Before by lise friedman

before

ANNA KATHLEEN feat. Ducky Neiman and Wanderlust

+ Hue Park, Molly Smith, Les Plus DorĂŠs and more

EDITOR’S NOTE

Here at Before, we’d first like to say thank you. Thank you to the artists in the following pages for letting us share your vision and thoughts, thank you to our contributors, and thank you most to you – the reader – for taking the time to pick up this issue. It has been quite an effort bringing you our first issue – months of preparation, planning, a hurricane, re-planning, and eventually finishing; but it is finally here. In these pages you will find the artists, musicians, designers, and everyone you need to know about (but may not yet). In this issue we focused on our home base: New York City. In a city as established and historic as New York, we wanted to shake off the dust and show you the new creative minds who inspire us. Before the rest, we bring you the undiscovered gems found across the boroughs we call home. To read more about our cover feature on Anna Kathleen and see her collection video, Earth + Beyond, head over to Confluence, the online multimedia journal of NYU Gallatin: confluence. gallatin.nyu.edu.

before art director Michelle Lim

fashion director Jacobi Hollingshed

fashion director Nicole Hoffman

features director

Benjamin Fainlight

music director

Julia Buchmiller

contributing photographers Christophe Calhoun Jacqueline Grossbard Melodie Jeng Hassan Kinley Jen Painter Dan Prakopcyk

contributing writers Lizzie Azran Julio Cann

contact

before.editor@gmail.com

front cover + inside back cover Anna Kathleen photographed by Melodie Jeng styled by Jacobi Hollingshed back cover + inside front cover + opposite image Ducky Neiman photographed by Dan Prakopcyk Published by New York University Opinions expressed in this issue are the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Before Magazine. 2012 ÂŠ its authors. Reproduction without permission prohibited. Printed in New York, NY By Endeavor Printing, LLC.

TABLE OF CONTENTS MUSIC Ahead of the Curve

Killing time with Morgan ‘Ducky’ Neiman

Something My Heart Understands

The Pine Hollows delivers, earnest & irony-free

ART/ PHOTOGRAPHY Kush & Orange Juice

Dan Prackopcyk finds the light Life after Art School

14 18

Dreaming with Molly Smith Reminiscing with Hue Park

FASHION 21

Reality Chicks Fall in lust the Wanderlust Girls

A ‘Little’ Change

Anna Kathleen Little passion for the clothes, not the business

Interpreting the Color 29 Where do Amanda King and Melodie Jeng fall on the spectrum?

BRANDS Homme-Run

Benjamin Fainlight hits home run with Les Plus Dorés

Best Foot Forward 31 Sustainable chic one step at a time with Modavanti

BEHIND THE SCENES julia buchmiller Atlanta native-turned-New Yorker Julia Buchmiller has interned at Rolling Stone magazine for the past year, and is a freelance photographer while pursuing her major, Art in Critical Theory, at NYU. Julia hopes to pursue her interest in the role of empathy and affect in photography by working at a photography gallery, museum, or publication in New York City after graduation.

benjamin fainlight Benjamin Fainlight is the founder and Creative Director of Les Plus DorĂŠs, as well as a writer, stylist, and visual artist. Raised in Connecticut, and having lived in New York City, Berlin, and Paris, Benjaminâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision is a hybrid of all these disparate experiences. Benjamin has worked in everything from PR, editorials, to buying, for companies like Barneys New York, Givenchy, W Magazine, and the Guggenheim Museum. In his off time, Benajmin can most likely be found eating noodles somewhere in downtown Manhattan.

nicole hoffman In love with fashion and New York City, Nicole has thrived while at NYU. As a senior in Media, Culture and Communication she enjoys writing, reading and tweeting! She considers shopping a sport and if it were an option in gym class, she would have gotten an A+.

jacobi hollingshed Having recognized his love for fashion while attending the University of Georgia, Jacobi transferred to New York University where he studies Creative Direction, Korean, and French. He plans to use the valuable knowledge he has gained from interning at places such as Lanvin, Peoples Revolution, and W magazine, to further his dreams of one day becoming the Creative Director of a luxury fashion brand.

michelle lim

Born and raised in Singapore, it might seem strange to find Michelle here in New York City, halfway around the globe. She is a travel junkie who is majoring in Studio Art at New York University, while dabbling in publication and design along the way. As an art student, she makes prints, mixed media drawings, and the occassional photograph. In her free time, she makes zines, writes for Singapore Architect magazine, and plans her next travel destination.

KUSH & ORANGE JUICE interviewed by Julia Buchmiller

From getting turned away from the Kings of Leon’s bathroom to being personally called up to Robert De Niro’s private home studio, our contributing photographer, Dan Prakopcyk, reflects on the highs (literally) and lows of attempting to go pro.

Photo of Wiz Khalifa by Dan Prakopcyk

How exactly does one go from being a college Lacrosse star to a semiestablished New York City photographer one year after graduation?

in your concert photography. There’s a closeness and stillness in your concert photos that is so hard to capture, like that picture of Whiz you have.

You tear your ACL. I had a lot of time on my hands. I saw a DVD Danny Clinch made about John Mayer, Where the Light is. It was just perfect, the timing, the directing and editing combination, from start to finish, I literally looked him up and emailed the studio the next day about an internship.

That was actually a crazy experience. That was in Amsterdam before he was really Wiz Khalifa, when “Kush and Orange Juice” just came out. To get a media pass to the show I emailed them in Dutch. I don’t know why because they all speak English. But it wasn’t like here in NYC. There wasn’t a photo pit. I was just crammed up there with 1000 people, everyone smoking weed, just moving forward toward the stage together. No one cared, the crowd just moved me to the front and I got that shot.

Ballsy. Fast forward a couple years later, he’s bringing you to Bonaroo and the Hurricane Sandy PSA he directed at Dinero’s. What do you think are the most important things you’ve learned from him? When I was an intern I picked up quickly how comfortable people are around Danny. That’s so important for a portrait photographer—make people feel comfortable about letting themselves be captured. All of his portraits bring out personalities of artists that you don’t usually see yet at the same time reassure you of who they are. If working with Danny has taught me one thing, it’s to not complicate things. And to use natural light to your advantage. And to not expect rock stars to let you use their bathrooms after driving in nowhere Tennessee for 2 hours. Because they’re busy doing important drugs in there. Perhaps in part due to the osmosis of working with a great you’ve developed an aesthetic of your own, especially

I feel like finding that stillness in the crazy movement pervades a lot of your work. Oh, I don’t think I could sit in an office every day. This past week I went from working a GNC commercial to flying to Austin to shoot Jam Master Jay’s Sons and Run DMC then back to NYC to work on the Rolling Stone Special Issue. At least you’re working. What would you say to all those photo majors about to be where you are come graduation? Just meet as many people in the industry as you can. Be as honest and personable as you can. Don’t be a dick. 7

AHEAD OF THE CURVE written by Julio Cann photographed by Dan Prakopcyk

When I first met Morgan Neiman, she could not yet vote. The then seventeen-year-old Californian had decided that she would skip senior year of high school and go straight to the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University. The exact circumstances surrounding her early entrance are somewhat blurry, but two years later Morgan, now self-branded “Ducky,” managed to outpace her peers once again. She graduated at the tender age of twenty, with a healthy string of releases and a touring career under her belt. From the start, it was clear to me that Morgan advances at her own, hyper-accelerated pace, and it’s pointless to try and keep up. Ducky moves fast. A few days ago, I asked her to stop for a few hours and tell us about the state of her art.

0 1

“ There’s a limit to how long you can spend looking at a girl standing in front of a laptop... ” Ducky. They’ve taught me to appreciate the visual aspect of the project, and to play with that.”

“Right now, I’ve got a bunch of singles, remixes, and videos in the works. I’m operating on a trackby-track basis and using it as an opportunity to play with styles as well as collaborators.” These days, her music has evolved from the trip-hop, Portisheadmeets-UK-bass of her early recordings, toward more pop structures as well as heavy house and minimal influences. “It’s still very Ducky, though,” she muses. She remains interested in emulating the Berlin scene, and trying to translate some of that energy to a New York audience. She considers local pop too constrained by hooks and melodies, elements that she’s only now coming to terms with. Another feature that remains consistent: the two semi-nude dancers she brings with her onstage at every show - earning Ducky her trademark image of empowered hypersexuality.

However, when asked how she has been evolving her performance on the visual front of things, Ducky becomes curiously tight-lipped. She would only share, “we’re in the process of developing some really cool things for the live performance that blend art and technology,” but she doesn’t go into more detail than that. I guess that we have no choice but to eagerly await March, which is when she expects to premier her new performances. In the meantime, Ducky has been busy tightening up her act. Not only has she rearranged her set-up, added a live drummer, and fully choreographed her dancers, she’s also anticipating the release of her next single early 2013. Truly, this girl does not stand still. The fact that she still isn’t old enough to buy herself a drink at the clubs she plays in seems right in line with Ducky’s trajectory. Like her prescient musical psyche, she’s always one step ahead of herself—and everyone else.

“There’s a limit to how long you can spend looking at a girl standing in front of a laptop,” she says. “Besides, I enjoy working with artists in different fields because it involves so many interpretations of the work, and that somehow enriches the content of 11

HOMME RUN

written by Lizzie Azran photos courtesy of Les Plus Dorés

Fantasy sports teams are no longer limited to athlete lineups. Through his own clothing line, NYU senior Benjamin Fainlight has recruited fashion designers to make his own “Dream Team.” His clothing line, Les Plus Dorés, emblazons the names and birth years of fashion’s heavy hitters (Tisci, Kawakubo, Margiela, Slimane, Philo) on the back of jersey-style t-shirts. Fainlight, the twentyone-year-old founder and creative director, runs the company with his two partners, CAS senior Nicole Pinhas and Bowdoin College senior Stephen Roth. Les Plus Dorés, which means “The Most Golden” in French, aims to build a worldwide community of people with similar interests towards wearing high fashion and street style. “Combining street wear with high fashion to make something that references both and brings both cultures together was sort of what I want to do,” Fainlight said. “I wear leather Helmut Lang jeans with Nike Jordans or Vans. It’s drawing from everything I like and wear, and appropriating it for everybody to participate in.” 12

Les Plus Dorés released their first collection of shirts in July. The 50 Phoebe Philo tees (named after the creative director of Céline) sold out overnight, particularly thanks to popular fashion blogger Jayne from Stop It Right Now, who modeled the shirt on her site. Margiela (the creative director of Hermés and his own line) tees followed Philo, giving him more prominence. Slimane (the creative director of Yves Saint Laurent), Tisci (the creative director of Givenchy), and Kawakubo (the founder of Comme des Garcons) shirts sold out, as well. Les Plus Dorés continues to attract both street style and high fashion aficionados, from Vogue.com‘s featuring the Team Kawakubo shirt on its homepage, to rapper Ohla from Tanboys wearing the Team Tisci shirt onstage at an A$AP Rocky show. “I think it’s kind of a nice gesture to make all these disparate [customers], who probably don’t know

each other and probably don’t have anything to do with each other, into a team,” Fainlight said. But despite the success of the Dream Team tees, Fainlight knows the importance of constantly evolving his company. “I don’t know if want to stray away from [the shirts], but I don’t want to define myself as just jerseys and jersey aesthetics,” he said. “You can’t stop at one thing that’s working well, or else you’re going to be surpassed or you’re going to be irrelevant.”

The latest collection, which will be available within the next two weeks, will commemorate Raf Simons. NYU Local asked when Fainlight will finally know he’s accomplished his desired success. “I’ll know I have made it when somebody knocks off my shirts and puts my name on the back,” he said with a laugh. When in stock, Les Plus Dorés shirts are available on lpdnyc.com. They are $85 plus shipping.

Thus, the future of the Dream Team looks as bright as stadium lights. Although the shirts have exclusively been sold online, Brown’s in London is scheduled to carry the shirts this month. Fainlight also plans to sell the shirts to stores in Paris, Sydney, Tokyo, Los Angeles and New York.

PINE HOLLOWS interviewed by Nicole Hoffman photographed by Jen Painter

Paul McCartney, is that you? No, it’s Gianni Napolitano, the brains and beautiful voice behind The Pine Hollows. Story behind the name? How did the Pine Hollows come about? The Pine Hollows was a way for me to start taking my songwriting more seriously.. and about 3 years ago when I was a senior in high school I was interning at this recording studio where we were able to record as much as we wanted so long as we were helping out with maintenance, so at that time I was recording a lot of original music and Ray Belli, the drummer in the band, was also there and so we were collaborating and I just thought I’ll take it to the next level and play shows.

Pine Hollow Road is the road that I live on at home in Oyster Bay, New York so that road runs straight from my house from 106 to Pine Hollow Road through Oyster Bay, so that is just a lot of nostalgic things and memory. We also had a different name, but we changed it because it was taken out of necessity. (laughs) Why did you decide the band format was better then just you as an artist? That’s a good question, it’s actually something I’m still working out internally because you know the

“ It’s most important to capture that spark ... and then everything else falls into place. ” Pine Hollows are really just my songs, there are no other songwriters, and playing guitar and singing and doing other things on record too can feel very much like a solo project but I think for me I’ve always wanted to be in a band and so I’ll always try to have that dynamic going even if I’m the one who’s spearheading it and taking charge. How would classify your music? Pop, rock, and roll.(laughs) What inspires you? I think that a lot of things are inspiring to me, and most often it’s the dynamics I have with other people. It’s easier for me to write a song about something that would help me think through something. I write to think or I write to figure out what I’m thinking as opposed to sorting my shit out, so to speak, then writing about it. So I think the writing process and this cathartic thing go hand in hand for me. What are your longterm goals? I think I’d like to be signed to major record label in the next ten years. I’d like to work with Paul McCartney and play a show with him or even open for him on tour. For me he’s one of the biggest inspirations just musically and because of what he does so it would be great to have that experience. But I think the major label thing is important because it can reach the widest audience and have the biggest opportunities. How many times have people told you you look like Paul McCartney? Usually a few times a week. What is your favorite venue to play in? What is your ideal audience like? What’s your ideal audience-musician dynamic? I think definitely my favorite venue in Manhattan is Arlene’s Grocery. They just have amazing sound

and it’s a good sized venue. It’s most fun for me if the crowd is really into it and you’re making some sort of connection and the crowd is dancing. If you could perform anywhere where would it be? I think Madison Square Garden would be pretty surreal if I could perform there... but there are a lot of cooler, smaller venues I’d like to check out. Honestly, I’m not too up on venues, but I’ll know it when I play it. If you weren’t a musician, what would you be? There’s nothing else I can see myself as... I’ve tried a few other things. I think, for me, art is very important, I started out being interested in visual arts in a way and so that could be something I could do. There’s something about music in that there’s this immediacy I really enjoy whereas with visual art it seems like there’s a hibernation and you hope people interact with with it but you’re not firsthand involved in that relationship. Most embarrassing song on iPod? For me, I’m not too embarrassed anymore of what I have on there, but there’s a good amount of Greenday and Beyonce which are more guiltier pleasures, if you may. Any current music obsessions? I go through phases where I get really into musicians and bands I don’t just like skim over, you know. I did listen a lot to the new Beyonce album, Four. And it’s interesting for me because my cousins are really into it, and the horns section on that album also played on our new album so I was like “Oh let me hear how they sound”. Gianni is eager about his second album coming out this February, titled Something My Heart Understands. 15

Life after

ART SCHOOL Ever wondered where all the fresh art grads go each year when summer swings around and school is over? Many pursue careers as artists, but others choose to wander through less conventional paths. Molly Smith and Hue Park are two New York University alums who are not pursuing art as a full-time profession - yet art remains a potent force in both their personal and working lives. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been up to.

DREAMING WITH

MOLLY SMITH written and photographed by Michelle Lim artwork images courtesy of Molly Smith 16

Cull (2010) Medium ink and watercolor

We sit on the rooftop of her Brooklyn apartment, Molly and I, as we talk about how things have been for her since graduating college in May. She works for Ghostly International now, a record label which had been her favourite when she was in high school, and the first label she had ever been aware of. During the days when she interned for them during her senior year at NYU, she was just ‘Girl’ - being the only girl in the male-dominated workplace. Now, Molly is no longer the only girl in the office, and she also has a comparatively shinier job title: assistant label manager. What exactly does that entail? Molly muses, “People get so excited when they hear that I work at a record label. But really, an average day at work basically involves answering a lot of emails. It’s unglamorous in that sense, but there are also those surreal moments where we go out with Gold Panda, who is this electronic musician whose music we put out, while he drunkenly eats a taco, and then being in the green room the next day in the Bowery Ballroom, getting ready for a show...” The asymmetry between night and day is one of the surreal against the mundane, not unlike the relationship between her art and reality. Many of the creatures that inhabit the worlds in her work are found in some state of unconsciousness, whether they are dead or sleeping. These scenes, with their otherworldly colours and strange narratives, transport viewers to an alternate dimension. Asked what her work means to her, Molly replies, “I think on its most basic level, it’s an escape – and I know that’s a very clichéd thing to say, but by creating these worlds and feeling like I’m into them when I’m making them, I don’t have to commit to

She and I (2011) Digital Art

“ It’s very similar to being in a dream, very separate from my waking life. ”

Record Release Poster (2010) Screenprint Moon Rabbits (2010) Screenprint

this world, because it’s like there are other places in my mind that I can go to. It’s very similar to being in a dream, very separate from my waking life.”

Sitting here on the rooftop, though, one might be hard-pressed to understand why she might want to escape from reality. The soft wind rolls empty beer bottles and cans across the shiny silver floor. As they clank around, an occasional plane crosses the sky overhead – a counterpoint to the startle of a motorcycle engine in the streets below. The ambient sounds make reality seem like a languid dream, and Molly admits that there is nowhere else she’d rather be, than living in Brooklyn right now. Amidst this reverie, we talk about the future: Molly anticipates a few collaborative projects, and perhaps also getting on stage herself. She’s very mysterious about the latter, for fear of jinxing it, but tells me more about this indie comic she’s in the middle of planning with her friend Sarah Faitell. She’s eager to explore the comic form because “you can be very precise and technical, but you can also have dimension and emotion in the story, and make it more complex. Personally, I just want to make something bizarre and weird, and a comic could make that better than a single drawing could.”

Speaking of bizarre and weird, we get to talking a little about upcoming bands, so Molly recommends Montréal-based band Doldrums to our readers. She describes them as being “like the Internet,” and enjoys how they combine intense snippets of all kinds of things into a meaningful melody, while remaining completely fun and easy to dance to. Now that sounds like something we could all use. Molly Smith is a New Jersey-born, Brooklyn-based artist and DJ. Check out her work at supernovocain.tumblr.com.

Strange Signals (2012) Screenprinted stickers

REMINISCING WITH

HUE PARK written by Michelle Lim artwork images courtesy of Hue Park

Poignant, sentimental, nostalgic: these are words that one might use to describe Hue Park’s body of work. From romantic billboard messages along highways to autobiographical books that juxtapose private thoughts with delicately taken photographs, Hue’s work has always embodied a kind of deep intimacy that makes his audience assume the role of a confidant, even if you were a complete stranger. When I point this out to Hue, he laughs and reflects that this is perhaps due to his Korean heritage, and his work as a Korean pop lyricist. Prior to coming to New York, Hue majored in Creative Writing at Dongguk University, Seoul, South Korea with a concentration in poetry. He shares, “Korean culture is very much about the melancholic and sentimental.” As a lyricist, it is par for the course for him to constantly negotiate the terrain of heartbreak, love and yearning as source material. These themes seem to have followed him into his art practice, to

Polaroidiary (2010-2011) Hardcover book, 4 x 5 inches, edition of 100

Billboard Projects (2011) Digital photographs of billboard installations

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m With You, Part 2 (2011) Digitally manipulated found photographs

take new form as he expresses them through the synthesis of word and image.

and his collaborator, composer Will Aronson, to work on.

His most recent project lies in the realm of music, however. This summer, the musical adaptation of the popular 2001 Korean film Bungee Jumping of their Own opened in Seoul; Hue is the man behind this musicalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lyrics. The musical is a love story at its core, but possesses a variety of moods that range from the light and uplifting to the dark and melancholic â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which made it interesting for Hue

Between his music-related projects, which tend to be more large scale and have a wider public reach, and his artwork, which occur on a more private scale, the artist-songwriter explores themes that document his personal emotional reality, while also reflecting the perennial, public infatuation for romance.

Anxiety Manual (2011) Handmade book, 4.5 x 8 inches

Hue’s practice does not end here. Since returning from Bungee Jump’s opening in July, Hue has been working part-time as a freelance graphic designer at both an advertising agency, Mother New York, and a newspaper, Korean Times NY. With regard to his work experience so far, he says, “The thing is, being a foreigner [who is] trying to adapt to a different work environment takes a lot of energy. I want to be good at what I’m doing at the company… so I’m teaching myself a lot and I’m trying to be good. It’s taking more time than I thought it would, but I think eventually I’ll become pretty good at it, and also at balancing my daytime job with my own projects as well.” For the moment, the personal project that he refers to is a new collaborative periodical, which Hue provisionally entitles the Object Project. He is bringing together four other young artists to make functional objects such as T-shirts, coasters, bookmarks and tote bags, with the intention of investigating the nature of publication, and these objects’ potential to function as curated periodicals. He expects to make an edition of 100 as an experimentative gesture into non-traditional forms of publications, and hopes to release an issue biannually. With these two day-jobs, a hobby writing lyrics for the Korean pop industry, and his own artistic interests on the side, Hue definitely finds his time well occupied by creative work. The energy that he devotes towards these myriad pursuits, and his determination at honing his skills, make him one to watch no matter which creative field he might choose to work in. Hue Park is a Korean-born artist and graphic designer currently living and working in Brooklyn, New York. You can find his work at www.radioandpaper.com.

REALITY CHICKS interviewed by Nicole Hoffman photographed by Hassan Kinley

Meet the Wanderlust Girls, a duo of Abigail Breslin and Emily Bache, who are taking over New York City one leather jacket at a time. Known for their edgy look and love for the obscure and twisted, and with a debut handbag collection that reflects these sensibilities in the works, these stylists are anything but ordinarily chic.

Seeing the girls for the first time, it’s easy to think that they might as well have just stepped out of a Tim Burton film – a description one mightn’t necessarily call ‘chic’. Somehow, though, Abigail Breslin and Emily Bache, both 24, pull it off while appearing effortlessly cool. They have a lot going for them, including a successful blog, styling gigs and the most random projects ever. Wearing all black, thigh-high leather boots and oversized sunglasses, the duo is comfy by the fire at the exclusive Soho House, where I sat down to talk with them about their past, present, and future in the fast-paced fashion industry.

How did the blog start?

Abigail: Emily and I got into blogs 2009 and of course we had to start one too because we have to get up on all the social media trends! It was just to keep in touch senior year in college because we always shared a closet, so we would post back and forth and see, “Oh you’ll own this!” when we graduate. When we graduated, someone told us we had a following, so we cleaned up the site and decided to take it seriously since we… thought maybe we could make a living off of it. It just evolved from there!

Where did the name come from?

Abigail: We were watching this video from someone in the entertainment industry. He made this amazing video collage that at the beginning says “wonderfully lost in my wanderlust” and we fell in love with the word and went with it not knowing it would become anything. We’re stuck with it now, but luckily it’s good! Emily: And it fits, because we do everything throughout the industry. We’re never in one field, we like to explore every venture and every venue we possibly can so the word fit. How would you classify Wanderlust, the brand?

Abigail: The brand has now become a multimedia fashion company offering any service from blogging, modeling, styling, personal shopping, hosting parties, and hundreds of other services that come our way. Emily: We always say yes to everything, so that can be a problem, but it also can lead to very interesting things. Like the time that we ended up styling a music video and a couple hours later we were in the music video as taxidermy heads. What are your short-term and long-term goals for the company?

Emily: To make Wanderlust a household name and to be successful in every venture we do. As we want to be involved in every facet of the industry, we want to be known as the Wanderlust Girls. We stick to our guns, we never change the way we are for anyone else. That, and to be known as actually talented at what we do. What is your favorite part of your job? Emily: I don’t even know if I can think about one thing… we get a lot of free clothes (laughs)… that’s awesome. And we get to meet a lot of interesting people, but I think my favorite part is that we get to meet really weird people. Abigail: We’re just lucky that we’re here and that this is where we work because the business wouldn’t function if we weren’t in New York. Emily: And we always come up with random, ridiculous ideas, and we somehow found a job where we can actually do all those random, ridiculous ideas. 24

“ We stick to our guns, we never change the way we are for anyone else. ” What’s the biggest misconception about styling? Abigail: A lot of people don’t credit it as a real job. If you don’t invest in a stylist, it shows. You actually have to have talent, even just reaching out to people, you have to be known and be credible to even talk to brands. Getting them is another thing, and then you have to mix and match them. It’s difficult. Favourite designer? Both: Alexander McQueen, Balmain. Emily: Katie Gallagher and Alex London are my newest obsessions. Can’t-live-without item? Emily: Everything we wear is black, so there’re those key pieces. Everyone needs a little black dress, and when we do laundry and we’re without it for two days, you realize how desperately you need that little black dress all the time. But I always feel most comfortable in this necklace Abby bought. It has a billion mini crosses on it - it’s hers - but it’s pretty much mine because I wear it all the time. And a pair of nice, black ankle boots with a really high heelplatform so we can walk in them!

Emily: It’s always important to have a pair of giant sunglasses to hide your face when you look like shit and could see someone you know. Styling tips? Emily: Mix and match prints, everything contradicting each other makes for a different style. Especially when everyone is wearing jeans and shirt, prints help you stand out. Tell me a little about your upcoming handbag collection. Emily: It’s all leather and reflects our fashion sensibilities. Expect a lot of skulls and spiders and dark tones. I heard an MTV show is in the works... Abigail: Yes! They’ve been following us during fashion week. They’ve been chronicling the ups and downs we’ve had, especially with the handbag collection. Some things happened that shouldn’t have... But we’re really excited for people’s reactions.

Abigail: I would die without my Tom Ford sunglasses. 25

A “LITTLE” CHANGE written and styled by Jacobi Hollingshed photographed by Jacqueline Grossbard images courtesy of Embodied Magazine

Unraveling a white fuzzy towel from her head of wet brunette locks, she sits down in her living room, where she is surrounded by deep red walls. A stout decorative pig piece stands on the floor next to her, while her cat slinks around her legs. It appears that I’ve caught her just after her shower, and she now dons a comfy, yet edgy, black-and-white striped long sleeve blouse, which she pairs with a pair of comparatively nondescript black hot pants. Anna Kathleen Little obviously does things differently. 26

“ The fashion kids at Parsons and FIT have to all study Chanel and the same things and it’s bullshit. ”

After spending much of her life on a ranch built by her parents, Little, 24, decided to quit the small town life and move to the big city where she is a graduate of New York University. Although she had initially intended to pursue acting, Little quickly found out that it was not what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. She then decided to take on the world of fashion, creating her own program of fashion design in a school that does not offer fashion-based courses. In doing so, Little bravely attempted to change the mindset of the fashion world one collection at a time. “The fashion kids at Parsons and FIT have to all study Chanel and the same things and its bullshit,” said Little. “There, it’s all about being competitive and it’s also so technical. There is no philosophy.” The philosophy of the fashion world is not something that Little is fascinated by - she is more interested in clothing’s functionality, and its relationship to its wearer. “My aesthetic is very sportswear and ready to wear,” said Little. “It’s a contemporary aesthetic. It’s function forward. It’s sophisticated, but its street. To me it’s really about making clothes that people want 28

to wear. It’s so beyond ‘I want to look pretty and beautiful.’ Not every girl wants to wake up and be pretty. There some days that she wants to feel like a badass.” Little went on to speak about the drama of the fashion world and how it is extremely important in the industry. Designers like John Galliano and Alexander McQueen have built a major following because of their designs that are not so much practical as they are wonderful to look at. It becomes clear that Little merely wants to make clothes that people would want to wear. “I want to make clothes you can wear to work and that you can wear out,” said Little. “I want to make clothes that make people feel the way they want to feel. If that’s cool, hip, or edgy that’s fine. I want the message to be ‘of course she is wearing that because it’s totally her, not because it was made by me.’” The fashion industry is slowly pulling away from what is most important—the clothes. It’s becoming more of a “show” than creating clothes that are functional. “Anna is great at designing for the girl and not just making a piece that would look good on a runway,” said Cameron Stainton, Little’s boyfriend of five years.

“ I want the message to be ‘of course she is wearing that because it’s totally her, not because it was made by me.’ ”

Little is equally interested in the nature of the fashion business as she is in the functionality of clothing. She dislikes the way fashion designers are turning the industry into being about the business first. The clothes have become secondary in a world where the clothes are everything. “It’s all about image and developing a brand now,” said Little. “We are in a digital age where the clothes don’t speak for themselves. The designers have become celebrities and I don’t like that. The designers care more about who they are seen with or who is wearing their clothes than the clothes themselves.” Ultimately the fashion world is a business, but Little is interested in being a part of a business where the garment is the end all be all. “It’s a business so you have to sell yourself a little bit,” said Little. “I want to be successful and in order to do that I need PR people. But, in the end it should be about the clothing and not about the people who make them.”

Photo of Anna Kathleen Little By Melodie Jeng

To see her collection video, Earth + Beyond, head over to Confluence, the online multimedia journal of NYU Gallatin: confluence.gallatin.nyu.edu.

INTERPRETING THE COLOR written by Jacobi Hollingshed

Color is appealing. It attracts, fascinates, and evokes emotion. In its figurative definition it makes what’s dull vivid, it lends to a particular and interesting quality of something, it adds variety and expression, and transmits shades of meaning. It encounters us and does not let us go. Color is transformative and the lack of a major presence of color ethnically in the fashion industry, an industry that in its essence celebrates color in inanimate objects, is interesting. What’s even more interesting is how some minorities feel about the level of their presence in the industry compared to others and how it affects their work and views of themselves.

Photo of Amanda King Courtesy of Christophe Calhoun

“ Even though there are glimpses of successful African-Americans in fashion, there is simply not enough for AfricanAmericans to feel that fashion is an industry that they could sustain themselves in. ”

“I think there’s a good amount of Asian people working in the industry,” said Melodie Jeng, photographer and founder of thenycstreets.com, somewhat unsurely. There’s a decent amount of stylists and photographers.” Born and raised in the predominantly Caucasian city of Cincinnati, Ohio, Jeng was not used to seeing a minority presence outside of her Taiwanese family. She found out photography was her passion at the age of eight when she was on vacation in Switzerland and took a blurry, but interesting picture of her mom. When she moved to New York City and started working in the industry, shooting for fashion week at shows like Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs, she was pleased to see more people like her and was surprised at how those experiences help shape who she is today. “Seeing Chinese models regularly made me appreciate Asian beauty. Being Asian, our parents tell us to work hard, study hard, and become 31

doctors. I kind of wanted to prove that even though I’m not a doctor, I can create really smart images that are diverse and I can work with people all around the word. Fashion has helped me appreciate my culture and myself.” While some minorities feel that they have a “decent” presence in the industry there are those that think otherwise. “Its obviously a little bit disheartening,” said stylist Amanda King. “But am I surprised by it? Absolutely not. The lack of African-Americans in anything besides sports and entertainment is abundant. It’s progressing, but it’s progressing at a very slow pace.” King is right and having worked with acclaimed individuals in fashion including Christine Centenera for Vogue Australia and Ludvine Poiblanc for Interview Magazine, she’s had her fair share of fashion experiences. While the lack of African-Americans persists in the industry, it is progressing…but at a most glacial pace. King goes on to explain the glimpses of the AfricanAmerican presence, such as Joan Smalls becoming the number one model in the world according to models.com, W Magazine’s Edward Enniful being one of the few African-American editorial fashion directors, and singer Rhianna claiming her second cover of Vogue. “I’m sure there are a few more,” said King, “but I would say even though there are glimpses of successful African-Americans in fashion there is simply not enough for African-Americans to feel that fashion is an industry that they could sustain themselves in.” This begs the question, why? Why do AfricanAmerican’s feel they cannot sustain themselves in the industry? “The factors that go into this are that fashion is in general a rich and euro-centric industry,” said King. “In general, the things that are celebrated in African-American families do not always translate well into the things that are celebrated in fashion. In general, African-American families aren’t going to talk about what the fuck we did on the French Riviera. When you’re around conversations in the

fashion industry that are about such specialized things and places, if you’re not exposed to that you become lost in translation.” King is very fortunate because she speaks the same jargon as much of the people she meets in the industry. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she was exposed to high culture all of her life. She attended a private school and had her seventh birthday at, you know, just some museum that no one has ever heard of, the Andy Warhol Museum. “In general, the industry is an old boys club and it’s very easy to be spotted as an outsider if you do not speak the common language which is travel, leisure, and luxury,” said King. “Its something that unfortunately you can’t read about in a magazine, you can’t hear about in a song, and you don’t learn about it in a film, its an actual life experience.” Maybe interpreting the color in the industry comes down to upbringing and life experiences. Jeng has had them growing up in a predominantly Caucasian city and vacationing to places like Switzerland at the age of eight. King has had them growing up surrounded by high culture and private education. When the day comes when the fashion industry becomes less about where you’ve been and who you know and more about your talent and the contribution you can make to the industry, oh what a glorious day that will be. Photo of Melodie Jeng Provided by herself

MODAVANTI written by Nicole Hoffman

Fashionable, luxurious and sustainable are words rarely used in the same sentence. After hearing about David Dietz’s latest startup, Modavanti, that may all change. becoming more mainstream, the site has helpful buttons to sort and search for a specific type to suit your needs and values. Categories range from Made in the USA to recycled to vegan. Made in the USA and organic are anticipated to be the most popular, however I’m sure they all will strike a chord with shoppers that consider themselves eco-conscious.

Think sustainable clothing can only mean an ugly sack of hemp? Think again. One to watch is Modavanti, a fashion startup spearheaded by David Dietz, social entrepreneur and vegetarian extraordinaire. The e-commerce site, whose name means ‘fashion forward’ in Italian, caters to an eco-friendly clientele that favors chic sustainable fashion. Dietz says Modavanti is for “the socially conscience fashionista to find clothing that fits her values without sacrificing on style.”

Although many have preconceived notions of the term ‘eco’, it’s very possible to look amazing while maintaining your beliefs, whether that’s not wearing leather or keeping the production local.

Set to launch in December, the site currently carries 20 designers, but don’t think this is just any shopping site. Modavanti has high standards when it comes to products being labeled “green”, thus implementing a minimum threshold for designers to adhere to. They’re asked to disclose how they source materials, meet fair labor laws and can’t use child labor.

The site also has a ‘My Closet’ feature that encourages shoppers to share their favorite items, designers, and categories, as well as interact with other like-minded shoppers. Dietz really wants people to have a community where they can shop, learn and discover. He hopes people come to the site for their favorite brands in addition to the prospect of finding new ones.“We’re like the Whole Foods of online fashion, we want people to just come here and consumers to be able to learn about the newest advances, the latest trends and also to find new brands and not have to work as hard.” There are clothes and accessories for every occasion from brands like JADEtribe, Westward Leaning and Baggu. From party dresses to sneakers to sunglasses, Modavanti has it all in the form of high end, quality products.

Since sustainability means many different things now that both the term and the products are

Also noteworthy are the causes shoppers can read about and donate to on the site. Causes such as 33

“We’re like the Whole Foods of online fashion, we want people to just come here and ... learn about the newest advances, the latest trends and also to find new brands and not have to work as hard.” Nest and Charity Water are visible, and display how far into their fundraising goal they are. Down the line, Dietz hopes to expand the site to carry more brands that relate to beauty and home. Right now, however, his main focus is simply launching and gauging the response they get. Given a preview of the site, I can attest Modavanti lives up to its name. You’ll actually want to buy the clothes because you think they’re fashionable, the fact that you feel good buying them is definitely a total bonus.

erofeb

NEELHTAK ANNA tsulrednaW dna namieN ykcuD .taef

erom dna sĂŠroD sulP seL ,htimS ylloM ,kraP euH +