Walsh Elliot Barnes Rina Deguchi Maya Rafie Nick Stalford

illustrators

Sofya Levina Anna Sullivan

production designers Alejandro Pena Enz Razon on the cover Model: Tania Rios Photographer: Evan Tetreault

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Sofya Levina Claire Onderdonk Austen Wright

street scene photographers

fashion assistants Leah Cumming Stanislav Ledovskikh Sean Mack Maggie Main Sun Park

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Jamie Emmerman Maria Pulcinella Danielle Brizel Zeynep Abes

marketing assistant Arman Ataman beauty team Kristen Garrett Abby Woodman special thanks Emerson College, Joe O’Brien and Shawmut Printing staff, Kathy Emmerman, William Beuttler, Sloane Merrill Gallery, Sharon Duffy, and Emerson College SGA.

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table of contents culture 12 Spotlight 18 Food & Cuisine: An Oyster a Day 20 The Shift of Hollywood 24 Joseph Ketner: Art, Curating, & Andy Warhol 30 Is Liberal Arts American?

32 American Made 34 Straight Edge

fashion 40 Founding Fathers of American Fashion 43 Shop Boston 44 Iconic Moments in Political Fashion 46 Harajuku Wonderland

features 50 Untitled 56 Land of the Free 66 Modern American Couple 72 Runaways

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“STREET SCENE” photo // ELLIOT BARNES RINA DEGUCHI MAYA RAFIE & NICK STALFORD

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letter from the editor IT’S FUNNY; I’VE NEVER BEEN VERY PATRIOTIC. It came as a surprise to you and me both that “Americana” stuck as this issue’s theme. But what finally sold us was the romantic disposition behind this overarching title. The idea beyond the fleeting, Lana Del Rey-esque patriotic trend. The concept of endless possibility; the freedom to question one’s surroundings.

“Americana” aims to capture a mood over a style. From our cover feature, “Runaways,” which showcases two young rebels who clash and contrast with their context, to our culture piece, “Shifting Screens,” which examines the changes in contemporary Hollywood, this issue hopes to provoke, excite, and intrigue.

Since my freshman year I have watched this magazine grow. From the curious sophistication of F/W 2011’s “Generation Why” to the raw simplicity of S/S 2012’s “Bare Bones,” I knew taking the role of Editor in Chief came with large shoes to fill.

From issue to issue, em Magazine has consistently showcased some of the best journalistic and artistic talent at Emerson College. Personally, however, it has been the art that renews my love for em each semester.

We decided to capitalize on our talented artists by expanding our photography features section.

We commissioned illustrators for the first time to incorporate a new medium, and physically expanded our publication size to allow for the best possible viewing experience. From the colorful to the unembellished, each artistic component was given great consideration.

The creation of “Americana” would not have been possible without the devotion of our entire staff. You have all raised the bar yet again, and for that I truly thank you. I would also like to specially thank Fashion Director Danielle Brizel, Photography Director Zeynep Abes, and Senior Editor Catherine Pears for their continued ability to go above and beyond what is expected. This issue wouldn’t have been possible without each of you.

As always, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the issue.

Jamie Emmerman, Editor in Chief

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“SPOTLIGHT” On what it’s like to live as 20-somethings in U.S. cities that are sometimes forgotten. text // ISABELLA PIERANGELO photo // CHELSEA FOSTER Sheldon Brown: Dayton, OH

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ailing from the sixth largest city in the U.S., Sheldon Brown grew up in the laidback environment of Dayton, Ohio. Even though Dayton was voted one of the Ten Most Affordable Cities in America by CNN Money, he has no plans of moving back.

“My first day of school was my first day in Boston, I had never been on any type of subway before I came here,” Brown said.

The slower pace aside, Brown explains that the Dayton youth usually doesn’t follow suit.

From political activism to the arts, young people are typically very active in this city. Attending the Strivers School of the Arts, Brown had the opportunity to travel and perform throughout the country. He joins the ranks of many creatives who come from Ohio. John Legend, The Black Keys, and James Brown are all natives.

Dayton is a split city, with conservatives and liberals all passionate about their affiliation. As a student, working the polls and getting doors slammed on them while campaigning is the norm.

But the perks of living in a state with a huge political presence are great.

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“I met Obama twice,” Brown said. “He came to our campaign headquarters and visited my school... I still get Christmas cards from him!”

A little ways out of Dayton, Yellow Springs is a small town with a younger population and great hiking. Famous Ohioans can often be seen hanging around this town littered with local coffee shops.

Dave Chappelle is usually spotted skateboarding around town.

“Dave came to my show in high school at Yellow Springs,” said Brown.

Compared to the quiet city of Dayton, Boston has a lot more young adults, and a lot more action, which is an environment Brown has learned to love.

“Ohio is laid-back, no one is in a rush,” Brown said. “Everyone in Boston is always doing something.”

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Austin Dodge: Laguna Beach, CA

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ccording to Austin Dodge, the West Coast is the best coast. A lifetime resident of Laguna Beach, Austin had difficulty adjusting to the East Coast habit of wearing shoes everywhere.

“At home we never wore shoes anywhere. Some people don’t even wear shoes to school. We all wore bathing suits,” Dodge said.

He quickly learned that bathing suits wouldn’t cut it in Boston when the temperatures dropped to a balmy 40 degrees in October.

Laguna Beach is not, in fact, like the MTV phenomenon it’s depicted as on the TV show that bears its name. Yet there are some stereotypes that Dodge will admit have some truth to them.

“Everyone is blonde… it was super weird to come to the East Coast and be a minority,” he said.

The Emerson sophomore was discouraged when he found out the arts scene in Laguna was left out of the MTV drama. Laguna Beach is a hub for galleries and festivals. They have an Arts high school, which Dodge attended.

The lifestyle in Laguna is laid-back, and youth spend most of their time at the beach.

“I went to the beach almost every day,” said Dodge. “My record is every day for seven weeks straight.”

Surfing is the main sport for almost everyone.

Driving through Laguna Beach, cars with boards strapped onto their roofs cruise down the highway with longboarders riding alongside.

When in Laguna, you meet the most relaxed people who go with the flow and are constantly late, although Dodge prefers the word flexible.

Living in Laguna as a teen has its pros and cons.

The small town is a tight-knit community, everyone knows each other and their business. Boasting one grocery store and no chain restaurants except Jack in the Box and Taco Bell, Laguna has plenty of local haunts to grab a bite.

“I miss Del Taco and Mexican food in general… the East Coast doesn’t compare,” said Dodge.

As for where he plans to go next, don’t expect him to make Boston a habit: for Dodge its New York City or bust.

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Kathleen Allain: New Orleans, LA

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ew Orleans native Kathleen Allain didn’t hesitate when asked what she misses most about her hometown.

“The food, especially gumbo. I just learned how to make it. It’s a family tradition, you don’t eat it in restaurants,” said Allain.

Described as a city of neighborhoods, the youth in New Orleans is never bored. Head uptown to Magazine Street for a shopping experience with a whole different flavor: think Charles Street in Beacon Hill minus the posh. Boutiques cultivate individual style in the city, and sundresses are a must for the heat.

“People don’t layer because it’s warm all year round. I am still trying to figure the whole [New England] layering thing out,” said Allain.

She describes the fashion scene in New Orleans as Lilly Pulitzer mixed with thrift store finds that create a colorful, eclectic style.

On Frenchman Street in downtown New Orleans, youth and adults alike can head into one of the many music clubs. Allain’s eyes light up as she talks about the city’s iconic jazz and bluegrass musicians, and their distinct personalities.

“The vibe at clubs and shows is dancing, dancing, dancing! You’ll dance with strangers, old men will grab you to dance, musicians will pull you on stage and dance with you,” said Allain.

When in New Orleans, expect a change of pace from the hustle of Boston. Allain says anyone will stop to chat or invite you to dinner.

“People move slow and they talk slow… I mean slow,” said Allain. “I got into a lot of trouble when I first came to Boston. I was running on the esplanade, it was my second day in the city, and I waved to the MIT rowers. They all stopped dead in their tracks like a domino effect. Then they started to row towards me because they thought I knew them!”

When asked if she would move back home, Kathleen explained the problem many face after leaving the city.

“I didn’t think I wanted to move back, but now I am unsure,” Allain said. “I can’t say! It’s called the curse of New Orleans.”

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“AN OYSTER A DAY” The infamous sensual slurp: a brief history, where to get it, and whether it does, in fact, bode well for an eventful evening.

text // SIENNA MINTZ

“HE WAS A BOLD MAN that first ate an oyster,” Gulliver’s Travels author, Jonathan Swift, once said.

Aptly put, to a layman, oysters don’t scream, “Eat me,” but rather, “Be afraid, be very afraid.” But that first man must have been a lucky one. Oysters are well known for their aphrodisiac qualities; the cause of dinners cut short and raucous evenings for centuries.

The popularity of oysters is an anomaly. A slimy texture, salty flavor, and outwardly ugly appearance isn’t typically the recipe for a highly desirable dish. But perhaps their reputation is thanks to Casanova, the original ladies’ man, who began each morning with a breakfast of sixty raw oysters.

He must have been on to something because, in 2005, a group of French and American researchers found a certain amino acid within oysters that triggers the production of sexual hormones.

While the “health benefits” of oysters are scientifically debated, Stephen Oxaal, Chef de Cuisine at the South End’s B&G Oysters, believes that the good time lies in the great taste.

“It’s like getting a kiss from the ocean.” he says. B&G Oysters is one of many Boston-based restaurants owned by famed chef Barbara Lynch, among other favorites including Sportello, Drink, and The Butcher Shop.

B&G, though, has a special place in Boston restaurant history as one of the first oyster bars in the city. Oxaal says, “Back in 2003 when we opened, there weren’t that many places where you could just go and sit down for some oysters.” He explains that oyster hankerings were best fulfilled outside the city in the north shore.

B&G serves dozens of different oysters each day, all of which are freshly delivered every morning.

Oxaal explains, “We carry two types of oysters: East Coast and West Coast. East Coast oysters are typically brinier and saltier, whereas West Coast oysters are meatier and creamier.”

Born and raised in New England, Oxaal prefers East Coast oysters.

Oysters can be fried (a la B&G’s fried oysters with tartar sauce), steamed, pureed for a rich

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photo // JOANIE JENKINS

sauce, or, most popularly, served totally raw. At B&G, raw oysters are served over a bed of crushed ice, accompanied by a ramekin filled with cocktail sauce and another with prosecco mignonette.

Oxaal describes mignonette as “a sauce made from vinegar, shallots, and peppercorns.”

While there’s no denying the orgasmic experience of eating a fried oyster, slurping a raw oyster is the only way to experience the full “benefits” of the delicacy, as that precious amino acid becomes useless when cooked.

While Chef Oxaal insists that the romantic nature of oysters lies in their great taste, Tyler Titherington, general manager at Russell House Tavern in Harvard Square says, “I think most of it has to do with their shape and texture.”

There’s just something sensual about slurping down a salty, wet oyster with a date.

“We get the occasional make-out session or ‘Check please’ after a dozen oysters,” says Titherington.

Simply put, Oxaal says, “It’s a sexy food. It gets you in the mood.”

While he believes that oysters are so popular because they are “clean, easy, and delicious,” he admits, “They’re aphrodisiacs. So that’s a bonus for everyone involved.”

The rumors of Casanova’s secret weapon and stories, like the ones Titherington alludes to at Russell House Tavern, have given oysters a reputation that makes it a popular choice for those in pursuit of romance.

“I’m not sure about the science behind it, but the stories alone create a subliminal experience for those who eat them,” says Titherington.

Perhaps it’s their scientific properties, or maybe the hype has gotten the best of us. Regardless, the experience of eating an oyster, with its moist texture and salty flavor, is suggestive of events to come, and is a treat for anyone with a sophisticated palate. em

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“The Shift of

HOLLYWOOD” Hollywood comes to terms with a multitasking audience that is ever-evolving, short-tempered, and impatient. text // BRENDAN SCULLY illustration // SOFYA LEVINA cont. page 22

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H H OLLYWOOD

HAS COME TO A CROSSROADS As a major facet of the entertainment industry in the United States, Hollywood has been one of the leading contributors to American culture for over a century.

The content created by Los Angeles film and television studios has defined the lives of generations of people, created international icons, and continues to inspire countless others to dream, create, and appreciate the art of entertainment on the big screen.

However, industry executives in Hollywood now have decisions to make in order to adjust to a new era of culture in the entertainment industry.

America is showing signs of a rapid shift away from the traditional concept of Hollywood. The classic notion of going to the movies and watching network television is in battle with a new era of entertainment, one that is cheaper, more convenient, and highly individualized.

Content, whether it’s movies or television shows, is now available to consumers online – and it is threatening to replace the age-old big screen with a smaller and faster one that sits right on your lap. To combat this shift, Hollywood is attempting to solidify its presence in the new online streaming world to avoid a large-scale decline.

Online streaming of movies and television shows is on a major rise. A 2013 study by Nielsen concluded that 38 percent of Americans either use or subscribe to Netflix,

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18 percent use Hulu, and 13 percent use Amazon Prime Instant Video. These sites provide cheap and easily accessible content to a consumer. In a society where speed and convenience is appreciated, these online streaming networks appeal to an audience that doesn’t want to spend a lot of money, watch frequent advertisements, or wait an extended amount of time to enjoy their entertainment.

Dr. Miranda Banks, Associate Professor at Emerson College, focuses her research on the history of Americans in the film and television industry. She says that the push for online space heralds a giant new wave of viewership, and it won’t slow down anytime soon.

“Online spaces, like Netflix, are becoming the new networks,” says Banks. “They are creating shows, organizing, and managing viewing schedules at a faster rate and more personalized manner.”

Although this shift has given Hollywood a new spectrum for gaining profit and extending its viewership, another form of online consumption has grown rapidly in popularity and is illegal, attainable, and free: online piracy.

A study conducted by Mark Moniter and the Motion Pictures Association of America found that the top three websites in the study that were classified as “digital piracy”—rapidshare.com, megavideo.com, and

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megaupload.com— total more than 21 billion visits per year. These sites allow for an even cheaper option for consumers than sites such as Netflix and Hulu, and it is threatening the jobs of many workers in the industry.

Although the Hollywood movie and television industry haven’t necessarily tanked profit wise, the industry needs to adjust to this change to American online consumption.

Hollywood recently took a hit from critics who said the focus on profit and advertisements limits the amount of creative content given to the film and television studios for less artistically credible projects that guarantee monetary success. Some filmmakers, such as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg in a recent address at a public forum at the University of Southern California, have even gone as far as to say that Hollywood could eventually implode if this habit within the industry continues.

During this transition, studio executives in the industry are coming up with various strategies to stay afloat and change with this new form of American entertainment culture.

Derek Maddalena, Vice President of Sales and Retail Marketing at Warner Brothers Studios, is one of them.

Although Maddalena agrees there is plenty to be concerned about for the future success of the Hollywood industry, he does have high praise for current content being created.

“This is probably the best time in the history of entertainment to be a content creator,” said Maddalena.

“Overall, content creation and viewership is consistent if not up in recent years, especially with all of the different platforms, content can be bought and watched by the average American.”

Warner Brothers and other Hollywood studios are doing their best to contribute to this changing medium of entertainment consumption and still make a profit.

Finding a strategy for this is the responsibility of the studio or content provider, and the goal is to give the consumer the content at any price that seems reasonable.

However, the key is “reasonable price.”

Maddalena and other studio executives are adjusting to the shift by selling content to online providers, however,

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they are battling an invisible and dangerous enemy to the entertainment industry.

Typically with content made by a Hollywood studio that is shown in the movie theaters or on major television networks, a consumer has to wait a certain amount of time to either buy the movie or television episode online, or through DVD-Blue Ray. Piracy allows consumers to skip that wait, and as a result damages profits and sales by the companies who have contributed to making the content.

“It’s a giant problem,” said Maddalena. “People have an attitude, especially this younger generation, that content should be free. But peoples’ jobs depend on that content.

There are hundreds of people involved in one project.

These are peoples’ jobs.”

The struggle with successfully limiting the spread of online piracy will continue to be a problem for Hollywood.

However, industry researchers and enthusiasts, like Banks, say that Hollywood will have no significant problem profit-wise because of the growing ownership of these online networks by already established major film and television networks.

“If you look at the big picture, the map of ownership is very small compared to the actual number of outlets out there,” said Banks. “Major industries still own all of these new forms of viewing content, and that doesn’t look like it’s going to change.”

Movie theaters and television sets are moving aside for the smaller and more accessible laptop screens and smartphone applications. If Hollywood buckles down and adjusts to these technology-inspired changes, it should stay successful, even while battling the rampant Internet piracy of content.

Any new era comes with new ways of communicating.

Entertainment, and in this case Hollywood, is no different.

Although the American culture of watching movies and television shows may be heading toward a more individualized and multifaceted standard, the quality of content can, and should, remain the same. Hollywood still has the ability to shape generations of people and create true, entertaining, and moving pieces of art. em

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“JOSEPH KETNER” Professor Joseph Ketner talks art, curating, and Andy Warhol.

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text // HUNTER HARRIS

HERE’S A precision in his posture, an attitude of assurance in his demeanor.

The crisp mintcolored oxford he wears, the immaculate neatness of his office, the way the winter sun cloaks his desk in its light through the window—Joseph Ketner sits neatly and precisely, a bastion of knowledge for the contemporary art world. As a curator and visual art historian, Ketner’s speech is ripe with thrilling declarations of today’s artistic experience.

“Art is artifice,” he says. “And when I create visual art installations, I’m trying to create visual stimuli that unfolds in certain sequences without you really thinking about it.” Joseph Ketner is Emerson’s Henry and Lois Foster Chair in Contemporary Art Theory and Practice, as well as Distinguished Curator-in-Residence.

Ketner is a paradox of persuasions: all at once, he is a published expert on the life and work of

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Andy Warhol, he’s currently researching and writing a publication on the German Gruppe Zero (a trio of European post-World War II artists), and is the definitive scholar of the landscape painter and freed slave Robert S. Duncanson. There’s the sense that a critical component might have been overlooked, that this array of places and periods couldn’t all be the same person’s expertise.

As chief curator of the Milwaukee Art Museum from 2005 to 2008, Ketner grew disenchanted with the work required of him before Emerson presented itself as an opportunity. Describing his pre-Emerson position, he explains, “My principle measure of success was to increase acquisitions and to sell tickets.” When an opportunity at Emerson became available, Ketner made the switch and began operating within the larger paradox of being a visual art expert at a school often hyper-focused on moving images.

“I remember that first lecture,” Ketner recalls, his tone tepidly describing a memory. “And after I was done, there was dead silence. I realized I shot over the bow way too hard, and I had to readjust.

You spend 30 years working in the visual art world, and you develop a certain vocabulary… and I’ve been adjusting that baseline of expectation here.”

In conversation, it’s clear that Ketner’s adjustments have been effective; there’s never

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a moment of esotericism or pretension in his speech. He even describes street art as being the “expression of the dispossessed” before laughing and saying that he “sounds so damn academic.” It’s clear that he has a genuine and palpable passion for his fascinations. Though his experiences and

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his expertise are diverse, one phrase continues to come up, perhaps the underlying unifier of Ketner’s expertise: a “visual art culture.” Its creation, for curator Joseph Ketner, is deeply collaborative. “For me, one of the great rewards of doing what I do is participating in creating the visual art culture of

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my moment, right now,” he says. “And many of the reckoning when Warhol’s work and importance things that I do, I set up opportunities for several truly clicked for him. artists—I know thousands.”

“Because he is undoubtedly the most published It was with this mindset that two of the most artist in the history of humanity… if I’m going prominent public arts projects on Emerson’s to be doing Warhol, what can I say that makes campus—the Little Building scaffolding project a contribution that’s different and new, worth and the eight videos on the façade of the Paramount doing?”

Theater—were conceived. Approaching the For Ketner, part of Warhol’s appeal isn’t only in projects as opportunities to problem solve, Ketner his fame and importance, but in all of Warhol’s recounts his process of commissioning artists to work that has yet to be uncovered. come up with ideas and working with his favorite “One thing I’ve focused on is most people’s selections to craft recognition of the something feasible, Campbell’s soup “I DON’T ACTUALLY MAKE while remaining and Marilyn Monroe ANYTHING. NO, I’M artistically honest. images, two paintings For him, it’s “so much created four months TECHNOLOGICALLY TOTALLY fun [to] actually make apart in 1962, and yet INEPT... BUT THE CONCEIVING stuff.”

Self-aware he worked for nearly OF CREATING VISUAL ART IS as a curator, Ketner 40 years!” Ketner understands his own WONDERFUL,” KETNER SAYS. “THAT’S exclaims.“That’s how I abilities, interests, built my Andy Warhol WHAT I GET. THAT’S WHAT I DO.” and limitations. body of information, “I don’t actually exhibition, and make anything. No, I’m technologically totally publication, looking at all those different aspects inept—that’s why [someone else] plugs the stuff that other people hadn’t thought of.” in and pushes the ‘on’ button and all that stuff.”

Despite the adoption of many of Warhol’s most He pauses briefly, and upon resuming his voice famous works by the pseudo-hipster subculture, reveals the depth of his passion.

Ketner is adamant that the legacy and contribution “But the conceiving of creating visual art is of Warhol’s work has constructed the visual art wonderful,” Ketner says. “That’s what I get. That’s culture that we all inhabit. what I do.”

As Ketner says, “Andy Warhol is probably In the construction and exploration of his own the single visual artist most instrumental in visual art culture, the pop influences of Andy the total transformation of visual culture from Warhol have always been vital. objects made by the hand to the appropriation “The thing that got me going on Andy Warhol of the photographic image, its manipulation, and was multifold. I had one of those experiences reproduction, ad infinitum.” where it just, something...” he trails off and snaps There’s also Robert Duncanson, the Africanhis finger, doing his best to imitate a moment of American southern landscape artist.

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“I was going to school in Indiana studying European art—I’m a second generation American so I look a lot at my European heritage, my identity—and my girlfriend at Indiana took me to Cincinnati to meet her grandmother. This was,” he says with a dramatic pause, “the introduction, you know the one. And we were there and it was awkward. I wasn’t too comfortable being with the family so I suggested we go into Cincinnati and go to the museum. We got to the museum—the Taft Museum of all places—and we’re walking through the main entrance hall and there are these massive nine feet tall by about seven feet wide landscape paintings, eight of them. And the little card said ‘Robert Duncanson’ and I’d never heard of this guy. I asked the security guard who he was and the security guard’s answer was, ‘Well, he was the slave of the landowner and he painted these.’ And I looked at these paintings and I said ‘No. This is not the slave of a landowner; this is an accomplished, trained artist. Who is this guy?’”

Ketner’s subsequent research revealed that Duncanson was an antebellum-era free person of color that was one of the premier landscape painters of his day, before being forgotten. For someone that has spent decades understanding European art and literature, Ketner simply landed on Duncanson and liked him.

“I’ve done a number of projects on the guy and he continues...” Ketner stops himself, sighing before a potent observation about his own career.

“Andy Warhol and Robert Duncanson rule my life. I can’t make any decisions in my life because inevitably somebody comes along and wants me to do a Duncanson or a Warhol project.” Despite his work with post-war European artists and curators (including an intrepid curator-uncle), it’s somewhere between Duncanson and Warhol that

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“ART IS ARTIFICE,” KETNER SAYS. “AND WHEN I CREATE VISUAL ART INSTALLATIONS, I’M TRYING TO CREATE VISUAL STIMULI THAT UNFOLDS IN CERTAIN SEQUENCES WITHOUT YOU REALLY THINKING ABOUT IT.” the state of arrested development Ketner occupies lies. The way his eyes light up as he talks about them—his hands excitedly grazing the length of his desk, and his booming voice filling the room, you get a sense that maybe he might not like it any other way. em

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“IS LIBERAL ARTS AMERICAN?”

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text // ELISE SABBAG

THOUGHT THAT LIBERAL ARTS was just the norm in America,” says Jade Wilenchik, a freshman journalism student from Bali. She was one of the few students from her graduating class that decided to come to America for higher education. Her friends who chose to

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illustration // SOFYA LEVINA study in England, Australia and Denmark opted for a traditional higher education, while Wilenchik chose the liberal arts route. Now when she Skypes with her overseas friends, she faces their scrutiny when it comes to her different form of education.

“A lot of my friends were like, ‘Why are you doing all this useless stuff that has nothing to

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do with your major?’” says Wilenchik. “I don’t become more expensive, there’s the concern of want to say that there is a stigma against it, but it ‘What can a liberal arts degree get you in terms definitely screams ‘Why?’ sometimes. ‘Why am I of a job.’ That’s always been true internationally, doing this?’” and now it’s being felt a lot in the United States Most wouldn’t think of college as a place where as well.” instilling values and morals is key. But when a It stands to reason that those students who go liberal arts education is examined internationally, more in depth in their chosen field, rather than the values it instills in students, like self- branching out and studying an array of subjects, exploration and questioning, become apparent will do better work in their field and get a better when set against a contrasting background. job faster than those who focus more on breadth.

Amy Ansell, Dean of Liberal Arts Studies at Although this may be the logical conclusion to Emerson, says there is more to liberal arts than the battle between liberal arts and traditional or just an education. vocational education, Ansell says this isn’t always “There is an American tradition in education that true. is about cultivation of the self, cultivation of the “It’s an irony that you look at survey from mind, and how important employers and they those are to having a really favor liberal arts grads,” “THERE IS AN AMERICAN said Ansell. “They want open democratic society,” said Ansell. “It really is students who are good TRADITION IN distinctly American.” at writing, good thinkers, EDUCATION THAT IS And as it happens, these very flexible and adaptable, ABOUT CULTIVATION OF good communicators.” values aren’t necessarily welcomed with open arms Emerson does not THE SELF, CULTIVATION across the globe. perfectly fulfill all of the OF THE MIND, AND HOW requirements of a liberal “Especially if you go into countries that had IMPORTANT THOSE ARE arts college. Students been authoritarian, to here are known for being TO HAVING A REALLY then bring in a liberal arts career focused from the curriculum that focuses on first day they arrive on OPEN DEMOCRATIC skepticism, questioning campus, most having SOCIETY,” SAID ANSELL. planned out their careers authority, independence of mind can be really radical,” “IT REALLY IS DISTINCTLY as directors, screenwriters, said Ansell. actors, journalists, etc., AMERICAN.” Laurence Lilley, a friend years before. A result of of Wilinchick’s who studies Emerson’s short list of International Development and the Environment majors and areas of focus is that it tends to draw at University of East Anglia in the UK says that the in those who know what they want to study and liberal arts option is something he’d consider. are focused on a specific career path. The major “If I did have the choice of either going to requirements at Emerson generally demand liberal arts school or non-liberal arts school, it’s that students start their major classes in their pretty compelling to choose liberal arts given that freshman year, so the two years of exploration basically if you go to England you get shunted into common in a liberal arts education are missing. a specific track right away,” said Laurence. “But it This makes Emerson a hybrid between liberal arts really depends on how clear an idea you have of and vocational school, a variation that may be the what you want to do.” answer to the traditional model of a liberal arts Lilley only takes classes that have to do with education currently under debate. his specific major, as in most other international As for Wilenchik, she’s content with her schools. At liberal arts colleges the idea is to seemingly abnormal choice. explore and discover. For international schools “Liberal arts is a facilitator that shows you new without general education requirements the focus things and synthesizes all these other connections is on getting students ready for a specialized and broadens your interests. But then I also don’t career path. have to take a math class.”

“There is also a concern about jobs and professions,” said Ansell. “As education has em

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“AMERICAN MADE” A journey through an American-made bazaar in Boston probes a further look into the American-made product and what it’s really worth. text // SOFYA LEVINA photo // JAMIE EMMERMAN

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RACING THE ORIGINS of the products we use on a daily basis is a difficult task, especially since America has one of the lowest exporting rates in the world. With global health scares—the Chinese-exported poisoned glycol used in toothpaste and cough medicine, to countless unregulated imports of cheese, meat, and vegetables—it is both a rarity and a relief to see the label “Made in the USA.” SOWA’s American Field, an all-American pop-up market, brings together New England companies that produce their goods in the United States and fiscally aware localists who are on the hunt for true American apparel.

Young men and women dressed in tweed and khaki walk through the warehouse, inspecting booths such as Patagonia and American Trench for handcrafted authenticity.

The handsome representatives from Awesome Boxes sit at their table and put together watches, while a woman from L.L. Bean sews candy-colored tote bags in a glass booth.

It all seems so honest and reassuring. And then there are the price tags: $595 for the Camel Homestead Cape from Ellsworth &

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Ivey; $35 for one pair of Brookline boxers from Paxton 1345; $325 for Mountaineer Boots from New England Outerwear.

The market, catered to an audience that would spend almost $400 on suede boots made for hiking, is not necessarily meeting the needs of Americans. Instead, it attracts people who dream of simpler American times living in a log cabin and waking to the smell of firewood and pine. But they’ll only be able to bathe themselves in that candid American sunlight once they’ve put on their $189 Randolph

Eyewear Concorde sunglasses with mineral crown glass lenses.

If buying products made in the USA seems difficult, this market makes this feat unfeasible.

An all-American market should have locally grown food and products, not a $98 pair of Dalton British Khakis. And yes, more clothes should be made in America, but they should be made a standard, not a keepsake.

And that goes for all products citizens consume from foreign industry. As Americans, we are separated from the true costs of our food, clothing, and electronics. Those Nike shoes might be $50 but their true cost is in the labor and suffering of foreign workers, as well as cultural and environmental implications. Few New York City residents notice that the manhole covers they step on every day say “Made in India.” Even fewer know that the true cost of each one of those metallic disks lies in the labor of men in West Bengal who work barefoot with molten medal that is hotter than 1,400 degrees centigrade.

With this in mind, yes, buying locally is the answer to cutting out the bureaucratic middleman and creating jobs in the United States. But people have to be able to buy local products before this system can begin to reverse itself.

A statistic from Racked Boston says that if Americans spent five percent more on US products, almost one million jobs would be created. That doesn’t seem so hard. However, if the only available

“YES, MORE CLOTHES SHOULD BE MADE IN AMERICA, BUT THEY SHOULD BE MADE A STANDARD, NOT A KEEPSAKE.” option to support local business is to buy a $220 Duck Rucksack from Archival Clothing, the problem becomes as much about class as economy.

You get what you pay for, but at an all-American market, there’s not much you can get. em

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“STRAIGHT EDGE” A look into the complex drug-free culture of this underground punk scene. text // COLIN FAHERTY

IN THE DEPTHS OF A DIM ALLSTON basement, the band is playing loud and fast, sending their loyal fans into a frenzy.

Amidst their “dance”–head banging in unison and pushing each other back and forth–a body is airborne, diving into the undulating crowd. He crowd-surfs on a sea of raucous fans. He grabs onto the copper pipes hanging from the ceiling and swings down onto his feet. Bodies collide as the fans throw their full weight into the chaos. Cans are jostled from hands, and soon enough the ground is sticky with beer and littered with PBRs. Boston’s “hardcore scene” has come a long way. Thirty years ago, when bands like SSD and Slapshot ran the show, Boston was a “dry scene.” The majority of punks were sober and the dance floors were seldom sticky with beer.

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OST OF BOSTON’S early hardcore bands were “straight edge.” Straight edge is a philosophy that commits its followers to abstaining from drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and promiscuous sex. This ascetic lifestyle burgeoned out of Washington D.C.’s punk rock scene and travelled up the coast to Boston. In the early eighties, in Massachusetts, punk rock and straight edge were synonymous. Early concerts held at Gallery East, a tiny artists’ loft at 367 Boylston St., were all dry shows. Alcohol and drugs were prohibited.

In a 1982 interview SSD singer Al Barile, a local hardcore hero, noted, “The scene we’ve created is underground. There’s no partying.

No one drinks and no one smokes at the shows. If they do, they better do it behind our backs.”

While the term “straight edge” comes loaded with thirty years of context and legions of sober punks, its origins are much more modest. Hardcore vocalist Ian MacKaye used the term to describe his sober lifestyle.

MacKaye saw his “straight and narrow” way of life as an “edge” over others. In 1983 MacKaye penned the lyrics “Don’t smoke/ Don’t drink/ At least I can fucking think,” and unknowingly sparked a cultural movement.

While his songs “Out of Step” and “Straight Edge” express his personal decision to abstain, hundreds of thousands of fans took these lyrics as a call to arms. In the decades since, millions have flocked to MacKaye’s intoxicant-free outlook. Beth Lahickley spoke with MacKaye, documented in her 1997 book All Ages: Reflections on Straight Edge. MacKaye spoke on the collectivist culture, saying, “I guess the movement had sort of started, but in my mind I wasn’t interested in it being a movement.”

Jesus Murillo, a 20-year-old marine from Marlborough, Massachusetts, credits Ian MacKaye’s group Minor Threat as an inspiration for his straight edge lifestyle.

Murillo first heard Minor Threat in middle school and has been straight edge since.

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edge. I wasn’t a fan of drinking, and it was these bands that really set in stone my desire to claim edge,” said Murillo.

Many critics of straight edge have deemed this conformist mentality the product of mob mentality. However, Murillo asserts that most straight edge kids find themselves on the fringes of the social milieu.

Straight edge punks view their lifestyle as an advantage over those who drink and use drugs.

Some punks will turn straight edge to save money. Instead of spending money on drugs or drinks, they pour their money into starting a record label. Others will give up partying to devote more time to rehearsing with their hardcore band. A number of punks turn to a sober lifestyle for health reasons. All in all, this subculture is interested in gaining a competitive “edge” over mainstream society. In an interview with The Boston Globe, Slapshot drummer Mark McKay praised the practical ends of straight edge ethos.

“You have to maintain your edge over society, over people who work 9-to-5 all week and get drunk on the weekends and are hungover and think that is the only way to live,” said McKay. However most straight edge kids stay away from drugs and alcohol for more personal reasons. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human services, the US is experiencing some of the highest levels of drug addiction in recent history. Currently, six million children in the U.S. are growing up with a parent who is addicted to an illicit substance.

As substance abuse takes its toll on American families, a number of kids have turned to straight edge as an alternative.

Ian MacKaye attributes his straight edge philosophy to seeing his friends ruin themselves with drug and alcohol addiction.

In the heart of Washington, D.C., in the early eighties, MacKaye witnessed crack and heroin addiction run rampant. He came to associate drugs with the destructive behaviors they caused.

Punk rock had been founded on an ethos of absolute rebellion. In the late seventies, MacKaye found superstars like Eric Clapton

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and Lou Reed glamorizing the effects of drugs. Today, drugs seem to dominate popular culture. In EDM and dub step culture, illicit substances play an integral role. Straight edge is the ultimate form of rebellion. By opting out of drugs and alcohol, edge kids distance themselves from mainstream culture.

In his book Straight Edge, sociologist Ross Haenfler notes, “Early straight edge youth viewed punk’s self-indulgent rebellion as no rebellion at all, suggesting in many ways that punks reinforced mainstream culture’s intoxicated lifestyle in a mohawked, leatherjacketed guise.”

However, Murillo doesn’t like to distance himself from those who take drugs and drink.

“Some of my closest friends drink regularly and I wouldn’t beat them up or anything,” Murillo said. He laughs, considering the absurdity of straight edge violence. “I think ‘hard edge’ is going a little too far.”

Hard edge is a militant branch of straight edge that began in Boston in the eighties.

The self-described “hockey-jock” Al Barile and his crew of straightedge cronies wouldn’t tolerate drugs or alcohol at shows. The term “hard edge” emerged to describe straight edge punks that resorted to violence to keep Boston’s punk scene sober. In an interview with Fox News Boston, lead singer of the band Have Heart, Patrick Flynn remembers the dangers of hard edge concerts.

“Kids who drank at straight edge shows might find themselves slashed or beaten up,” Flynn said.

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It was inevitable that these straight edge crusaders would band together. The camaraderie of punk rock music lends itself to the formation of various crews. The Boston straight edge movement organized into an official group, Friends Stand United (FSU).

FSU began with a plan to “victimize the victimizers” by robbing drug dealers and petty larcenists. Through much of the eighties and nineties, FSU acted as hardline vigilantes, stealing from pushers and petty thieves and then turning them over to the police.

FSU membership grew steadily in numbers and its followers stiff-armed their way into the Boston hardcore scene. Deputy Andrew Creed of the Boston Police Department recalls the early days that “it started out as friends going to hardcore shows together, and then just turned into a gang,” Creed said.

Creed and his peers have deemed FSU as a gang and seek ways to curb FSU-affiliated violence.

However, FSU may have strayed from its sober roots. While some FSU members still claim edge, many of them have given up the straight and narrow lifestyle. Rumors persist that FSU has even resorted to dealing drugs and hosting at alcohol-fueled venues.

Murillo says, “FSU is not a straight edge gang anymore, but they do have a huge presence in the Massachusetts hardcore scene.”

Straight edge no longer reigns supreme in the Boston hardcore scene. FSU members still come out to shows, but they are often the most belligerently drunk in the crowd. The

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straight edge kids stand separate. Instead of block letters that read “STRAIGHT EDGE: assembling yet another crew of hard edge TRUE TILL I DIE.” crusaders, today’s straight edge kids share They mingle freely with the smokers, the the scene with friends who drink and smoke. drinkers, and the users; many of them are old Boston’s punk scene is no longer divided friends. The straight edge kids sip on energy between straight edge and the rest of the drinks instead of beer. To them, caffeine is the world. only acceptable drug.

All over Massachusetts, sober punks join The new wave of straight edge isn’t focused on their drunken friends in the mosh pit, bonding proselytizing, arguing, or fighting. They don’t to the tune of hardcore music. take themselves so seriously. As punks—sober Take a trip to Allston and drunk—come on a Friday night and together over music, HARDCORE VOCALIST IAN you will find a lively the lines between them mix of hardcore kids: MACKAYE SAW HIS “STRAIGHT are blurred. Hardcore some of them are punk is a subculture AND NARROW” WAY OF LIFE straight edge, some of of its own, and it is AS AN “EDGE” OVER OTHERS. them sip a beer, while staunchly opposed to IN 1983, MACKAYE PENNED others party like it’s the all things mainstream. end of the world.

Straight edge kids and THE LYRICS “DON’T SMOKE/ Every weekend, their partying punk DON’T DRINK/ AT LEAST I punks trek from brethren have a lot in CAN FUCKING THINK” AND Lowell, Marlborough, common.

UNKNOWINGLY SPARKED A and Worcester for When it comes to these cramped and music, all punks play CULTURAL MOVEMENT. noisy house shows. it the same: very loud They come dressed in and very fast. They the punk rock uniform: Doc martens, dirty wear the same uniform: all black outfits that t-shirts, and black denim. Pungent smoke are tattered and worn-out. They share the wafts through the garage as crushed beer cans same worldview: often contrarian and always clink on the pavement. The fans outside will antiestablishment. When it comes to doing spend the last few minutes before the show drugs and staying on the straight edge, Boston smoking cigarettes and shot-gunning beers. punks have learned to settle their differences Amidst the dark swathes of leather and and stick together. denim, you will find a strong straight edge presence. They wear sweatshirts, marked by em

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HERE HAS never been a more exciting time to be an American interested in style and design.

For decades, the global perception of our young nation’s style has been dominated by a lack of innovation, a marriage to classic shapes and fabrics repeatedly utilized in a conventional and casual manner. Perhaps it’s due to the relative youth of the nation as a whole and our fashion industry in comparison to the centuries-spanning style histories of France, Italy, and other global fashion capitals, but despite being known as a rebellious bunch, Americans by and large have struggled to cultivate a unique sense of style that is respected elsewhere.

But all of that has changed in recent years, as the American fashion industry has exploded onto the global stage with a new crop of cutting-edge designers, fashion magazines, and avant-garde boutiques. Pushing the envelope stylistically is no longer restricted to the artistic elite in major metropolitan cities: style inspiration, designer clothing, and industry knowledge are now accessible to all Americans via blogs, innovative online retailers and Instagram.

In the pages ahead, we chronicle the roots and current redefinition of American style, and highlight some of the designers and tastemakers who are propelling the industry both within Boston and elsewhere. In styling our fashion editorials, we purposefully chose to examine Americana through a new lens – one that juxtaposes traditional notions of American design with unexpected style influences, and completely reimagines red, white, and blue. text // DILLON SORENSEN photo // EVAN TETREAULT

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“FOUNDING FATHERS of

AMERICAN FASHION” From Yves Saint Laurent to Chanel, high fashion is typically thought of as foreign.

But take a closer look and find that American fashion has its own founding fathers. text // ISABELLA PIERANGELO photo // MELISSA SHEA MICHAEL KORS F/W 2013 While most big-name French and Italian fashion houses have storied histories older than America itself, the influence of a handful of American designers can be felt around the world. Classic sex appeal, simple glamour, and effortless chic have become signature exports of the American fashion industry, which is continuing to grow in size and significance thanks to a new crop of talent. Despite our reputation as one of the least stylish countries in the world, the continued rise of American fashion proves there is much more to the 50 states than denim and tasteless logos.

he made it accessible to all. Created for those craving the everyday luxe, Michael by Michael Kors, became the mainstream answer to the runway styles of Mr. Kors. Next door beauties and rugged men are the face of an effortless, luxurious, and practical aesthetic. Americans learned to favor the instant chic equation taught by Mr. Kors: mix monochromatic textures, add a leather boot and oversized aviators. Thanks to Michael, we have learned that wearing leather, fur and massive gold watches are equally appropriate for walking your dog as hopping into your jet.

Father of Democracy: CALVIN KLEIN, 1968 Calvin Klein built a modest coat shop into a united empire of brands that are all clearly Calvin.

Ranging from runway to athletic wear, Calvin Klein created the New American aesthetic many of his predecessors are now embracing. Known for his monochromatic collections, Klein trimmed down menswear and introduced the slim fit to the States.

He famously created new standards in fashion advertising, pushing the envelope in his subtly sexy ad campaigns, such as the iconic Calvin ad featuring a 15-year-old Brooke Shields. This style has been emulated by fellow American designers like Marc Jacobs and Tom Ford, who are both known for their overt sex appeal. But let’s not forget one of Klein’s greatest contributions to the American Fashion Industry: the men’s underwear movement. Klein proved that indeed not all white briefs are created equal and successfully generated a shift in this national issue.

True Revolutionary: TOM FORD, 2005 Tom Ford knows that sex sells. Before building his own brand, Ford revived Gucci through ad campaigns that made sex appeal synonymous with high fashion, and he has transformed the image of fashionable Americans into a bold and glamorous bunch. Mr. Ford is taking the taboo out of nudity and sex in America through his unapologetic, playful and provocative ad campaigns. When he began selling eyewear, his models wore nothing but. In Tom’s world, contemporary Americans have a ‘70s allure: women wear red lipstick and men wear three-piece suits. Simple silhouettes with plunging necklines, transparent lace, and short hemlines embody the understated sex appeal American designers have grown to love. Tom Ford suits hug every man perfectly and add an instant James Bond allure. Shamelessly sexy, grown-up, and glamorous are the powerful citizens who rebel with Tom Ford.

Mr. President: MICHAEL KORS, 1981 Michael Kors single-handedly changed the American fashion industry from a denim dictatorship and prep parliament to the iconic American style we all know today. Michael Kors did not just set the precedent for American fashion;

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The One Percent: THE ROW, 2006 Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen do not design for the average American. The nameless brand is the ultimate compilation of luxury: a quest to create the perfect tee shirt evolved into a carefully curated collection of flawless basics. The Row embodies the foundations of American style—blazers, overcoats,

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white button downs, slim trousers and leggings in perfect form. The twins, far removed from their childhood stardom, cater to the ultra-rich willing to pay $400 for a plain white tee. The Row uses a strict color palette of whites, grays, black and tan mixed with rich textures to create the ultimate staple pieces.

A sophisticated take on their signature bohemian layers, every piece the Olsen twins design comes with an effortless glamour. The success of The Row has solidified their status as modern American style icons.

Radical Patriots: RODARTE, 2005 As one of America’s only haute couture fashion houses, Rodarte embodies a balance of dark fantasy and enthralling femininity. The Mulleavy sisters channel the laid-back sex appeal of their predecessors, but inject their imagination to create a collection that is much more than clothing.

Changing the way fashion labels are seen in this country, the Mulleavy sisters do not design for function, they create art. Their intricate pieces can be seen in major American museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Smithsonian.

Drawing inspiration from Los Angeles, the Spring 2014 collection was a dream of navy alligator cutoffs and metallic fringed crop tops: a couture version of the SoCal uniform. The Mulleavy Sisters are following in the footsteps of Klein and Kors, partnering with mass retailers like Target and the Gap to create wearable art for the masses.

The Dark Horse: PROENZA SHOULER, 2002 The underdog within the American Fashion industry, Proenza Shouler began as a senior thesis at Parsons: the New School for Design in 2002.

Barney’s New York bought the first collection in its entirety and Proenza emerged on the scene with the new American look. Season after season, founders Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez bring futuristic techniques and prints fused with classic shapes to the New York City runways. Staying true to their millennial generation, Proenza Shouler’s Spring/Summer 2013 Collection was inspired by its random feed on Tumblr. Piecing together graphic and animal prints, leathers, and bold colors, they created walking digital art. Easy yet tailored pieces are the cool girl’s go-to pieces. Who could predict that uptown and downtown girls would all be toting PS1 bags, or that the women in Paris would be coveting these two all-Americans? em

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“SHOP BOSTON” A look at Boston’s freshest new shopping. text // JACQUELINE WEISS

COVET + LOU, a new e-commerce site focused on forward-thinking womenswear and accessory brands, was just opened by Tina Burgos, former owner of indie boutique Stel’s on Newbury Street.

The store focuses on helping customers define their personal style while giving a voice to emerging designers. The name is an homage to Tina’s mother, whom she describes as her greatest fan and number one inspiration.

Some of the brands you can find on Covet + Lou include Ace + Jig, a textile-driven line with much of its collection made in India, and The Wild Unknown, which features quirky astrological illustrations, along with many others.

Alongside these up-and-coming designers, Burgos also features vintage finds that are an extension of her personal taste, which she describes as “somewhat ubiquitous…androgynous, vintage, bold, colorful, grunge, classic. They are all things I would incorporate into my own lifestyle, whether it be in my wardrobe or at home.”

DRESS was born in 2005 and had a successful seven-year run on Newbury Street, but when their lease was up, co-owners Martha Pickett and Jane Schlueter decided to go across the Boston Common and reopen their doors on Charles Street, enticed by Beacon Hill’s colonial charm.

Pickett and Schlueter have been friends since childhood, and after growing in their respective careers, Pickett in marketing and Schlueter in fashion, a mutual decision came to open Dress.

“We are known for classic lines, lines that you can have in your closet for more than a couple years. Not that we don’t carry trendy pieces, but the overall aesthetic is modern and sophisticated,” said Pickett.

These brands include MiH Jeans, Vanessa Bruno, Current/Elliot, Stateside Project and others.

In addition to clothing, Dress stocks jewelry, handbags, books, candles, and even a few beauty products from brands such as Lulu Frost, Loeffler Randall, and Charlotte Grace, to name a few.

The retail space is located in the historic Meeting House on Charles Street, and although the store may seem small, it is sophisticated yet urban, similar to the style of items sold in the store. em

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ICONIC MOMENTS in

POLITICAL FASHION from the color of a tie to the height of a h e e l , fa s h i o n , a n d p o l i t i c s h av e b e e n intertwined since the first televised p r e s i d e n t i a l d e b at e . e m ta k e s a l o o k at t h e 5 i c o n i c moments in political fa s h i o n to d at e . text // KATHLEEN ALLAIN illustrations // ANNA SULLIVAN

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senior adviser The First Lady uses her W E N D Y JACQUELINE The to former First Lady power for good. When K E N N E DY ’ S H I L L A R Y M I C H E L L E DAVIS is probably the only woman who sophisticated style her Mizuno wore uses triggered Jackie mania C L I N T O N , OBAMA across the U.S. during the 1960s. Women copied her pillbox hats and candy colored cinched A-line dresses. But the most powerful images we have of Kennedy are the haunting images surrounding the death of her husband, John F. Kennedy. She will be forever remembered as wearing a blood-soaked, pink suit at the time of his assasination. At his funeral, the black veil shielding her face from the public revealed the devastation of the nation.

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Lois Quam, cannot remember the last time Clinton wore a dress.

Clinton is infamous for her pantsuits: she has one in every color of the rainbow. While her wardrobe might seem like a rejection of fashion and femininity, the pantsuit is a tool to aid her political agenda.

The lack of expression in a pantsuit prohibits potential voters and the media from getting distracted by what she’s wearing.

a Jason Wu gown for the first inauguration of President Obama, she instantly elevated the young designer to celebrity status. The shimmering white chiffon, one-shouldered gown gracefully swayed with Mrs. Obama as she danced to Stevie Wonder with President Obama at the first inaugural ball.

With a few dance moves, she transformed the designer from Jason Wu, to First Lady Designer Jason Wu.

Wave Runners for filibustering, not jogging. The politician’s sneakers helped gain her international fame when she filibustered for 11 hours over a bill that would expand abortion regulations in Texas. Since she would be on her feet, she wore comfortable shoes instead of high heels.

Wearing tennis shoes might not seem like a big deal but by wearing them Davis challenged formal dress codes for women in the workplace.

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“HARAJUKU WONDERLAND” An American’s Fashion Fantasy Fulfilled in Tokyo. text // DANIEL TEHRANI EVERYTHING YOU EXPECT FROM TOKYO, YOU RECEIVE TENFOLD; CROWDED STREETS LIT AFLAME

BY BRIGHT NEON SIGNS AND THE SUGARY VOICES OF ANIME GIRLS WITH MASSIVE CARTOON EYES AND TURQUOISE HAIR THAT CALL TO YOU FROM GIANT LED SCREENS.

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As a student studying abroad for a semester at Temple University’s Japan campus, I came in hopes of possessing that Tokyo magic.

I’ve been here once before when I was in high school but I returned hungry for more of Japan’s extremes. This is the only place where you can time travel into the future, the past, and back again in mere minutes.

One second you’re suffocated by massive skyscrapers, talking appliances, and hordes of people, but then just turn the corner and you’re submerged in the tranquility of an ancient temple garden. But even more than that, more than anything really, what I love about Tokyo is that I’m not the only one who came to live out a fantasy: everyone who comes to Tokyo does too. In Tokyo’s fashion districts, the infamous fashion tribes, immortalized stateside by Gwen Stefani, dress the way they do in the hopes of living out their own fantasies.

As soon as I landed, I was (pleasantly) overwhelmed by the extremes of Japan, which is what I’ve always loved about it here. There are immaculate department stores selling everything from high-concept Japanese couture to gourmet bento boxes and hundred dollar melons. I’ve spent countless hours in tiny little cake shops, sipping rose tea and debating whether or not to actually eat the intricately detailed pastries I ordered because they’re (almost) to precious to put a fork into. Nights are spent with friends in ramen shops and rustic izakayas, dimly lit neighborhood bars that serve delicious food to go along with your drinks. Since I arrived, I’ve taken many a fashion pilgrimage to Harajuku’s Takeshitadori, the neighborhood’s most crowded shopping street and LaForet, the department store du jour for the past few decades, brimming with Versace scarves, Raf Simmons sneakers, even baby-doll dresses and tracksuits.

How people dress in this fashion mecca is nothing new to me, as it is Americangrown in origin, a melding of three ‘90s trends: grunge, hip-hop, and athletica with Rihanna-esque crop tops and very Cara Delevigne beanies. You can’t walk a block

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in Tokyo without seeing a convenience store, a vending machine, and a girl in a beanie with something rather mortifying like “HIPSTER” or “NEW YORK” scrawled across it. What is new, though, is that people in the street actually wear what is on the pages of magazines and fashion blogs, even the most unhip have well-fitting clothes. I’ve yet to see a Tokyoite, even casually dressed, look sloppy or disheveled (shame on you, America). In my own way, I’ve done as the Romans do, so to speak. I’ve always been one for a touch of gold (blame my Persian ancestry), so I bought an oversize chain necklace and have been wearing it over Muji black t-shirts and Uniqlo flannels with Doc Martens or Converses and a baseball hat courtesy of the Yankees or Azealia Banks’ official merchandise website. I’ve got serious outfit envy for all the Japanese guys and their take on “preppy.” I cringe at calling it that because it isn’t really, there are no trite country-club references.

Instead, it’s much more minimalist and way hipper than the American counterpart with New Balances (I must buy a pair ASAP) worn with jeans or khakis, a sweater over a collared shirt, and some circular glasses with a stiff, slicked back hairdo to top it off.

I’m always in awe of the fashion here but a moment I don’t think I’ll ever forget is when, one giant platform heel at a time, an immaculately dressed girl stepped on to a subway car I was on. Like every other subway car in rush hour, it was full to the brim of half-sleeping businessmen in identical suits. But in her miniskirt, kneehigh black stockings, and fake-fur stole, she stood out like a sore thumb, and each woke up and glared in amazement. With her icy grey contacts, skin as white as bone-china, lips like a candy apple, a Victorian circle of blush on each cheek and spidery false eyelashes, she was every bit a porcelain doll come to life. She was beautiful indeed, but her grace and charm harbor a strength of will and character that is astounding; among the miserable looking, clone-like business men, she dared to stand out, to not fit in.

In hyper-homogenous Japan where a

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popular proverb is “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down,” your clothes denote your place in society. The Japanese are provided uniforms basically from birth, which are used to convey who they are to those around them. As soon as you enter the schooling system and are given a uniform with the school’s crest, you are now a coded representative of that institution and must accept that everyone around you will size you up according to how high or mediocre your school ranks. Once you graduate, most men and women take on the traditional “uniforms” and roles of businessman and housewife. In my studies at TUJ, I’ve come to learn just how rigid gender roles and family structure in Japan really is. I asked my Popular Culture in Japan professor, a Tokyoite born and raised, if indeed that is true. She confirmed, saying that because men work so hard and so late into the night, many Japanese children don’t see their fathers much. She herself did not know who her father was until she was eight, sometimes even asking her mother if her uncles were her father when they would come to visit. In my Prejudice in Japan class, we often discuss how traditional family roles are basically enforced in Japanese society. There are few daycare options and work hours are too long for mothers to take full time jobs, so most women must choose between a career or housewifery, while the men work themselves to death, literally. A recent increase in numbers of “karoshi,”

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IN HYPER-HOMOGENOUS JAPAN WHERE A POPULAR PROVERB IS “THE NAIL THAT STICKS OUT GETS HAMMERED DOWN,” YOUR CLOTHES DENOTE YOUR PLACE IN SOCIETY. death by overwork, is downright terrifying.

It’s no wonder that a recent article in The Guardian, “Why have young people in Japan stopped having sex?” by Abigail Haworth found that Japan is suffering from a steeply declining birthrate and that more and more people are rejecting the concept of marriage and traditional relationships.

Haworth finds the Japanese are less and leåss interested in intimacy; many choose celibacy or seek out services from maid cafes and host and hostess clubs where you pay to flirt (or sometimes more) with virtual reality partners. Who would want to partake in a relationship of any kind if there were so many outdated and archaic codes and molds to adhere to? The life of an overworked father and a mother who only lives to mother just doesn’t appeal anymore.

The future laid out for them by their forefathers and -mothers is just too bleak.

It’s clear then that girls in frilly baby doll

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dresses or boys in makeup and leather pants are enacting a peaceful, beautiful rebellion against traditional values and a system that is no longer working, which may, literally, bring its society to extinction.

Thus, the streets of Harajuku and Shibuya are filled day and night with ultraglamorous social rejects, each with their own tribes, each who’ve found identities outside Japanese mainstream society and express this through their clothes. It is a fantasy of escape and an expression of rebellion in the form of Hello Kitties come to life and S&M leather. The lolitas and their darker offshoot, the gothic lolitas, emulate the style of Victorian dolls. The “gyaru,” a Japanification of the English word “gal,” are rather like living barbies with blonde hair, fake tans and big nails. Their natural habitat is Shibuya 109, a department store chocked full of the latest trends that each girl pursues with blind passion. Guys who do “visual-kei” dress just like Anne Rice’s rock-singing vampire, Lestat, from the 2003 film, The Queen of the Damned, with big hair gelled to impossible heights, dark velvet, crosses, silver chains, and lots and lots of skintight leather. Each look fulfills some sort of fantasy for the wearer and like the characters of the anime Sailor Moon, they gain power once they transform, only through their daily dress-up.

Growing up I idolized Sailor Moon and it’s what helped instill a love and appreciation for Japanese culture in me. As a nerdy,

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girly kid I used to watch Sailor Moon go from a crybaby flunking middle school to a glamorous, invincible hero and long, so badly, to transform beyond a reality I found hostile. You can imagine then, just how much it meant to me when I went to the opening night of the new Sailor Moon musical (the first in ten years) and just happened to get a seat right in front of the series’ creator, Naoko Takaeuchi. I had come to Japan and fulfilled a fantasy I’d harbored all my life and, like a dream, the characters I’ve idolized since kindergarten leapt off the page and paraded on stage, singing and swinging swords. I realized then that it was the fantasy I lived in as a kid that brought me the strength to endure bullying and the harsh reality of “not fitting in,” I endured and overcame because I held on to a dream that one day I could transform beyond the need to endure and overcome, into happiness. Years later, I’m in Tokyo, quite literally living my dream. These comics, cartoons and clothes might just be fantasies and escapism but from them, we garner the strength to change the world around us, to become more than just what society would expect us to be, but the person we’d like to be, who we really are. Through fashion, Japanese fashion tribes have crafted individual identities that reject the confining roles of mainstream, conservative Japanese society. This is, every stitch, seam and zipper, a fashion revolution. em

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“untitled”

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photos by AUGUSTIN DEMONCEAUX creative direction by JAMIE EMMERMAN

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LAND OF THE FREE PHOTOS BY

SAM MASSEY models // EVAN GOODEN & PATRICK LYNCH

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Pants, Isaora, at The Tannery; Shirt, LPD, at The Tannery, Sweatshirt, 3.1 Phillip Lim, at The Tannery; Shoes, Nike, at Bodega.

THIS PAGE: Sweater, Jiberish; Pants, wings + horns, at The Tannery, Hat, Stylist’s Own; NEXT PAGE: Sweater, 10Deep, at Bodega; Shoes, Nike, at Bodega; Pants, wings + horns at The Tannery.

PREVIOUS PAGE: Pants, Baldwin, at The Tannery; Shirt, Cav Empt, at Bodega; Sweater, Cav Empt, at Bodega; Shoes, Nike, at Bodega; THIS PAGE: Sweater, Todd James for Puma, at Bodega; Pants, Rag & Bone, at The Tannery; Jacket, Jiberish; Shoes, Nike, at Bodega.

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modern

americouple can photos by CARINA ALLEN

models // PERNILLA AHGREN & JULIAN BAEZA HOCHMUTH FROM LEFT: Hat, Brandy Melville; Jacket, Mika & Gala, at LF; Dress, Brandy Melville; Necklace, LF; Shoes, Jeffrey Campbell, at LF; Hat, Jiberish; T-Shirt, Ball & Buck; Shirt, Ball & Buck x Dickie’s, at Ball & Buck; Scarf, Ball & Buck; Pants, Model’s Own; Shoes, Nike, at Bodega.

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FROM LEFT: Pants, Bodega; Sweatshirt, Model’s Own; Pants, Brandy Melville; T-Shirt, Brandy Melville; Top, First of a Kind at LF

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FROM LEFT: Shoes, Jeffrey Campell; Pants, Paper Heart; Shirt, First of a Kind, all at LF; Sunglasses, Stylist’s Own; Pants, Ball & Buck; Shirt, Undefeated, at Bodega; Jacket, Monitaly, at Bodega; Shoes, Nike, at Bodega.

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FROM LEFT: Shirt, Mark McNairy, at Bodega; Pants, Bodega; Shoes, Ball & Buck x Danner, at Ball & Buck; Hat, Model’s Own; Dress, Paper Heart, Shoes, Jeffrey Campbell, both at LF.

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Runaways photos by EVAN TETREAULT

models // TANIA RIOS & TINA BOZSIK

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ON LEFT: Bra, Alexander Wang, at The Tannery; Sweater, Zara; Skirt, Brandy Melville.

ON RIGHT: Hat, Brandy Melville, Dress, Zara; Sweatshirt, BLK DNM, at The Tannery; Jacket, 3.1 Phillip Lim, at The Tannery.

Coat, A.P.C., at The Tannery; Turtleneck, Brandy Melville; Top, Zara; Pants, J Brand at The Tannery.

Coat, Rag & Bone, at The Tannery; Top, Brandy Melville; Skirt, Stylist’s Own.

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FROM LEFT: Sweater, Stylist’s Own; Dress, Bec & Bridge, at The Tannery; Coat, Brandy Melville; Cardigan, Brandy Melville; Top, Bec & Bridge, at The Tannery; Hat, Brandy Melville; Pants, Road to Awe, at The Tannery.

(NEXT PAGE) FROM LEFT: Shirt, Stylist’s Own; Top, 3.1 Phillip Lim, at The Tannery; Pants, Road to Awe, at The Tannery; Dress, Stylist’s Own; Sweater, Brandy Melville.

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