UNHEMMED October 2013
the
international issue
UNHEMMED
marissa bergman editor-in-chief catherine gao managing editor anna weyant layout editor madeleine luckel, dominik halas, & jasmine bala fashion features editors
marissa petteruti accessories editor sophie blistein menswear editor mo hy DIY editor
corrine szczesny jennifer morgan street style editor beauty editor jennifer morgan corrine szczesny beauty editor street style editor caroline bologna sofia kadieva entertainment editor womenswear editor minji cha chelsea english business manager art editor brittany hodges social media director
contributors: Deionte Appling, Michelle Chang, Tiffany Chang, Mollie Chesis, Samantha Cheung, Camille Coy, Morgan Demmler, Sarah Erkal, Caire Flanagan, Krystal Garza, Hannah Gribetz, Lindsey Hassinger, Marcy Huang, Mat Kelley, Courtney Kobren, Katelyn Kondra, Kaden Lee, Sally Luu, Jessica Montes, Alexandra Nuttbrown, Asha Owens, Danielle Perelman, Esme Ricciardi, Orlando Rodriguez, Natasha Rosario, Ryan Rosenberg, Nicole Salvador, Allison Schaff, Neil Singh, Lily Sykes, Chris Tran, Liu Weiwei, Julia Xu, Jessica Zambrano, Dan Zhang
cover model: liu weiwei photographer: chris tran
WELCOME 2017 Staff Members! Name: Jessica Zambrano Hometown: Joliet, IL Where to see her Unhemmed work: DIY Most embarrassing fashion indulgence: My duck-shaped umbrella
Name: Morgan Demmler Hometown: Wellesley, MA Where to see her Unhemmed work: DIY Worst fashion disaster: I went through a phase where I wore way too much neon. Embarrassing fashion indulgence: I can’t not buy something if it has cats on it. Name: Ryan Rosenberg Hometown: Greenwich, CT Where to see her Unhemmed work: Fashion features Worst fashion disaster: Maybe last week when I strutted across the entire gym with a piece of toilet paper hanging from the back of the my leggings? Embarrassing fashion indulgence: Turtlenecks! Name: Claire Flanagan Where to see her Unhemmed work: Street Style
Name: Danielle Perelman Where to see her Unhemmed work: Street Style and Pamoja Products Name: Chris Tran Hometown: Oklahoma City, OK Where to see his Unhemmed work: The Global Village ethnowear shoot! Worst fashion disaster: Honestly, my entire middle school self was my worst fashion disaster. I’m still trying to forget my awkward, oversized cargo shorts phase. If you look back far enough on Facebook, you’ll probably be able to see some remnants of that awful time. Embarrassing fashion indulgence: scarf my older sister crocheted for me two or three birthdays ago. It hangs all the way down to my ankles and makes me feel like Rapunzel. Name: Anna Weyant Hometown: Calgary, AB (Canada) Where to see her Unhemmed work: The entire magazine! Layout editor Worst fashion disaster: Name: Brittany Hodges Where to see her Unhemmed work: Everywhere online! Social media director. Name: Orlando Rodriguez Hometown: Boca Raton, FL Where to see his Unhemmed work: Man-at-Brown
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
THERE’S SUCH A LOT OF WORLD TO SEE -
-
CONTENTS
UNHEMMED STREET STYLE
ENTERTAINMENT
FASHION FEATURES
Rwanda genocide documentary
fashion trends at Brown
Lorde DJ A-BE Susan Chen Emily Kassie/Jesse Weil:
ART
trend report f@b guest editor: Mat Kelley uneven transition of seasons Met punk exhibit designer’s travel inspirations shoqase menswear trend report man at brown brandon acton-bond
D e n i z Ça m Dolapo Akinkugbe
BEAUTY
EDITORIALS
international beauty products fragrant travels flag nail art tutorial
DIY
DIY halloween headpeices vampire fanged pumpkins
spread Julieta Cardenas Pietro Ruffo
THAT GIRL/GUY
From Uganda with Love Lethologica The Global Village
STREET
style Chandler Carter ‘15
Katie Sola ‘14
style STREET
Frisbee Boys, “Fancy Friday”
style STREET
Luke O’Connell ‘17
Asha Owens ‘16
style STREET
Ragnar Jonsson ‘14
Stella Mensah ‘17
style STREET
Sandra Lifshits ‘17
Kali Wyatt ‘17
STREET
style
Nomvula Mbambo ‘17 and Isabel Al-Dhahir ‘17
Mariah Snustad ‘16
style STREET
Carol Flores ‘16
Huyen Phan /15
style STREET
Jessica Sawadogo ‘14 Edward Cleofe ‘15 and Jonathan Cohen ‘15
style STREET
Arielle Schacter ‘16
Nicolas Baird
style STREET
Nathan Thomas ‘14
Chandler Carter ‘15
Stella McCartney
TSpring rend Report: 2014
A
t a glance, the Spring 2014 ReadyTo-Wear Collections are bubbling over with textiles, patterns, and silhouettes from around the globe. It seems only a matter of askcountry is this inspired by? However, these recent collections demonstrate a more loose amalgamation of various cultural inspirations. This might sound as if there is less global inspiration wafting through the air of
RTW
design studios these days. But I think the exact opposite is true. In our ubber-connected world, where information and people themselves can zip around the globe so quickly, the take-awaim-
ential to a period or a theme.”If possible, the highly globalized fashion world may be breaking traditions and blurring lines more than ever.
more important then the minutia of anthropological labeling. The melting pot evident in Valentino’s designs makes them richer than if they had been constrained by
fASH ON Celine
Junya Watanabe
Sarah Burton said of her collection for Alexander McQueen, “I didn’t want it to feel too refer-
Alexander McQueen
Valentino
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Give us the details of your summer!
FASHION AT BROWN’S GUEST EDITOR:
I
was in Beijing, China. It was my fourth time in China; I’ve been studying Chinese since 9th grade in high school.
MATHEW KELLEY Concentration:
‘14
East Asian Studies
f@b Position:
Photography coordinator, designer liaison/ coordinator
Hello there, Matt
Favorite f@b
Experience/Memory:
I
t’s a tie. Before I was a coordinator, I modeled in a photshoot for them and it was so much fun.It was a Sunday, outside of the Granoff, and it was kinda cold. They made me take off my shirt and I was super self-conscious. That was my favorite before
I was really involved. But the fashion show last year, I got to oversee all of the photography and get really in depth with the show itself. That was really great. After a year of work, watching it all play out in about 30 minutes was crazy.
got to see their showroom and now they’re getting really big, a bunch of Chinese stars are picking up their stuff...China’s at such an interesting Iwent with no pro- point of modernizagram. I lived in an tion with fashion and apartment and had trends. an internship. Itwas an English-language magazine, City Weekend, a lifestyle magazinefor ex-pats. It was amazing. I got to go to all these events for free and meet lots of really cool people. Once, I got to go to In Beijing, it’s not rooftop bar and try all their signature $16 cocktails for free. I also wrotea six-page cover story on Asia’s amazing architecture. Plus, one of my roommates had a fashion start-up line. He and his friend started their own business! I
as apparent as, say, Shanghai, but there are areas that are super upscale, with Gucci, Chanel, Mercedes dealerships, etc. But down the block it’s like a third-worldcounty. It’s this very interesting juxtaposition.
What were your best fashion purchases from abroad?
I
’m really frugal and I rarely buy myself stuff. But everywhere you go inChina, there’s a mall. I found this one place – Pull and Bear. There are acouple in America, some in Europe, but they’re mostly in Asia. It’s like a slightly more artsy-hipster version of H&M. So I got this sleeveless black shirt with skulls on it that I wore all the time. Also, I got these shorts with They weren’t even on sale, but I just hadtoo. (Unhemmed Magazine can personally attest to how awesome theyare).
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What were your favorite fashion trends in China?
T
he overalls trend was really big. It’s interesting, because I had such a narrow experience in Beijing – 9 out of 10 people you see on the street aren’t wealthy at all. It was only when I went to the more Westernized area that I would even come in contact with purposeful fashion. It’s such an international place – all the really developed shopping areas are a mash of foreigners and tourists, so you would see everything. Even the wealthier circles don’t
brands everywhere. Overall, though, it was hard to notice...nothing stuck out to me as a trend. It was like sensory overload, to be honest. A lot of Chinese girls wore, like, trucker hats? What was happening? I don’t know! There were some people dressed like...skat-
this hipster population within the new wealthy population – stuff you see in any Western country. People I saw in Beijing’s equivalent to SoHo looked just like Brown students, trend; they’re just all about with their oversized pants the brand names, Western and big glasses. I had to
write a movie review on the new rich second generation called fuerdai. It’s like Gossip Girl meets Sex in the City meets everything. It speaks a lot to the current state of affairs in China. These kids are wearing designer duds and their parents, who are now big CEOs and such, had to question whether they would have food for dinner when they were children. There’s just such a juxtaposition between the generations.
What are your top fashion picks for the fall - Your favorite trends in general? I don’t own much nice menswear, but I’m a sucker for really crisp, puttogether menswear. Well-kept men wearing desert boots. That J.Crew look dressed some. Something a little preppy. I really wish suspenders would come back in style, but it’s just not a thing.
S
olid color button down-blazer-khakis-desert boots-and my favorite accessory, this crazy gold chain pendant I got from a women’s store in the mall!
Current Obsessions:
Clothing:
This really awesome bro tank that says “girls all summer”. I wear it all the time, ironically. But people that don’t know must think I’m such a douche.
Book:
Atlas Shrugged. I’m also reading Twilight in Chinese.
Film:
I just saw Gravity. One of the sinriences of my life.
Brown hangout:
Starbucks all the time. No doubt. I love all the baristas. They write me fun messages on my cups. It’s the only place I can get work done.
Future travel destination:
Right now, completely excluding China since I’ll likely end up there many times, London. I met this British boy in China who invited me to visit and I’ve never been to Europe, so when I graduate..
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THE UNEVEN
TRANSITION OF SEASONS By Katlelyn Kondra
A
arrived at Brown University. Just as the elm leaves transition from gradations of green to seasonal reds and oranges, tropical sundresses and shorts fade while brilliantly colored scarves and jackets emerge. Yet there are still those who refuse to giveup summer travel-wear. They boldly brave the imminent weather shift, like evergreens evading color change. The interplay of multiple temperatures throughout the day sometimes requires a snow storm in the morning, and Tahitian print shorts underneath of each Brown student. They weave for the afternoon sun. Watching the intermixed wardrobes at this time of sition that complements, rather than year parade through Brown’s cam- clashes, beautifully. brings a smile to my face. These out-
Punk Fashion
T
he French have Bastille Day, fashion has Punk. Fashion has always aimed to be new and revolutionary, but the truly amazing thing about the Punk era was that it was a complete rebellion; people turned to clothing to show their rejection of mainstream music and culture. Clothing was ripped in protest of consumerism, then pinned up with safety pins. Anything could be used as material for clothing, even garbage bags. Things that were taboo, like sex and S&M were brought into the open with leathused punk to rebel against the stereotypical idea of femininity by wearing “unfeminine” clothing, or pairing things such as heavy boots and frilly pink skirts. It was ugly, it was meant to shock, to show a refusal to conform. Hair colors and body piercings were also used as the 1970’s with the Punk rock musicians who by the people, and then followed by designers. The people dictated trends. Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren founded what SEX, which sold clothing catered to this style. Westwood went on to become a celebrated English designers, known for her outlandish and punk style, she incorporated the aesthetic into her high fashion looks, with the trash bag gowns and artistically rendered looks. The Met named this show Chaos to Couture; which led me to believe I would be seeing a glorious visual history of this time, beginning with early street clothes, and then incorporation of punk into high fashion. I was
disappointed. It started out with a few controversial tee shirts, and some leather jackets, but then the clothing became exclusively ostentatious gowns that maybe had something to do with an aspect of Punk. There was no chaos in this exhibit. There was nothing really shocking from the birth of this important fashion by bands, only high fashion. After that one bit of chaos the exhibit was categorized into ‘things punks liked.” Punks liked spikes and metal, so there was a display of gowns, some ti, and there was a room with clothes covered room’ by Alexander McQueen, from his 1999 collection, which yes had paint sprayed onto it but the collection it came from had nothing to do with Punk; it was just taken out because it were even taken from fairly recent collections, and from non-British designers. Understandably, this is done to show how Punk fashions permeated the entire world, how they can be seen in the mostcouture houses, and even in recent collections (the last rooms showed garments from recent collections that were Punk-ish), which is fantastic, but almost the entire exhibit was showing that one aspect. I would say 85% of it had to do with Punk in couture culture, and only 15% dealt with origins and the original shocking and ugly, yet beautifultimes of Punk. It was a theme. Punk was treated like a little theme that was picked up by designers and then thrown away, I could imagine some wealthy women wearing a 1998 black Gianni Versace gown, opened and ‘chaotically’ held
FASHION
together with gold pins, saying “Don’t I look so punk? Just like those street rats.” The tragically ironic thing is that mostof the garments directly played into the materialism and consumerism that punk was against. Punk was really more of a trend for the people, and not even a trend, a way of life for those who didn’t
beautiful gowns, and what really made the era so great but there were none of them, not even clothing musicians wore to originate the idea. Punk was like a battle against the world, the clothes punks wore were their armor against the judgment they received for being an individual, but this revolutionist idea was taken out. Rather, with their society, people who we see a pleasant compromise were against the materialism, between Punk and High Fashpeople who would never wear a ball gown. Going into cou- a beautiful show, its garments ture breaks the original point of were pure works of art, but what Punk. The original aims includ- Punk represents is more impored to shock and amaze, to make tant than what its aesthetic or you afraid of what individuals characteristics were. We don’t could do when banded together. see that when it’s incorporated It was never about the fashion, it into High Fashion, which is rewas about individualism; it was ally why this show was generally a message to spread through the a let down. We don’t see a strugworld. But that message was left gle, don’t understand that there out of the Met. was a good reason for punks to t was not an ab- rebel against their society. There solutely terri- was no meaning behind the ble show, it just gowns, it was stripped away with missed the point. A the inclusion into couture,so better name could much that the really amazing have been Pretty gowns that were displayed in Punk or just Punk the exhibit are actually reduced Couture. The street to just fabric. styles of Punk were what inspired those
I
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World Travel as Inspiration for Fashion Designers Ryan Rosenberg
F
or fashion designers, travel can However, arguably the most raw be an explosive catalyst for in- and imaginative collections are drawn spiration. Whether deemed an from less prescribed experiences. Anna Laub, founder and creative director of spontaneous personal journey, travel can Prism, cites discovering vintage silk while unravel innovative culture, unknown his- lost in Tokyo as her Ah-ha moment. Laub tory, and cuisine-based discoveries. said of her adventure, “I got lost trying Through the CFDA’s Fashion In- to take a shortcut one day on my way to cubator Program, designers are given a a meeting—there are hardly any street chance to choose a world destination to names, so you better have a good sense explore as inspiration for an upcoming of direction if you try and take shortcuts! collection. Women’s wear designer Dan- —But it was a serendipitous wander beiel Vosovic ventured to Istanbul, Turkey cause I found this amazing vintage kimowhere he lost himself in thousand-year- no store and ended up spending hours old mosques. Stain glass windows and searching through fabrics and kimonos.” hand-woven rugs at local markets inPerhaps one of the most astonishspired his textile designs. Vosovic said in ing high fashion collections based off - of a personal travel journey occurred in ful trip! When I returned I put everything Rodarte’s Fall 2010 collection. Designon my inspiration board which... helped ers and sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy me digest the whole experience. I’m sure drove from Marfa, Texas to El Paso, Mexia modern interpretation of patterns and coin a unique exploration of their own color combinations will make themselves Mexican background. The spooky and known in the new collection...it’s still seemingly abandoned border town of very much a work in progress.” Ciudad Juárez particularly infatuated Similarly, lingerie designer Arielle the sisters. The dreaminess of the town Shapiro of Ari Dein traveled to St. Pe- led them to the notion of “sleepwalking tersburg and Moscow. She was mesmer- between worlds.” This idea is abstractly ized by the Russian ballet and historic indicated through the collection’s use of architecture. Dein said of her trip, “the patchwork, soft, dreamy textures, and AzFabergé egg is a perfect metaphor for [St. tec prints. Petersburg], and lends itself very well to Whether a destination planned a lingerie collection where the most im- to inspire, or an accidental stroll down a portant details are sometimes hidden un- street with no name, world travel is a rederneath.” Often for a designer, creative markable way to get the mind wandering motivation is the intention of travel down its own path towards creativity.
SHOQASE
A
ndy Chan and Gabriel Filsinger are sitting in in the SciLi lounge as I look around and spot them. It’s 11:30 on a Sunday evening, yet they seem up and attentive, and actually begin this interview by asking me a few questions about my virtual menswear habits. Fast-forward an hour later and I have pages full of material on their exciting social networking fashion start-up, Shoqase. Take a peek into the world of twoof Brown’s most hardworking and stylish
necting with them to build us and some similar sites one big database of really is that we are not focused on selling the item or even interesting designs.” promoting a brand, but Q: And how far are you rather creating a personal space to exhibit one’s style. now? We started at the end Sure, you can link to the of sophomore year, so product online, but its not about one year ago. We necessary. We do however planned and drew on paper encourage tags and adding for a long time, then really a story behind each prodgot into it, and started do- uct.” ing the coding and building the site. We spent winter break here coding and building and Andy took the spring semester off. We got some testers on buzz is all about. board and now we part of Brown VenQ: How did this all start? It started with looking ture Labs, and just for a backpack. We real-
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cool things on line, especially ones to to get inspired by, and especiallyfor people that don’t come from fashion backgrounds. We basically set out to solve this problem and built a model where people construct velop their own styles online, showcasing them to other users and thus con-
“
users.” Q: So how does the site work? It’s like taking the idea of Instagram and completely focusing on products. Someone takes photos of a product and you are given spacesfor category tags. The real difference though between
“
FASHION
Q: Then how exactly do you monetize the site? We aim to make mon-
are trying to visually and aesthetically go for a Hypebeast style of website and products. In terms of so when a product the users themselves, we reaches certain populararetargeting males who ity level, retailers will be want the product of their able to bid on advertising search efforts to actualslots for it. Analytics are lybe something practical another part of it. On the and useful in their lives. back endwe can see where For products, we want just trends are coming from stuff people have a passion and what the next big for but something that is thing is. That information is always valuable in the so we give exposure to fashion industry.” small brands. This would be mostly done through Q. Where are your initial our inspire tab on the investments coming from? page, where we post the Andy’s sister was our featured Shoqase items of primary angel investhe day, so users can check tor, but we have been out what has especially talking to more angels stood out that day on the since then, especially from site.” the startup community and family/friends. Brown Q: Where do you see yourVenture Labs gave us our seed money though.” road? We want Shoqase to be the thing that Q. Who are your target people use for visual users? We are trying to get inspirationand in a way a target of initial useat at what blogs ers right now, mostly and Tumblr/Inspeople who need an out- tagram are doing now. Our secondunique products. After we ary dream is that a buildthat base of people user can connect who are interested in the with another user things that we like, we are whose style he hoping that that initial appreciates and group will serve for what we want in the future. We the world that he
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“ “
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likes; a sort of word of mouth recommendation from someone around the world. “ Q: Is there anything you guys would like to add? I want to stress that I (Gabriel) am a Physics/ Chemisty concentrator. We didn’t want to start a business but rather wanted to help people. Fundamentally it’s just about being able to get inspired by people all over the world. It’s not about direct purchase links. Instead we want to focus on just letting everyday people to tell each other what they thinkis cool and valuable, showcasing what products ity in and endorsing them. In some ways if you take a picture of anitem you own and describe it, you will like that more than if you found it online. You will feel a sense of personal ownership, and that’s what we really want to see.”
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MENSWEAR TAKES ON TOMMYLESS FASHION WEEK S Blistein
N
black summer palette was set off this year by more muted steel and baby blues as well as caramel and mustard.
SUBTLE PRINTS
Designers retreated from
stripes of last year, printing soft colored suiting basics like blazers with faint stripes or plaids. While this is not by any stretch a new style, brands like J. Crew broke tradition by pairing patterned material with your every day t-shirt.
ew York’s menswear community was left with something of a wound
announced a month before Mercedes BenzFashion Week that he would not be showing a mens Ralph Lauren’s numerous labels have long been the leaders of American-made, American-worn style, and Lauren’s absencefrom menswear runway shows has ones to watch each fashion week. pop-up and guerrilla marketing campaigns for his menswear, leavfor top billing in the spring/summer 2014 campaigns. However, many brands had comparable shows with similartrends, despite the loss of a cohesive leader like
DUSKY COLORS
Despite the usual summer tendency to drift towards brights, primaries and even recently neons, most designers kept to heather greys pale yellow, smoky green and the recent favorite, burgundy. The typical cream and
Ernest Alexander
FASHION
S
LONG & LOOSE
o who came out on top,
So maybe you weren’t as comfortable with your ankles as it seemed like every designer wanted you to be last year. No need to worry anymore though, the usually stagnant men’s trouser silhouette has lengthened to hit the top of the shoe again (of course, if you’re all about showing off your socks, cuffs are still in.) Along the same lines (literally), trousers have widened somewhat, giving your legs a bit more breathing room.
large oxfords? There was no clearwinner, but J Crew and DKNY seem naturalfavorites. Of course, the formers’commercialstyling faces stiff competition from themore creative Ernest Alexander and Ovadia and Sons, younger brands who produce without the pressures of nationwide commercial success. Long story short, we’re the winners
ATHLETIC AT THE OFFICE
Continuing a trend from last season, designers again sought to combine business casual with a bit of sport for the day-to-day man, constantly on the go. Achieving this effect seems almost as effortless as it looks, with stylists throwing color-blocked and paneled track jackets and windbreakers over button down shirts, pairing stiff cotton shorts with slip on sneakers, or jeans with brogues.
BACK-TO-BASICS OXFORD
Spring/summer shoes are usually a mess of ugly sandals and boring espadrilles, but this season the leather oxford took over, with contrasting laces and soles in tan or white. Best paired with just about anything, they’ll certainly see a lot of use.
to the scene.)
J-Crew
David Hart
Ovadia and Sons
DKNY
J-Crew
FASHION
Dear Man-at-Brown,
W
elcome back to College Hill. Hopefully, you’ve had a warm summer
tan your exposed skin. But now, as we reenter our most coveted Brunonia, we hold on to the last bits and pieces of our summer wardrobe. The leaves changing colors challenge us to keep up with the shifting seasons. However, wonderful summer accessories. For that reason, I am so thankful that glasses are year-round, whether they’resun glasses, party glasses, or, you know,glasses for seeing. Glasses are a versatile addition to every look and contribute a sigbut they also add maturity and (most importantly) an air of mystery. Everyone wants to have a meaningful conversation with your scholarly self, or try to approach the autumn weather, don’t forget about the enchantment of glasses. To achieve whatever message you’re trying to express with your latest fall fashion, check out these experts.
Lucas Johnson ‘15
Stay Fresh, Orlando Rodriguez
S
Andrew Linder ‘17
FASHION
BRANDON ACTON-BOND: STYLE PROFILE
I
57th street Saint Laurent boutique in the closing days of 2012. As an ardent disciple of Hedi Slimane’s, I was eager to see his new collection for Saint Laurent, the in six years following a hiatus from fashion. Even though when I got there I saw that the clothes were not in stock yet, I happened upon a sales associate named Brandon, who has proven to be the most engaging conversationalist on the topic of fashion I have ever encountered. I would spend hours upon hours at the store, talking to him about the brand and its designs, but also nese fashion. What follows is a glimpse into the world of Brandon Acton-Bond. Enjoy.
What have you done in fashion and what do you want to do? Your personal and professional fashion experiences? I sort of fell into fashion foray into the industry was a paid design internship in New York at what would become Reed Krakoff (a subsidiary of Coach.) While I was there I started sketching footwear for fun and eventually worked up the courage to take it to the head footwear designer who encouraged me to get my MFA.
New York felt right, and because I had never really felt at home anywhere else before I decided to stay instead of going back to London to study Art History at UCL. The company was still Coach at the time and to be honest it was pretty horrible... just the atmosphere. The creative people there comprised about 10% of the company and you could spot them a mile away. It was a stressful introduction to fashion. One night, I was having dinner with a friend, this older lady, who was asking about how stressed out I was. She asked if I had ever heard of Issey Miyake and she said, “Well I’ve been wearing his clothes for the last 30 years and I love it. You should go down to the store, say hi and have a look at it.” So I did. I went to the store in Tribeca and they were very nice even though I explained I just wanted to have a look. They explained all the processes involved in making all these technical pieces and garments developed by Miyake and his engineering designer. I was totally blown away. She let me try
put on a garment and you feel it just speaks to your soul, I put it on and I looked at myself in the mirror and it was just 100% me. I was in awe of these incredible garments and was wearing them in new ways, things that boys had never tried on. While I was working in the industry I obviously fell in love with Issey Miyake and Japanese designers and culture in general, that was what kept me in it. They were some of the only people that I felt captivated by and I realized that was because of the intelligent things they were doing with design and the visual culture within that world.
I later managed to get an internship in the press department of Issey Miyake. So I went from Coach, to Miyake, which has this niche operation I put on was this brown apoc in the USA, to Alejandro Infringe jacket, which is one of gelmo, my favorite things in the world. like...that moment where you
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which was literally a startup. I felt like I really mattered there, I felt like I could make a difference. During that time I ended up going to FIT for accessories design, and there my enjoyment of footwear design basically died. Since leaving I have not designed a single shoe. I was su-
I put it on it was like... that moment where you put on a garment and you feel it just speaks to your soul, I put it on and I looked at myself in the mirror and it was just 100% me.
Laurent actually came out of the blue, right when Hedi Slimane’s appointment as the new creative director was being announced. I had just been admitted to Bard and I took the job at Saint Laurent to save up for tuition. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back into the industry, just es. Maybe fashion is a part of me, but I don’t think I want to be in the industry, I don’t know what I want. I wanted to be around people that were thoughtful. I think there are more important things going on in the world right now, and I don’t think the industry feels right for me, but who knows what will happen to me in 4 years. How has your interest in fashion collaborated or clashed with your academic aspirations? How are community there?
I was waitlisted initially and so I went up there and arranged an appointment with the head of transfers, just to have a chat about my options. I also brought with me my design portfolio and the museum catalogue for this exhibition in London called Future Beauty: 30 Years of premely unhappy; the school is basically for the Japanese Fashion. Japanese designers don’t ofnext Michael by Michael Kors assistant designer. ten talk to the media or advertize so there’s not I used school only to gain technical skills like much information, which is why I really felt this textile design, and since the digital print revolution was really starting to take hold those classes have proven to be the most relevant from my time at FIT. It was at that time that the people I went to highschool with were graduating from their universities in England, and I remember sitting at Alejandro Ingelmo one summer day when there wasn’t much to do, and remembering my old art history lessons and how I had felt stimulated in ways that I hadn’t in the last three years. That’s when I knew I wanted to go back to school and have a proper intellectual education. After Alejandro Ingelmo, I took a full time job doing e-commerce at Kirna Zabete, which I thought would be a good skill to have, but I ended up working there for less than a year. There’s not much else to say about it. The job at Saint
show was important and unique. We talked for an hour and a half at a picnic table about why I wanted to go back to school and leave the fashion industry. I explained that I wore this stuff because to me there is a higher thought in the Comme des Garcons, Yohji Yamamoto, and Issey Miyake designs, and this person had no idea about any of this. He was completely amazed to see me and the way that I dressed, he could tell that I was someone who really thought about this stuff and really thought that it was important.
that I’m taking academically. I’m became so much more important when last winter there was with a concentration in Gender this girl in India who had died of and Sexuality Studies. I’m also injuries she received from being gang raped. I was suddenly very taking Japanese. The more I experimented with aware of this and began learnthe way I wore my clothing the more it became a challenge for me. The drop waist trouser came
jeans. Until now it’s skirts and things like that, and I’m not wearing them because I identify myself as a cross dresser or transexual, it’s kind of like...well at Bard a lot of people asked me why I wear skirts, and everybody here is so intelligent and wants As a student of art history, do you to discuss things so my clothes - are a nice entry point into those kinds of discussions. Where do you draw the line? So, you said that you don’t wear To me, not all fashion is skirts because you identify with the art. Not all style is art, but there opposite gender, that it’s more to - generate discussion. Are there other al culture. When you analyze reasons? a painting or a sculpture, the The initial thing I said things that people are wearing are very meaningful. There’s in- was that it was a way of freeing trinsic meaning in it, even when myself, none of it really matters, it’s not intended, it’s there. I’ve but at the same time it’s all so spent all these years trying to important. A strange dichotomy. get meaning from these shows and this fashion, and I feel like gradually as I wore skirts more I had been kind of practicing vi- often I became aware of the sual analysis, on what was to me way I saw women. Even in New an art form for a long time. Art York you get looks, there is this History was something I was al- double standard that a woman ways supposed to do, but I really can be empowered by wearing a wanted to be able to gain a better male garment simply because it’s way of expressing myself, a better a male garment, but its still taboo way of analyzing everything that for a man to wear female clothI see, not just art and fashion. ing because it’s almost like “why That’s why I decided to go back would you give away your powto school and leave the fashion industry. The way that I dress has or disturbing, people certainly very much dictated the direction don’t voice that to me. This all
ing more about rape culture. The skirt became a symbol of that and was all of a sudden like a weapon to me. I felt this great need to...I don’t have much power but there is power in the way that I dress, it is almost like a tool and I can use it that way. I like the idea that, without too much thinking you can get a lot of people to think. At least that’s what I hope I’m doing, I’m not sure that they’re thinking the way that I want them to think, but at least it’s getting them to think. Scratching away the surface that everything is the same. I don’t like any of the attention that I get for the way that I dress, but it’s there. The punk exhibition at the Met for example, exhibited this sort of mass consumerism that I felt com-
FASHION
pletely missed the mark on the original intentions of the movement. I wouldn’t dare to call myself punk, but I feel that I have a punk spirit in that I’m not okay with the status quo right now, I think it’s really fucked up. I can’t feel that it’s okay that to go to H&M or ZARA or Walmart and buy something with some kind of embroidery on it because it is made by children, you can’t get that kind of price without fucking someone over. The one thing that really struck me as I started studying Art History was the preciousness of every object that people used to own. Our clothing is made to be thrown away, it’s not made to last, people don’t want it to last they want it to change all the time. There’s no sub- there’s this sense that we’re losing our culture stance to the things that we consume, even the and for what, Abercrombie and Fitch? Nationfood that we consume. It’s very little and it’s alities can hold people back. very sad. Why are you so attracted by Japanese designers and Where did your interest in fashion begin – is there culture? an image or moment when it all happened? Did travel have anything to do with it? They take things and they think about it but they don’t think about it in the same On one hand I’m very lucky to have the way, they’ve taken in American consumerism upbringing that I did. I was born and raised in and work habits and taken those to extremes. Hong Kong then I lived in London for 11 years, You must have as much money as possible, evand then I lived in New York. Three of the great- erything is expensive etc., but I think the new est cities in the world, but I’m not from Hong generation is opening up more. If I lived in anKong, I’m not English, and I’m not American. I other country and I was looking at other counwouldn’t say that I have a nationality that I can tries and cultures and seeing about how I could make it my own I would be very cautious about it can be lonely. There are more and more of how I did that. these Third culture people (as we’re called.) It also means that you focus a lot more on yourself, you’re not constrained by your identity. So I feel lucky in that sense that I don’t have I’ve been interested in Japan and Japagoing to have a nationality no matter where I nese culture since I was a 12 year old aviation live. Obviously growing up in Asia immediately geek and I always wanted to go there. Fashion gave me a sort of understanding of the world, was a wonderful and easy entry way for me that it’s full of so many religions, cultures, back- to look at it and learn about it. I had always grounds, economies, gender politics etc. and thought that the aesthetics of the country were - stunning. Nothing can take its place in terms of tremely westernized society. Global homogene- the aesthetics, no where else in the world is like ity is depressing. I’m all for the idea of people it. Tokyo to me felt almost more like Paris than borrowing with respect from other cultures, but it did another Asian city. Japaneseness is so in-
trinsic in everything, it’s involved in everything. Every little thing is thought about, and I love that idea. I look around New York right now and I wish there was maybe some attention being paid to the fact that we’re destroying the soul of the city with our carelessness. Who is your favorite designer? Rei Kawakubo (of Comme des Garcons) is my favorite designer, but it depends on how I feel at any given day or moment. If I am in the mood to wear Miyake, although I slowed down wearing him when I was at Saint Laurent because I couldn’t be so open, I had to be guarded. Miyake’s mother died after the Hiroshima bombing, he saw all of that and wanted to create joy after seeing the destruction. People don’t want that though, they want pain and armor. Sometimes I feel a reputation here for pushing boundaries in that way. So sometimes I like to screw with people and just dress super sim-
ply. But it’s never truly as simple as it looks. The way that I organize my closet is by the pieces that are real pieces of design in one section and I try to grab from that everyday. It’s made to be worn. I’m not precious with the things that I wear, sometimes in a way that questions gender and other times I dress as my own gender. I like to pair a Comme des Garcons plaid skirt and a band t-shirt, a dichotomy of extreme high design and an American Apparel hoodie. High design paired with a normal more mass produced piece. I stress layering all the time and I don’t tend to have much method to my madness, but I am usually grabbing more things depending on how cold it is.
FASHION
express it. I honestly don’t think I’ve spent more than anybody my age who shops regularly, because I save up all of my money for certain pieces, only collecting things that speak to me and of me, creating a wardrobe of old friends. Jewelry; to me I think it’s the hardware of your style. One of my favorite pieces is a Navajo bracelet from my grandmother. Your jewelry should be as important as tattoos, they will last longer than any garment. Wear any piece as if it were sweatpants, these just garnish who you are. Don’t be afraid to go into stores, to talk to the sales associates and tell them you’re just interested in What are some style tips you have for our readers? Pair an interesting piece with a more mass pro- the design. People appreciate people that appreciduced normal piece, like a hoodie, Nike sneakers, ate the clothing. Very few people that can actually or a band shirt. Really shitty things with really in- afford the stuff appreciate it. Geek out about it but don’t put it on a pedestal, credible things. there are more important things. Layering What music do you listen to? Layering Crystal Stilts Layering White Fence Gold Panda Never give a shit. Zero 7 Bach You have to fail as well Turnip King in order to get better, Jacuzzi Boys you can never be perDead Kennedys fect all the time so wear Washed Out what you like and look The Shivers terrible and fail and try Janeck Schaefer Dirty Bushwick disco house rap – Pictureplane your own style, you’ll (when angry or need to feel alive) When it doesn’t, if you make someone smile that’s great too; not many people have the chance smile Who are your favorite artists? nowadays. To me its just a game that you can’t lose. The Expressionists, Klimt, Mondrian, Rothko, Stop buying clothes for a while. Go on a fast. Look John Chamberlin, and most things of the Victoat what you have and purge for a bit. Be slow about rian Age it. When you put something on and you really feel something about it then buy it. Be really thought- Would you describe your own style as international? ful about what you’re buying, if you’re thrifting I would describe it as “international bag lady” but hopefully it has more substance buy as much as you like though. Save. eBay, etsy, Rakuten, Yahoo!Japan, mbok, etc. - How many pieces do you have in your collection? Around 300 items including shoes and bags.
Quick Questions
FASHION
thing you could take what would it be? I wouldn’t be able to choose, I would probably burn in there myself or decide it’s gone and will have to start again. I would also be wearing like 20 things as I was escaping.
sale and bought two of the most amazing cashmere sweaters, for $60 each. The last thing I bought was a $30 perfecto at a Goodwill up here. Yohji coat – most expensive, retail price was around 8 or 9 thousand, I got it for like 95% hibition of me. I wore it when the tsunami happened in 2011 because white is the color of mourning in Japan.
What dead or fantasy celebrity would you swap clothes with? Wardrobe of a jedi, as they are very inspirational to me. Princess Amedala would be another, and maybe Queen Elizabeth and Favorite places to shop? Beacons Closet or Urban Jungle in BushQueen Victoria wick If I had all the money in the world then Favorite accessory that isn’t an accessory? Headphones. They are a means of escape Comme des Garcon’s from many things, and another thing that I have to say though, lack of money is a tool, brings me down to earth and makes me use it well more approachable. If you were to write a fashion manifesto , what What are your favorite blogs? Do you have one? would your opening sentence be? I used to read a lot of blogs, but I don’t have Be uncomfortable mentally but comfortable the time anymore. latter Style is a favorite, physically. and Style Bubble got me into layering. She’s very on the pulse of things, always putting up What are some style tips you have for our readnew designers. Other people’s style is gen- ers? erally not an inspiration to me, I get more Good design, true design does not go out inspired by feelings. I also like Stylelikeu. I of style, you can’t destroy or copy a good like the fact that it’s a dialogue/discussion, thought. It’s forever. and they are lovely people who focus a lot on the intrinsic values of fashion. They gave The quote “Comme des Garcons is a gift to oneself, not something to appeal to or to My blog is Feigned Perfection. I like Tumblr attract the opposite sex” (Rei Kawakubo) is a lot though, especially when it’s a mix of perhaps the ultimate consumerism. paintings and sculpture and video and art and fashion from 90s and 80s. I love the randomness of it all. My tumblr is so random Feigned Perfection: Thought Catalogue. Cheapest and most expensive pieces of clothing? Cheapest – Undercover sweater at Beacon’s Closet, its a sweater going through a sweater, and it cost $10. In Hong Kong I went to a Versace sample
Illustrations by Camille Coy
BEAUTY
BEAUTY AROUND THE GLOBE International students tell us about their favorite products from home By Jennifer Morgan ’14 and Lindsey Hassinger ‘16
RIGZOM WANGCHUK THIMPHU, BHUTAN
Year:
2014.5
PRODUCTS:
Concentration: Economics
What she misses most about Bhutan:
“The food! But more than that, I also really miss wearing my nationcostume. In Bhutan it’s completely normal for me to walk around wearing it.”
Favorite beauty tip from home:
Programme at home and studied abroad in Cape Town – Rigzom is quite the international force of nature. When she isn’t studying economics, she’s getting involved with the environmental movement or planning her future in international policy and law. With such a global focus, it’s no surprise to us that Rigzom spent two years studying at the United World College in Hong Kong before Brown, and helped organize a Global Entrepreneur Fair in Thimphu during her semester off. While Rigzom admits Bhutan doesn’t produce much makeup, she does have many favorite products from Asia, and likes to stock up whenever she’s home.
al
“My mom taught me that if you use
Fasio liquid eyeliners and mascaras “Fasio is part of Kose – one of my favorite Asian makeup brands. They make amazing eyeliners, especially liquid, and nice mascaras and ucts, as they’re only sold in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand!”
line on your lids.”
K-Palette 1-Day Tattoo Eyeliner “I use this on my lower lids to wing out my liner.”
How lucky we are at Brown to have one of Bhutan’s 750,000 citizens. Recently back from a year away – where she interned with the United Nations Development
Oriental Princess Brilliant White Liquid Foundation “Oriental Princess foundations blend nicely into your skin. The brand also makes good shower gels, deodorants, and creams.”
can dip it in liquid eyeliner and
KTC Pure Mustard Oil “In Southern Bhutan, it’s really popular to heat up mustard oil, mix it with spices, and use it on your skin as a mask.” Virani Gram Flour “Paired with turmeric, we use scars and restore skin. Instead of washing it out, you get a bucket of hot water and let the rising steam melt off the mask.”
BEAUTY
NADA HAMZAH JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA
family and traveling around the Middle East.
PRODUCTS:
JASMINE BALA CALCUTTA, INDIA
Kohl eyeliner Kohl lining techniques are particularly popular in the Middle East and Asia, where women have been using charcoal to line their eyes for centuries.
PRODUCTS:
Ahava Dead Sea Salt Softening Scrub
Year: 2016
Concentration: Undecided
living near the Dead Sea - “whenever a relative is traveling in Jordan, we ask her to bring back Dead Sea sand to use as a body or face scrub,” she says – those of us on the other side of the Atlantic will have to settle for this body exfoliator.
What she misses most about Tom Ford Oud Wood Eau de Parfum Many European brands are using Saudi Arabia: oud – also known as agarwood – “The food, but I also really miss the beach and being able to tan. I love watersports.” Favorite beauty tip from home: “When our eyes are puffy, we soak cotton balls in cold black tea and then place them over our eye to reduce swelling.” Buxton resident Nada Hamzah is in a unique position to share her culture with the Brown community: as a TA for Arabic, she can talk with fellow students about her language and life in her home country. Nada also loves Zumba, and last year she was a part of Brown’s cheerleading squad. Because Ramadan happened this past July, Nada spent a large part of her summer celebrating the holiday with
scents in their perfumes to attract Arab customers. Dior Diorshow Mascara “Lipstick is not super popular a lot of eye makeup. Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, and MAC are some really popular Western brands… The most popular look these days is to use bronzing products on the body, while using lightening creams on the face against extremely dark eyes.”
Bakhour & mabkhara In Arabic, bakhour refers to fragrant woodchips that are burned for special occasions or to perfume one’s home. Most often, bakhour chips are burned in a mabkhara, the censer traditionally used throughout the Middle East and Turkey.
bank and worked for a women’s rights NGO. While she’s not entirely sure about post-graduation plans, for now she thinks she may
Year: 2016
Concentration:
Economics and English
What she misses most about India: “I really miss
Kohl sticks for the eyes Jasmine was quick to note that kohl sticks are a vital aspect of an Indian women’s beauty routine. (Lord & Berry, a boutique beauty brand on the rise, is headquarted in Warwick, Rhode Island.)
Turmeric cream Turmeric creams are popular in South Asia for their restorative and healing properties.
the weather. It’s nice and sunny at home, and while it rains at times, it’s really pleasant. I’m a summer person.” Favorite beauty tip from home: “I was always taught that to make your hair naturally, you should put milk curd in your hair and leave it in so it washing it off.” Unhemmed Fashion Features Editor and model Jasmine Bala is about ten feet tall and one hundred percent gorgeous. But she’s not only interested in fashion: on campus, Jasmine is also the Politics Editor at Bluestockings Magazine, and involved with Women in Business. Last summer, Jasmine interned at home with an investment
Tulsi “To take advantage of tulsi, you crush the leaves and apply the also good for drinking.” [Editor’s note: tulsi is also known as holy basil.]
Lakmé Cosmetics “Many Western brands are popular in India, including MAC and Chanel, but Lakmé is also really popular,” says Jasmine. Founded in 1952, Lakmé is India’s largest cosmetics company.
BEAUTY
VIOLET RUKAMBEIYA DAR ES SALAAM, TANZ
for two years before coming to Brown, and plans to stay in the U.S. after graduation to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Boston. Throughout her time on campus, Violet has mentored refugees through the BRYTE tutoring program, and served as a Women’s Peer Counselor for two years. Although Violet primarily uses American beauty products, her cousin owns a salon in Tanzania, and keeps her updated on many of the trends back home.
Iman Cosmetics According to Violet, many Tanzanians love Gucci and MAC products, but Iman Cosmetics are also remain popular. Created by Somali supermodel Iman, the
STELLA LIU
SHANGHAI, CHINA
Year: 2014 Concentration: Public Heath and Economics What she misses most about Tanzania: “The food! But I also miss the culture there and my family. I miss the beautiful beaches there as well.” Favorite beauty tip from home: Violet suggested eating unprocessed, healthy foods and drinking lots of water. Most of her native beauty products are actually made from natural oils and healthy foods.
Kiehls Olive Fruit Oil Nourishing Shampoo “Many of my hair products are made from olive oil. Cocoa butter, shea butter, sheer coconut oils, and lemongrass soap are also popular in Tanzania f”
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT o call Violet Rukambeiya elegant would be an understatement. For her interview, she answered the door wearing a bright blazer with traditional African print and long black dress underneath. While Dar es Salaam is her home, Violet attended boarding school in New Mexico
Avocado conditioners “I condition my hair with a mixture of avocados, honey, and garlic. It makes my hair extremely soft and shiny.”
T
Baobab oil “Baobab oil is also becoming more popular. We often eat the seeds at home because they have many restorative health properties.”
Made in Taiwan, these facemasks come in adorable packaging and are made with a variety of ingredients for all skin types. Stella’s favorites include the Rose Water Hydromask, the Black Pearl Whitening mask, and the Marine Collagen Resilience Lift Mask.
Year: A.B. ’13, Sc.M. ’14 Concentration: A.B. Economics, Sc.M PRIME
geared exclusively toward women of color.
Pond’s Pure White Deep Cleaning Cleanser
PRODUCTS:
Many natural products are used in Tanzania. Cocoa butter, sheer coconut oils, lemongrass soap, and shea butter are used to keep skin and hair healthy and strong.
PRODUCTS:
Whitening creams and cleansers are prevalent in East Asia, where women consider paleness a beauty ideal. What she misses most about Shanghai: “I miss the food the most! Especially the desserts and tea.” Favorite beauty tip from home: “It’s really important to eat properly in order to balance the body and improve your skin - cucumbers, tomatoes, baby carrots, lots of veggies. It’s not only what you apply externally to your skin but also what you put in your body.”
Inoherb Cosmetics Based on natural Asian medicine ingredients, the Inoherb line makes a variety of face, eye, and other skincare products. “The Bamboo Charcoal mask is really deepcleaning,” Stella says.
Although is Stella Liu is currently working towards a Management and Entrepreneurship, you probably already knew her as one of the most charismatic and outgoing members of the Class of 2013. After transferring to Brown from NYU’s Stern School of ity and got involved with Class Board. During her senior year, Stella served as AXO’s Social Chair and also held a position on the Brown Investment Group’s Executive Board. After leaving College Hill in the spring, Stella plans to work for J.P. Morgan in New York.
Tsubaki Shiseido’s Tsubaki hair care line contains extracts favorite. Stella uses their Shining Hair Mask treatment. Six God Perfume “It’s my favorite because it used to be a really popular product among celebrities, and it has a lot of herbs and mint from Chinese medicines. If you smell it, you instantly feel refreshed. It also helps the summer.”
The result is minimalist, unexpected, and reminiscent of milk tea. Notes: osmanthus, tea, apricot, orange, freesia, leather.
by Kaden Lee ’15
UN MATIN D’ORAGE, ANNICK GOUTAL Perfumer Isabelle Doyen sought to capture this composition. Light and beautiful, it sits -
dalwood.
BEAUTY
FRAGRANT TRAVELS
OSMANTHE YUNNAN, HERMÈS Osmanthe Yunnan captures the beauty of Eastern mysticism by pairing the
24 FAUBOURG, HERMÈS An homage to the address of Hermè 24 Faubourg is “an invitation to a
UN JARDIN SUR LE NIL, HERMÈS A sensory stroll along the Nile River, Un Jardin Sur le Nil is “a new translation of freshness.” Like the Nile, the scent is shimmering and full of life. Notes: grapefruit, guava, lotus, bulrush, incense, labdanum.
destination.” Like waking up tel – this scent feels luxurious, pampered, and carefree. Notes: sandalwood, patchouli. BROADWAY NITE, BOND NO. 9 No visit to NYC is complete without a Broadway show, and this is it. Designed to “light up its wearer like Times Square on New Year’s,” Broadway Nite is non-
LIGHT BLUE – DREAMING IN PORTOFINO, D&G A limited edition of D&G’s classic Light Blue, is surprisingly tropical despite its Mediterranean heritage. Notes: lychee, ambrette seed, iris, musk.
a good time. Notes: heliotrope, vanilla, rose, aldehydes, amber, musk. TIMBUKTU, L’ARTISAN PARFUMEUR Perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour was inspired by a trip to Mali to create Timbuktu, a fragrance described by fragrance expert Luca Turin as a “true masterpiece of what, by analogy with nouvelle cuisine, [he] would call nouvelle parfumerie.” This scent is woody and smoky while remaining light and radiant. Notes: vetiver, papyrus, incense, mango, pink pepper, myrhh.
W
hether it’s your grandmother’s house in the French countryside or your favorite restaurant in Shanghai, every place has a unique scent. More than a postcard or souvenir, a scent can transport you to distant lands in the course of a breath. As October comes to a close and winter nears, most of us will be dreaming of getting away. Luckily, you don’t have to book your next vacasimply make a trip to your nearest perfume favorite scent: Sample, sample, sample. Most perfume counters will give you a sample if you ask. Perfumes will change their character over time as they dry on your skin, so it’s important to spend some time wearing it to make sure you know exactly what you’re buying.
SHALIMAR, GUERLAIN Inspired by the timeless romance of Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal, the woman was built, Shalimar is classic, magical, and has remained a bestselling perfume for over 80 years. Notes: bergamot, iris, vanilla, amber.
Take a risk. oriental or zesty vegetal blend the next time you’re out shopping. Tastes change, so don’t be yourself. Be a gender-bender. Who says that girls have to no hard-and-fast rules for what makes a ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’ fragrance. Your scent is your expression. Be bold enough to defy a label if what’s inside the bottle suits you. Don’t take my word for it. Just as a good list of ingredients doesn’t always make for a winning recipe, a perfume’s notes are no guarantee for a yourself.
BEAUTY
Flag Nail Art Tutorial by Tiffany Chang and Michelle Chang, Photographer: Alli Schaaff
4
Fill in any other solid blocks of color thin brush (like the red circle on the
Materials:
Nail polishes in a variety of colors – We recommend bright crème colors, but tailor your choices according to which Thin brush trick. Dotting tool (optional) – Try: Sephora Collection Nail Art Set (includes thin brush and dotting/marbling tool). Toothpicks also may work. Top coat – Try: Sally Hansen Dries Instantly 30-second top coat. Nail polish remover and cotton buds to clean up any messes
5
tails using the thin brush or dotting tool. If needed, touch up any designs.
1
your picks from all over the world, try to vary the colors and search for simple yet striking patterns. We chose Jamaica, the United States, Ireland, the following steps will give you an overview of the general procedure. Paint the base color
2
(green for Jamaica, for example).
3
Using a thin brush, carefully
Watch out for drips – coat the brush with enough nail polish to draw the lines, but not so much that it will cause a mess.
Seal your hard work with a layer of top coat. Use a cotton bud dipped in polish remover to clean up any messes!
6
Madeline By Mo Hy
You w i l l ne e d: • • •
Yellow felt Plain headband Glue gun
1 2 5 6
To start off, cut your felt into 7 circles of equal size and 1 smaller circle that will serve as your base. Fold each larger circle once, and then again to get a petal shape.
3
Snip off the tip.
4
Repeat with 6 remaining larger circles.
Glue 4 of the petals onto the smaller circle of felt. Layer and glue the other 3 on top of the 4 previous petals.
DIY
Feeling uninspired? Channel these three international icons by recreating our interpretations of their headwear.
HALLOWEEN
7 8
Attach your yellow masterpiece to your headband with your glue gun. Frolic in your new fêtefriendly headpiece.
Me d u s a By Mo Hy
You w i l l ne e d : • • • •
Spray paint (optional) Toy snakes Plastic tiara Glue gun
1
Evenly spray paint the snakes and tiara. (We chose gold to inject some glam into our look) Skip this step if you’re going au naturale.
Frieda Kahlo By Morgan Demmler and Mo Hy
You w i l l ne e d: • •
Silk flowers Floral tape
•
Wire cutter/pliers (optional)
1
Choose one of your silk loosely around your head.
2
Secure liberally with
a base. Make sure that your ring stays put; you do not want it unraveling and ruining all of your hard work.
2
Weave the snakes through the tiara as you see fit and glue into place to create a crown of snakes. Use the structure of the tiara to your advantage!
3
Taking your carefully curated
with a general arrangement of how you want the crown to look. Clean up some of the excess leaves and longer stems with the pliers if you want a more polished look.
4
Starting from the back, begin attaching working towards the front from both
3
Turn all the haters into stone.
5
elbow grease.
fect for music festivals, eccentric everyday wear, or a Frieda Kahlo impersonation. Slap on a unibrow with some eyeliner and wear it with pride. If you’re not feeling the unibrow or you want to take it up a notch, try painting your face like a day of the dead sugar skull.
Drac-O’Lantern By Jessica Zambrano
• • • • • •
1 2 3 4 5
You Will Need:
small pumpkin Plastic fangs Small knife Pen Spoon (optional) Googly eyes (optional)
Draw a rectangle on the side of the triangle. The rectangle should be slightly larger than the size of the teeth when they are folded. Use the small knife to carefully cut along the lines of the rectangle.
Clean out the inside of the pumpkin. A small spoon works best for the hard-toreach areas inside the pumpkin!
Fold the vampire teeth and insert them into the hollowed out slot in the pumpkin. The size of the opening may need to be adjusted during this stage, if the size of the rectangle is too small for the teeth. Using a pen or marker, draw eyes on your pumpkin. For you ambitious crafters, glue on googly eyes!
With your Drac-O’Lantern on display, you’re sure to have a fang-tastic Halloween!
ENTERTAINMENT
Lorde:
A Look at the Newest Queen
S
itting pretty on the throne of pop music superstardom, Ella Yelich-O’Connor aka Lorde, is barely old enough to drive. Only 16 years old, the New Zealand native is taking the entertainment world by storm with her radio hits like “Royals” and “Tennis Court,” and this youthful songbird is showing no signs of stopping. But don’t think that Lorde’s age means she’s cultivating some sort of jailbait persona. Au contraire, she emanates a sense of wise-beyondher-years maturity in both her lyrics and performativity. Everything about the singer-songwriter, from her understated style to her mysterious facial expressions to her introspective Twitter account, brings the fresh perspective to the world of music that we’ve been desperately craving. In short, Lorde is just the essence of cool. Getting back to Lorde’s style, it’s immediately apparent that she doesn’t expose her skin or sport absurd, attention-grabbing getups (unlike one particular pop starlet who comes to mind…). Instead, her look is minimalist, incor-
come up with a stage name, I thought ‘Lord’ was super rad, but really masculine—ever since I was a little kid, I have been really into royals. So to make Lord more feminine, I just put an ‘e’ on the end! Some people think it’s religious, but it’s not.” As previously noted, people can’t stop buzzing about Lorde, and it makes perfect sense. This summer, I had the rare opportunity to
her trademark black. Lorde’s understated aestique of the over-the-top, ostentatious lifestyles of contemporary pop stars. That she occasionally embarks on for-
familiar hits like “Tennis Court,” along with debuts of new songs like “400 Lux.” Her energy was calm yet earnest, which is really what’s to be expected of a 16 year-old New Zealander who doesn’t like to smile too much. I was already a
the music industry is not to say that her songs are drab or overly analytical. In fact, much of Lorde’s work is related to a particular subject that has always held a fascination for the teen: royalty. With her many references to “thrones,” “crowns,” and “royals,” Lorde’s music provides some very interesting commentary on the concept of royalty and its presence in both the past and present. Furthermore, Lorde’s stage name was also inspired by her interest in the aristocracy. As she told Vulture, “When I was trying to
show elevated my fandom considerably, as future shows will inevitably do for her other follows. So what’s next for Lorde? Her newest album Pure Heroine dropped recently and is rising on the Billboard charts. And, she is set to debut a new song on the upcoming soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (basically, a who’s who of the biggest artists today). Needless to say, Lorde is certainly living that fantasy.
concert in the United States. As I stood on the NYU haunt on Bleecker Street, I couldn’t help but wonder with great anticipation and anxiety about what I was about to experience. As Lorde emerged onto the stage and launched into her away in the excitement of her musical journey through adolescence. She wore a black maxi dress under a long black vest, drawing little attention to her body and instead emphasizing the music (and her awesomely wild, long brown curly hair).
-Caroline Bologna
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PRESENTING: Brown Motion Pictures and Susan Chen S
usan Chen is ten minutes early to her interview at East Providence’s trendiest café, a place where one must pay $1.25 for an apple: The Blue Room. Seated on one of the awesome armchairs by the window, wearing a cream knit sweater, navy jeans, and a small silver necklace, Susan tells me she feels weird that people want to do an article about her, but is enthusiastic nonetheless. We sit and talk about everything we can in thirty minutes, from Sorpresa, ¡Sorpresa!, to fashion, to the trials of Asian childhood. This being the international issue, Susan is a refreshingly humble about her upbringing and experience. She has been to thirty-seven countries to date and speaks Mandarin and Cantonese. When you ask her where she’s from, she says it’s complicated; her father is a politician in Shanghai and her mother works in Hong Kong, but she calls the UK home, having moved to London at 12 years old. Although she did have an accent, it all but faded when she came to Brown. When I ask her what her favorite place is, she says London. She says she’s “culturally obsessed” with it and spends time with the city just roaming the art galleries by herself. She also worked at Vogue China. Reuniting with school friends in the UK, visiting family in Hong Kong, spending the winter break in India, and getting educated in Rhode encapsulates her: “I feel like I don’t have a home, but at the end of the day, not everyone has this opportunity, so stop being a spoiled bitch.” Susan came to college concentrating in International Relations, but is now doubling with Visual Arts. Art has been a part of her whole life, but she didn’t initially concentrate in VISA because of her “really Asian
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um in the now new and improved BTV, Brown Motion Pictures. She is a Managing Director, part of the integral team that spearheaded the revamping of everything from the name and logo to the newly returned structure. She thinks of art as an escape, and a collaborative one at that. She works really hard at BMP, because what she does allows others the opportunities to direct, produce, act, and make something together. So as I sit in the Blue Room, trying to piece this girl together, I feel like I’m succeeding: traveled, cultured, well-versed in art… but then comes the zinger. She tells me that she is also in Kappa Delta, the new sorority. It doesn’t come as a shock anymore, because we go to a school where that dude down the hall not only plays guitar and rugby, but also tutors kids and juggles on the side. We are all about that multifaceted life. But I remain curious as to why she joined a sorority. Her response is a question: “Did you ever watch Greek?” I didn’t, but she tells me that in boarding school, everyone was intrigued and obsessed with the Southern American Greek culture. “So I wanted to know this side of American culture.” And what does she think of American culture overall? She tells me she hates the consumerism but loves the diversity she’s seen, especially at Brown. Speaking of Brown, I ask Susan to describe its style. “It’s very urban, very grunge, like homeless chic, in the best way.” We all love us some leather and dry shampoo. Her style is different, also in the best way. She loves all things girly, and from asking her to name her style crush (Blair Waldorf) to stalking her Facebook to get a sense of her fashion, I’ve learned that it’s
very distinctive. Her go-to is always a dress, with some tights and boots thrown on. She has a penchant for all things twentieth-century, especially the 1920s. She said three words that need no further explanation: mesh, sequins, and lace. questions:
SC: Chocolate chip cookie. SC: Hemenway’s. I’m obsessed. SC: Cable Car Cinema. SC: Blue Hawaiian. It’s blue and really sugary.
Stornaway
Unicorn. How do you know they’re not real?
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DJ Abe Arambolo
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ou know you know him, that impeccably well-dressed life of the party – literally. Abe Arambolo is one of Brown’s best DJs (if not the best), and you can always count on this New York native to tailor the ultimatesoundtrack to a party. Unhemmed Magazine was lucky enough to sit down and chat with him before he DJs our Fashion Icon party at Viva later this month, talking killer personal style. Unhemmed: When did you start DJing and how did you start? Abe Arambolo: I started when I was in junior high. My brothers are both DJs, and I would just play around with their turntables while I was home. My brother always thought that if I learned at a younger age, I’d be better than him, but I didn’t really start picking up DJing until I was 18. AA: An underage, underground warehouse party in Greenpoint, Brooklyn that my friend put together. AA: It was unexpected--I thought the competition was pretty fair. I wasup against my friends Nick and Tristan, so the competition was pretty eclectic. In general, the student body is large and diverse, so I didn’t know if I would be able to pull in the majority. AA: The foam party during my freshman year that had an attendance of over a thousand people. And everyone was barely dressed (laughs). I think lot of people have a good time. Unhemmed: Who are some of your favorite artists and DJs at the moment? AA: Ryan Hemsworth...I really like what the A$AP Mob has been doing...and a local DJ named Mess Kid. I used to be really into A-Trak and other really big DJs, but they tend to play a lot of rehearsed sets whenever they perform now. I appreciate DJs who are able to create a unique set and create a
night based on the crowd’s reaction. -
ing? AA: Not really – I’d love to DJ in NYC, but it’s kind of a political environment. At big clubs, it’s more about how many tables you sell and how many people you can attract rather than the music that you play. questions, since we ARE a fashion magazine. I think AA: I don’t know, I would say a bit of street wear because I mostly grew up on that. I tend to like things that are slim, tailored, and vibrant.
AA: Not so much other people’s style, but I would nitely drawn me to more fall colors and outerwear. or accessory? AA: and they also tell a story as I continue to wear them, since you never wash raw denim. AA: York City and the Lower East Side. I went to high school in that area and knew a lot of people who worked at boutiques down there. I like the sportswear, urban look.Unhemmed: What’s your next must-have purchase, if you have one?A black on black long-sleeve shirt. As in, a black shirt made of differenttextures and a little bit of leather. I’ve been looking at black a lot these days. Make sure to check out Abe looking stylish as ever and turning tables at Unhemmed’s Fashion Icon party at Viva on October 29! -Minji Cha
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Mvuga Ikinyarwanda:
Unhemmed: What were you doing this summer in Rwanda? Emily Kassie: This was my third summer going to Rwanda in what I was calling a “trilogy of research and projects,” and this was the cumulative portion of my three years there. I was conducting my thesis research, but in addition to that, Jesse and I were making a documentary on the relationship between perpetrators and victims post-genocide. There’s a phenomenon that’d never been researched before, these couples that exist in Rwanda, where the victims marry into the families that killed their own – a really compelling narrative. We went to Rwanda not knowing this is what our documentary would be about…the process of getting to that point was complicated. Jesse Weil: The process was a research experience in itself. There’s a lot of restriction on
there’s a lot of censorship in Rwanda on all levels; the government, within communities, and even on an individual basis, due to the cultural fear of the consequences of speaking out. It was from anyone. EK: The censorship that goes on in Rwanda is, to some extent, necessary. You have a population almost 20 years after the genocide, the majority of which participated in it. Many people still harbor that genocide ideology and want to continue the extermination of anyone against the Hutu power extremism (Tutsi, moderates, any opposing political group). Without censorship, Rwanda could erupt into civil war or genocide again, but
An Interview with Emily Kassie ‘14 and Jesse Weil ‘16
progress to be made in exploring various historical narratives and moving forward as a country. You see, typically, you need to apply 6 months in advance to do research in Rwanda, through the Board of Education, and then you have to stand in front of a board of Moral Ethics – which usually results in not getting permitted to do research. Thankfully, from spending the past two summers in Rwanda and making connections, I was able to receive a letter of permission to pass
all these steps from a government institution called CNLF (The Centre for the Fight Against Genocide). JW: research on hate radio and its effect on genocide, but that’s an area that already has a lot of research. We wanted to do something that isn’t already present in understanding genocide and its aftermath. So after we got to Rwanda, we decided to focus on a case study comparing two families of perpetrators; one in which the fasociety. However, due to some limitations with getting into the prisons, we decided to research intermarriage between perpetrators and victims of the genocide. EK: The documentary consists of three intensive case studies, one marriage in the city of Kigali and two in Eastern rural provinces of Rwanda. family, but they were also childhood sweethearts. There was this amazing moment when we were talking about the key to their marriage, and Beatrice shook her head and laughed, “the bedroom, the bedroom is the key to marriage.” It was an incredibly honest and universal moment. Unhemmed: Emily, what’s so extraordinary about Rwanda that you keep returning? EK: Rwanda is my spiritual home. It’s where I feel the most true to my values, most myself. It’s imagine, but also the greatest amount of love you can imagine. The people there are so special. The connections you make with them are so simple, honest, and pure. You’re accepted for who you are and what kind of compassion and openness you can share with people. Your appearance, background, race, intelligence, and a plethora of other trivial factors are not important there. The factors that can often complicate relations in the western world…they just don’t exist in Rwanda. There’s something magical about being in Rwanda. Every time I go back, something lifts in me, and I’m just happy.
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EK: White people in Rwanda are called Mazungu. I was used to this by now, but Jesse took a different approach. Every time little children would point at him and shout, “Mazungu,” he would just shout it back. There would be hoards of, like, 40 kids following him around in the rural areas. JW: There’s nothing parents worry about for their kids in rural Rwanda. It’s totally acceptable for strangers to play with children there, so I played with them all the time. Of course, some kids were frightened to even see white people if they never had before. But there’s something universal about childhood and fun, and it was really great to connect in that way.
Unhemmed: How was this trip different from your two previous summers in Rwanda? EK: It was really special to bring someone I love to this secret world of mine that nobody else has entered before. It made this summer the most growth and in terms of my relationship with Rwanda. Jesse and I had a long conversation one night, where I said, “part of my responsibility to Rwanda for all that it’s given me is to bring someone else to hear the testimonies and truths that are told here, and then they can let it move them forward with whatever passions they have.” Unhemmed: Jesse, how was traveling to Rwanda for JW: It was something I did to force me outside of my comfort zone, which I knew would inspire me to grow. It was striking, being in a place with such intense circumstances. It forces you to rethink your priorities and perspectives on virtually everything: life, human responsibility, my opinions – I was forced to think critically and ethically by myself, which was amazing. It’s really easy, in terms of major world events, to turn away, especially living in the US where we’re so
geographically isolated. But I was really proud to face such atrocity with open eyes and try to learn from it as much as I could. Unhemmed: How did you adapt to living in Rwanda for a month? JW: The most jarring part of living in Rwanda were the squats – a hole in the ground that you use to go to the bathroom. And the cockroaches were the worst. We had a pretty decked out Rwandan pad, by their standards, but in my opinion it resembled a 1930s New York City tenement. There were cockroaches that crawled over everything in the kitchen, every night – and they were not afraid of human beings. So that was a nightly challenge. Then there were the motos, which are the main mode of travel in Rwanda. They’re motorcycles that are really meant for one person and they drive like crazy people.
Unhemmed: What was the most challenging part of your experience in Rwanda? EK: The most challenging part is dealing with genocide and death every day, because it’s all connected. I’ll explain it in an anecdote. Our translator, a dear friend of mine, is a survivor and orphan of the genocide. He literally watched his family murdered before his eyes. It’s really We would go to memorials and see the skeletons, corpses, and piles of clothes and he would turn to us and say, “that could’ve been me,” and we would just put our arms around him. JW: At one memorial, both our translator and the guide refused to go down to see the bodies with us…the genocide is almost unfathomable to cult experience.
EK: cradling his driver so tight that he couldn’t even breathe.
Unhemmed: What was the most rewarding aspect of the trip? JW: I found everything I learned in Rwanda to be extraordinarily valuable. I’m proud to have put myself in a position where I could learn from other people, see a part of the world that I’ve never been exposed to, and learn a crucial part of our history as human beings.
JW: It’s not appropriate to hold on, you’re supposed to just balance. Trying to communicate with the drivers was fun, though; I would learn just two words and say them again and again.
Unhemmed: Were there any light-hearted moments in Rwanda? EK: Maybe this is time to get to the fun part (laughs)…we crashed a lot of weddings. We
found ourselves at a few different events amidst vibrant groups of dancing Rwandans, so we had a whole lot of fun. We also hiked a volcano together and saw the gorillas! Unhemmed: Do you plan to return soon? EK: After the last three years, I’m exhausted. I love Rwanda and the people there, and I love our big extended family that reaches all across Rwanda is a long-term one, and I don’t see it ending ever. However, in terms of plans to return, I’m taking a break from traveling to East do with my life. But I’m never worried that this was it. I’ll be going back at some point. JW: I hope I’ll go back one day. More than anything, this trip has opened my eyes to the rewards and joys of seeing the world and travelling. I’ve traveled a lot with my parents, but this was a very different experience. Unhemmed: Do you think your time at Brown had any impact on your experience in Rwanda? Or vice versa? EK: Ehn took me with him. I was on a grant to make tions and explored my own questions, but in his company. Brown literally brought me there in student and a student of Rwanda have informed person. Brown’s capacity for interdisciplinary work and support for close connections between professors and students is really what allowed me to study Rwanda. I’ve taken classes across the board in anthropology, political science, IR, sociology – and they have all helped me understand what happened in Rwanda. My peers’ passion for study has also inspired me to apply that thoughtfulness to my own research. JW: The reason I love Brown is because it enables students to be open-minded and explore intellectually. And I think that’s what Rwanda was for me – an adventure. I didn’t know much about the history of Rwanda before going; my understanding was limited, but I wanted to do it
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as an opportunity to try something new, a quality duced to someone like Em, clearly a product of Brown, I never would have been there. However, the way I’ve approached the Brown community this year. I’ve started voicing issues that I don’t think are being heard, and Brown is an excellent place for that. It’s been a wonderful change. Unhemmed: Describe your Rwandan experience in 5
words or less. EK: Dusty-roads, love amidst incomprehensible evil. JW: Intense, enriching, “Mvuga Ikinyarwanda” (I speak kinyarwanda)
Emily and Jesse’s documentary will hopefully be ready to screen in April 2014, so keep your eyes open.
-Marissa Bergman
JENNIFER AVERY
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AMANDA LEE
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EVAN SILVER
AMANDA LEE
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JULIA BORDEN
ONEYBUCHI UDOZORH
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ONEYBUCHI UDOZORH
EVAN SILVER
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SOPHIE DUNCAN
ONEYBUCHI UDOZORH
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JULIA BORDEN
ONEYBUCHI UDOZORH
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AMANDA LEE
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SOPHIE DUNCAN
EVAN SILVER
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JULIA BORDEN
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AMANDA LEE
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Featured Artist: Julieta Cárdenas ‘14
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obbly and suburban-girl paranoid, I zipped through an underpass on a borrowed bike in need of oil and arrived at an anonymous brick building settled next to the highway. It was the Tockwotton studio, home to Julieta Cárdenas’ work for her independent study this semester. The space is shared with other artists in addition to engineering students, with whom she loves speaking. “I’ve been wanting to make a collaboration with the arts and sciences because there’s a deep divide between the two on campus that isn’t productive.” and bizarre things - i.e. an old and ominous surgical chair and what seems to be a giant lampshade. A poetic image she offers is of her working in the studio in the morning, even before breakfast, with light coming in through the skylight. I ask for some photos of her for the prochange into something fancy.” She pulls out a lovely black dress with asymmetrical straps from her backpack and dons it in the chicest pair of Crocs I’ve ever seen. Julieta then shows me the two projects she is currently working on. They both involve projection; she’s been interested in projection for a while, but only recently with herself as the performer, which she describes as “new and scary.” What’s most important to her is experiencing her “work almost as a meditation,” meaning achieving a state of mind in which thoughts in language don’t exist and where thoughts are completely nonverbal. dollhouse, two stories tall, with a staircase a window behind the table she projects a black-and-white 25-minute-long video of herself in various acts. The clip she shows me with the projector and dollhouse aligned just so makes it look like she is in the dollhouse throwing plates onto the
dollhouse’s table. In the projection, Julieta continues throwing plates onto the table until it is completely covered. Frustrated when the plates would not behave, she says to them, “Please stay on the table.” What’s interesting, she said, is that they did start staying on the table after she asked them to politely. It is hard to describe how this work makes you feel. It is playful (she is in a dollhouse, after all), but unnerving in a way. The second work Julieta shows me is another projection, this time onto wood, of a video 51-minutes long. She is on a beach making a replica of herself in the sand. She lies in the sand to get the size correct, then makes “sand me” as she calls it. After she’s done, she lies down next to It’s peaceful and silent. This video has no sound. “Why onto wood?” I ask about the projection. She responds, “I have three favorite materials: wood, water, and light.” Julieta has been an artist her entire is no longer permitted. Sometimes she still gets away with it, though, if it isn’t too crowded. She took a class called Hybrid professor Richard Fishman, under whom she is doing her independent study. And after that, she didn’t make art again for two years. “Why’s that?” I couldn’t imagine a Julieta sans artistic expression. She explained that as a freshman, she was decidedly a political science and religious studies concentrator, which is laughable if you know her—she’s an unmistakable creative. She then began taking courses in art history, which she was interested in because she had never learned about art, only “appreciated it as a poetic experience” in museums and the like. She expected these classes to help her with art, but instead, they made her self-conscious—When she came up with an idea, there would be a
“constant dialectic” going on in her head and she would doubt it immediately. “And how did you get back into it?” “I had made art and wrote in my year off. Being geographically distant from school made it easier. I also felt more comfortable making things in my own home and being in New York seeing artwork with fresh eyes. Serendipitously, Richard [Fishwhen I came back to school and we sat in that I wasn’t scared of making art again. He then asked how he could assist me on this journey. I said I needed space and tools and guidance, but that I knew the characters I wanted to give action to. That is how the [independent study] was born.” Julieta is a History of Art and Architecture concentrator in the class of 2014. She is planning on showcasing her work at the end of the semester. We’ll keep you posted on the date and time. Her indepen-
dent study proposal, including an excerpt from her novel, is below: I feel it has been the case that the words madness, hysteria and the mystical have in many ways lost their power when spoken. They have been discounted as lesser areas of study vis-a-vis the historical feminization of their status as a potential study and also through the impersonal matrices of medical diagnosis and critical theory. It is my belief that Art History has politicized female performance artists partially due to the assumption that performance is for the public. This is something that I would like to challenge. I do not want to concern the practice of my independent study with critical theory but will instead rely on diverse sources such as mythology, the natural to gain a qualitative knowledge of the media I will engage with; projection, video, installation and my body. In this way I see this independent study as one of artistic techne. I see this work
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for exactly this moment, this greyness that had now tangled itself around her legs and woven itself around her arms, a greyness of passiveness and great loss. The portals she knew, when she placed them, would allow the feelings to come forth when she needed them to. bent knees in penance for hitting your brother, each walk around a rosary is a mile closer to erasing the past, drawing back the hand that hit, moving each mile more quickly than the one previous so that by the forty-ninth Hail
would ever arise. No, that routine was also not the answer, and perhaps it is an even sadder prospect to think that it would have worked if she had said them all aloud. She raised her face from her wetted hands and rose to open her door and walked into the darkness of the hallway. She felt petals under her and they rose higher making each
moved towards her brother’s room. Hellebores and lilies, violets wrapped around her calves locking to each other statically with the breaks in their matted velvet skin secreting perfumed water until she had to swim the last meters to time and in this opening could rearrange the space between the brother and the sister so that his door. He was asleep and his face was clean and pure and white. She wanted to wake him the sister would never come to hit the brother, so that in a spring-like fashion her hand would up to say goodbye she wanted him to wake up. bounce backwards, so that the brother would never feel the sister hit him, so that no deed that could happen between them would ever be -Samantha Cheung evil or laden with malice so that no confusion as primarily a personal exploration. Here enclosed is a little excerpt from the novel I have been writing that I think may be useful in understanding where in my mind and body the performance is coming through: ‘I realize now, after returning home from the man’s apartment in the city that I have hopeany sense of direction, that is to say a compass of morality which at one time was geographical and intuitive and in tune with the magnetic forces within myself. And now I have a loss that is a vacuum, but a vacuum that has made me aware of its vacuity. It might be consuming the missing polarity, to allow the words of the gods, the sounds emerging from the ocean that catch me in half sleep to lift me to a sonorous breast, itself conductive of heartbeats that in the intervals of their measured time, to hold a preserved silence, absolute human silence. I frozen allowing only the constant sucking in of blood by my aorta, unceasing, paling my extremities and therefore dumbing my senses, my touch which feels gloved, my taste which is medicated, my smell which is now so absent
that I am no longer sure of having a nose and my sight which is now made grey by the cauls covering both my eyes, so that all surfaces and from the Church, the only place in the suburbs in which people might still speak in tongues unashamedly-- with it’s child curtains, child bed, child pillow and child desk hung her head lowly in her hands in reverence to the night which fell as it did every night and which with its objective scariness meant she could not leave her room without being scared of the shadows in the hall. She rose to the desk that was white and was as clean and shiny as when it was bought. It held in it’s one drawer all the important things she had saved; pencil stubs, small notes, envelopes, bits of shell and wood, colored pencils with bite marks, photographs sticky with tape backing, gum and cigarette and a fragment of a once bloody sheet, all of these things had been placed with the intent of reminding her of the moment in which each It was an easy sentimentality, but all of them were the only portals she could make. They had been placed there in easy clairvoyance,
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MY INTERNSHIP ABROAD WITH PIETRO RUFFO
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ast spring I was abroad in Rome through Cornell’s School of Art, Architecture and Planning. I interned with the Roman artist Pietro Ruffo as an assistant in his studio. Like others successful in the art world, Pietro employs burgeoning artists to be able to meet the demand for his work. Twice a week, I would take the quatro-cento-novante-due (492) bus from my apartment, or from the Palazzo (literally) around the corner where we had our own studio space through the program. It would take me an hour to get from the historical center where I lived – amongst ruins and renaissance architecture - to San Lorenzo, where university students and artists’ studios dominate. Pietro makes cut paper pieces which integrate painting and drawing. Their attention to detail demonstrate his background as an architect. Most days, I traced, cut out, and folded up drag-
perform this treatment for the occasional beetle – to repair a large scale tank covered entirely with this cut paper tessellation. (The reason for these replacement beetles was made clear when I saw the tank at MACRO Testaccio, a contemporary art museum in Rome that focuses on art by Romans.) Working in Pietro’s studio was a pleasant and perfect way to spend spring afternoons in Rome - and not just because of the tasks I was assigned. Speaking English with Pietro, or Italian with his incredibly friendly other assistants, as the radio wafted through the room was the kind of cultural emersion I was looking for. I can’t think of a better way to have learned about Burlesconi’s attempts at reelction, the pope’s resignation, or -Madeleine Luckel
Photography by Peter Enriquez
THAT GUY
Meet Dolapo Akinkugbe
TO BE
RATHER THAN TO SEEM TO BE
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e goes by DAP - short for Dolapo Akinkugbe Productions - and if you haven’t heard of him already, his tracks are sure to be your newfound obsession. Dolapo Akinkugbe, a sophomore rapper and music producer at Brown, was born in Nigeria and lived there until attending boarding school in London at age eleven. Afterwards, he took a gap year at the Berklee College of Music, where he studied Contemporary Writing and Production after auditioning with classical piano pieces as well as submitting his own personal hip hop music. “I’ve played the classical piano since I was four. My whole family is really musical, like my thing? So, like, me, my mom, my brother, and my sister are all like highest grade of pianist we could be.” Although Dolapo didn’t start out listening to hip hop, claiming that he was raised on “oldies” like the Beatles, his brother and sister introduced him to the genre at age ten or so with artists like Eminem and Dr Dre. “When I was in high school in London and I was fourteen, my friend started rapping and I didn’t really rap but I was like...‘Well I’m the musical one, I bet I can do this, too.’” He explained
that I heard other people say, things that I’d come up with...and I just kept writing it and doing it obsessively and I just got better and better [until] it was worth recording it and putting it in music.” enced much of his recent work. “I’m at the age where it’s not worth just making music. Like it has to make sense, there has to be a point to it. Before I was just obsessed with hip hop music, and...that’s an American culture thing. But now I’m trying to fuse Nigerian sounds in there. I try at least in my lyrics to speak about issues in Nigeria, but mostly with the music and the sound I’ve tried to fuse more and more, so I’m starting to put in more African sounds, drums, song pulls from other artists like Fela Kuti, who is one of Nigeria’s biggest artists. I do listen to Nigerian music when Dolapo’s new mixtape, Unconscious ii: Esse Quam Videre (Latin for, to be rather than to seem to be ence not only from Dolapo’s heritage, but also a cal piano piece on there, but it’s basically a mix of hip hop, a bit of Pink-Floyd-type rock ... Nigerian
of under the hip hop bracket” The album, of which Dolapo has mixed and mastered every track but one, features many around 60 beats on his laptop with Garageband artists that Dolapo knows from London, Nigeria, and “once I started, I just couldn’t stop.” Over the and America. Like Bez, who Dolapo cites as “one next three or four years, he upgraded to a soft- of Nigeria’s biggest artists at the moment. And ware called Logic Pro, on which he made another he’s a damn good artist. He plays the guitar, and 220 beats. He started rapping seriously around age eighteen, to pair with these beats. “I always liked poetry and English class on the NBC show The Voice this past season. and, like, writing poems and stuff, and I do ClasThe mix tape’s name, Unconscious ii, stems sics [at Brown], so I’m always reading Latin po- from the fact that creating music has become secetry, Greek poetry. It totally made sense that it ond nature to Dolapo. “Have you ever heard of translated into me just writing my own stuff.” the 10,000 hour rule? Basically, if you put 10,000 When asked about his writing style, Dolapo ex- hours into anything, that’s like the magic numplains how his rap has developed both naturally ber for it to become subconscious...it’s the magand through intense practicing. “I listen to music ic number to like be incredible at whatever. I’ve all the time... and it’s always hip hop and so when been playing the piano for so long that I make you hear that much rap, you just pick up things beats sometimes and go to sleep and wake up the subconsciously you don’t even realize. I could next day and, like, I almost don’t even remember making the beat...music is just in my DNA.” wordplay and doing clever things with words so I just started writing stuff down all the time, things you wouldn’t be all that surprised that Dolapo is
a rapper judging by his style of dress. “I don’t really, like, see rappers and try to dress like them, but I’ve paid too much attention to rappers that it happens regardless of if I want it to or not.” Since coming to America, Dolapo says tle things, like I never used to wear snapbacks, but I came to America and, I mean, snapbacks are everywhere. It just happened. The world I came from in London was completely different to here. It was, like, the posh kids in cennoticed that difference when I was in London this summer...it’s a weird adjustment...the way Although Dolapo has roots all around the world, his music, shared with his family and friends, keeps him anchored. “Yeah, I’m kind of like...culturally confused,” Dolapo laughs. “I’ve been in so many different places, but at the same time it’s all together.” -Marcy Huang
THAT GIRL
Year: 2015 Concentration: IR and TAPS Hometown: Istanbul, Turkey Unhemmed: So you’re an International Student from Turkey – can you explain how you ended up at Brown? Unhemmed: You were home in Istanbul this summer.
Deniz Çam: My high school, Robert College, is
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Unhemmed: And what exactly was the catalyst that led to the riots? DÇ:
Unhemmed: And look how far you’ve come! Now you’re the president of Buxton – what’s that like? DÇ:
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Unhemmed: What was the city like as the protests and riots continued?
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Unhemmed: Were you ever harmed for your involve ment with the protests?
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Unhemmed: What happened at night in the square?
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Unhemmed: What’s the situation in Istanbul like now? DÇ:
Unhemmed: Describe the experience of your summer home in Istanbul in 5 words or less.
Unhemmed: Is it hard to adapt to the stark contrast of Brown’s very liberal atmosphere and the conserva tive ideologies in Istanbul?
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Unhemmed: How involved were you with the protests this summer?
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DÇ: Unhemmed: What were some of the less physically violent consequences that protestors felt?
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when you were leaving Turkey to return to Brown? Were you glad or sad?
DÇ:
Marissa Petteruti Make up:
Jennifer Morgan Photographer:
Danielle Perelman Models:
Jasmine Bala & Julia Xu
Featuring Pamoja Products
Editor:
FROM UGANDA WITH LOVE
ACCESSORIES
ACCESSORIES
Pamoja Products, cofounded by Emily Kassie organization that sells crafts and handiwork produced by individuals in Uganda to encourage entire community growth by providing a global market for alternative income projects. Visit them at pamojaproducts.org and like their Facebook page if you’re interested in purchasing any of the items featured in this shoot or learning more about the organization!
Lethologica English
(n.)
The inability to find the precise word for something one wishes to express
C
lothes say something about their wearer. They do not speak in a language that can be heard, rather they give off vibes to be interpreted in a way that transcends speech and becomes the universal language of style. Expression through speech meets expression through fashion in a visual dictionary inspired by foreign/untranslatable words. Photographed by Dan Zhang
Models: Mollie Chesis and Natasha Rosario Special thanks to Jasmine Bala and Asha Owens
Quaintrelle (n.)
Middle English
A woman who emphasizes a life of passion through personal style
(n.)
Vovohe Tahtsenaotse Greek
The spirit of joy, passion, frenzy, etc... Zest for life When the body and soul are overwhelmed with joy and must find an outlet
Cheyenne
(v.)
To prepare the mouth before speaking by moving or licking one’s lips
Toska
(n.) Russian
Spiritual anguish, usually without a cause An ache in the soul; longing, yearning
Gezelligheid (n.)
Dutch
Convivial or cozy atmosphere Togetherness and Comfort; being together with loved ones in a pleasant atmosphere
Ruden ja (v.) Lithuanian
The way nature or the weather begins to feel like autumn
(n.)
Japanese
The beauties of nature; to experience them, and in doing so learn about oneself
’appel du L vide (n.) ‘Call of the Void’ French
The urge to jump from high places, especially when near the edge
Petrichor (n.) English via Australia
The scent of rain upon earth
Fl창neur /Fl창neuse (n.) French Wanderer; one who roams aimlessly
The specific shade of dark grey seen by the eye in perfect darkness \
Eigengrau “Intrinsic grey�
(n.)
Chinese
(n.)
Womanly charm and grace; an elegant bearing
German
Smultronstället (n.)
Swedish
‘Place of wild strawberries’ A special splace discovered and returned to for solace; a “happy place” or idyll free from stress
THE GLOBAL VILLAGE: AN ETHNOWESTERN PHOTOSHOOT Editor: Jasmine Bala Photography: Chris Tran
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Varied experiences. Different cul-
their colourful heritage to our intricately nicity attaches itself to their sense of style, Unhemmed
JASMINE BALA AND NEIL SINGH
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originate from North
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ALEXANDRA NUTTBROWN
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DEIONTE APPLING
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style emerges from his
ica is just the right amount of
LIU WEIWEI
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ple heels, the garment is per-
TIFFANY CHANG
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lace are reminiscent of traditioning the rich cultural history of the ing touches to this contemporary modern enough for an American night-out, yet ethnic enough to re-
KRYSTAL GARZA Guadalajara, Jalisco in Mexico, and
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immersed in Mariachi culture, says she and the larger than life earrings into her
SARA ERKAL
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age to her heritage. The scarf and
UNHEMMED October 2013