COULTURE
FALL/WINTER 2016
THE COLORING BOOK
LOST IN TRANSLATION
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THIS COLORING BOOK BELONGS TO
COULTURE Issue 3
cyberspace
Cyberspace | C | 3
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Alexandra Hehlen DEPUTY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Remington Remmel PUBLISHER Michael Shanahan ART Creative Art Director // Elina Rodriguez Assistant Graphic Design Editor // Wyatt Wilt PHOTOGRAPHY Photo Editors // Alexis Fairbanks & Elise Holsonback FASHION & BEAUTY Style Editor // Copelyn Bengel Assistant Style Editors // Jordan Townsend & Cori Johnson Beauty Editor // Sara Rich Assistant Beauty Editor // Kimberly Baudhuin Fashion News Editor // Niki Wasserman Assistant Fashion News Editor // Brianna Kusilek Modeling Director // Adeyemi Olatunde Assistant Modeling Director // Hannah Lee FEATURES Features Editor // Brianna Crane Assistant Features Editor // Julia Faulkner Health Editor // Katie Plampton Arts Editor // Caroline Reed Assistant Arts Editor // Micah Stubbs DIGITAL Social Media Editor // Ashlyn Siske Assistant Social Media Editor // Hannah Lee Blogging Editor // Zackary Green Assistant Blogging Editor // Anna Sale MARKETING Marketing Director // Lauren Tarpley Assistant Marketing Director // Kelsey Jackson FINANCIAL Financial Director // Ian Muriuki Assistant Financial Director // Juliana Sirois DESIGNERS Brianna Hales Eliza Harrison Joseph Held Elina Rodriguez Adrianna Stallworth Shephard Sullivan Wyatt Wilt FACULTY ADVISORS Dana McMahan & Chris Roush coulture.org
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT... Deputy Blogging Editor Anna Sale’s personal music blog at coulture.org, which she whips up once a month with the best songs to listen to and artists to check out for the current moment. Be sure to check out Honne and of course Bon Iver’s new album! AND SOME BIG NEWS... Coulture is excited and honored to announce that we are funded and supported as a part of the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Media and Journalism’s new “Workroom: FashionMash” program. A special “thank you” goes out to Bill and Leigh Goodwyn, the donors whose gift to the MJ School made this new program possible. Check out uncworkroom.com for more information. TWO EASY STEPS: COLOR & SHARE We made this issue a coloring book, just for you. So color your favorite pages and share them! We will repost our favorites and tag you. Instagram: @coulturemag Snapchat: @coulturemag Twitter: @coulturemag Facebook: facebook.com/coulturemagazine
ABOUT OUR BLOGGING EDITORS Zackary Green Zack is a junior studying strategic communication and a “Broad City” enthusiast, with a love for extreme weather and leaning into the what-if’s. Follow him on Twitter! @ZackBGreen Anna Sale Anna loves all things music, art and food. With a penchant for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and large paintings, she really would like to travel to Japan one day. She is afraid that writing will go out of style, and you can probably find her either watching “Game of Thrones” or cramming for her next computer science exam. This past summer Anna studied abroad in Berlin, Germany. A junior from Kinston, North Carolina, Anna is always up for coffee! :)
4 | C | Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents |
10
BE[A]U[TY]
Beauty Editor Sara Rich asks students about diversity in the beauty industry and how they express themselves with makeup
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CITY CHIC
16
TASTE, REFINED
Coulture fans from all over the world share their favorite street style outfit pictures
Current trends, distilled to something doable and shot in Top of the Hill Restaurant and Brewery in Chapel Hill
22
SYMBOLOGY: FASHION WITH FOCUS
26
AMERICA’S BLUE GENES
28
A BIG BITE
30
EATEN ALIVE
34 38
UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus Marissa Heyl gives us the inside scoop on how her company Symbology Clothing is making fair trade sexy
Denim aficionado Andrew Manuel takes us on the journey of America’s signature, timetraveling pants
Zika is harmless unless you are pregnant – or is it?
Disordered eating in students may stem from the demanding academic and personal transition that college requires
YOU REAP WHAT YOU SEW Delving into the positive impact of fair trade organizations and UNC-Chapel Hill’s own World Micro Market
ART IN MOVEMENT: CLOTH AS CANVAS
Six art movements, reinterpreted with affordable clothes and accessories that strike creativity’s perfect balance between dauntlessness and vulnerability
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SCI-FI CITY
50
ISTANBUL: CULTURE AND COUP
54
FACES OF CAROLINA
60
STRAIGHT OUTTA CAPE TOWN
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FIRST NATURE
80
BEHIND THE SCENES OF COULTURE
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THE EMPOWERING BLOGGER
What to eat, see and visit in the mindboggling city of Singapore
An inside glimpse of the cultural dichotomies in Istanbul, Turkey, before and after the 2016 attempted coup
Photographing the diversity of UNC-Chapel Hill’s student body
Dissecting the city’s unique aesthetic takes us straight to the trendsetters themselves: local designers and artisans
It is not hard (or unfashionable) to wear sustainably made clothing. Coulture heads to Asheville, North Carolina, to capture garments with backstories
Staying up until 2 a.m. for starry photos, waking up at 5:30 a.m. for sunrise shots, climbing a mountain in booties – just a casual day in the life of a Coulture model
Blogger Samantha Busch is making a difference in the lives of young women and girls by promoting positive messages and providing support for those in need
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TRUE COLORS
Creating this Issue | C | 7 The world as we know it is getting smaller. Alongside increasing international economic and political relations sweeps a wave of cultural globalization connecting the world in a much different way. While this wave brings cross-cultural similarities and can thus serve as common ground in international communities, it can also marginalize and devalue other cultures that are not on the forefront of these economic exploits. In this issue we want to celebrate our similarities while not devaluing our differences. Each individual culture has so much to share, whether that be through art, music or fashion. The global significance of clothing and international nature of the fashion industry makes this realm an ideal vehicle for the dissemination of cultural values, though we must be careful to contextualize, respect and understand the nature of our clothing’s design and fabrication. While it is easy to let hegemonic, Western fashion houses dictate what is fashionable, we implore readers to look beyond the typical reverence for traditional fashion and into the significance of clothing as a reflection of the culture that conceptualized it and the people who made it. These pages span dozens of countries, many of which our writers have traveled to and explored firsthand. This year much of our staff traveled overseas; even we editors studied abroad, with Alexandra attending Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, and Remington studying at the National University of Singapore. Our staff may have been scattered over the globe, but we quickly found that our love for and pursuit of fashion unites us, no matter where we are. In that vein, this third issue of Coulture is a window into the interconnectedness of the fashion world, an opportunity for you as a reader to discover where you fit in and how you can dress as a global, conscious citizen. Our “First Nature” shoot is styled with sustainable clothes and accessories, which are ethically made or created from recycled materials; each piece has its own story and is a symbol of the empowerment it brings to the artisans who made it. Our “Art in Movement: Cloth as Canvas” photo shoot reaches across centuries and continents; our stylists reinterpret glorious artistic heydays on the human body with affordable makeup and clothes, bending these mainstream items to appear as high-fashion embodiments of both modernity and art history. This shoot rides on the heels of the realization that we live in changing times for the fashion industry, where young
people like us care less about brands and much more about clothing that accentuates our personalities and cements our individuality. In this issue we also talk about a sustainable clothing company; the coup in Istanbul, Turkey; Cape Town, South Africa’s local fashion scene; and international films, albums and trends to which you may have never been exposed. Coulture wants to make sure no cultural practice, no marginalized community and especially no hard-working people are, as our theme suggests, “Lost in Translation.” And we want to make sure you, our reader, do not get lost, either. We made this issue a coloring book, striving to craft a magazine as interactive as a print medium can possibly get, so you can add your own flavor. Never before has a fashion magazine simultaneously been a coloring book. Our design decision centers on making more than just our articles and photographs accessible and relatable; we want this issue’s pages to be the literal touchpoint between our content and your thoughts. No more of that passive page-flipping; it is time you bring our pages to life, so that the ones you tack up on your walls and fridges are more than just pieces about other people. This issue’s design pays homage to our raison d’être: you. Grab colored pencils, a watercolor palette, nail polish or even tomato juice, for all we care, and color. Color like it is the first day of first grade. Color to relieve stress, color to procrastinate, color to daydream. Stay in the lines, cross them, scrawl words in the margins, write notes to your friends – we do not care how you color, as long as what you do is, well, supremely you. And please share your masterpieces with us. Tag us @coulturemag on Instagram and Twitter, or email your pièce de résistance to us at coulturemagazine@gmail.com, and we will piece together and post a collage of your pages, of what Coulture really looks like in your eyes. Coloring books are complex canvases, neither unfinished nor complete. Every page is unique but stapled into the same spine, a part of a cohesive yet diverse being that only comes to life when you, our readers, add your own, distinct colors. A truly connected world is not one where we are all the same; it is one where we thrive not despite our differences but rather because of them.
8 | C | Cartography
is COULTURE? This season we lost ourselves in translation, and the outlines on this globe were our only guides. The following pages span over a dozen countries. We mapped out this issue, but we
want you to travel with us, too. Shade in where you have been and where you want to go; doodle right over borders and across seas. Together let us explore this world with flying colors.
Album Review:
“Les Filles de Illighadad” Rachel Greene “Les Filles de Illighadad” is a mesmerizing album from rural Niger. Fatou Seidi Ghali and Alamnou Akrouni together showcase two sides of Tuareg music, which has its origins in the Sahara. The first five tracks pair Ghali’s acoustic guitar with Akrouni’s gentle voice, which effortlessly matches the pitch of the guitar. “Les Filles de Illighadad” was recorded in the desert. If you listen closely, you can hear small murmurs from the women and chirping bugs between songs. The first five tracks are personal expressions of Ghali. Then the tempo abruptly switches from the dreamy, meditative acoustics to upbeat, repetitive village music. Now Ghali and Akrouni are accompanied by women of Illighadad in a celebratory, 18-minutelong track. Both sides of the album are impressive and prove that two distinct musical traditions can thrive simultaneously in the same space. This album is not only magnificent for its beauty. Fatou Seidi Ghali is one of two female Tuareg guitarists in a male-dominated musical tradition. Although Tuareg music as a whole is dominated by women, females’ primary instruments are the imzad (a stringed gourd) and the tende (a drum). The tende appears on the last
track, but the acoustic guitar is the main star. Sahel Sounds, the Portlandbased record label that released the album, prioritizes authenticity. The label began as an exploration of musical traditions in the Sahel region of West Africa. Its holistic approach synthesizes field recordings, interviews and nontraditional, ethnographic fieldwork. Sahel Sounds contextualizes each release as much as possible, focusing on building relationships with each artist and exposing Western audiences to the Sahel reigon’s cultural vibrancy. “Les Filles de Illighadad” certainly falls into step and deserves a listen, no matter your musical taste.
Netflix and chill Micah Stubbs With colder weather come peppermint mochas, snow (not Jon Snow, unfortunately) and binge-watching the best Netflix has to offer. Finding a new series can be daunting, so we have compiled the best shows – featuring international casts – to watch when the weather outside is frightful. “The Great British Baking Show” Kick back and relax with this feel-good alternative to stressful, competitive cooking shows. Watch as amateur British bakers politely fight for the honor of being named England’s best. Watch Season 1 on Netflix “An African City” This is Ghana’s “Sex and the City.” Full of girl talk, brunch and of course fashion, Africa’s first web series follows a group of friends adjusting to life in their native country. Watch Season 1 on YouTube and Season 2 on VHX
“Narcos” Spice things up with this Netflix Original about the life and times of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. Brush up on your Spanish or follow subtitles—oh, and did we mention the show stars Pedro Pascal (aka “Game of Thrones’” Oberyn Martell)? Watch Seasons 1 and 2 on Netflix “Boys Over Flowers” Obsessed with “Gossip Girl”? Try this K-drama about one girl’s rise to the social elite. With a plot more addictive than Diet Coke, this show is definitely a fan favorite. Watch Season 1 on DramaFever
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Be[a]U[ty] Sarah Rich We see faces today plastered across TV screens, magazine stands, stores and every surface imaginable; the beauty industry is a driving force that reaches millions of people every day. With unyielding influence, the industry is under constant scrutiny, especially with respect to its propagation of unrealistic beauty standards. Beauty Editor Sara Rich sat down with three UNCChapel Hill students – Tiana Attride, Pambu Kali and Rachel Maguire – to hear their thoughts on diversity in the industry, how they express themselves with makeup and their tips to be yourself in a diverse, inclusive future. Sarah Rich: What does makeup mean to you, and do you wear it at all? Tiana Attride: Doing my makeup is my way of playing pretend and exploring different parts of my personality. I’m always inventing new characters for myself based on different looks, and the defining point of these looks is often my makeup. Thicker eyebrows make me feel more masculine; red lipstick is very large-and-in-charge; a small flick of eyeliner is natural and flirty. Based on the character I want to play that day, I alter the way I do my makeup. It helps me to know myself better. Pambu Kali: Makeup is my war paint. It gives me the push I need to take on the day because I feel beautiful and strong. It’s also so much fun to experiment with.
One day you’re demure and the next you’re grungy. Like (with) clothes, you can transform into so many versions of yourself with makeup, and every version is dope. SR: In your opinion, does the beauty industry adequately represent women of all colors, genders and races? Rachel Maguire: No. The beauty industry has historically targeted their products and ads toward straight, white women with money, which ignores the entire population of women of color, those of a lower socioeconomic status and most people on the LGBTQ spectrum. PK: I wholeheartedly believe there should be more diversity in the beauty industry. So often I want to try a foundation whose darkest shade is 10 times lighter than me (cough – Chanel – cough). It can be frustrating and even hurtful to see the brands you love exclude women who look like you. This extends to minority brand owners as well. TA: Currently, no, it is not very diverse. There is undoubtedly a stigma against men wearing makeup, which needs to be killed off immediately. The beauty industry often fails to account for people of color, as well. There (have) been significant improvements in the beauty world as the Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ movements have opened broader public discussions on previously hushed issues like race and gender.
SR: What can we do better to make the industry more inclusive? Who is already working toward this? RM: I believe that realizing who the beauty industry is ignoring and making an effort to include them is the best thing that can happen to make the industry more inclusive. I am a part of The Siren, an intersectional feminist magazine on campus, and we work with a variety of other feminist-centric organizations on campus such as Feminist Students United, Carolina Advocating Gender Equity and Take Back The Night. I think that we could all, as feminist organizations, target (how) the beauty industry affects us and (see) what we can do to make it better. TA: I look up to anybody who is smashing gender norms within the industry, whether it be celebrities like Hari Nef, models like Janiece Dilone or artists like Meetka Otto. Even designers have been slowly doing away with the idea of gendered clothing (see: Eckhaus Latta, Vetements, Gucci, etc.) In general I’m excited to see the binary dissolve and for fashion and beauty to become genderless. SR: What is a beauty trend that needs to be broken? TA: The idea that makeup is gendered somehow. I want to see more guys wearing makeup. I genuinely don’t understand why they don’t — they’re the only ones stopping themselves at this point!
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PK: Break barriers in the industry by refusing to limit yourself and demanding what you want to see out of the brands you love. Can’t find your shade with a certain brand? Email them, and remind them who they’re selling to. Or better yet, start your own brand that caters to people like you! SR: What is your favorite beauty trend and makeup you can’t live without? TA: Favorite beauty trends: “no-makeup” makeup, intense glazed-donut highlight (and) lining middleparted hair with glitter. I never leave the house without red lipstick. If I’m having a bad day, I’ll stop in the bathroom and put it on to remind myself that I’m a boss. PK: My favorite trend has to be highlighting! I love a good glow. As for makeup I can’t live without dark lipstick and an eyebrow pencil.
MAKEUP IS MY WAR PAINT. IT GIVES ME THE PUSH I NEED TO TAKE ON THE DAY BECAUSE I FEEL BEAUTIFUL AND STRONG. IT’S ALSO SO MUCH FUN TO EXPERIMENT WITH. -PAMBU KALI
Roobini S
Cape Town, South Africa Photo by Ruthra Supramaniam
(From left to right) Ali Bard & Claire Lynch Paris, France
Photo by Fletcher Cox
City Chic Carter Chambliss Capri, Italy Photo by Ryan Jackson
Madalina Ciucă
Los Angeles, California Photo by Aidan Bradbury-Aranda
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Rimel Mwamba
Cape Town, South Africa Photo by Sindhu Chidambaram
Grace Lee
New York, New York Casey Fallin
The coolest catwalk is one you can find in any city: the street. Cobblestones and crosswalks are accessible to anyone and everyone, offering the perfect backdrop for a showcase of individuality. We called for submissions, and you killed it; here are students and Coulture fans from all over the globe taking to the streets in the name of style. Ruthra Supramaniam Singapore Photo by Mandy Yip
Micah Stubbs
Edinburgh, Scotland Photo by Berry Stubbs
Rimel Mwamba
Chefchaouen, Morocco
14 | C | Fashion News
Scroll, Tap, Buy Niki Wasserman With the growing popularity of online shopping, tech-savvy fashionistas increasingly turn to their mobile devices to discover the latest trends. Mobile apps such as Project September serve as tools for users to shop and share choice styles with a single tap. Project September, founded by Alexis Maybank and Leah Park, is a shopping app that allows users to instantly purchase looks they like. Using her own experiences as a guide, Maybank recognized there was an opportunity to create an app that combined the benefits of social platforms with online shopping. “Project September is a seamless and beautifully designed platform with virtually no words,” Maybank says. “That’s all intended to create a truly immersive shopping experience.” Users can download Project September to browse and purchase fashion trends, or to share their own images. As “editors,” users can upload their image spreads and link the featured items to retailers’ websites. Shoppers can then tap on the tagged products, which are indicated by a green dot, and purchase them on the spot. Editors earn a commission when a user purchases an item from their spread. “Project September unlocks the creative talent of anyone by giving them a platform to connect to audiences and share their passion for style and design,” Maybank says. “We’re building a space for lots of aspiring entrepreneurs to build their own fashion media businesses, stretch their editorial skills and create their own merchandising lines over time.” With advisors such as Nina Garcia and Nicole Richie, Project September provides users with a way to connect with and learn from prominent figures in the fashion industry while also serving as style influencers themselves. Bridging the gap between technology and fashion, Project September
represents the potential opportunities for consumers and trendsetters that come along with an immersive and mobile shopping experience. “We’re widening the playing field and inviting everyone to create content,” Maybank said. “We provide a way for our users to share looks, inspire and earn money. The fashion industry is constantly
changing, and Project September is a testament to that evolution.” To learn more about Project September and to download the app, visit i.psyou.com/coulturemag.
CUBA LIBRE Brianna Kusilek
Karl Lagerfeld brought to Havana, Cuba, the wonderful world of Chanel in May 2016. The creative director and head designer for the House of Chanel hosted the first major fashion show on the historically isolated island of Cuba. Havana was a city without logos, brands and the influence of American consumerism following Fidel Castro’s communist reign starting in 1959. With a history of failing diplomatic relations and the prohibition private industries, the island was sealed away from the world, leaving Cuba frozen in the 1950s. However, under the leadership of Castro’s younger brother, President Raul Castro, the borders have been reopened and diplomatic ties re-established with the United States. As a result capitalism has begun to trickle into the country, bringing in Chanel and its 700 guests – chauffeured in a cavalcade of brightly colored open-top Buicks, Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles – for the most opulent
party the country has seen in decades. Lagerfeld presented the House’s biannual resort collection on a runway that spanned the length of Paseo del Prado, one of the city’s central streets. Chanel Resort collections and traveling fashion shows take major cues from the summer travel lifestyle, differing from the brand’s traditional, seasonal couture shows. According to New York Magazine, Lagerfeld debuted his “Viva Coco Libre” tee on various models and brought together “breezy tropical prints, pastel
tweeds and elegant tulle dresses” to bring the cool and casual mood of vacation to life on the runway. The bright pastels and original Cuban music in the show aligned the collection with Havana’s colorful aesthetic and culture. With this particular show, in this particular city, Lagerfeld successfully created a collection both youthful and beautifully made, whilst encapsulating a country’s turning point in history.
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If the Shoo Fits... Kathrin Hennigan Individuals today are constantly connected, communicating in different languages and alphabets. One particular new lingua franca, however, has entered modern vernacular and become deeply intertwined in people’s daily interactions: the alphabet of emojis. People use emojis to translate words, ideas and personalities into communicative visuals. UNC-Chapel Hill student Byers Whitman and her sister Lilly are doing just that – but with a fashionable twist. The two turn emojis into an art form, painting sneakers they call “shoos” with emojis that uniquely represent each customer. “The certain emojis or symbols people pick speak novels about their personality,” Whitman said. In addition to orders for emoji designs, Whitman has noticed an increase in requests for college apparel and custom designs.
While the Whitman sisters mainly focus on creating shoos, the two are not limiting themselves. Lilly recently customized a jean jacket for a customer. What originally began as fun for the sisters has evolved into a design business they call Shoo Lab. Byers says her experience with Shoo Lab has been empowering and inspired her to consider pursuing a degree in business administration at UNC-CH. To some people emojis may seem trivial, but for the sisters, the symbols – and a stylish pair of shoos – offer the perfect medium to represent and translate a vast array of personalities. Byers’ favorite designs? “The [ones] that we haven’t done before that the customers come up with themselves,” she says. “[These] are personalized, and it is so awesome to see the new designs come to life.”
Steps up from a seamstress Shephard Sullivan Cameroonian designer Kibonen Nfi was not just a small town girl with big-city dreams. Her passion stretched beyond that, and with lots of talent and a bit of luck, Nfi has stepped into the fashion spotlight. Nfi left Cameroon to pursue a career in fashion, something unheard of in her hometown. After coming to America, she went on to receive a master’s degree in international trade and marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology before diving into the fashion industry. Her story reached millions in November 2015 when she was featured on Humans of New York. “There really is no such thing as a ‘fashion designer’ in Cameroon,” she told Humans of New York. “If you make clothes, you are known as a seamstress.” When the Humans of New York post about Nfi was released, she gained hundreds of followers, which caused her website to crash. She entered the New York fashion scene with inspiration from high-fashion flair and Cameroonian, traditional garments. Her most iconic piece is her contemporary, hand-woven ‘toghu’ dress. Nfi shows appreciation for her culture while adding her creative touch to the Cameroonian pieces. She makes them more high-end while still featuring bold colors and
designs. She works with a number of African fabrics, including wax prints, tie-dye, kanga and bogolan in her designs. Nfi has received a number of awards, including the Vogue Talent 2015 Honoree, Designer of the Year 2013 at the Cameroon Academy Awards and the nomination for the Emerging Designer of the Year 2013 for African Fashion International, according to the Kibonen NY Facebook page. The designer label, Kibonen NY, has even received celebrity support from Lupita Nyong’o, who recently wore a blue Kibonen NY dress while promoting her new film “Queen of Katwe.” The success of the brand has benefitted more than just Nfi. Kibonen NY participated in the creation of the Cameroon Fashion Common Initiative Group, a charity-based organization in Cameroon that operates an ethical clothing factory. The factory, called Made In Camer, creates a job market in one of the poorest communities in Cameroon. More information about Kibonen Nfi and her collection can be found at http://kibonenny.com.
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Taste, Refined
Written by Copelyn Bengel Photographed by Alexis Fairbanks, Rachel Greene, Elise Holsonback and Shengmei Yin Modeled by Sydney Boukedes, Hannah Lee, Kit Kelly McGinley, Sophia Purut, Alex Sun and Brooke Smaltz
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(LEFT) STEP COOL Top shop at Rumors Boutique in Chapel Hill; skirt & shoes Nasty Gal; Electric Blue Stone Collar and Gold Disco Ball Front-Back Earrings VaVaVoo (use discount code COULTURE at vavavoo.com).
OVER A BARREL Looney Tunes Denim Jacket Zara; top & pants Rumors Boutique in Chapel Hill; shoes PacSun Kendall & Kylie; Gold Tri-Chain Necklace, Gold Bracelet Quartet and Gold Tri-Hoop Earrings VaVaVoo (use discount code COULTURE at vavavoo.com).
Distilling requires extracting essence, employing an eagle-eye focus to boil a hodgepodge of elements down to a pure result. The process gives life to a final product that must simultaneously exhibit unique personality and yet, at the end of the day, still make friends on the playground. Think about the way a distinct drink pairs well with a myriad of foods, or the way a wacky trend finds home in many a wardrobe. Whether we are talking about beverages or fashion trends, distillation instigates formation – and this season Coulture and jewelry company VaVaVoo were invited to the Top of the Hill Restaurant and Brewery’s ultimate playground: the establishment’s distillery. In an effort to support the local economy and avoid creating a second canning brewery, UNC-Chapel Hill professor Scott Maitland founded the distillery in 2012. “If I did a distillery instead (of a brewery), I could use all local ingredients; I could make it local,” said Maitland. “Ultimately after about a year, I realized I could make (the distillery) organic, and it would be on the cutting edge.” At UNC-CH, Maitland teaches “Intro to Entrepreneurship” along with “Business Law and Ethics.” As an entrepreneur with personal experience and advice on navigating successes and setbacks, he feels he brings a rawness to the class. “To me entrepreneurship is much more than just a subset of business education,” Maitland said. “(It is) rather more of a philosophy to take a look at how you are approaching life.” Unlike Maitland’s distillery, fashion trends are everything but cutting-edge, reusing and modifying fads from eras past – but what does make trends feel new are the ways we wearers interpret them. We boil down this season’s trends by employing the Coulture philosophy, with a focus on making outfits doable and – as always – accepting models of all sizes and races. We accessorized all these looks with jewelry from VaVaVoo, which sends its stylish subscribers personalized jewelry boxes. You can shop VaVaVoo pieces in this issue at vavavoo.com and save when you use discount code COULTURE. This season’s runways and streets are seeing a barrage of two-pieces, culottes, black camisoles and fashion sneakers. Patchwork denim turns neutral pieces – from jackets and jeans and every piece inbetween – into outfit highlights. A fad of the ‘90s, chokers now ironically modernize any look. A static graphic T-shirt compliments every phasing fad and offers comfort. The growing embroidery trend is exalted in this season’s highly-touted boots. We have done some stylistic distilling for you – but can you infuse some of your own flavor, too? Snap and Instagram us your looks @coulturemag.
BALANCING ACT Top Nasty Gal; pants shop at Rumors Boutique in Chapel Hill; shoes Golden Goose Deluxe Brand; Pink and Cream Freshwater Pearl Lariat Necklace, Rose Gold Silver Cuff Bracelets and Rose Gold Disco Ball Front-Back Earrings VaVaVoo (use discount code COULTURE at vavavoo.com).
HEAVY METAL White top Brandy Melville; black top shop similar at Zara; Stripe Dream Cropped Pants Nasty Gal; heels shop similar at Zara; Black Velvet Choker and Octavia Chandelier Earrings VaVaVoo (use discount code COULTURE at vavavoo.com).
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ALL SMILES Shirt shop at Rumors Boutique in Chapel Hill.
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SITTING AROUND On Brooke (left): Looney Tunes Denim Jacket Zara; top Urban Outfitters; Taye Boots Sam Edelman; Brown Ribbon Choker, Gold Y-Chain Tassel Necklace & Matte Gold Bar Necklace VaVaVoo (use discount code COULTURE at vavavoo.com) | On Sophia (right): top shop similar at Zara; jeans Nasty Gal; shoes Steve Madden; Shades of Grey Pyrite Collar and Gunmetal Disco Ball Front-Back Earrings VaVaVoo (use discount code COULTURE at vavavoo.com).
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PIPE DREAM Black top shop similar at Zara; Stripe Dream Cropped Pants Nasty Gal; Weekend Warrior Choker, Onyx Horn Bracelet and Diamond Spike Pave Earrings VaVaVoo (use discount code COULTURE at vavavoo.com).
LAY OF THE GRAND Top and skirt Nasty Gal; Silver Freshwater Pearl Lariat Necklace, Delicate Silver Cuff Bracelets and Silver Teardrop Pave Earrings VaVaVoo (use discount code COULTURE at vavavoo.com).
RUFFLED UP Top Nasty Gal; Pink and Cream Freshwater Pearl Lariat Necklace, Rose Gold Silver Cuff Bracelets & Rose Gold Disco Ball Front-Back Earrings VaVavoo (use discount code COULTURE at vavavoo.com).
22 | C | Style Feature
SYMBOLOGY:
FASHION WITH A FOCUS When fair trade and human rights meet style Piper Anderson
When it comes to Symbology Clothing, garments are more than just garments. They are
wearable art, dresses that flow gracefully in the wind and shimmer with whimsical patterns. They are fabrics dotted with beaded flowers, scattered with symbols representing love and humanity and hope like a breath of stars across the sky. Symbology is a clothing company that partners with female artisans in India and the West Bank to produce beautiful apparel, created using traditional art forms such as block printing, weaving and embroidery. The women who make the brand’s products are paid livable wages, allowing them to become more independent and positively impact their communities. Symbology was born with the mindful goal of making fair trade sexy – and in doing so, producing ethical fashion, promoting sustainability and providing jobs for women. Founder and UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus Marissa Heyl has always been interested in fashion, but she never studied the field because she generally found the industry exploitive and superficial. “I really wanted to focus on women’s rights and overall human rights – and fighting poverty and working for social justice as a whole,” Heyl says. She took a trip to India during her time as an undergraduate. As she watched an Indian mother block-print a gorgeous design onto tablecloth fabric, Heyl’s imagination started spinning; she envisioned that fabric, with tailoring and the right colors, as a stunning, high-fashion dress. In that moment, the idea for Symbology sparked; Heyl had found a way to work with something she loves – fashion – while pursuing her passion for human rights. “Human rights is such a crucial issue that needs to be addressed and made mainstream, and fashion and social media do that in a really powerful way,” Heyl said. She sees the clothes as transformative not only for artisans, but for wearers, too. “Symbology makes these really heavy and depressing issues that
have a small level of interest into something cool and popular.” In this way, the company’s customer base practices conscious consumerism, which is a powerful avenue for affecting global change. It was not until several years after she graduated that Heyl made her dream into a reality. In 2012 she founded Symbology out of Chapel Hill’s 1789 Venture Lab, a start-up accelerator that supports social innovation for students and alumni.
THE WOMEN BEHIND THE CLOTHES
Heyl says she wanted to make Symbology different from other fair trade organizations touting savior complexes that are not empowering to anybody. “It ultimately does not create change if you’re giving a hand out, if you’re giving a fish to someone instead of teaching them to fish – and for us the metaphor is that we are buying the fish,” Heyl says. “I have a big problem with the Western superiority complex, and talking about (underdeveloped communities) as charity cases instead of recognizing our shared humanity.” Block printing and weaving are sewn into the cultural fabric of places such as India and Palestine; these are skills many women in such countries’ rural communities already possess. Using these artisans’ expertise as an avenue for social change therefore requires little additional education, infrastructure and investment. “In a lot of communities in South Asia, women aren’t allowed to go outside by themselves, but through Symbology they can work with other women and relate to other women who aren’t part of the family,” Heyl said. “It might seem like such a small thing to us because it is second nature to go out and spend money and connect with other women, but for them it is very empowering.” In order to make it easier for the craftswomen
to work, workshops are often built inside of homes. Heyl works specifically with women in order to push back on the idea that they are second-class citizens. It is incredibly dignifying for them to have discretion over their income, to talk about their work as artisans and contract workers – not charity cases – who create designs demanding a high level of talent. “A lot of times this is the first time they are able to have a sense of independence and earn their own money,” Heyl said. “And that might seem inconsequential, but it is very empowering for them to view themselves as independent of the family unit and have a sense of agency in determining their own life.” The big question: What does it mean to be empowered? In underdeveloped communities, mothers spend their money on their children’s education; it is unusual for them to really focus on themselves. Heyl said women in developing countries invest around 90 percent of their income back into their communities and families. The Western world, on the other hand, is more individualistic and focused on material and immaterial passions. “We can both learn from each other,” Heyl said. Some of the artisans Symbology partners with are master craftswomen who have been working in their textile art forms for 10 years or more. They are highly skilled, take on leadership roles and train other women in the village. Heyl has had a particularly strong connection with an experienced block printer named Asha. After Asha’s husband passed away, she had to find a way to support four children in an environment that – like most rural Indian communities – relegates women to the home and does not educate them. In spite of these obstacles, Asha became a full-time block printer who independently ran her household and began to send her children to school. She is a bright and empowering figure in her community, and she represents the qualities Symbology wants to instill in other women.
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IT MIGHT SEEM LIKE SUCH A SMALL THING TO US BECAUSE IT IS SECOND NATURE TO GO OUT AND SPEND MONEY AND CONNECT WITH OTHER WOMEN, BUT FOR FOR THEM IT IS VERY VERY EMPOWERING
-MARISSA HEYL
THE BRAND
Flowing long dresses, kimonos and jumpsuits are characteristic of Symbology’s collections. The brand’s main customer base is in California and Texas, where people typically embrace a free-spirited style. The company’s look is boho-chic with a refined aesthetic; it elevates the loose, natural vibes of bohemian style through elegant cuts and sophisticated color palettes. And, as is fitting for a company named after the study of symbols, the fabrics’ patterns are the true show-stoppers. “The prints are really the signature of the line, so we always have whimsical and sometimes almost tongue in cheek prints, like the kissing elephants with their trunks. And we have a baby cacti print and constellations,” Heyl said. “They are prints that make you smile. From far away the baby cacti print looks like polka dots, but when you get closer to it, you realize, ‘Oh, that’s actually a little cactus.’ So there is a sense of wonder about it – and cleverness and appreciation.” Each collection is based off a motif or symbol, so when Heyl conceptualizes the collections, she thinks about how the designs can be applied to a block print. The signature symbol for the brand is its kissing elephants print. Heyl said elephants are an auspicious and beautiful creature celebrated by a lot of different cultures. They symbolize the world’s shared humanity, and so they perfectly represent Symbology’s mission. “Cosmos, the latest collection, was started as a discussion around the idea of the mother goddess and creation myths that a lot of different cultures have,” Heyl said. “There is a lot of meaning imbued in the stars and the sun and the heavens above, and it just so happens that star prints are trending right now.” Cultural textiles are disappearing because of globalization and middlemen; but by adapting these textiles in a desirable way for the modern market, they can be saved. “We are celebrating art forms that are dying out because of globalization,” Heyl said. “So if we can make them desirable through branding, we can revitalize them.” Commercializing cultural textiles can also reconnect the Western world with the source of its much of its clothing and transform the communities in which these textiles are made.
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Turning artisan jewelry and textiles into high fashion is nothing new; oftentimes, however, companies that do so use communities for one collection, only to pull out subsequently and move on to the next big thing. Heyl said this practice is not part of the Symbology business model because her company strives to provide a steady income for the communities in which it is involved. Symbology connects with craftswomen by partnering with companies that connect artisans with buyers, such as Ten Thousand Villages. Heyl mostly communicates with the artisans remotely, so recent technologies and applications have been integral to running her company. “It’s interesting because you’re merging really traditional ancient art forms with very modern technology,” she said. The majority of Symbology’s apparel is block printed because the technique is an efficient and flexible art form. Block printers can produce up to a substantial 200 meters of fabric per day while also having enough
versatility to easily switch prints and fabrics. Weaving is more challenging to adapt for different designs and is also more time-consuming. Heyl said it is hard to find retailers and buyers receptive to her company’s slower time cycle. Block printing, the company’s fastest avenue for production, pushes collection production time to eight or nine weeks – which is double the industry standard. Major fast-fashion retailers such as Zara and H&M, on the other hand, bust out new collections every week. Symbology’s products are mainly carried in small boutiques throughout the United States, but Heyl hopes to get into Nordstrom some day. She also says big things are in store for 2017, as the brand will be collaborating with a fashion media company. Above all, Heyl finds it important to establish good, longlasting relationships with businesses that have the company’s humanitarian goal in mind. Compared to other companies that focus on women’s rights issues and fair trade (such as ones that sell artisan jewelry), Heyl said clothing is harder to produce through craftspeople because of complicating factors such as draping and sizing. Cultural challenges also arise; different countries have varying outlooks on productivity, workloads and timeframes, and balancing those differing business practices with American retailers’ expectations is no easy feat. In essence the fashion industry is an oversaturated market with brands that make clothes a lot faster than Symbology does. Financing is one of the company’s greatest challenges because finding buyers and investors interested in ethical fashion is difficult. “I am not in it to make money because if that or designing was my main goal, there would be a thousand other ways to do it,” Heyl said. Building an affordable luxury brand is a difficult undertaking that constantly requires making new collections and taking risks. It requires establishing credibility and securing public relations and celebrity endorsements. It requires finding the target customer: who they are, where they shop, and what their interests are. It requires discovering who can afford the brand’s price point and developing techniques to reach that customer. In the future Heyl plans on expanding to other parts of the world such as South America and growing relationships with weavers in Mexico and embroiderers in Native American tribes such as the Navajo. Symbology is a company about love and empowerment and art. Each piece of clothing is handmade with care- a manifestation of ancient, exquisite art forms- empowering the women behind it and changing their lives. Wearing a Symbology piece is a celebration of the world’s shared humanity. It makes a statement and starts a conversation. It is like wearing joy and hope, inextricably woven together. “(This) is not just a woman’s issue,” Heyl said. “It is a global issue. It is an issue of fighting poverty and developing economy across the board. Shop the brand at symbologyclothing.com.
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All photographs in this spread courtesy of Symbology Clothing, symbologyclothing.com.
A ME R I
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BLUE GENES
Andrew Manuel I am sitting in my kitchen examining my whiteturned-indigo Apple ear buds and contemplating why my raw-denim jeans are still on my body. Even more, I am pondering why I would spend just under $300 to turn my driver’s seat, belt, and any lightcolored thing put in my pocket blue to wear pants whose material is objectively less comfortable than the majority of other pants. Why do we all wear jeans? How did this construction of blue, semi-comfortable material become and remain one of the most iconic and ever-present pieces of clothing in American fashion history? Blue jeans are likely the most worn article of clothing worldwide, creating a $91 billion industry. From actresses to moms to zoologists, nearly everyone wears them. Blue jeans are much more than a mere article of clothing; they are an American icon. From the industrial revolution on, the American people have chosen to wear blue jeans. Here, I will do my best to recount how this happened and how the pant has evolved. The story begins in 1853 in San Francisco. Levi Strauss, a Bavarian immigrant, followed the currents of the Gold Rush by moving to the city of promised fortune. Strauss, however, did not directly seek wealth from gold mining. Instead, he established a wholesale dry goods business, Levi Strauss & Co., which provided ready-to-wear clothing to the community of miners. His company did well but not well enough for us to remain on a first-name basis with the entrepreneur over 160 years later. His legacy was established through a collaboration with Jacob Davis, one of his customers and a Nevadan tailor. Davis sought to provide longevity to miners’ pants, which quickly wore and tore due to their owners’ tough working conditions. Davis did so by placing metal rivets at points of strain (look at the pockets of your jeans). He understood the necessity to protect his design but lacked the finances to do so, so he sent a letter to Levi Strauss in 1872, which was well received. On May 20, 1873, Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss & Co. were granted the patent: the birth of jeans.* The first jeans (referred to as “waist overalls” or “overalls” until 1960 – we will get to the name switch in a bit) quickly became a hit. Davis moved to San Francisco, serving as production manager to oversee the project. The company not only sold many jeans, but it also established integrity and reliability with its brand, placing a label on its trousers stating, “Patent Riveted Duck & Denim Clothing…Every Pair Guaranteed. None Genuine Unless Bearing This Label.”
Levi Strauss & Co. created an association between reliability and the popular trousers, ensuring long-term success for its business and its later imitations. Their patent was set to expire in 1890, but there was one quintessential step left. In 1890 the company infused its rivet patent with a new and more flexible fabric, blue denim. This new pant was called the “XX” pant, now known as the Levi’s 501. The “XX” pant took over the working class but did not stay there for long. It is recorded that the pants moved outside of the working class demographic as early as the 1930s, especially among young, non-blue-collar working people. This crossover may be attributed to the emergence of blue jeans in film. Beginning in 1914, William Hart suited blue jeans in popular Westerns, establishing an image of the ideal Western hero. John Wayne replicated this image in 1939 when he wore Levi’s 501s. These images connected blue jeans’ gritty and tough attributes with heroism and masculinity for all film viewers – both working and non-working class. As the cinema grew, film continued to accelerate blue jeans’ cultural significance. The 1950s only offered limited access to television, and thus, film was chiefly formative of the population’s style and imagination. A T-shirt and a leather jacket often accompanied blue jeans in this decade, as inspired by James Dean in 1955’s “Rebel Without a Cause” and Marlon Brando in 1953’s “The Wild One” – not to mention Elvis Presley. Jeans began to symbolize the teenage spirit of rebellion and new direction, which countless young men clung on to. Furthermore, in 1954 Marilyn Monroe sported blue jeans in “River of No Return,” creating a new association to beauty and sex appeal. Such associations are reinforced and dramatized in film in television (think Daisy Dukes in “The Dukes of Hazzard”). Blue jeans no longer merely belonged to hyper-masculine workingmen after the 1950s. The 1960s were filled with anti-culture movements, rock ‘n’ roll, and more blue jeans than ever before. Blue jeans clothed the respective anti-culture leaders, hippies and rock stars. Aside from a higher waist for women, the style of jeans was similar as in the 1950s, despite the surrounding wardrobe alterations. The 1970s presented some new looks. Punk was born, and along with it came a skinny blue jean with cuts on the front side. Ironically, such tears were the reason Davis created jeans to begin with. Additionally, designer jeans were introduced. These were often bell-bottoms – extremely tight around the thighs and flared toward the cuffs. Designer jeans offered a new and more comfortable fit that mere denim could not.
The punk rockers and metalheads carried these styles to the 1980s, which also introduced acid-wash jeans. Baggy jeans entered the scene in this decade via hip-hop artists. Furthermore, the push for designer jeans increased along with its prevalence. At this point, it seems that blue jeans had completely strayed from their origins. On the contrary, the 1980s produced the most representative image to the iconicity of blue jeans: Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” album cover. The cover displays a pair of Levi’s 501s with a hat in the back right pocket, a white T-shirt, and an American flag backdrop displaying only the white and red stripes. The distressed jeans are placed in the center of the frame, reinforcing and preserving the image of jeans as the American working man’s pant. The 1990s to 2000s continued the era of baggy jeans and lighter-washed blue jeans, which collectively took a shift back toward their traditional appearance. From 2010 to present there has been a conglomeration of many of the aforementioned styles but with the addition of new concepts. The 1980s skinny jeans came back in full force, along with the stretch-fit blue jeans of the ‘70s. Above all, however, today there is a desire for craft and process (quality and ethics in place of fast production). Artisans such as Raleigh Denim, Imogene + Willie and Baldwin Denim represent the movement toward hand-made, raw denim. These companies are turning back to the origins. Raleigh Denim, for example, uses the same sewing machines that Levi Strauss & Co. used to produce their first pair of jeans. Raw denim is made to be durable, but to also show wear and the work put into them. Sporting such blue jeans represents a cool return to the 1800s. Tracing the history of jeans is tracing the course of American history, culture and impact from the industrial revolution to present. There has not been a time-period since the 1870s where the article of clothing has not been significant. It evolves with the people and reflects their values and norms. It has globalized with the nation, reaching sea to shining sea. Blue jeans epitomize the American dream. Rooted in hard-work, transcending time, demographics and distance, blue jeans serve as the constant reminder that we the people live in a land of opportunity. *Note that denim pants had been worn as workwear for many years – the rivets distinguished and created jeans. Here are the sources I used, which you can reference for more information: http://bit.ly/2j2Yonh, http://bit. ly/1JYOoqC, http://for.tn/1r3B6Ng
Z i•k•a
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A BIG BITE Katie Plampton The World Health Organization has declared the Zika virus a global public health emergency. This pinpoints the disease as a serious threat and places it in the same category of importance as Ebola. The first human case of Zika was detected in Nigeria in 1954, and since then there have been several small outbreaks in Africa, the Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia. The virus has not been considered a major threat to global health until recently, when it was reported in Brazil in May 2015. Zika has since spread rapidly, and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, mosquito-borne transmission of the virus has been reported in over 50 countries and territories. Zika virus disease is a viral infection that is most often transmitted through infected Aedes mosquitoes, and therefore primarily occurs in tropical and subtropical regions. Many of Zika’s symptoms are similar to other mosquito-borne infections such as dengue fever. However, the viral infection can also be transmitted through sexual intercourse and blood transfusion. According to the World Health Organization, people who contract the virus can have symptoms including mild fever, muscle and joint pain, skin rash, inflammation and redness of the eyes, and headaches. Infected individuals often chalk up their symptoms to the the common cold or flu, or may even fail to detect Zika symptoms altogether. This is problematic when considering transmission of the virus, as symptomatic individuals may not realize that they need to avoid spreading Zika to others. The incubation period of the virus is believed to be a few days, and symptoms typically last for two to seven days. Infection with Zika is diagnosed by analyzing a combination of the patient’s symptoms and their recent travel history. Patient symptoms alone may not immediately point to Zika virus, as they closely resemble that of other common illnesses, which is why it is important to take into account whether the patient has traveled to an area with active Zika transmission. Once a doctor or public health worker suspects that an individual has Zika, diagnosis of the virus can be confirmed only through a laboratory test on blood or on another body fluid, such as saliva, semen or urine. As the Zika virus is typically mild, those infected are simply advised to rest, drink fluids and treat fever and pain with over-the-counter medicines. No Zika vaccine currently exists, and experts from the National Institutes of Health say the earliest that a vaccine could potentially be available to the general public is the beginning of 2018. Thus far Zika prevention efforts have for the most part targeted pregnant women, as well as men and women of childbearing age, because evidence shows the virus causes brain abnormalities in developing fetuses. Adults who become infected with Zika rarely exhibit detectable symptoms, which has made it easy to overlook the long-term implications of the disease. However, there seems to be evidence that adults of all ages should be careful to avoid the virus, too. According to new research in mice by scientists at The Rockefeller University
and La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, Zika may affect adult brain cells in a way that increases the risk of cognitive issues, depression and Alzheimer’s disease. Specifically, cell populations that replace damaged or absent neurons throughout adulthood, which are critical to learning and memory, are susceptible to infection. At the beginning of fetal development, before the fetus becomes a complex organ of multiple cell types, the brain is comprised entirely of neural progenitor cells. These are the stem cells of our brain, and they serve to replace neurons as we age. Adults appear less susceptible to Zika because at some point during the development of neural progenitor cells into fully formed neurons it is thought that they become resistant to the disease. However, evidence from this study suggests that Zika targets adult neural progenitor cells, inducing cell death, which results in reduced brain volume. This bears a striking resemblance to what is seen in Zika-related microcephaly, a condition in developing fetuses that results in an abnormally small head and other developmental impairments. These findings were published in the scientific journal Cell Stem Cell in August 2016. This is the first study that examined the effects of Zika infection on the adult brain, and though further research is necessary to determine how translatable these findings are to humans, researchers say adults are likely vulnerable to the virus in a way that was previously unknown. They suspect that if Zika infects neural progenitor cells in fetuses, it is probable that the virus is also able to infect the same cells in adults. In the study’s mouse model, fluorescent biomarkers revealed that adult neural progenitor cells were infected by the virus. “Based on our findings, getting infected with Zika as an adult may not be as innocuous as people think,” says Joseph Gleeson, adjunct professor and head of the Laboratory of Pediatric Brain Disease at Rockefeller University, in an interview on the university’s website. “Given this study, I think the public health enterprise should consider monitoring for Zika infections in all groups, not just pregnant women.” Students studying abroad in countries where the virus is prevalent can pack to prevent Zika. According to the CDC, travelers should create a “Zika prevention kit” to protect themselves from Zika while traveling. The kit should contain a bed net to be used while sleeping or resting in rooms that are not well screened or air conditioned; EPA-registered insect repellent containing DEET, picaridin, OLE, PMD, or IR3535; condoms to protect against the sexual transmission of Zika; and long-sleeved shirts and long pants treated with permethrin spray to protect against mosquito bites.
For the most current information about Zika virus and Zika travel notices, consumers can visit the Centers For Disease Control’s Travelers’ Health Zika website at https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/zika-information.
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EATEN ALIVE //// The eating disorder plaguing stressed students // Katie Plampton
Health Feature | C | 31 The fall semester is drawing to a close. For thousands of college first-years, the past few months marked the longest time these students have ever been away from home. Though starting a new chapter in life is exciting, the first months at college can be challenging when juggling academics, a new living environment and a growing social network. This has the potential to foster both valuable and damaging new habits in students. We often think of college campuses as breeding grounds for drug abuse and binge drinking, but less commonly discussed is the fact that one out of every four college-aged women attempt to control their weight with behaviors resembling bulimia nervosa. According to the Renfrew Center Foundation for Eating Disorders, “25% of college-aged women engage in bingeing and purging as a method of managing their weight.” The Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association cites the following statistics on college student eating disorders: 15 percent of women aged 17 to 24 have eating disorders, 40 percent of female college students have eating disorders, and 91 percent of female college students have attempted to control their weight through dieting. Experts also say the incidence of eating disorders among male college students is increasing. According to the association, anywhere from 1 percent to 7 percent of college males have eating disorders. The increasing prevalence of disordered eating among college students may stem from the demanding academic and personal transition that starting college requires. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, the increased pressure and stress of college courses and leaving home can cause mental health problems in college students and increase the need for campus services. This is also a developmental period in which disordered eating is likely to arise, resurface or become worse for many young adults. Transitional periods such as starting college have often been identified as triggers in those who are struggling with eating disorders. Young men and women beginning college face pressures including leaving home, separation from friends and family, greater independence and responsibility, and the need for social acceptance in a new setting. Commonly referred to as the “Freshman 15,” weight gain during the first year of college is normal for some but can be a sign that a student is having difficulty coping with new stresses. Disordered eating often develops as students try to prevent the “Freshman 15” through dieting, bingeing, purging and other abnormal eating behaviors. Especially for young women who share a dorm room or living space with other women who have similar concerns, disordered eating can spiral out of control. For UNC-Chapel Hill senior Sara Ingraham, starting college put new pressures on her existing disordered eating habits and mental illness. In high school, Ingraham battled depression and anxiety without seeking treatment, and she turned to food to cope with her emotions. As a result of suppressing her mental illness, she developed binge eating disorder as a teenager. Her eating disorder developed over time, and Ingraham then struggled with bulimia nervosa as a first-year, sophomore and junior in college. Eating disorders are mental illnesses, she said, and “don’t just pop up like the flu or the common cold.” Starting college was difficult for Ingraham, who grew up in a small town and was “a big fish in a small pond.” She was the student body president and prom queen, and she defined herself by those titles and
her GPA. When Ingraham got to UNC-CH, she realized she was now a small fish in a big pond, and for the first time she began to struggle academically and question herself in social settings. She turned to her weight as the new focus in her life. Ingraham says she felt self conscious around her peers and felt pressured to look a certain way. “I thought that if I lost weight I would suddenly be happy again,” she said. “Even as I lost weight, I never became happier; I just became a victim of my eating disorder.” She cut out whole food groups, worked out excessively, and pulled away from her friends and family. Ingraham believes eating disorders can arise or be exacerbated by the demanding academic and personal transition that college requires. “Beginning college is difficult because students want to succeed in so many different facets, and I think we often forget to stop and assess how we are feeling emotionally and mentally,” Ingraham said. “The pressures to be successful and social can cause an immense amount of stress, (creating) an environment in which disordered eating thrives.” As Ingraham’s life seemingly spun out of control in terms of academics and her self-confidence, she looked for a way to keep a grip. She tried to find some sort of identity through changing how she ate, exercised and looked. “Students experience stress of finding their identity when they get to college, and it can come through in unhealthy ways,” she said. These unhealthy coping mechanisms may include binge drinking and drug use, but they often manifest as abnormal eating behaviors. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, disordered eating refers to “a wide range of irregular eating behaviors that do not warrant a diagnosis of a specific eating disorder.” However, many of these behaviors are the same as those associated with diagnosed eating disorders, including dieting, binge eating, regularly skipping meals, obsessive calorie counting and self-induced vomiting. Certain attitudes are also associated with disordered eating, such as basing self-worth on body shape and feeling guilt or shame after failing to maintain diet and exercise habits. The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders found that over half of teenage girls and one third of teenage boys report using unhealthy dieting methods such as skipping meals, substituting caffeine or tobacco for meals or purging with self-induced vomiting or laxatives after eating. Though skipping meals is sometimes inevitable as a college student with a hectic schedule, regularly doing so is not normal and can lead to further disordered eating. If you plan to pull an all-nighter for an exam or sit down to write a lengthy paper, remember that coffee and energy drinks are not meal substitutes, and eating a balanced meal is the proper way to nourish your body and mind. Disordered eating is a serious health concern but is often difficult to detect; a person with disordered eating may not exhibit all of the usual symptoms identified with diagnosed eating disorders. Many who struggle with disordered eating do not fully realize the impact it has on their mental and physical health and wellbeing. Left untreated, disordered eating patterns can have detrimental repercussions, including greater risk of full-blown eating disorders, gastrointestinal distress, greater risk of obesity, bone loss, fluid and electrolyte imbalances, increased anxiety and depression and low blood pressure and heart rate. A mentalhealth professional can help determine whether a person is at risk and differentiate between normal diet and exercise behaviors, and disordered eating and eating disorders. Ingraham was treated for her eating disorder at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders, where she met Dr. Cynthia Bulik. “I learned something very important in treatment from Cynthia Bulik,” Ingraham said. “She says, ‘Genetics load the gun, and environment pulls the trigger.’ When I started treatment at CEED and began to break away at my past, I realized I had already been battling depression and anxiety. I had these issues building inside of me, and I never addressed them, and so my eating disorder latched on to them as a vessel.” Ingraham’s advice to students struggling with an eating disorder is to “be kind to yourself.” She says recovery is a journey that is different for every person. “There are no maps, no rule books and no guidelines as to how to recover, so honor your body,” Ingraham said. “Be patient in recovery, and understand that your body is working to be healthy mentally, emotionally and physically.” Ingraham said that most of all, she wants people to know that recovery is possible. “It takes time and work, and it is not easy, but it is worth it.” Disordered eating often develops into a critical health issue before it is noticed by others and sometimes even by the affected themselves. Awareness of disordered eating habits allows friends to get help for those in need before the issue becomes life-threatening. On its website medainc.org, the Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association lists disordered eating warning signs in college students. These include obsessive or judgmental food talk, negative body talk, excessive exercising, and withdrawing from friends and social situations. It is important to remember that the longer an eating disorder goes untreated, the more advanced it becomes, and the more difficult it is to achieve complete recovery. If you know someone with an eating disorder or believe you may have an eating disorder, immediately seek professional counseling. On-campus resources include UNC Counseling and Psychological Services, phone: 919-966-3658; UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders, phone: 919-966-7012; and Antonia Hartley, UNC Clinical Nutritionist Specialist, phone: 919-966-2281.
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- FA SHION FRO
We felt inspired this semester by a richness of culture illustrated by the strokes of art history. A display of diversity, culture and spirit, art can manipulate emotion and motivate change. Art transcends visual expression in a way that communicates, heals, and stimulates growth and power. Time is no object – nor is religion, class or race when it comes to the creation of beauty in the form of visual art, music, sculpture and more. There exists a parallel between the inspiration behind pieces of art and the inspiration behind pieces of clothing. Fashion can reach people in a space that only certain creative media can access. This is a space full of longing and admiration, at the seams of fantasy and reality. The universal and innovative collide, constantly changing and perpetually inspiring both fashion and mediums of art.
M RT A M
As art has followed the adjustments of time and culture, so has fashion. Creators and their creations share a similar ardor and boldness. This dichotomy of dauntlessness and vulnerability captivates the viewer. It is this sense of personal interpretation and confusion of feeling that makes art and fashion eternal, enkindling an unforeseeable addiction to interpretation and in turn igniting further creation. Fashion is wearable art. Every morning is the most distinct opportunity to be an artist of self-expression, to create in a way that feels like yourself to yourself, for fashion is the most personal form of art. The ongoing debate glorified here – is fashion art? Fashion inspired by movements of art throughout time. Fashion as an art. Art portrayed through fashion.
Written by Copelyn Bengel Photographed by Alexis Fairbanks, Elise Holsonback and Shengmei Yin Modeled by Aja Bailey, Pambu Kali, Emma Karlok, Hannah Lee and Micah Stubbs
PRAIRIE FAIRY Jumpsuit Nastygal.
Feature | C | 33 RENAISSANCE WOMAN Top Zara; pants Target.
HARLEM RENAISSANCE
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EDO PERIOD (LEFT) ZEN GARDEN Floral blazer & pants Zara; flats shop similar at Steve Madden; necklace shop similar at Anthropologie. ACROSS THE POND Blouse & pants Zara; Taye Boot Sam Edelman.
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(LEFT) MONKEY BUSINESS Top Filmore and Fifth; skirt Zara; shoes shop similar at Kork-Ease. (RIGHT) COY LICHTENSTEIN Shirt Zara; striped skirt Rumors Boutique in Chapel Hill; necklace shop similar at Anthropologie.
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BAROQUE GO BIG OR GO BAROQUE Velvet top Rumors Boutique in Chapel Hill; necklace shop similar at Charming Charlie. BELLEVET Velvet top Zara; skirt Nasty Gal.
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ON GARDE Top & trousers Zara; loafers shop similar at Ann Taylor.
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You Reap What You Sew The positive impact of fair trade organizations and UNC-Chapel Hill’s own World Micro Market Written by Caroline Reed Photographs by Caroline Reed
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“Everybody wants to make a difference in the world, but I believe you can’t attempt to find the solution without first understanding the problem. In the summer of 2013, I travelled back to India to travel in Darjeeling. I visited a small orphanage on the Indian-Nepalese border in a rural village. “I stepped out of our jeep and nearly missed a pile of cow dung. The roads were unpaved, and the town was undeveloped. As part of their organization, Ekal Vidyalaya, my uncle and aunt vowed to donate food and supplies to this orphanage to help it sustain its daily operations. “As a result, we all got a chance to meet the kids, eat dinner with them, and learn a few words in their native tongue. It taught me that taking steps toward empowering people to become self-sustaining is much more effective and meaningful than simply ‘throwing money’ at the problem. Today, I strive to empower global artisans in a similar way through World Micro Market.” Richa Shah, now a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill, realizes just how important her past experiences have been in catalyzing her involvement with UNC-CH’s World Micro Market. Today, students and progressive organizations are coming together in an attempt to address issues of poverty, fair trade practice and cultural preservation. In a world where technology and opportunity are growing at exponential rates, we find ourselves at an important crossroads. The world has never been more interconnected through the likes of travel and media, which have subsequently spurred a wave of globalization. These changes affect international markets, and the people involved in them, on both large and local scales. According to the Fair Trade Advocacy Office, fair trade is “a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade.” The concept involves ideas of both sustainability and helping promote justice in global markets. Many large corporations are beginning to monopolize and dominate international markets.
This can lead to a string of problems such as product quality reduction, labor abuse and a disregard for sustainability. The concept of fair trade arose in retaliation against these malpractices and has resulted in the development of many progressive fair trade organizations. Organizations that focus on fair trade often extend their mission outside of trade practice alone. Many groups work with impoverished people from regions that have unemployment rates or labor abuse. These projects simultaneously attempt to improve local economies, provide fair employment for disadvantaged indigenous people and promote the appreciation of artisan goods. Take, for example, Inca Pallay, a Bolivian notfor-profit organization that strives to uphold many of these practices. Inca Pallay’s general objective is to advance the lives of indigenous Bolivian weavers in some of the country’s most impoverished regions. The organization runs three stores in the Bolivian cities of Sucre, La Paz and Tarabuco. These stores provide opportunities for indigenous artisans to sell their goods. The artisans primarily create woven textiles that represent their own cultural backgrounds. The Bolivian ethnic regions of Jalq’a and Yampara contribute over 400 members to Inca Pallay. Each region produces its own unique and ethnically distinctive style of textile. The work from the Jalq’a region often illustrates a mystical world known as the “Ukhu Pacha,” which stems from Incan mythology. Ukhu Pacha is a temporal and spatial representation of the “world below” and depicts both imaginary and real creatures. The textiles are beautifully created in the traditional Pallay style. In Quecha, the regional language of some South American indigenous peoples, “Pallay” is the word for “designs” and often refers to an ancient weaving technique used by these artisans. These unique and striking artisan pieces are collected and distributed to stores in La Paz, Sucre and Tarabuco. These stores provide opportunities to the people who hope to sell their textiles.
Inca Pallay and other similar organizations help the artisans by providing transportation, advertising and a storefront. This financially benefits the artisans and their communities, and it also helps encourage an atmosphere that uplifts locally made and fair-trade products. The textiles made by the weavers are rare works of art that support the unique cultures of the Jalq’a and Yampara regions. Inca Pallay’s mission is praised for its practice of fair trade; its overall transparency provides a clear picture of how the laborers can directly benefit from this system. In many instances, people come from all over the globe to volunteer with these programs. Volunteers can help on a multitude of levels, including marketing and working the storefront itself. Michael Huber, an Austrian student who studies in Vienna, is currently taking a gap year to commit himself to the Inca Pallay project. Huber is inspired by his passion for fair labor laws and his desire to help those in need. “When a client buys an article of clothing,” Huber said, “they are not only getting an exceptional, unique, regional piece of art but also are supporting indigenous communities and giving them the chance to preserve their culture.” The Inca Pallay organization is not the only one of its kind. Hundreds of organizations across the globe are beginning to embrace fair trade ideals that simultaneously uplift underprivileged workers. Although many of these operations – like Inca Pallay – sell only within their own country, others reach out globally to distribute their goods and expand their market. On UNC-CH’s campus, organizations similar to Inca Pallay are beginning to show influence. “As part of the Campus Y and with our amazing and highly capable team,” Shah says, “(the World Micro Market) has reached artisans all across the globe, spanning five continents and over a dozen countries.” The World Micro Market is a student-led and not-for-profit club. The organization seeks to financially support and enable disadvantaged
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OFTEN LIVE IN COUNTRYSIDE REGIONS, WHICH LIMITS THE SPAN OF THEIR MARKETS
artisans globally by providing them with a network that includes a broader market and business advancement services. The World Micro Market connects these artisans and organizations with the students of UNC-CH by creating a bazaar to display and sell their products. Seniors Emily Crockett and Shah are co-chairs of the club. Both have been with the organization since they were first-years and progressively have become more invested. Crockett’s interest arose from a UNC-CH geography class that focused on “people and places.” “The class opened my eyes to how atrocious big-name corporations can be when dealing with smaller farmers and artisans,” she said. “That was really what catalyzed my further involvement with the World Micro Market and the mission for fair trade.” Shah has strong familial roots in India that have furthered her interest in the club. In the last several years, the World Micro Market has begun to represent a group of Indian artisans. “My family and I were born in India,” Shah says. “There are a lot of unemployed people or people who work and receive nothing in return. This has only made me more interested in (the World Micro Market) and how it helps the people in the place that I’m from.” The club hosts a variety of different organizations from all over the world. One of the main artisan groups is the Power Women Group from Kibera, Kenya. This group consists of approximately twenty women who have joined forces to help battle poverty in their region. The Power Women Group started with almost nothing and is expanding its size and expertise to produce many products. All of the organization’s products – such as beaded bracelets, clothes, necklaces and bags – are handmade from materials such as leather, wire and bone. The World Micro Market also works with Nicaraguan Pulsera Project, which helps create and expand a market for a group of young artisans and artisan families in the country. The group provides sustainable and fair-trade employment to the individuals and also strives to maintain and support local youth shelters, scholarships, loans and community advancement projects.
The project’s artisans create beautiful pulseras, which are traditional, handwoven bracelets, typically created with vibrant colors and patterns. Another extraordinary group working with the World Micro Market is A Ban Against Neglect. Located in Accra, Ghana, this organization helps combat both poverty and abuse in its community. Many young girls in the Accra region are uneducated, unemployed or even homeless. A Ban Against Neglect creates solutions for this problem by providing shelter and operating a comprehensive system to help address these difficulties. The organization provides young women with classes such as English, business, math and general life skills. It also offers seamstress training that takes a sustainable approach by teaching girls to remake old sachet bags into a variety of unique products. These three groups are only a few of the organizations the World Micro Market represents. The products crafted by these artisans represent cultures from all over the globe. The products are often sustainably created and always represent fair-trade values. Shah’s all-time favorite product? “The earrings from one of the groups rooted in Mexico,” she said. “They were made with wooden shavings in a very unique style.” This hand-made product is not only culturally significant but also noteworthy in the arts community. In an age of mass production and homogeneity, gems like this are a rare commodity. From Mexico to India to Peru, there is great diversity in culture, purpose and creation by the artisans World Micro Market supports. Yet all the organizations are united in the mission to support fair trade and uplift those in need. These groups are helping change the morals of the global marketplace and are paving a route for others to follow. The products of these exceptional groups and of many more can be found at the World Micro Market market events, which are usually held in The Pit twice a month. More information can be found on the UNC-Chapel Hill World Micro Market Facebook page at https://www.facebook. com/wmmunc/.
CAPTION CAPTION: Photo by Michael Huber