The Bull Magazine Fall 2018/Winter 2019

Meet the Staff

Letter from the Editor

When I was named EIC, fashion was an obvious theme to choose, because this plays a role in everyone’s daily life. From hair and makeup to shoes and attire, each one is a choice that allows us to explore our likes and dislikes.

Fashion is a vehicle for self-expression; it goes beyond articles of clothing, it is identity that manifests itself in many forms.

Simple accessories such as eye wear or jewelry to elaborate statement pieces, our fashion choices define us as a person, but is always evolving.

Cultural fashion, in particular, was a topic I wanted to incorporate into the heart of the magazine.

It is something that people gravitate toward, fostering connections between a polarized society. Fashion is for everyone. It’s woven into the fabric of our varied cultures, is universally understood as both simple and complex and doesn’t have an age limit or gender constraint.

I wanted to celebrate diversity through the pages of the magazine, encouraging my staff to discover unique voices within the fashion community.

The influence of fashion is everywhere and it’s both innovative and classic – one element of fashion that never goes out of style.

Sincerely yours,

Natalie Miranda

Covering Up Has Never Been So Sexy

AbeeraTareensittingpoolside showcasingtheRevaajh hand embraideredcoverup.

Story and Photos by George Apikyan

Beachwear typically is not meant to be worn away from the beach or pool, but Revaajh cover ups are stylish enough to be used for a day out in Malibu or a night at a Los Angeles club.

Revaajh allows the wearer to express themselves in a splash of vibrant colors and styles. Karan Sethi, the man behind the designs, gives these trends a flair.

“It’s an ethnic look back in the East,” Sethi said. “We use a lot of colors that make our brand pop. It’s something I feel that the West doesn’t experience as much with bold bright takes. It’s more monochrome with blacks and gray. We want to push the East’s colors and embroideries that’s been passed down for thousands of years.”

That gave him the opportunity to showcase what Indian and Pakistani culture could provide with their original designs and fabrics.

The fashion industries often take this approach when drawing inspiration from various cultures and creating designs that people of all demographics could share.

He set to make this brand as authentic as possible to keep the traditions back in the East alive.

“This technique of doing hand embroideries goes from family to family, so each individual

garment is one of a kind and done all by hand, all natural, inspired by Indian outfits, all

the pieces you see are hand woven and individually placed as well,” Sethi said.

This is more cost heavy, but Sethi wants to continue doing business this way, so these practices don’t die out.

“Back home we’ve really opened up to the West, a lot of our styles are now very open and progressive as well. I still get surprised every time I go back to visit,” Sethi said.

Using loose cottons to create these garments, makes them breathable and lightweight. The various designs give customers a choice to pick something that can suit their style and personality.

Abeera Tareen, photographed by the poolside in her outerwear for Revaajh by the poolside in Northridge Calif. on Oct. 16, 2018

“I want people to be as comfortable in their body as possible, whether that’s expressing themselves to the pool to the bar, or at a party,” Sethi said.

The pieces are intended to be like dresses. You leave the beach, throw on some heels and head to dinner looking appropriate and comfortable.

Sethi didn’t start off as a fashion designer, but found himself in the field after wanting to take on a new challenge.

“My background is engineering,” Sethi said. “ I always wanted to be creative and express what I had in my mind and I was tired of sitting for 12 years manufacturing hard drives, so I decided to make this big shift.”

He said that fashion when he first started, was a lot easier to get into. The designs back East weren’t out in the American market in the way they are now, because of how conservative it was back then. Pulling out new articles so consistently was more doable because of the limitless resources that hadn’t been

used yet.

“I wanted to bring in something new, and I felt like I could express myself in this field. I went from creating floppy discs to designing women’s handbags. It was an interesting and refreshing change,” Sethi said.

But the world of fashion changes at such a fast pace. Sethi finds it a difficult, but welcoming challenge to keep him on his toes in this competitive environment.

Making sure he meets the needs of the people that wear his designs are crucial. He wants people to the beach or to the bar without having to make a second trip to change their attire.

He has now been in the business for 17 years, keeping up with the latest trends and still creates pieces that keeps his customers coming back for more.

“Always bring something new to the table, fashion changes ridiculously fast, just like news, the same day you design something it could be considered old,” Sethi said. “We want to be timeless.”

Right Bottom: Revaajh bags and accessories.

Facing Page:: Revaajh outerwear showcasing the handwoven embroidery.

Right Top: Karen Sethi in his office working on new pieces in that he plans to show off in Miami for potential buyers in his office

Above: Abeera Tareen photographed for Revaajh in their loose cotton pants by the poolside.

Fashion With A Pupose

Wolven Threads gives plastic bottles a second life

Story by Danielle Padilla

Photos by Natalie Miranda

“Every company is doing something, and if you’re using energy you’re having an impact. A green company would be one that takes steps to minimize itsimpact as much as possible.”

-

Craig Meyer, Environmental Science professor

Millions of pounds of plastic waste is created globally every year. With only a small portion being recycled at facilities, the rest is sent to landfills.

The creators of Wolven Threads decided to do neither, and put recycled plastic into the fabric of their clothes.

Wolven Threads is a sustainable brand that gives back to the earth and to the community.

Founded by Kiran Jade and Will Ryan, the line uses recycled plastic bottles to turn designs into a reality. From their proceeds, a portion goes to providing yoga lessons to at-risk youth through the non-

profit organization Families Supporting Families.

The fabric used in Wolven Threads is made from certified recycled polyethylene terephthalate (RPET) and is a canvas for their designs.

“It’s always frustrating when we have a customer who is really excited that the leggings are made from recycled plastic bottles, then she’s got a plastic bottle in her hand and she’s not going to start using a reusable water bottle,” Ryan said.

Since starting the company, Jade and Ryan planned to create a brand on the basis of sustainability. As a result, an important part of their clothing design is the aspect of incorporating recycled bottles.

Ryan said that it was important to create a clothing line that is sustainable and helps people understand environmentalism.

“Green is not an industry, it’s an approach,” said Craig Meyer, a Pierce College environmental science professor. “Every company is doing something, and if you’re using energy you’re having an impact. A green company would be one that takes steps to minimize its impact as much as possible.”

Since starting the line, it has been about incorporating their lifestyle into clothing pieces and promoting an empowering way of living through transitional fashion.

Each piece’s design reflects geometric patterns found in

Graphic by Danielle Padilla

Will Ryan models clothes from Wolven Threads in a communal work space Los Angeles, Calif.

nature and the yogi mentality of free-spiritedness. Jade and Ryan are yogis, which is a term used to describe a person who avidly does yoga.

Jade started practicing yoga during her sophomore year of high school. When in college, she decided to become a yoga instructor.

“I was pretty unhappy with school,” Jade said. “So, I was looking for something else to satisfy me. Yoga instructor classes were a nice way to switch gears out of school.”

The idea of living a life that is always moving is a concept that is integrated into Wolven Threads’ designs.

“From the beginning, the brand has always been transitional from beach to brunch to a night out with your friends,” Ryan said. “It’s hard to summarize it in just a few words, but just the millennial lifestyle of casual, comfortable, versatile and functional.”

Although Wolven Threads is an online store, the line often visits music festivals such as Wanderlust, where they sell their designs and promote environmentalism.

This passion for the environment is why Jade and Ryan take the time to educate customers they meet at events.

At festivals, Jade and Ryan interact, get feedback from customers and meet fans of the brand.

Ryan said that hearing customers’ reactions to the company’s pieces and seeing his designs being used around the world is the most gratifying part of the job.

“We see people on the Metro

or walking around downtown wearing our clothes,” Ryan said. “At the beach we’ve seen our swimsuits being worn in Tulum, Mexico. Then we have our whole network of friends consistently text messaging us photos of like, ‘oh, I saw this person on the street in New York wearing your clothes.’”

Despite Wolven Threads being exclusively online, the brand is given the ability to have a global reach when they share their message.

However, it is not only the customers who have come to love the brand. Wolven Threads has a group of ambassadors who work to promote the fashion line.

Ambassadors are people who educate customers on the importance of sustainable fashion and get people excited to wear clothes Wolven Threads releases.

“It is very tough to wear all those hats and at the same time as we grow,” Ryan said.

Coming solely from a background of design, Jade and Ryan now run the entire company. From wholesale to marketing, the two work on it together to produce clothes that capture their brand vision and quality.

Despite the challenges that come with creating and managing an entire fashion line, the two have been able to expand their business into the community it is now.

Ryan believes that their impact is important.

“These little choices that really don’t require a ton of effort can make a big difference over time,” Ryan said.

Kiran Jade models clothes from Wolven Threads in a communal work space in Los Angeles, Calif.

Bird & Vine Loves L.A.

Story and Photos by Bleu Briggs

Left: Olivia Peters stands on a street corner in Little Tokyo wearing a shirt from Bird & Vine.

Facing Page: Najah Bey stands at the Reseda Canyon hiking trail.

The first of the Santa Ana winds blew a warm fall breath into the day. A petite blonde in denim pants and a jacket, black booties and a graphic T-shirt with a heart on it enters.

Her hair, long ice blonde and wavy blows radically gold against the blue of the October, California sky.

Pausing at the doorway, she smiles.

Bird & Vine is a Los Angeles-based brand founded by Stephen and Jen Kelly. The brand was built around the idea of a comfortable and carefree lifestyle.

“My love of fashion pushed me to create a line that was comfortable for women to love to wear,” Jen Kelly said.

Each piece is comfortable and soft on the skin. The pieces can be worn to make one feel cozy while lounging, going about your day, leaving the gym, or simply to add a spec of comfort to business attire.

Anna Janzen, a wife, personal trainer and mother of nine-month-old twins is a customer and huge fan of Bird & Vine.

“It is one of my favorite brands. It gave me a new confidence in how I looked after giving birth. It made me feel stylish while forgiving my postpartum twin body,” said Janzen with an enigmatic smile of someone sharing a life changing secret. “It’s comfortable enough I can wear it at work and stylish too so I can wear it to an event. I love the versatility, craftsmanship and comfortability of it.”

Jen Kelly is the visionary designer, while husband Stephen Kelly focuses on the business side of things.

“I started helping Jen a little bit and it grew into this thing where we started working on the brand everyday, and It’s been a great eight years,” Stephen Kelly said as his wife Jen Kelly, joyously wrapped her arms around him. “For a smaller company that’s growing it’s a big challenge. We’re still here, and we are growing and it’s still exciting.”

Jen Kelly has advice for anyone thinking about getting into the fashion industry.

“Do the work, I say. If anyone is thinking of becoming a designer, do the best you can and do the work,” said Jen Kelly, about being a budding designer. “If you have a dream then see it through. Don’t let the amount of work be the reason you give up on a dream.”

As for the brand’s message Jen Kelly speaks of it with high energy and sincerity.

“My message is kindness,” said. “I put phrases like love and breathe and blessed, because we all need a little love in order to give more kindness to this world.”

Indian Runway Dazzle

Models representing India stride down a long, pearly-white and polished runway wearing colorful and carefully beaded traditional dress. Each outfit that sashayed down the catwalk shimmered when it caught the light.

Each side of the stage has two large boards with the writing “LA India Fashion Week.”

Just three days before the world-famous LA Fashion Week, LA India Fashion Week was ready to showcase the beautiful ethnic wear for the second consecutive year at Holiday Inn’s Grand Ballroom in Buena Park, California.

Hosted by Nellie Christine, author of the blog FoodeCall, the event showcased seven designers with their extravagant clothing from India and the United States.

The event also featured more than 30 vendors from India and the United States and displayed everything from jewelry, clothing and shoes for purchase.

Celebrity designer and TV mogul Rohit Verma’s collection, inspired by Gods and Angels, is from Lucknow, India.

“Voila,” by Roma Bhalla, presented their hand embroidered traditional collection, popular Indian wear stores Sari Palace, Frontier Heritage debuted their collections, local clothing designers such as B.H. Kazimov

A model showcase a design from Voila by Roma Bhalla at the LA India Fashion Week, Oct. 7, 2018 at the Grand Ballroom, Holiday Inn Buena Park, Calif.

Story and Photos by Navodya Dharmasiriwardena

and Harshi’s appeared in the show.

Designers and vendors from across the globe came to participate in this celebration of Indian culture.

Simran Singh, part of Benerose, came all the way from Bombay, India, to display clothing and jewelry.

“We have so many of those here in Southern California, but for this exhibition we have many

and sequins came to life on the runway.

“ We have so many of those here in Southern California, but for this exhibition, we have many that have come from different states and some from India as well.”

- Smita Vasant, Founder of LA India Fashion Week

“We are so excited to be here and this is a special event for us,” Singh said.

Smita Vasant is the founder and main organizer for the event. This is her second year coordinating LA India Fashion Week.

“Basically, our goal is to promote Indian fashion and Indian designers,” Vasant said.

that have come from different states and some from India as well.”

Sarees, lehenga cholis, shalwars and dresses were not the only designs on the runway, Indian jewelry was also a part of the show to give a touch of sparkle to the outfits. Hand embroidered and unique fabrics decorated with beads, pearls

With outfits, jewelry and shoes for all occasions under one roof, LA Indian Fashion Week was more than just clothes, it was about facilitating a cultural experience. An organizing team of more than 35 models and an elaborate makeup team dedicated their whole day to working the event.

Sweta Shah, a model at the LA India Fashion Week, was excited to participate in the show.

“I’ve always been here, it is always a once a year event,” Shah said. “It’s pretty fascinating, beyond India, we have something here in LA. I love it.”

Models take the runway for the Sari Palace finale wearing their glamourous lehengas and dresses at LA India Fashion Week hosted at the Grand Ballroom, Holiday Inn.

CURVE FASHION

BY Sarah Rosenberg

Mannequins resembling life-size Barbie dolls and photos of fashionstandard models wearing the latest trends are displayed at every corner of each store at a Los Angeles mall.

Alexus Gregg, who wears sizes 12-14, has been at the mall for more than an hour, trying to find a trendy outfit in her size, with limited success. Most of the stores only carry up to a size 8, which is too small for Gregg.

She grows frustrated at the lack of good clothing options for her body type. Feeling left out, she looks over in disappointment as she flips through another rack of shirts, all of which are marked with sizes too small. For Gregg, this is not an uncommon experience.

Gregg is a plus-size model in an industry that largely caters to body proportions that don’t match the average woman in America.

LIFE AS A CURVE MODEL

According to PLUS Model Magazine, the term “plus size” applies to any women sized 12 and over.

However, Plunkett Research reports 67 percent of American women are size 14 or larger.

“When I was younger, I liked being in front of the camera,” Gregg said. “But, I just knew I wasn’t going to be a model. I knew what the viewpoint of a model was and it wasn’t what I was, because I was always bigger.”

Like Gregg, many young girls start to feel insecure about their bodies based on the daily exposure to highly-airbrushed imagery of stick-thin models, receiving a message that you are not beautiful if you are not thin.

As for Gregg, that photoshopped image of perfection made her

Alexus Gregg, a plus size model, poses in front of the “Love Wall” painted by Curtis Kulig located on Higuera Street in Los Angeles.

believe that being a model wasn’t feasible.

It wasn’t until she uprooted her life to move to the West Coast that Gregg began to see a change in the fashion industry, giving her a chance to go forward to try and make her childhood fantasy a reality.

After moving to Los Angeles in 2015 to become a wardrobe stylist, the Kansas City native gained the confidence to get in front of the camera as a plus size model.

“About two years into living in Los Angeles, I was like okay, maybe I could try this, because plus-size modeling was becoming more of a thing then,” Gregg said.

With more than 4,000 followers on instagram and sponsorship deals with clothing brands such as Rue21, Gregg is now living her dream.

BUSINESS OF CURVE

In the age of social media, plus size models are using platforms such as Instagram and Twitter, not only to sell and promote products, but to reach out to industry experts, helping them to further their career.

It was social media that helped Gregg get signed to the Los Angeles-based modeling agency Natural Models LA, which specializes in plus-size fashion.

Although the fashion industry is changing to be more inclusive, many in the industry say the business of plus size fashion is something that many in the mainstream still choose to ignore.

“A lot of brands think very

narrowly about who their customer is,” said Matthew Kaness, the chief executive of online retail outlet ModCloth, to The Washington Post.

According to CNN, from May 2010 - April 2011, the plus size fashion market for women made more than $17.5 billion in sales. However, only 17 percent of the overall women’s fashion industry money was spent on plus size apparel.

That has left designers like Eboni Lacey to improvise to have plus size

describe feeling “excluded” when in-store shopping.

For many retailers, appealing to the plus-size market doesn’t seem to be of importance.

“Retailers shy away from stocking larger sizes,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD, a market research company that focuses on retail trends, to Glamour magazine. “There are old beliefs that women who wear plus sizes are less likely to buy clothes, so stores focus on expanding beauty and accessories, which have higher sellthrough rates.”

For that blank space in the fashion industry, boutiques like Chic and Curvy are helping to fill it.

Before getting signed with Natural Models LA, Gregg said many modeling agencies rejected her due to her size. A plus size agency even asked her to gain 20 pounds, after she lost weight.

options readily available.

“It is hard as shit to be a screen printer or a designer that does wording on top of clothing for plus sizes because I order everything from vendors,” said Lacey, the founder of the ‘The Identity of She.’ “A lot of these vendors don’t carry more than 2XL, so I have to basically cut my own stuff and go and buy things so I can have stuff in 3XL, 4XL.”

According to ModCloth, 65 percent of plus-size women believe that “the retail industry ignores the needs of plus-size women,” 92 percent of plus-size women feel “upset when they can’t find cute clothes in their size” and 74 percent of plus-size women describe feeling “frustrated” and 65 percent

“That was really upsetting to me, because I have worked so hard to get where I want to be, and I don’t want to change myself to fit into what you guys are trying to do,” Gregg said. “I want to be able to do it for me at the size that I feel comfortable at.”

Gregg said that little girl who never thought she would be a model is gone and, with confidence and determination, she is set to be the fashion role model to other young girls that she didn’t have.

“You’re not too anything,” Gregg said. “I feel like it’s great now, where the industry is changing just a little bit. We’re starting to try to be more inclusive, but there’s just so much work that we need to do. That’s what I want to try and help do.”

“I don’t want to change myself to fit into what you guys are trying to do. I want to be able to do it for me at the size that I feel comfortable at.”

- Alexus Gregg, Plus size model

Cultural pride is found through self-acceptance

Crimson statement necklaces made from authentic coral reef are layered precisely and delicately fastened onto the neck of a woman that embodies cultural pride.

In Nigerian culture, the color red represents the strength and endurance of people that live there.

Pamela Adewoyin is the founder and ceo of Lola Ade, a jewelry line influenced by her West-African heritage.

The name Lola Ade translates to “wealthy crown” in the native Yoruba language. “Lola” was given to her by her grandmother and “Ade” derives, in part, from her paternal last name.

This namesake reminds Adewoyin to humbly wear her head held high to display her crown.

She was born in the United States, but lived in Nigeria as a child, soaking up the culture that surrounded her.

“Nigerians are very vibrant, colorful people,” Adewoyin said. “We love fashion. We love to get dressed up. And still to this day, my grandmother who is 86 years old will not come out of the room unless she has her powder on. She has her clothes freshly pressed, like matching sets, jewelry, everything still to a T and that’s been ingrained

in me to always put my best foot forward.”

Adewoyin began crafting jewelry in 2010. She is selftaught.

“Honestly, there was a lot of trial and error, broken necklaces, cut fingers, but it was just something that became therapeutic to me,” She said.

Although designing jewelry was something that was important to her, it was not a part of her life that she shared openly.

“I always felt like I did all my creative stuff in secret,” Adewoyin said. “I still to this day find diffcultyalmostbeing proud of the things that I’ve made creatively, because not to say that it was looked down upon, but it wasn’t necessarily propelled as much as you need to get straight A’s. Excellence has always been the measure, and it’s a lot easier to measure that in standard degrees versus creative degrees.”

Adewoyin said when she first started experimenting with jewelry, she would lie to people where she got her jewelry. Often she would claim that she bought them from various retailers.

While her business was in the works, she spent years feeling like she wasn’t ready.

It took an unexpected message in church to make her do some soul searching.

She was sitting in a pew as the pastor was talking about how everyone is given a gift. Some people are blessed enough to be able to figure out what that gift is during their lifetime and others are even more blessed to be able to take that gift and use it for the benefit of others.

Adewoyin believed the pastor was talking directly to her.

“And it really struck me, because if you go to church, you go for the word, but then, every once in a while, you’re like is he talking to me,?” Adewoyin said. “And it stuck with me so much that I started feeling this guilt. Like you have this talent that God’s given you, you’re selftaught.”

After mass, she was inspired to take action so much so that she had trouble sleeping.

“It just kept getting worse and worse and all I kept thinking to myself is that you have a window of time to act on your gift. And I

Together

Story and Photos

by Natalie Miranda

Founder and ceo of Lola Ade Pamela Adewoyin wears her hand-made “Pebbles” necklace and “Maji Two-Tier Coral Necklace.” Both necklaces are made from authentic red bamboo coral beads.

Founder and ceo of Lola Ade Pamela Adewoyin wears her “Gold Sparkle Tassel Earrings.”

started feeling the fear of not putting it out there like am I going to feel some type of way 10 years from now, whatever my life looks like regretting not having done it,?” Adewoyin said.

Although Adewoyin had her website formed for a prolonged period of time, she never quite felt ready to take the leap and press publish. She ultimately had her friend and coworker at the time press the button for her. Her website was launched on Sept. 1, 2016.

Adewoyin reflected on the nervous energy she had leading up to that

moment.

“My palms were sweaty. I think when you realize you have something good, it’s almost like you self-sabotage yourself,” Adewoyin said. “I think I created all these scenarios in my head where I didn’t want to be seen as anything other than the smart girl that all these people knew me to be. And that’s such an unfair, ridiculous concept. I was creating these own images of what I thought I was to other people, but my family was really supportive.”

She said she cried after it was finally done.

“I felt like it was this deep dark secret. It’s so crazy how vulnerable you feel when you put yourself out there. My anxiety was on 1,000,” Adewoyin said. “In hindsight I’m so glad that happened, because so many blessings have come my way since I did, and you really have to take a leap of faith. You’re never going to feel ready, but even now it feels brand new. I still get goosebumps. I felt the biggest weight off of me.”

Adewoyin said everyone acts on their own time table.

“I’m not gonna say there will

come a time in your life, but there may come a point in your life when you will feel something and no one has to tell you that it’s time and you have to act on it,” Adewoyin said. “You just have to put it out there and trust God or whatever higher power you believe in that it’s going to work out no matter what it is. But we fear 99 percent of things that never even happen to us, and I had to check myself to stop doing that.”

One regret she had that lingered after publishing her website was not having a strong support system.

“In the beginning when I launched, I wasn’t open and honest with people about the things that I was going through, the amount of selfdoubt, the amount of stress, just confusion of where this is going,” Adewoyin said. “I had kept everything in to myself and it’s not healthy.”

Adewoyin’s sister Temitayo Adewoyin said that their family was supportive of her passion.

“Our family was just really excited for the opportunity for her to make stuff with her hands and to have the public like her pieces, Temitayo said. “There’s got to be something very satisfying for her that her art is appreciated.”

Adewoyin said her biggest success is getting opportunities that she didn’t seek out. Despite being a one-woman business with no publicist, she is always surprised when people take interest in her business.

Lola Ade has been featured in Teen Vogue and CNN Africa. Adewoyin was even invited by

Facebook to set up a pop-up shop in their headquarters, where employees could shop her products.

“I think manifestation is really important. You have to believe, write down, like the Bible itself says ‘Write the vision, make it plain.’ And I think that verse is so important because we may want things, but then not necessarily know how it will come into fruition,” Adewoyin siad.

Although Adewoyin wears her cultural pride on her sleeve today, she wasn’t always proud of her cultural identity. After spending some of her childhood in Lagos, Nigeria, her family returned to the U.S. and moved into a quaint suburb in Philadelphia.

Adewoyin said her house was on the outskirt of a predominantly caucasian community.

She went through a cultural identity crisis when she first came back to the U.S. She recalled most of her neighbors being blonde-haired and blueeyed girls.

“I didn’t see anyone that looked like me outside of my family,” Adewoyin said. “I tried to change my accent and I did. I ended up losing my accent. I was trying to put hairspray in my hair to get to the same pop as these other girls, but I want to encourage you to be, wherever you’re from, be proud of that whatever your background is.”

Some negative experiences from Adewoyin’s past shaped her perspective from a young age. Discrimination and hate crimes toward her family was Fashion 19

not an uncommon occurrence.

She even recalls people placing burning crosses on her family’s lawn.

“We woke up one day to the sound of glass shattering and they had thrown bricks through our windows. They physically spray painted KKK on our house,” Adewoyin said. “I remember painting over that with my mom and not really realizing what that meant and why people were picking on us.”

Adewoyin acknowledged that racism has yet to subside, however her resilience in the face of adversity is something that is fostered through creating a sense of community within one self and with others.

“There are people in this world that hate you and want bad things to happen to you and have never met you and know nothing about you, purely because of the color of your skin or purely because of the religion you subscribe to, or purely because of attributes that you didn’t choose,” Adewoyin said.

She said that finding a community that she could relate to helped add to her formed

perception.

“I’m so happy now to be able to realize how rich my culture is,” Adewoyin said. “It’s a shame that they hate me. I pity them for the beliefs that they have, because there is so much beauty that happens in different cultures, and I wish I could tell my younger self when trying to assimilate back into the United States that ‘Your accent is beautiful. Your Skin is beautiful. Your hair does not look like these other girls and that’s okay.’”

Adewoyin believes there is beauty in being authentically yourself and growing up feeling comfortable in your own skin.

“In Nigeria, when kids go to school, they don’t wear extensions. They can’t wear any of this stuff. They can’t even wear makeup a lot of the times and in some ways I think that is beautiful, because you grow up to be your natural self,” Adewoyin said.

Communications Department Chair Yeprem Davoodian said we need to recognize individuality, because diversity is good.

“It’s identity and we symbolize it by what we do, how we dress and the way we look – all the nonverbal communication we do – all that is symbolic – because we do carry who we are visually,” Davoodian said.

“Those symbolic aspects help us identify who we are.” Adewoyin advocates for the embrace of diversity.

“I hope that at this day and age that people are learning to embrace their differences and in those differences can come talents and beauty that you would never imagined. That’s what I really hope to see,” Adewoyin

Founder and ceo of Lola Ade Pamela Adewoyin wears her “Navy Blue Tassel Earrings.”

Saving the World One T-shirt At A Time

Hiding behind prisonlike bars and faded paint that’s covering a rundown Downtown Los Angeles warehouse sits a rack of dozens of high-end fabric creations, including a top-selling shirt called the Wearever T.

Like the warehouse, the best parts of Project Social T are not always in the looks, but in action — 10 percent of the proceeds from their sales go to various charities.

Founded in 2011 by Mark Cholder, Project Social T is a fashion company that gives to organizations, including Kids Need More, Waymakers and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

“We choose basically one

charity per quarter, and we not only donate to that charity on a monthly basis, but we also directly get involved with them in terms of helping with our events and providing resources for them,” said Tom Scrocer, the co-founder of Project Social T.

Olivia Colfin, the marketing manager for Project Social T, said Cholder wanted to use fashion as a helping hand.

“He has always been passionate about the community and wanted to make sure the company was able to give back,” Colfin said.

Every clothing item is tagged with an information box about the charity that is being helped with that specific collection.

“We like to share their story and educate other people so if people want to donate or help they are aware of what’s going on,” Creative Designer Claire Wheeldon said.

While the creative process for new designs is the same every season, what varies is which trends the company follows.

Every collection must be prepared two seasons in advance.

Not only does every season bring new styles, but also trending colors to match.

“Color is a huge thing,” said Mackenzie Downs, the assistant designer. “Looking ahead at color is really important, and in combination with the fabric we can set them together say ‘this

Story by Belen Hernandez

Photos by Danielle Padilla

A wooden Project Social T sign greets those that walk in as it hangs near the doorway at their Warehouse.

texture will be really cool with this.’”

Downs said when starting the process of a new design, they set up meetings with fabric vendors and bring fabrics swatches.

Wheeldon also tries to keep the seasons in mind.

They take their inspiration from the everyday life, whether it be fashion shows, magazines or nature.

One of the challenges that they have faced is having to work with different vendors like the fabric dye house and think of new designs.

“Coming up with new ideas, to do 12 lines is big. I mean our team is amazing but it’s a lot,” Wheeldon said.

Wheeldon attributes their success to the loyalty of their customers that continue to purchase their items.

“It’s great designing something but seeing people from the outside that love it, or walking down the street and see someone in your top, there is nothing better than seeing returned customers and

people that actually love your product,” Wheeldon said.

The company employs 50 people and all of its clothes are 100 percent done in America.

Pierce College History, Humanities and Sociology Department Chair James McKeever said this system may not be ideal, but it can be effective.

He also believes that companies need to figure out a way to balance their work and giving back to the community.

“It is trying to figure out how to do social justice within a capitalist framework,” McKeever said. “If companies saw profit in social justice, I think more companies would do it.”

Inside that framework, Project Social T tries to make its clothing as inclusive as possible so a wide variety people can enjoy both the beauty of it while also appreciating how it can help society.

“A T-shirt is a T-shirt until you give it life and our customers keep coming back,” Wheeldon said. “We want to give a certain personality that makes you different.”

Assistant Designer Mackenzie Downs adjusts the fabric fold of a piece of clothing at the Project Social T warehouse.

Top: Assistant Designer Mackenzie Downs sketches designs.

Middle: Fabric swatches and a catalog of colors are laid out.

Bottom: Clothes are displayed on a rack at the Project Social T warehouse.

Head Wraps in the Park

The sound of hands pounding on an African drum enticed people to dance as the rhythm of music flowed through their bodies. A celebration of diverse skin colors and culture was on full display at Grand Park in Downtown, Los Angeles.

As the sweet smell of incense perfumed the air on Sept. 29, the third annual Head Wraps in the Park event invited people from all backgrounds to attend.

“The whole concept came from the need of women wanting a safe space to wear head wraps,” said Fatima Dodson, the creator of Head Wraps in the Park.

Head wraps, which are also known as “goddess wraps,” are the garment of choice associated with the natural hair movement in the African-American community.

Originating in Sub-Saharan Africa, head wraps are an African beauty statement. Usually worn on the head symbolizing a crown, the head wrap either covers hair completely or ties as a headband around the forehead to reveal their hair.

There are many ways that someone can tie a head wrap, making it versatile enough to fit most styles.

Since its start in 2015, Head Wraps in the Park has created a following that continues to grow.

During the first year being at Liemert Park, the event started with only 500 attendees, and every year since has grown in attendance.

Lysha Fuqua, the owner of Beauty and Brains Tess, came from Northern California to

Story and Photos by Damiesha Williams

attend Head Wraps in the Park.

“This event is important to me for two reasons,” Fuqua said. “The first reason is it puts all the stereotypes to the back. And it shows that we as black people can come together as a community.”

Ayodele Konchen, the owner of DuaFE Jewelry Waistbeads, said head wraps are ingrained in her upbringing, but expressed that some people don’t understand her culture.

“I learned how to wrap at an early age. I was that different kid in high school with head wraps and I didn’t care,” Konchen said. “It became a part of my culture and custom, but to everyone else it seemed so different and abnormal.”

Dodson said the event is appreciated by many community members.

“Last year people were so emotional and they were coming up to me just to say thank you for doing this event,” Dodson said. “Because of them it was so important to see us in such a positive atmosphere. I feel like right now a lot of people are in the need of that. With all the chaos in the world we need to be in an atmosphere we feel accepted and not judge. To me that is rewarding.”

With the intention of bringing head wrap culture to Los Angeles, Head Wraps in the Park is a place where people of color can connect.

“In Los Angeles this event is very important I am finding out, because I would go to other parts of the world and see all these cultural events. And I feel like we are lacking in that area,” Dodson said. “People really honored and accepted this event, because there’s a great need for it.”

Opposite: Two attendees posing for a picture at Grand Park.

Top Right: Kelly Chavers helps place head wrap on models’ head at Grand Park.

Bottom Right: Ayodele Konchen. a vendor placing waist beads on Miya Cato at Grand Park.

MelroseByAnyOtherName

Psychedelic threads and suggestive advertisements bulge like beer bellies on the Fourth of July across 1.3 miles. If one isn’t familiar with L.A. culture, some may mistake peacocking locals for models and Dr. Seuss inspired storefronts for film sets.

In reality, it is the boulevard between Beverly Hills and Silverlake that is the Los Angeles epicenter of shopping and expression – the Melrose Fashion District.

“There’s really something here for everybody,” Otis College lecturer Bita Rad said. “There’s a different part of town for each

type of person.”

With more than 300 stores on this stretch of land, that isn’t a far-fetched idea. Whether it is vintage, punk, European, streetwear, athletic or a combination, the stores across the avenue act as a library for expressive garments.

The Melrose of today holds its roots in the punk scene of the mid-1980s that birthed many small shops with hard to find vintage wear and styles.

Wasteland and Posers, popular stores on Melrose, represent a sense of novelty fashion.

Stores on the eastern section of Melrose still echo a traditional boutique aesthetic

StoryandPhotosbyMartinMoran

by capturing distinct markets, such as Monster A-Go-Go, with their horror-themed products.

Licensed apparel featuring iconic horror movie characters such as Elvira and martians from “Mars Attacks.”

“We thought, let’s see what we can put together ourselves because we already knew we had quite a good eye for things that sold,” said Chief Designer Ash Ghoulmore of Monster A-GoGo.

Originally from Scotland, he and his wife moved to L.A. several years ago to open their Melrose location.

A few blocks down, Rich & Rotten CEO and store owner

Hamed Jalaly describes his product as “high-end streetwear with a message.”

Originally from Iran, Jalaly began the brand in late 2012. The Melrose branch is evenly spread, with clothing displayed and hung across two sides.

Although Melrose is thought of as high-end shopping destination, Jalaly said wealth doesn’t make you rich.

“‘Rich is not necessarily about money or materialistic things, it’s more about the spirit,” he said. “Rotten comes from the journey, the trials and tribulations that one might have to endure along the way.”

In the middle of Melrose sits American Rebel, a vintage store that’s stood through several name changes, but has always sold secondhand clothing.

Store leader Andrew Goetten describes the garments sold here as “high-end vintage.”

They sell 1960s-70s dresses, military and vintage band t-shirts.

Among its sister stores, American Vintage stands out from minor amounts of reconstructed material and few brand names.

People from all walks of life frequent the shopping destination.

“They’re cool. They’re interesting to say the least, but everyone’s nice, easy to get along with and they know what they want,” said Mamadou Bah from Round Two Hollywood. “ The majority of the people that come in here know exactly what they want to buy.”

Events away from Melrose have proven to expand the reach for most of these stores that aren’t

as recognizable as their luxury brand counterparts.

Be it pop-up shops, wholesales or word-of-mouth via social media, it gives these shops another medium to garner attention and further cast trends beyond the avenue. Some include ComplexCon, Son Of Monsterpalooza and Budland.

At the rate of visitors and aspiring entrepreneurs who will continue to roam the avenue, there seems to be a nonstop growth of its influence.

“I think it’s a really good resource for people in the fashion industry to go to,” Rad said. “It’s a one-stop place where you can go both mid-tier and high-end luxury shopping.”

Ghoulmore embodies the essence of Melrose with a simple saying.

“Every day is an adventure,” Ghoulmore said. “You don’t know who’s gonna come through the door.”

Facing Page: The Melrose Avenue sign hangs above the traffclight.

Top Right: Emily and Andrew at American Rebel., the store leaders, tand inside the vintage shop American Rebel.

Bottom: Ash Ghoulmore stands with a Hulk figurine in Monster-A-Go-Go.

In the In-Between

Niche LA is the gateway for designers to get their products to the top retailers.

Story by Blake Williams

Photos by Natalie Miranda

Going on television to sell clothing on a 24 hour broadcast that reaches 94 million people is a daunting task for anybody, especially when they have never been in front of a camera.

Although Susan Hart, president of Niche LA, was given training on how to host the show, it did not inspire confidence.

“I felt barely confident in the training they gave me,” Hart said. “Then you’re just thrown to the wolves and you’re on TV.”

As president of an independent agency that acts as a liaison between the designer and retailer, Hart went on the Home Shopping Network as an opportunity to broaden her client base and strengthen her brand identity.

“You can go on air at HSN, and in 15 minutes you can sell thousands of units of clothes,” Hart said. “There isn’t an online retailer in the country that you can click on and sell thousands and thousands of units in that short amount of time.”

Niche LA sells to approximately 1,000 boutiques across the 13 western states they represent, as well as Nordstrom’s, Neiman’s, Bloomingdale’s, Stitch Fix, Avery and South Moon Under.

Born in Massapequa, New York, Hart moved to California with the plan to go to the University of California, Los Angeles to major in psychology. She got a job in Los Angeles working at an adolescent psychiatric hospital, which was

a challenge that didn’t make her happy.

Hart developed a passion for working in the fashion industry after meeting a group of women who were drawn to her energetic personality. After chatting poolside, one of the women from the group invited Hart to work with them in the fashion district.

But, this isn’t the first time she has been exposed to that world.

Hart first got a glimpse into the world of retail when her parents owned an Army and Navy surplus store when she was young; she worked the register, which gave her experience in retail.

“I actually never went to graduate school and got into the wholesale

part of the fashion industry,” Hart said. “I never looked back. I just think it must have been in my blood.”

Hart said her mentor was Michael Glasser, a legend in the fashion industry primarily known for his work with denim.

“He taught me how to use my adjectives, how to set the table or paint a picture before I ever pick up a hanger, and how to set the sale,” Hart said. “Let them know what you want them to know before you even start showing them, and they can formulate an opinion.”

She now tries to share everything she learned from Glasser with her employees.

“This is a really empowering

President of Niche LA Susan Hart looks through one of the showroom racks.

industry for females,” Hart said. “I do tell the young girls that it is a great environment for women to make money and make a name for themselves.”

While Hart has led a successful career, her most memorable moment comes from one of her biggest sales.

“My ‘I made it’ moment was when I got a $1 million order from Saks Fifth Avenue when I was 25 years old,” Hart said.

Her largest sale was an order worth about $1.5 million while she was on HSN.

“We were really excited,” Hart said. “We’re commissioned sales reps. So when you get an order of that size, obviously you know you’re going to have a good pay day.”

The biggest challenge the company faces is that fashion takes a back seat to necessities when times are tough.

“Fashion is expendable,” Hart said. “It’s not your top priority. Food and housing become your top priority when the economy is bad. I think the economy has certainly been my challenge and that certainly affects our industry a great deal.”

Another challenge facing the fashion industry is the large gap in price points. Trying to get a manufacturer to bring prices down is diffcult.

“There’s high end luxury and then there’s fast fashion or wellpriced merchandise,” Hart said. “There’s nothing in the middle anymore in fashion really.”

Fashion is an ever-changing industry, and technology is forcing people in the industry to adapt to new buyer trends.

“It used to be we would find magazines and tear pages and talk to designers, and now we’re

just clicking and seeing the Paris fashion shows,” Hart said. “Technology has not only changed the influencers of our business, but it has now changed the shopping habits of our business.”

A shift to online shopping is a trend that continues to grow.

“Nordstrom’s is telling me that 60 percent of their volume is done in their online business, not in their brick and mortar stores,” Hart said.

While online shopping is convenient and fits into everyone’s schedule, it is still missing a way to connect the customer to the product, said Lisa Ozur-Wallach, vice president of Niche LA. Social media could be the key to getting that connection to customers.

“I think online is growing, but I think they’re still struggling to figure out how to get that connection with the customer,” Ozur-Wallach said. “This is why the blog, Instagram and the influencer are so important, because that’s what is making that connection to the customer.”

Barbara James, the owner of Barbara James Showroom, agreed

that social media is important for the fashion industry.

“It’s all about having a strong brand recognition online and also having a plan in place as far as social media,” James said. “Companies are basically looking for brands that can help drive business to their sites.”

While change can be problematic for companies, Hart plans to tackle it head-on to continue her success.

“The amount of change in the 30 years I’ve journeyed through this industry was intense and amazing,” Hart said. “The only reason I’m still here is because I’m good with change.”

Her future could lead many different ways, but for now, she wants to focus on what is happening now.

“Every day is different,” Hart said. “There’s a million different paths you can take.”

The only set plan is that she wants to be in the fashion industry for the foreseeable future.

“I think as long as you have the energy and the creativity, opportunity never leaves in this industry,” Hart said.

Vice President of Niche LA Lisa Ozur-Wallach points jeans hanging in the showroom.

Fast Fashion How The Death Of Style Is Killing Our Environment

Fast fashion is like fast food. The two industries feed off of the fact that the cost is low and the consumers receive instant gratification from their purchase.

Like fast food, however, the quality is matched by price and the long term consequences of it are detrimental to the environment.

During February and September the most important events in the fashion industry are held. Fashion week sets the precedent for what clothes are worn in what style for the season.

New York Fashion Week began as a week of press during World War II for fashion industry insiders, unable to travel to Paris to see French fashion shows. Now, it has grown to include anyone with an ounce of celebrity or social class, to a newly selected celebutante or ‘influencer,’ per say, as crowned by the hierarchy of social media.

Fall and Spring were the seasons, but with the fast changing consumer appetite the fashion cycles now are compressed into shorter periods of four-to-six weeks.

The term for this is fast fashion.

Stores including Zara, H&M, Forever 21, Victoria’s Secret, Beneton and Top Shop, are crowded with the latest and greatest mish-mosh of clothes cheaply made and cheaply sold with no true style to describe this

Story and Photo Illustration by Bleu Briggs

generation.

Consumers are able to buy cheap because costs are reduced by taking advantage of lower prices in markets in developing countries.

Developing countries accounted for nearly 75 percent of all clothing exports, according to “Buyer Behavior for Fast Fashion,” by Margaret Bruce and Lucy Daily.

A consequence of fast fashion is waste. Many of these fast fashion garments are made cheaply, falling apart after one to two uses. Therefore, more people buy more clothes and don’t keep them as long as they used to.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated 11.9 million tons of clothing are thrown away making five percent of all landfill space occupied by the textile waste.

PureEarth.org has listed textile dyeing as one of the top dirtiest industries and the second largest polluter of clean water globally, after agriculture. Artificial dyes are most often preferred over natural ones because of inexpensive cost and can be made in bulk.

Wastes from this industry are heavily loaded with chemicals, many of which are harmful to human health.

The presence of hazardous chemicals has been found after testing many different brands’ garments.

Greenpeace.org lists many of the banned or strictly regulated chemicals in various countries because they are toxic, bioaccumulative (the substance builds up in an organism faster than the organism can metabolize it), disruptive to the nervous system, hormones and carcinogenic.

One other most popular fabrics

used for fashion is polyester. When washed, they shed microfibers that add to the increasing levels of plastic in the oceans, representing a serious threat to aquatic life.

In Dig Deeper, an article written by Vice President of United Natural Foods Incorporated Melody Meyer and published in Rodale Institute.org, cotton has a devastating toxic chemical impact in agriculture.

Cotton growing requires high levels of water and pesticides. Most cotton grown world wide is genetically modified and they often need to be treated with more toxic pesticides that are harmful to livestock and humans.

In the documentary “The True Cost,” it speaks of a U.S. cotton farmer who died from a brain tumor caused by toxic pesticides and serious birth defects in Indian cotton farmer’s children from the toxicity of the pesticides.

There is a huge interest in organic cotton, but it remains caustic to the environment. It will take about 290 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to produce a t-shirt, according to Cotton Inc., however, 660 gallons of water is needed to grow the same amount of organic cotton for the same shirt.

Besides the negative environmental impact, water pollution, the use of toxic chemicals and increasing levels of textile waste. Fast fashion has also impacted socio economic levels.

The fashion industry is known as the most labor dependent industry, as one in every six people work in acquiring raw materials and manufacturing clothing.

Bangladesh is home to 4 million garment production workers in

over 5000 factories, the second largest garment supplier of the world market, after China.

According to cleanclothes. org, 85 percent of workers are women, and these women are forced to work in unsafe and poor conditions while receiving a minimum wage of 3,000 taka a month (approximately $34).

This is far below what is considered a living wage. The bare minimum to provide shelter, food and education, which is considered at 5,000 takas, (approximately $59). The need to achieve low cost to sell at low prices leads to mass impoverishment.

Fast Fashion is a machine that helps create the feminization of poverty. United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), describes this as “the burden of poverty borne by women, especially in developing countries.”

But as Greenpeace and others have pointed out, the technology doesn’t yet exist for H&M to turn most of what it collects into new pieces because it churns out vasts volumes of clothes.

The consumer has the power to change this with the power of their wallets.

Begin by shopping with a conscious and choose to buy from brands that are transparent. There are plenty of stylish, inexpensive and ethical clothing lines out there waiting to be discovered.

If you must buy new, buy indie. Support designers that are based in or near your community, because independent designers don’t have the budget to buy in bulk and use an excess amount of material.

Fitting Into the Industry

Store owner looks to make it in the fashion world

Originally drawn to working with airplanes or being involved in restaurants, Mariela Quintanilla now looks to reach new heights in the fashion industry and the owner of Ga Eul on Sherman Way in Canoga Park.

Mariela Quintanilla said that she doesn’t want to be a conformist and wants to try new things.

“It is really interesting for me because I can match colors and it is exciting meeting other cultures through fashion,” she said.

She had plans to study medicine, and her original plan was to go to the university level to get her doctorate.

She’s has eclectic tastes, so her

store matches that personality.

“I want to cover all the areas,” she said. “I just don’t want to sit and just do one thing. I want to involve the boys and girls section. Also the youth, adults, the elderly. I want to cover everything.”

Her plan, if the store is successful, is to expand worldwide.

“We want to create an impact,” she said. “And I’m not only focused on clothes. I want to project myself in the area of restaurants, aviation. I want to have my own flotilla of boats. I also look into perfumes and shoes.”

Alison Deyette, a fashion director and stylist, said new clothing business owners need drive and passion to succeed.

“The best advice is to just do it,” Deyette said. “Learn as much as you can. Come up with 50 mentors, 50 role models that you think are doing great job, and you think I want to become them.”

Deyette said that social media is really important because people have to be able find you.

“You need to have an Instagram page. Just having a store in front of the street is not enough this days,” she added.

Mariela’s sister, Yaritza Quintanilla, said she is happy on the journey her sister is going.

“I am proud of her. It is one more accomplishment that she has in her life,” Yaritza Quintanilla said.

Mariela Quintanilla stands in front of a clothing rack featuring clothes for sale in her new store named Ga Eul.

Story and Photos by Felipe Gamino

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