MASTHEAD
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FIT
Dara Kenigsberg Editor–in–Chief Jenny Kim Executive Editor Dana Heyward Managing Editor Dan Nissim Digital Content Editor
A LE T TE R FRO M TH E E D ITO R Every month, W27 features the collection of a student designer. However, FIT is filled with students that have a wide range of talents, and we thought it was time we started showcasing some of them. Earlier in the year, I was lucky enough to see some of our featured student’s work in one of my classes, and I just knew that I had share her photography with the rest of the school. Hedwig Ahlgren’s photos are cool and captivating. They make you feel as though you wish you were a part of them. I know you will enjoy them as much as I have.
Marina Herbst Treasurer Jonathan Lee Copy Editor Hayden Werp Advertising Manager
EDITORS Kaylee Denmead Jordyn Ferriss Dan Nissim Dana Heyward Kaitlyn Gorecki
Everyone on the staff contributed great ideas for this issue. In fact, we almost didn’t have enough room for everything. This month, we really wanted to ensure that we covered topics important to you, and I think we were able to do just that. Inside you will find articles on the BSU Fashion Show, which was fantastic, Joe Zee, an FIT alumnus and former writer for W27, the Phi Kappa Theta fashion showcase, AMC career expo and the moving photo thesis of an FIT graduate, amongst many others.
ART Emma Wood Art Director Danielle Carcione Kayla Scheidel Senior Designers Kristelle Oca Junior Designer
In my third month as EIC, I am learning that there is so much more to this job than I had initially believed, and though it is not always easy, I love every second of it. I know this is going to prepare me for life beyond FIT, and for that I will be eternally grateful. And on that note, I bid you adieu and I will leave you with this quote –
CONTRIBUTORS Amber Kim Andrea Navarro Madeline Grandusky-Howe Janice Thi Tran Madelyn Adams Melissa De Oliveira Natalia Pereira Lily Wright Danielle Levy Caterina Nicolini Allison Hatch Taylor Sicko Meghan Kane Veronica Marrinan
DANCE LIKE NOBODY’S WATCHING LOVE LIKE YOU’LL NEVER BE HURT SING LIKE NO ONE IS LISTENING
Professor John Simone Editorial Faculty Adviser
AND LIVE LIKE IT’S HEAVEN ON EARTH
Professor Albert Romano Advertising Adviser
-WILLIAM PURKEY
Dara Kenigsberg Editor–in–Chief
ON THE COVER: Photos by Hedwig Ahlgren
W27 IS PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER. PLEASE RECYCLE AFTER READING. A FIT STUDENT ASSOCIATION PUBLICATION.
W27
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NOVEMBER 2015
CONTENTS ON THE BLOCK 4
Joe Zee’s Secret to Success: Don’t Take No for an Answer
4
Upcoming Events at FIT
5
Student and Alumni Work Shines at BSU Fashion Show
5
Student Spotlight: Lia Sfiligoj
6
Fabulous Furs Gives Humanity a Good Name
6
AMC Career Fair: A Menu for Your Future
7
Student/Faculty Roundtable: Lunch in Favor of Diversity
7
Honors In Action: Phi Theta Kappa’s Trend Forecasting
A LETTER FROM THE ART DIRECTOR
DEAR INDUSTRY 8
Demna Gvasalia: The Future of Balenciaga
8
The Battle Between Hulu, Netflix, and now, YouTube
9
Google Cardboard Makes VR a Reality
9
Raf Simons Leaves Dior
10
Playboy Says Goodbye to Dirty Pics
10
Making Fashion More Sustainable
11
Eleven Paris Sued for Profiting Off the Best
11
The Voice of a Murderer
12
The Streets Take over Tokyo and Seoul Fashion Week
13
The Politics of Polish: How Essie Weingarten Started Her International Beauty Business
If you are interested in joining the art team for W27 please email W27art@ gmail.com
14
Feautred Photographer Hedwig Ahlgren
Until next issue,
16
Don’t Know El Niño? You Will
17
Dealing with Debt:Student Loans
18
Standing with Planned Parenthood
19
Concert Review: Walk The Moon
19
After 35 Years, China Ends One-Child Policy
20
Angelina d’Auguste in the Exposure of Albinism
21
Bridging the Gap: Roberta Kaplan and Gloria Steinem Talk Social Issues of Today
Three issues into the year and we have changed things up again. In the September issue we decided to do away with themes. Now, for the November issue we are featuring a student photographer as opposed to a fashion design major. In my previous letter I mentioned that W27 should be a platform for students to showcase their talents. Along with that I had hoped to spotlight talents of all different majors. I'm happy to say we are doing just that.
FEATURE
HAUTE CULTURE 22
Tales From a Geek’s First Comic Con
23
Concert Review: Catfish and the Bottlemen
23
Welcome to the Future: Self-Tying Laces Are Here
24
The Tipping Point: Why the 20 Percent Does/Doesn’t Matter
MONTH IN REVIEW 26
The Trans-Pacific Partnership: The Most Dangerous Agreement You Probably Never Heard Of
FIT SPEAKS 28
Why “All Lives Matter” is Problematic
30
What Bernie Would Mean for Your Future
31
The Problem with Fashion When it Comes to Faith
Emma Wood Art Director
ON THE BLOCK
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FIT
JOE ZEE’S SECRET TO SUCCESS: D O N ’ T TA K E N O F O R A N A N S W E R BY
JONATHAN LEE
The year was 1992 when Joe Zee, a young, wide-eyed international student, had just graduated from FIT. The Hong Kong native moved to New York from Toronto with one big dream: to become a magazine editor in the fashion capital of the world. “Well, that’s not going to happen,” Zee recalled one industry professional telling him at the start of his career. “You’re not a girl, you’re not blonde, you don’t come from a privileged family, so those jobs aren’t really for you.” Had Zee taken that man’s advice, the Yahoo Style editor-in-chief and former Elle creative director might not have been telling his story to an audience for the signing of his new book, “That’s What Fashion Is,” on Oct. 14 at Barnes & Noble at FIT.
The FIT alumnus knew he wanted to make a difference ever since he studied “ad comm,” what Zee called advertising and marketing communications back in the day. Unhappy with its unfashionable content at the time, his first goal was to revamp the school newspaper, which used to be called Revelations. “I was like, ‘It’s a fashion school. There’s no fashion in here. This is so weird. And why’s it called Revelations? It’s like the Book of Genesis,’” he said. That’s right, the famous Joe Zee himself named this very publication W27 more than 20 years ago. “Is it still called that? Is it still called that?” Zee asked emphatically. “Oh, I love you guys so much!”
“ I ’ M A LW AY S T O L D N O FOR SO MANY DIFFERENT
Zee credits his current success to his perseverance in the face of adversity and his determination to stand out. “Everything I’ve done,” he said, “whether I’ve walked into Elle magazine or Vanity Fair, or created my own magazine, or created our website at Yahoo from the ground up, I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to make an impact. I’m going to push the boundaries. I’m going to make people take notice.’”
THINGS ALL THE TIME, AND A L L T H E T I M E I S TA N D B A C K UP AND BE LIKE, ‘I’M GLAD YO U T O L D M E N O B E C A U S E I ’ M J US T G O I N G TO K E E P D O I N G I T, A N D I ’ M G O I N G
PHOTO COURTESY: NEWS.FITNYC.EDU
But Zee said he had many bad days that discouraged him so much that he felt tempted to quit. On one such occasion, a talent agent told him he would never be on TV because “they don’t want anybody Asian on TV.” Now he’s the first LGBT Asian to host a daytime talk show, “FABLife” on ABC. Zee said he actually loves being told no because it motivates him to work harder. “Every single day, I am always told no,” he said. “I’m always told no for so many different things all the time, and all the time I stand back up and be like, ‘I’m glad you told me no because I’m just going to keep doing it, and I’m going to keep trying it.’” His hard work paid off in the end. Now editors who interviewed him in ’92 call him for a job. “So for every single no that I was told, that I will never be a blonde girl, I still got to a place where it was far surpassed what I ever set goals for myself,” he said.
“[Zee’s] energy was very infectious,” Claire Cameron, a sophomore in fashion business management, said after the book signing. “And I’m a Canadian as well, so it was nice to hear him kind of like struggling and making it … very inspiring.” Gigi Ganzer, also a sophomore in FBM, agreed. “Just having him talk, it’s just — it kind of shows what you really can do to make it happen and how it’s real,” Ganzer said. “It’s so real, and he makes me want to go out and push even harder because he proves that no matter what, if you just persevere, you can succeed. And as long as you have your vision of what you want, it will just come; it will all seam together somehow.”
T O K E E P T R Y I N G I T.’ ”
UPCOMING EVENTS AT FIT
11/10
Fall Fest – November 10, 12 – 2 in the Breezeway. Come and enjoy candy apples, mini donuts and hot apple cider!
Blood Drive – November 10, 10 – 7 in the Great Hall The FIT Student Association and the Department of Student Life, in partnership with The New York Blood Center, is hosting a Fall Blood drive. No Appointments are necessary. If you have any questions, please contact the Dept. of Student Life at 212-217-4130.
11/11
Disney Mini Concert – November 11, 9pm – 10pm in the Dubinsky Dining Hall The Skyliners will be performing all of those Disney songs you know and love. Come and sing along and enjoy a variety of Disney-themed treats!
11/17
Thanksgiving Treats – November 17, 12 – 2 in the A Lobby
11/19
Runway27 Annual Fall Fashion Show – November 19, Doors open at 6 pm, Show starts at 7 pm in Haft Auditorium Around 50 student members of the club have come together to put on a fantastic circus-themed show. They have worked on every aspect including casting models, designing marketing materials, setting up the audio-visual elements, styling outfits, compiling gift bags for VIPS and much more. Last year’s event, “Fashion is Evil” was a sold out show so make sure to get your tickets soon!
W27
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SEPTEMBER 2015
S T U D E N T A N D A L U M N I W O R K S H I N E S AT B S U F A S H I O N S H O W BY MADELINE GRANDUSKY-HOWE On November 6th, FIT students, alumni, and industry members came together in the Haft Auditorium to create 24/7 FASHION, a powerful showcase of student and alumni apparel and accessories. The showcase featured models from FIT’s Model and Student Association and collections from ten designers. Singer Caitlyn Riedel, an FIT VPED major, also performed some of her catchy songs.
Day-of-show prep started around 2 pm, when models and designers began to arrive at Haft Auditorium. Model Shane Nelson, a member of BSU, walked for designer Lance Brown, a designer and FIT Alum who draws inspiration from the Wild West. “Everyone here is very smart and creative,” says Shane. “Here at FIT, you kind of have to get involved with clubs.” Model Alejandro Bonilla also had great things to say about his experience with FIT’s BSU. He describes this presentation as “one of the biggest things happening on campus.”
The show began with an energetic introduction from hosts Coco and Breezy, eyewear designers and self proclaimed “turn-up twins” based in Brooklyn, NY. Collections were introduced with short clips, featuring the designers describing their collections. The crowd enthusiastically cheered and supported each designer’s look as they strutted down the runway. Tiana Clarke, an FIT student, sent models down the runway to “Circle of Life” in her creations, full of interesting textures, jewelry elements, and furs. Another highlight was Brittany Williams’ dominatrix-inspired collection, full of velvet and leather elements. Each collection showcased the individuality and creativity of both designers and producers of the show. Models worked the runway and brought a spark to the different collections. Many designers walked the runway following their collection, rocking their own designs and bringing applause. The energy in the room was contagious.
PHOTO COURTESY: JONATHAN LEE
STUDENT
“It’s really cool to see how FIT supports the BSU,” he says. A line down the block to get into the presentation began forming over an hour before the show.
S P O T L I G H T: LIA SFILIGOJ
“If you think you can take over the world, you really can,” said Breezy, host. 24/7 Fashion was brimming with the designers and professionals who will do just that.
PHOTO COURTESY: LIA SFILIGOJ
BY EMMA WOOD
On an abnormally warm afternoon in October, I met with Lia Sfiligoj at Bean and Bean on the corner of 26th and 8th. A senior majoring in Advertising Design, Sfiligoj was one of five winners of the “Big Ad Gig,” a contest hosted by five major advertising agencies that awarded each winner an internship with their company. Sporting a black Adidas track jacket that she jokes, “she has worn for three weeks straight,” she sat down with W27 to discuss how she went from being a finalist in the top 8 to being one of five winners in Creative Week. Now an intern at Atmosphere Proximity BBDO’s digital agency, she also gave others interested in these types of competitions some sound advice. Emma Wood: What was your reaction when you found out you placed in the top 8? Lia Sfiligoj: I basically freaked out. I was in the cafeteria eating and I couldn’t finish eating. I was so freaked out. I was more freaked out because I started reading the email and it was like “you have a week to do this brief and you are going to pitch this in front of CEO’s.” I called my mom and I was like, “I don’t even know if I can do this,” and she said, “Just figure it out.” The idea came to me pretty last minute, even though I went through three days of concepting. Everyday until about midnight. I think I went through 400 ideas. A lot of writing, a lot of concepting, but I was able to pull something off in the end.
EW: What was it like presenting your work at Creative Week to a room of CEO's and creatives from all different agencies? LS: Probably the most nerve wrecking thing. The setup was very strange. I wasn’t speaking to an audience per se. I wasn’t in front of the audience. I was actually within the audience speaking to a projector. The five CEO’s plus someone from the Ad Council were on the stage looking at me. It was very strange. You have to speak on a microphone and I don’t like speaking on a microphone and I don’t like using podiums because I feel like it constrains me. So when I was forced to do that, it was a little weird. I was nervous about two days before I had to present but I had practiced a lot and I felt really confident in what I was going to say. When I went up there, I actually felt good about it. It wasn’t too bad, I would say the pre-anxiety was pretty bad. Being there was a lot of fun. I got to meet not only the people from the agencies but also the other students, all of whom were actually graduates, which I was surprised by. I was the only senior, the only one still in school.
EW: What was it like the first day you interned there? Were you nervous or excited at all?
EW: What's a piece of advice you would offer other students submitting work into competitions like this one?
LS: I was really excited. Because the past year I interned at a really small marketing agency and I had never been at one that really had a name or big clients. The first day wasn’t anything too exhilarating. It was mostly just HR things like setting up. But now that I am starting to get into actual work, it's so crazy. They move so slow in the beginning of the day then once 3 or 4 hits, all hell breaks loose. I am doing a millions things.
LS: Definitely time management. You have to give yourself time. Your first idea will not be your best. I know that’s a cliche, but it took a lot of writing. Practicing is a huge thing for me. I always got so nervous presenting when I was younger. Like to the point of shaking. So I practiced enough so that I felt confident in what I wanted to say. As for submitting work, you really have to think through what you are trying to convey. My entry showed my skill level. I think that’s why they were so attracted to what I did. I was able to not only conceptually think of an idea, but present it in a way that showed what I could do digitally. One issue that I see within the major is that a lot of students struggle over what goes in their portfolio because different professors have different opinions. You have to have confidence in your work. When I submitted my stuff I thought “this is pretty freaking good.” Have confidence in what you’re putting out there. Don’t just put it out there and just think “Oh maybe I will win.” Show the work that is representative of you.
EW: Do you feel as though what FIT's advertising design program has taught you has been applied to what you are working on in your internship? LS: Yes, absolutely. If I did graphic design I would be totally lost. I think that is why I chose advertising design because I didn’t know anything about it. I know a lot of kids complain about classes like HTML and UX but when you are in a scenario where you are working with people who do that job and you have to design for that type of project, you need to know what they are talking about and you need to know terminology. The Internships cover the gaps of what I don’t learn in school and school helps enhance what I use in my internship. Do I wish I could learn more? Absolutely.
ON THE BLOCK
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FA B U LO U S F U R S G I V E S H U M A N I T Y A G O O D N A M E BY JENNY KIM Donna Salyers, founder of Fabulous Furs, creates luxurious faux fur pieces ranging from long coats and cozy sweaters to throws as big as a king size bed. Salyers came to speak to a fashion journalism class here at FIT and then, lucky for us sat down with W27 for an interview. A traumatizing life experience led her to create her business and we got the details. Jenny Kim: Did you always have an interest in fashion? Donna Salyers: Ever since I was born, I was interested in fashion. Our family was poor, and my grandmother was a professional seamstress who sewed beautifully. Luckily, she was a great teacher, and at the age of seven, I was making my own clothes. JK: What made you want to break into the fashion industry? DS: I wrote a letter to a local newspaper, The Cincinnati Enquirer, saying their syndicated weekly sewing/fashion column was so awful. I was shocked when they responded, asking for six sample columns. In result, I ended up writing a syndicated column for 17 years on sewing and fashion, leading to hosting a national half-hour TV show plus eight books and a video series.
JK: Tell us about Fabulous Furs and why you created it.
JK: Tell us how your business is a part of the anti-fur movement.
DS: The TV show I hosted was located in NYC where, in the early 1980s, everyone was wearing a mink coat — except me. I didn’t have the money for fur, but with my sewing skills and connections, I found a mill making fairly high-quality faux fur, leading me to make my own coat. My first trip to NYC wearing my “fur” was shocking. People stopped me on the street, commenting on my beautiful “fur” coat. Restaurants refused checking in the coat because they “couldn’t be responsible for a coat of that value.” By the late 1980s, I had saved $5,000 and was looking forward to replacing my fake fur with the real thing. As I drove to the fur salon, a radio news story described kittens being skinned alive and passed off as “mink” teddy bears. Horrified that I was about to buy a kitty coat, instead of going to the fur salon, I decided to start Fabulous Furs. It took about a year to develop the business, and in 1989, I launched one product: a kit for sewing a faux fur coat. Fast forward 27 years, and today we’re known for the world’s finest faux furs, sold online, through our catalog and 3,000 wholesale accounts. Our merchandise team is no longer just me, and we’re on track to do $20 million in 2015. It’s been a fabulous experience, and I’m proud of what our incredible team has accomplished.
DS: Accounts such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus now want to give their customers a choice. Many prefer faux fur, some animal fur and some both. Fabulous Furs began as a tribute to animals, and people today are better educated than ever as to the horrors behind animal fur.
“A R A D I O N E W S S T O R Y DESCRIBED KITTENS BEING SKINNED ALIVE AND PA S S E D O F F A S “ M I N K ” T E D DY B E A R S . H O R R I F I E D T H AT I W A S A B O U T T O B U Y A K I T T Y C O AT, I N S T E A D O F G O I N G TO TH E FU R SA LO N , I D E C I D E D T O S TA R T F A B U L O U S F U R S .”
JK: How do you create your pieces to feel as “authentic” and “luxurious” as possible, compared to real fur? DS: Thanks to the fiber technology, we’re able to take the design details you’d expect in a $40,000 animal fur and apply it to faux fur. The R-value [how heat is retained or measured] is the same as real fur — faux is just about one-third of real fur’s weight. JK: Let’s focus more on the business part now. How did you get to advertise your company to the fashion industry? PHOTO COURTESY: JENNY KIM
DS: When soap operas were in their prime, all the wardrobe people were using Fabulous Furs. As our reputation spread, movies and magazines were calling. We’ve been profiled several times in the WSJ, in People Magazine and Oprah’s O Magazine, wearing a Fabulous Furs coat on the cover.
JK: What is your advice for future entrepreneurs of FIT? DS: Never give up. Follow your heart and dreams, and count on your skills and resources to find a way to come over every obstacle!
A M C C A R E E R FA I R:
A M E N U F O R YO U R F U T U R E BY AMBER KIM
This is a unique experience for FIT students, not only to be able to seek internships and full-time jobs directly from reputable employers, but also to gain experience in networking and presenting yourself in a professional environment. Whether you’re a freshman or graduating senior, the AMC Career Fair is a great way to get your name out there and to communicate with potential employers. Here are some tips to having a successful career fair experience:
1. BE PREPARED– Bring multiple copies of your resume (20-50) and make sure to get it proofread and checked by the Career Center on campus. Bring a hardcopy of your portfolio if you have one and always research the companies you are interested in before attending the fair. 2. MAKE A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION – Wear business casual clothes and keep your makeup light and natural to give yourself a polished, professional look. Remember, these recruiters are seeing hundreds of students in only a few hours, so make sure you stand out for the right reasons. 3. BE PROFESSIONAL – Maintain eye contact with the recruiters and give them a firm handshake with a friendly introduction. Don’t forget to smile and listen attentively to what the recruiter is saying. 4. ASK SMART QUESTIONS – Asking questions not only shows that you’re interested in the company, but asking the right questions shows that you’ve done your research. If they have internship programs or positions mentioned on their websites, ask questions about them specifically.
5. THANK THEM FOR THEIR TIME AND FOLLOW-UP –
WHETHER YOU’RE
This is an extremely important step that most students forget. Follow up with the companies you are interested in within 48 hours; thank them for their time and for informing you about the opportunities in their companies and remind them which opportunity you’re interested in as a friendly reminder.
A FRESHMAN OR
6. HAVE FUN –
OUT THERE AND TO
It can be intimidating seeing so many tables and students running around during the fair, but remember that everyone gets nervous. Take a deep breath and enjoy having great conversations while learning about some amazing companies.
GRADUATING SENIOR, THE AMC CAREER FAIR IS A GREAT WAY TO GET YOUR NAME
COMMUNICATE WITH POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS.
PHOTO COURTESY: AGOODSON.COM
Get your resumes and portfolios ready, students. The Advertising and Marketing Communications Department will be holding its 10th annual AMC Career Fair Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, in the John E. Reeves Great Hall from 6–8 p.m. Students will have the opportunity to connect with more than 50 notable fashion companies such as Michael Kors and Macy’s to PR, and advertising agencies such as Hunter Public Relations and APM Models.
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NOVEMBER 2015
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S T U D E N T/ F A C U LT Y R O U N D TA B L E :
L U N C H I N F AV O R O F D I V E R S I T Y
BY ANDREA NAVARRO FIT’s students and faculty were invited to participate in a roundtable to discuss issues regarding cultural and linguistic diversity in the classrooms on Oct. 29 for two hours. Five roundtables, each containing two faculty members and at least three students invited by them were placed in the Feldman Center boardroom, where the event took place. While enjoying different salads and sandwiches for lunch, students and faculty engaged in a talk about how classrooms can become a more inclusive place for everyone despite their similarities or differences, which “promote creativity, intellectual and personal growth and understanding.” At the center of each table were questions pre-formulated in order to keep the talk going at all times, like “What are the advantages and disadvantages of a culturally diverse classroom?” and “What can professors do in order to take a positive advantage of that diversity?” which seem pretty standard, and then more complex ones that aimed to build empathy like “For English-speaking people: Have you ever been in a situation where all the other persons in a conversation are talking in another language? How did it made you feel?”
Most students agreed that the advantages of diverse classes were that it allowed them to learn about other cultures and see things in a different perspective, and that the biggest disadvantage was that sometimes the language barrier is so big that it doesn’t allow some international students to feel confident enough to participate in class or conversations, which ultimately cost them the opportunity of having other people hear what might be good ideas and thoughts. Non-English speaking international students agreed that some of their American classmates don’t seem to understand how hard it is to deliver information in public in a language that isn’t your first, which can get frustrating and discouraging when they feel like they are being judged by the way they speak, and not by the ideas that they are trying to communicate.
STUDENTS AND FACULTY ENGAGED IN A TALK ABOUT HOW CLASSROOMS CAN BECOME A MORE INCLUSIVE PLACE FOR EVERYONE DESPITE THEIR SIMILARITIES OR DIFFERENCES, WHICH "PROMOTE CREATIVITY, INTELLECTUAL AND PERSONAL GROWTH AND UNDERSTANDING. One of the possible solutions discussed for that issue was developing a program in which English-speaking students, whether American or from another country, learning another language could be “matched” with an international student that is a nativespeaker of that idiom, giving both students the opportunity to practice and teach each other about the languages they grew up speaking and the culture that comes with them.
She also stated that her major goal for the activity was to encourage faculty to reflect on their teaching practice in regards to cultural and linguistic diversity in the classroom, and how they could change their teaching to adapt to these new insights.
According to Elaine Maldonado, director of faculty development and Center for Excellence in Teaching, having the discussions over lunch provided a “more relaxed setting [that] promotes open exchange. Everyone is on a level playing field. Students are less likely to feel judged by faculty, and faculty are more likely to listen to students.”
HONORS IN ACTION: P H I T H E TA K A P PA’ S T R E N D F O R E C A S T I N G BY MARINA HERBST Phi Theta Kappa, FIT’s Honor Society, will be teaming up with the Models and Stylists Association when they throw a fashion showcase for the FIT community on Dec. 3. The event will focus on trends, cultural stigmas and cultural appropriation in New York, Paris and China. “Each year, every chapter of PTK hosts an event that ref lects a given theme. We have to meet certain requirements that include researching a topic, presenting our research to the school community and getting the community as involved as possible,” Ally Moran, VP of Service and Fellowship at PTK said. After the event wraps up, the PTK board is required to submit a paper about the development of the event and their research findings to PTK headquarters. All the research papers coming in from PTK’s various chapters across the country will be evaluated, and the chapter with the most innovative, challenging and interesting event will receive an award at the annual PTK conference.
Everyone in the FIT community is invited and should attend. The aim is to have a fun at this informative event and to start a conversation about the fine line between emulating a culture and cultural appropriation and stigmas, and how all of us can take action against that. The Models and Stylists Association will be in charge of showing the trends discovered through PTK’s research in a fashion show. As a treat to the audience, goodies associated with each culture will be given out. FIT is not only a school but also a community. Our uniqueness is derived from the diversity of the student body — people coming from very different backgrounds, cultures and upbringings. Be sure to make it to PTK’s on Dec. 3
IT HAS COME THE ATTENTION OF W27 THAT MAKEUP ARTIST SYDNEY KUO DID NOT RECEIVE CREDIT FOR DOING THE MAKEUP ON LAST MONTH’S PHOTO SHOOT. WE WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND OUR SINCEREST APOLOGIES AND THANK HER FOR TIME AND HARD WORK.
DEAR INDUSTRY Demna Gvasalia, the 34-year-old designer originating from Georgia, is about to take on an exciting new challenge that could bring great change to the fashion world in upcoming years. The head designer of Parisian firm, Vetements, which translates to “clothes” in English, was named Balenciaga’s new creative director. He was brought in after the brand decided not to renew American designer Alexander Wang’s contract with the company, which held his last show for Balenciaga during Paris Fashion Week. This change in command may just shift the way Balenciaga is perceived and ultimately make an impact on how other fashion houses present themselves. Since the founding of Balenciaga in 1936, it has been known for its understated elegance and femininity, shown in their sack dresses and cocoon coats, staple bags and shoes one can only dream of having. Conservative and classic, this fashion empire knows how to make a woman feel beautiful, but in the world we live in today, it is starting to feel as though every fashion house can start to look the same. Kering, the French Luxury Group in which Balenciaga is under, agrees, and wants to make Balenciaga into something more fresh. Even Luca Solca, a luxury analyst at Exane BNP Paribas stated that, “Clearly, Balenciaga needs to shift gears.” “They have yet to break through.” Bringing in some new blood is just what Balenciaga needs to get that extra push.
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FIT
DEMNA GVASALIA: THE FUTURE OF BALENCIAGA BY LILY WRIGHT
The luxury group has brought in new designers with Saint Laurent and Gucci and it has been an extremely successful change for both companies. The new inf luences on both fashion houses have completely changed their image for the better. Currently, they are the two bestselling on Net-a Porter and many feel that Balenciaga can follow in their footsteps with the help of Gvasalia. Gvasalia has made epic strides in the Paris fashion industry with Vetements, which started in 2014 and includes Gvasalia and a handful of other designers. The newly founded company is known for recreating vintage pieces into something that appears new again. Vetements works especially with denim, oversized proportions, fun graphic images and even pieces made out of plastic tablecloths, which were
shown in their latest collection. Even Vetements quirky runway shows reveal that Gvasalia has a different perspective on the fashion world. Their last show during Paris Fashion week was held at a Chinese restaurant and all of the models were found on Facebook or were friends of the designers working for Vetements, rather than routinely cast. Gvasalia puts a sense of political unrest and philosophy into his work. His models have been seen stomping down the runway with snarls and attitude that are true and genuine, giving the garments personality, one which Gvasalia may bring over to Balenciaga.
“CLEARLY, BALENCIAGA NEEDS TO SHIFT GEARS.” “THEY HAVE YET TO BREAK THROUGH.” BRINGING IN SOME NEW BLOOD IS JUST WHAT BALENCIAGA NEEDS TO GET THAT EXTRA PUSH.
PHOTO COURTESY: VOGUE.CO.UK
Even though Vetements is still in its early years, Demna Gvasalia is no rookie in the luxury fashion industry. In the past he was the senior designer of women’s ready-to-wear for Louis Vuitton, luxury fashion to the extreme. Before his work with Louis Vuitton he spent years working under designer Martin Margiela. Many even say that Gvasalia is Margiela’s “spiritual successor,” a high compliment considering he is the one behind the Hermès double band. With Gvasalia’s extensive experience and willingness to break the rules of fashion, he is sure to push Balenciaga into a new era of design. In an interview with The New York Times, Gvasalia stated, “I’m driven by making clothes both wearable and financially accessible, fashion that has a place in the real world.” With his humble attitude and passion, Gvasalia is sure to transform Balenciaga into something the fashion world has never seen before.
THE BATTLE BETWEEN BY NATALIA PEREIRA Remember when viewers had to watch dreadful commercials as they anxiously waited for their television programs to return? As many are familiar, the new current trend is watching commercialfree versions of Netf lix and Hulu, and now there is even YouTube Red. That’s right, YouTube has introduced its own subscription service that will cost $10 a month for the same content, but with the luxurious ad-free perk — just like the various online commercial-free giants dominating the market. An extra bonus to the new YouTube offering is YouTube Originals, with exclusive and original programs available from this company and through the new paid service only. One key production, “Scare PewDiePie,” created by the producers of “The Walking Dead,” is in the spotlight starring Swedish YouTube icon Felix Kjellberg as the lead.
According to the New York Times, “the time Americans spend watching video on digital screens is expected to rise [from] 10 minutes, to one hour and 34 minutes a day, this year”. YouTube is also promoting its media services with leading companies such as 21st Century Fox, NBCUniversal and Time Warner by streaming their programs on YouTube Red to better target these desires. Shockingly, YouTube Red’s competitor Netf lix’s sales have “tumbled 50 percent compared with last year, missing its forecasts as it reported worse-than-expected streaming growth in the United States”. This is said to be because the company is in a competitive market with big names including YouTube, Amazon, HBO and Hulu, all of which are increasing their investments in programming simultaneously.
Hulu recently partnered up with Epix — which is made up by Viacom, Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios — a company that did not renew its service with former partner Netf lix. Since Hulu offers numerous popular TV episodes on its site a day after they have been aired on traditional television, it has received very high ratings and revenue over Netf lix who does not upload the content as quickly. Netf lix still plans to offer the highquality, exclusive programming and announced that it is going to raise its monthly charge by $1 to $10 in the U.S., Europe and Latin America in the future. The small increase may not seem like much. But will it affect a user’s decision to switch from one service to another? “It certainly seems like [consumers] are much more comfortable paying for subscription video, but content is key so we’ll have to see how they execute on it,” The New York Times stated.
“IT CERTAINLY SEEMS LIKE [CONSUMERS] ARE MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE PAYING FOR SUBSCRIPTION VIDEO, BUT CONTENT IS KEY SO WE’LL HAVE TO SEE HOW THEY EXECUTE ON IT,”
Evidently, the battle between the online subscription services has begun, and soon we will see who the true frontrunner of the market is. Will YouTube Red be as successful as forecasted with its ad-free and exclusive content? Will Netf lix sales struggle to increase due to the tough competition? The power lies in the hands of the consumer to decide who the better company will be.
W27
NOVEMBER 2015
9
GOOG LE C ARDBOARD MAKES VR A RE ALIT Y BY DANIEL NISSIM
INSTEAD OF READING
PHOTO COURTESY: VK.ME
Throughout history, the printed word has proved the most effective method for conveying information. The 21st century has seen the newspaper replaced by blogs and other news sites — a sad, yet natural, evolution of the medium. Newspapers, which were often printed in multiple editions per day, still struggle to print just one. In an effort to offer its subscribers a new and innovative experience, The New York Times will include Google Cardboard viewers along with its Nov. 7 issue. As part of The New York Times Magazine, they’ll release “The Displaced,” a new virtual reality film.
Google Cardboard is a fairly simple, and inexpensive, VR — or virtual reality — system. Google has devised a standard design for the Cardboard system, which has been replicated by several manufacturers in cardboard or plastic. The device has a slot in which the viewer is able to place their smartphone. When the viewers place the apparatus on their heads, they receive the full VR experience. Google has a companion app for distribution content. The phone’s sensors track the viewer’s gaze, adjusting the picture.
PHOTO COURTESY: 41.MEDIA.TUMBLR.COM
The fashion industry is like musical chairs: You have people chasing spots, changing seats and getting left out of a position every few weeks. It’s a game that everyone may not be comfortable with, but they have become accustomed to. Career changes such as new designers joining a brand or employees moving up towards creative director are somehow usually expected. That was until Raf Simons, creative director of French couture house Dior, stepped down from his position as creative director, leaving everyone in the industry speechless. Sidney Toledano, Dior’s CEO, confirmed in a statement that after a three-year tenure, the Belgian designer decided to end his relationship with the brand. Toledano both thanked the designer for his “exceptional contribution to the house” and informed the media that “Mr. Simons will not renew his contract with Christian Dior.”
“The power of VR is that it gives the viewer a unique sense of empathic connection to people and events,” Jake Silverstein, The NYT Magazine editor, said on its latest endeavor. VR is the next step. “The Displaced” tells the story of children displaced by war. VR allows viewers to live the story, giving the experience akin to actually being in the story. VSRE helped The NYT film “The Displaced” as one of several upcoming projects. VR is an emerging field. Content is captured using a special 360-degree camera rig, collecting footage from every angle. Google Cardboard is only one of many systems available for consumers. Samsung has released the Galaxy Gear and the Oculus Rift is an industry leader. Oculus already has major plans to bring VR to video games — from the Xbox One to PC games. Microsoft is working on a similar project, AR (Augmented Reality), with its HoloLens. They’ve already shown off several applications of the tech, including with Minecraft, a popular game.
RAF SIMONS LEAVES DIOR
Simons himself released the information a few hours later stating, “It is after long consideration that I have decided to leave my position as creative director of Christian Dior. It is a decision made entirely on my desire to focus on other interests in my life. Christian Dior is an extraordinary company and it has been an immense privilege to be allowed to write a few pages of this magnificent book.” He continued, “I want to thank M. Bernard Arnault [CEO of LVMH] for the trust he has put in me, giving me the incredible opportunity to work at this beautiful house surrounded by the most amazing team one could ever dream of.”
EVERY COLLECTION HE DELIVERED RECEIVED ALMOST UNIVERSAL CRITIC AL ACCL AIM .
BY MARINA HERBST
The Belgian designer’s relationship with Dior started in April 2012, and his first couture collection followed in July of that same year. Right from the start, his work was something many professionals from inside and outside the industry were looking forward to. The audience of his first couture collection included high fashion designers such as Marc Jacobs, Azzedine Alaïa, Alber Elbaz and Riccardo Tisci. The world was both fascinated and enthusiastic to see where Simons would lead the iconic brand. Every collection he delivered received almost universal critical acclaim. He was credited for modernizing the label and talking to a broader and younger market while maintaining the elegance, quality and trajectory the French house already had. Frédéric Tcheng’s documentary, “Dior and I,” further showed Simons’ ability to create respectful, fresh and innovative collections. It is in the documentary where one sees the enormity of the position Simons was undertaking and how much he cared to be successful at it while living up to everyone’s expectations.
ABOUT THE STORY, ONE GETS TO BE IN THE STORY — TO LIVE THE STORY. “The Displaced” represents the future of journalism. Instead of reading about the story, one gets to be in the story — to live the story. Google’s relationship with The NYT is another prime experience of Google reaching out and exploring new fields. With projects such as Project Ara, an endeavor to create modular cellphones, Google is pushing what is known and what is possible. It will be interesting to see how “The Displaced” is received, and if its release will usher in a new field of journalism. As for how it will affect sales, it may have no effect. Google Cardboard retails around $20 — an additional cost that readers may not be ready to drop.
His shows were as theatrical as the clothes weren’t, creating a nearly perfect balance. He wanted to distance himself from the type of designs his predecessor, John Galliano, was known for and he succeeded at it. In January 2013, he released a statement saying that he never wanted his clothes to be “theatrical, unrealistic, not for wear,” but instead he wanted to fulfill Christian Dior’s ultimate goal: “I want people to wear them in the street.” Simons’ departure from the French house has had no drama revolving around it, opposing John Galliano’s termination after his anti-Semitic comments in 2011. Furthermore, the night before letting the world know about his immediate exit from the Paris-based design house, Simons celebrated with artist Sterling Ruby at the Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain in Paris. This festive attitude suggests that he will be, in fact, stepping out to pursue other interests as he stated. During the three years he worked at Dior, Simons generated a 30 percent increase in sales for its couture collection, which is an incredible increase for the current luxury market. The New York Times stated, “In the period from July 1 to Sept. 30, 2015, Christian Dior Couture revenue rose 5 percent at a constant exchange rate. For the most recent full fiscal year ended June 30, revenues at Christian Dior Couture were up 18 percent to 1.77 billion euros/$1.94 billion).” As for Simons’ future and his replacement at Dior, only time will tell. The designer has an agreement with the brand that will prohibit him from working for another fashion house for at least a year. Though he may already have future plans in development, the industry, media and countless fans, will have to wait to find out what they are.
DEAR INDUSTRY
10
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P L AY B O Y S AY S G O O D B Y E T O D I R T Y P I C S BY DANIEL NISSIM
PHOTO COURTESY:BIGSOCCER.COM
IN A WORLD WHERE YOUR EVERY SEXUAL FANTASY IS A CLICK AWAY, WHY PAY FOR A PRINT MAGAZINE?
Playboy, a pioneer in the adult magazine industry, announced that it will no longer feature nude photographs in its magazine. They plan to enact their plan for the March 2016 issue, marking the end of an era. Once upon a time, Playboy was the bastion in the industry. Its issues were the coveted by teen boys and mainstay for adult males. In this age of Internet pornography, can Playboy stay relevant, or will the magazine crumble like other publications?
Playboy has suffered over the years. It used to garner 7 million readers a month, but has since seen its readership shrink to 800,000, according to CNN. The advent of the Internet, and Internet pornography, has cut into Playboy’s business. In a world where your every sexual fantasy is a click away, why pay for a print magazine? On this point, Playboy’s CEO, Scott Flanders, said, “You’re now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free. And so it’s just passé at this juncture.”
Playboy Magazine was first published in 1953 under the guidance of Hugh Hefner, a former copywriter for Esquire magazine. Marilyn Monroe, an icon of the film industry, graced the cover of its first issue and was featured in its famed centerfold. Over the years, Playboy’s cover has featured such women including Barbara Streisand, Madonna, Denise Richards and Kim Kardashian.
This move is only the next step in Playboy’s shift from X-rated content to a more PG-13-rated service. Playboy revamped its website in 2014 in an effort to make its service “safe for work.” According to Playboy, this change saw its users increase 258 percent in year-over-year sales. From 5.5 million unique users in July 2014 to 21.5 million unique visitors in January of that year, as well as 50,000 video views in July 2014 to 6 million views in December 2014, it appears its strategy is working.
As well as its new website, Playboy has already shifted its app to PG-13 content. This shift to “safe for work” content has seen an increase in its social media presence — services such as Facebook and Instagram don’t allow nude photographs. This change hasn’t affected advertisers’ interest. They’ve seen a growth of 65–75 percent in new advertisers as well as an increased interest in continued business. Playboy’s always been interested in males, but its change shows an increased interest in males ages 18–27. For Flanders, the ultimate question is: “If you take out the nudity, what’s left?” While this is a fairly drastic image change for Playboy, it appears to be an even more important business one. With many publications across multiple subject matters struggling to survive, Playboy is doing all it can to live to fight another day. While it may not be your father’s Playboy anymore, they’ll still feature world icons and interesting stories. I guess you’ll just have to read Playboy for the articles — for real this time.
PHOTO COURTESY: ICO-SPIRIT.COM
I:CO
MAKING FASHION MORE SUSTAINABLE BY MARINA HERBST Sustainability in the fashion industry has recently become a subject that more and more people are concerned about. From factories falling apart and killing hundreds of workers to landfills packed with clothing and contaminating the environment, building a more sustainable and eco-friendly industry is more than necessary. Luckily, there is I:CO (I Collect), a company whose mission is to fight the battle against excessive waste, an unfortunate side effect of the fashion industry.
The I:CO formula for achieving a more eco-friendly industry consists of a few steps. The first is that discarded clothes must go back to a professional sorting and analysis process that ensures each item finds its way into a new product to be used again. To make that product cycle loop work, I:CO has developed two stages: rewear and upcycle. Rewear focuses on optimizing and respecting the energy that went into the production of each item and therefore wearing them again. Upcycling concentrates on EVERY YEAR IN THE U.S. ALONE, PEOPLE DISCARD 21 the reusable aspect of each textile BILLION POUNDS OF CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR, WHICH item. Whether it is a piece of clothing END UP IN THE COUNTRY’S LANDFILLS, CREATING or a shoe, it can and should be used WASTE THAT ADDS TO INCREASING GLOBAL WARMING to create a new product of equal ISSUES. I:CO HAS PARTNERED WITH MASS-PRODUCTION or better quality. If the item discarded BRANDS SUCH AS PUMA, NORTH FACE, H&M, LEVI’S can’t possibly be worn again, it goes AND AMERICAN EAGLE TO ENCOURAGE THESE BRANDS directly to the upcycling process TO REPLACE PREVIOUSLY USED MATERIALS WITH so that the piece of clothing will be RECYCLABLE OPTIONS CAPABLE OF BEING REUSED turned into a new one in the future. AFTER THE PRODUCT’S LIFE CYCLE.
“The I:CO infrastructure provides the basis for the sustainable, economic solution of the future, the ‘circular economy,’” Managing Director Nicole Kösegi said. “In an ideal world, materials will be able to f low ‘endlessly,’ which means that materials tied in products can be used over and over again for new products after the end of the products’ life-cycles.” Since 2009, when I:CO was founded, the company has been providing an alternative to throwing clothes into a landfill. Consumers can donate unwanted items to local retailers who then deliver the collected garments to an I:CO facility and team of sorters. Clothes in good enough shape will be processed to be resold, bought and worn by someone new. The items that don’t meet the quality standards are organized based on 400 different aspects and then sent onward. Absorbent fabrics are put through a shredder to become windshield wipers, while others are pulled through massive rollers. Hard materials, like buttons, are sorted out of fabrics being used to fill stuffed animals or insulate houses.
H&M has been trying to clean up their act when it comes to pollution and have become one of the biggest beneficiaries of I:CO’s upcycled fabrics. They have released a collection named Close The Loop, which consists of jean, overalls and denim pantsuits made of 20-percentreusable materials. They are aiming to create these items of 100-percentreusable materials in the future. Sustainability has become such a massive trend that other fast-fashion brands are starting to join the movement, and having I:CO working with and for the industry is making it even easier for brands to do so. One of the most important actions that brands can take is simply giving customers the option of leaving their old clothes behind at their stores. Once the stores have collected the items, they only need to send the clothes to one the sorting facilities, and the rest lies in I:CO’s hands. To find an I:CO partner close to you and help change the fashion industry, visit ico-spirit.com.
W27
NOVEMBER 2015
11
ELEVEN PARIS SUED FOR PROFITING OFF THE BEST BY LILY WRIGHT Tuesday, Oct. 6, was a big day for the French clothing company Eleven Paris as some of the biggest stars in the music industry hit it with a lawsuit. Beyoncé, Rihanna, Kanye West, Jay-Z and Pharrell Williams filed a complaint with the Southern District of New York and are calling for a jury trial to be held. The stars were particularly insulted by the company’s use of their images, names and song lyrics on merchandise. T-shirts and phone cases have been made for a profit without obtaining the moguls’ authorization.
PHOTO COURTESY:ROCKNYLIVEANDRECORDED.COM
Beyoncé and group filed 58 complaints with the court, including publicity violations, trademark infringement and unfair competition against Eleven Paris, as well as many other common law violations. The plaintiffs are concluding that Eleven Paris is infringing among “arguably some of the most famous musical artists and entrepreneurs in the world” and using the stars’ notoriety to their advantage without the correct permission, the group’s legal statements informed.
THE VOICE OF A MURDERER
The prints on the merchandise include sayings such as “Pharrell is my brotha” and “Kanye is my homie” and also include Beyoncé’s and Rihanna’s song lyrics. The stars’ faces have been used on merchandise including T-shirts, sweatshirts, tank tops, sneakers and even phone cases. These images show the stars in ski masks that only allow their eyes to be seen or the celebrities holding their fingers above their mouths with a mustache drawn on. These prints continued to be sold even after the group sent cease warnings to Eleven Paris to stop the selling of the merchandise online and in all stores, including their f lagship on Prince Street in New York. As of today, the merchandise is no longer available in the Family Capsule collection on the website. The Family Capsule collection, however, still includes references to Karl Lagerfeld and Kate Moss, who modeled for the company last year. These celebs as well as others are not expected to sue. Those prints only include the first names of the stars, which may be why Eleven Paris has been able to get away with these infringements.
BY KAIT GORECKI
All the frigid Sunday mornings in the month of no-mercy are avoided by everyone. Whipping, agitated sighs lick my burning, porcelain eyes. Ice sculpture trees line the path of my journey and memories of fertile spring prove powerless against a midnight blizzard. The emptiness of my shelter and harshness of nature kindles a small hole of grief for all my buried loves, making my black, lumpy blood sink deeper into sullen, weathered veins.
But you see, on this wonderfully dreary Sunday I rescued a tabby from the tundra and when its owner came to
I wasn’t going to keep her long,
collect--
just until the stake of loneliness
naturally, I took her in,
stopped twisting
on mutual grounds, of course
but she never woke up.
until I spiked her tea
and tied her to the chair
I have trapped us in this winter;
where she had willingly sat,
Until the ground fully thaws, I
gagged and bound
promised her
in her puffy white coat.
We'd share this place of shelter
The sweetest rubber boots
Side by side, like lovers
encasing her delicate feet
in stiff-knee-slumber.
squealed as she wriggled, dancing on four legs in the middle of my dimly lit room.
A huge plot twist in this case is that the last complaint filed only pertains to Beyoncé. It states that Eleven Paris breached a hushed agreement between the star and the company in January, although no one is sure of what that agreement entailed and what specifically had been broken. Solange Knowles, Beyoncé’s well-known sister, is a model for the company. Her picture appears on the company’s website, and she also was their muse for the SS15 collection. It seems strange that Beyoncé would sue a company that her own sister is highly involved in. Kanye West also has familial ties to Eleven Paris. His sister-in-law, Kylie Jenner, is a big supporter of the brand and has been seen sporting their T-shirts in the past. Even with all of these allegations against superstars, many A-list celebrities support the brand by wearing the apparel, such as Justin Bieber and Cara Delevingne. The plaintiffs all have their own clothing lines or collaborate with other companies, which is why they are suing for unfair competition. For example, Kanye West has his own brand, Yeezy, and is collaborating with Adidas. Rihanna is the creative director for Puma and has previously designed for River Island. The use of these celebrities’ names creates competition against their own brands and gives consumers the opportunity to purchase products f launting these celebrities without them receiving any compensation for the sale. This very high profile case will definitely hinder Eleven Paris’ future. In their statement regarding the lawsuit, they said that negotiations with these famous five have been happening for nearly a year and that they want to “find a fair and balanced agreement with them and their advisers.” As of right now, the stars are demanding that Eleven Paris stop all manufacturing of products involving them and give them any profits made as well as pay for legal fees.
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THE STREETS TAKE OVER TOKYO AND SEOUL FASHION WEEK BY DANIELLE LEVY
After wrapping things up in New York, London, Milan and Paris, Fashion Week moved on to Seoul, South Korea and Tokyo, where some of the most inf luential designers in the Asian fashion industry presented their collections for spring 2016. During fashion week, all eyes are usually on the runway.But that wasn’t the case in Seoul and Tokyo - the real showstopping moments happened on the streets.
A MAJOR BEAUTY TREND WAS THE SHATTERED GLASS MANICURE, USING A TECHNIQUE THAT ORIGINATES FROM KOREA.
Tokyo Fashion Week kicked things off, and designers such as Mikio Sakabe, Yasutoshi Ezumi and Mitsuru Nishizaki showed their spring 2016 collections. The two main aesthetics on the runways were feminine-masculine minimalist tailoring combined with Japanese asymmetry and opposingly edgy and artistic looks. The Tokyo streets, which were filled with fashionistas, fans, editors and local celebrities, showed bold, fearless, whimsical and comical styles off the runways. Channeling their love for manga and anime, people rocked bold prints, oversized and exaggerated silhouettes, mixing of textures and multicolored hair. That’s not to say the bold, comical cherry handbags, Pokémon-shaped hoodies and extreme platforms shouldn’t also be mentioned. The fashion in Tokyo was, to put it simply, fun. People tapped into joy and fantasy elements of fashion, leaving a lot of men and women looking like they came right out of a manga cartoon. PHOTO COURTESY:FOOTWEARNEWS.COM
PHOTO COURTESY: VOGUE.COM
PHOTO COURTESY:FOOTWEARNEWS.COM
A stand out trend was statement shoes. Instead of the standard Gucci loafers, Chanel slingbacks, or Prada and Valentino pumps that most fashionistas wore during New York, London, Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks, the shoe motto in Tokyo was “the crazier, the better”. Some of the standouts were a gold, unicorn-heeled, round-toe pair of pumps and embellished Dior sneakers. Platforms were another style popular among show-goers, with one woman appearing to be arriving via roller skates, but rather wearing sky-high platform boots made to look as if they were on wheels.
Seoul’s most surprising street style staple during spring 2016 Fashion Week was the hanbok, a traditional Korean costume consisting of a chima, or an empire-waist skirt with billowing ball gown proportions and a jeogori, or cropped cross-collar jacket, made from sheer chiffon-like silk and tied shut with a single bow. Hanboks on the street were both given their own modern interpretation and held true to the original style. Though this traditional style fell out of favor in the past, the hanbok is back and making a major impact on the city’s fashion scene.
Travel to Seoul, and you can find local and foreign fashionistas, buyers, editors, bloggers, local celebrities and K-pop stars gathered at the Zaha Hadid-designed Dongdaemun Design Plaza, where Seoul Fashion Week took place. Korean brands and designers also presented their spring 2016 collections. The runway shows had the perfect balance of streetwear and contemporary designs, featuring collections from internationally renowned designers such as Munsoo Kwon and J Koo, as well as newcomers such as Pushbutton, Ordinary People and D.Gnak. The season was mainly characterized by a specifically Korean, modern classic look.
A major beauty trend was the shattered glass manicure, using a technique that originates from Korea. Worn by Korean models such as Irene Kim and Song Kyung Ah and K-pop stars such as Lee Hyori during Seoul Fashion Week, the trend has now gone viral. There is no need to fear, because I am not talking about glass shards on your nails, which would terrify me as well! The Korean shattered glass nails are a special effect done with stickers layered one over the other to create a textured glass effect. Another way of achieving this look is by cutting foil or holographic film into different-sized pieces with sharplooking edges. During a gel manicure, the pieces are then applied after the top coat. A builder gel is placed on top of them in order to lock in the design. There are manicure stickers available which allow a consumer to imitate the look in a few easy steps.
Like in Tokyo, there was more attention around the street style than the actual runway shows. On the streets of Seoul, there were risk takers and bold statements made, but in a refined and sophisticated way.
Some of the boldest and most charming looks came in pint-sized proportions on kids who absolutely killed it. These youngins stole the spotlight and outshone a lot of the adults by sporting baby Dr. Martens and Chicago Bulls bombers, bold hats and statement hair pieces and aptly mixing prints. A lot of parents and kids even came in matching outfits, ranging from tweed coats and felt caps to tiny biker jackets and miniature Adidas sneakers. These kids are living proof that you can never be too old to be a fashionista and that good style truly does come at any age.
W27
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NOVEMBER 2015
BE AUT Y BUZZ
THE POLITICS OF POLISH: H O W E S S I E W E I N G A R T E N S TA R T E D H E R I N T E R N AT I O N A L B E A U T Y B U S I N E S S BY JANICE THI TRAN JT: What were some of the biggest challenges that you faced in your journey? EW: Starting off a business, you will make mistakes. The biggest one was not branding. I used plain bottles with no names on it. No one would have known it was my polish, and that’s why I wanted to make Essie etched on glass. My manufacturer wanted me to sell at least 1 million bottles before they gave me my own mold, so I did it. JT: When did L’Oreal first knock on your door? And do you still participate in the business with L’Oreal?
PHOTO COURTESY: INTOTHEGLOSS.COM
Believe it or not, there is a real Essie behind today’s most popular polishes. Now owned by L’Oreal, Essie has millions of loyal followers and is carried in thousands of salons, in 107 countries, with a selection of over 300 colors. Essie Weingarten is a native New Yorker as well as an FIT alumna, who has a fascination for fashion, which became the foundation for her mega nail polish brand. Before launching her brand, Weingarten was a merchandiser in the gifts and hosiery department at Henri Bendel. Coming from an entrepreneurial family, Weingarten always aspired to be her own boss, so she began with $10,000 and an idea that has since launched into a milliondollar business. Essie Weingarten shared with W27 how her love for getting her nails done sparked her to building a successful business.
Janice Tran: How did you start building your brand, Essie? Essie Weingarten: I’ve always wanted to own my own business, but I never knew what. I only knew I loved getting my nails done. My mom would reward me with a manicure at the salon if I was on my best behavior that week. I was a tomboy, and I played a lot of sports, so there was never a moment I sat still, but I would sit still on Saturday’s for 30 minutes. I vaguely remember there being any colors that spoke to me — they were all boring and very limited. I saw that there was a gap in the market, and there was a huge opportunity for me to jump in. I thought that if I could come up with great colors and a longwearing formula that would go on like silk and wear like iron, it would be a great idea. It all started in 1981 with just $10,000. JT: What did you do to get people to want to have your brand in their salons? EW: Before I did that, I went looking for a chemist who I was compatible with. Once I found him and had the right formula, I had to find colors. I had a satin pincushion that was a raspberry color I was obsessed with, and he created that color in a polish. I was inspired by fashion and everything else around me because I thought, if the color fits, wear it. If it’s pleasing to the eye, it’s going to be pleasing to the soul. I had a small collection of twelve colors, including Bordeaux, Blanc, Baby’s Breath, Ballet Slippers and Fiesta, that I had made in New Jersey, so I made kits to take with me to Las Vegas. Why Vegas? Women there were always working in shows and showing off their hands, so that would be a great marketing tool. There were also over 100 salons there, so I dropped one off at each salon. I was working 24/7. Once I got back, each salon called with orders, and it eventually branched out from there.
EW: It was a phone call to our office in Queens in 2005, and I immediately said no. But when the business grew faster than we were creating polishes, we needed their investment. So I sold my baby to them in 2010. I was creative director for a while, but I didn’t have a say anymore. And it’s OK. I let the butterf ly f ly. JT: Was there ever a time where you were at a loss for inspiration? EW: Of course, it happens a lot. You think there’s nothing left, but you can’t give up. It’s what makes the process exciting. Take a deep breath. Bend yourself in half and bounce forward, and the next thing you know, there’s a f lower blooming. I sat on a plane a lot because I traveled, and my best ideas came when I least expected it. I’d take my book that I still have today and take notes. It’s my bible. I’d have hundreds of names that I’d store in it. You have to write things down! It’s old school, but it works.
“ I F YO U H AV E A G O O D I D E A A N D YO U N U R T U R E I T, YO U ’ L L S U C C E E D. T H E R E ’ S NO EASY MONEY — YO U H AV E TO W O R K . I T H A S TO B E SOMETHING NO ONE HAS EVER DONE, AND I F YO U H AV E T H AT, GO FOR IT! AND A LWAY S R E M E M B E R TO H I R E P E O P L E T H AT A R E S M A R T E R T H A N YO U .”
JT: What advice do you have those aspiring to own their own business? EW: No. 1, you have to get out there. If you have an idea what you want to do, go learn on someone else’s clock before going into business for yourself. It’s different to be in school in a classroom than experiencing out in the industry and seeing how it happens. The work experience you have is invaluable. I was also totally committed. A lot of people think, if you have a startup, you’d only work nine to five. No, you’re going to work 24/7. When I was working with Asia, the phone would ring in the middle of the night, and I had to sound as though I were wide awake. No matter where I was, I was always putting Essie first. If you have a good idea and you nurture it, you’ll succeed. There’s no easy money — you have to work. It has to be something no one has ever done, and if you have that, go for it! And always remember to hire people that are smarter than you.
PHOTO COURTESY: ULTA.COM
FEATURE
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FIT
HEDWIG AHLGREN, A SENIOR IN AMC, LOOKS LIKE SHE BELONGS IN FRONT OF THE LENS JUST AS MUCH AS SHE DOES BEHIND IT. BEAUTIFUL AND TALL, THIS BLOND HAS BEEN TAKING PHOTOS SINCE SHE WAS JUST A LITTLE GIRL. W27 SAT DOWN WITH HER TO DISCUSS HER WHAT INSPIRES HER, IPHONE PHOTOGRAPHY AND WHY SHE JUST CAN’T STOP TAKING PICTURES!
DARA KENIGSBERG: WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY?
HEDWIG AHLGREN: I EXPERIENCE LIFE VIVIDLY AND I SEE SCENES AROUND ME THAT I WANT TO CAPTURE, CONSTANTLY. IT'S SOMETIMES OVERWHELMING. PHOTOGRAPHY IS A WAY FOR ME TO COMMUNICATE HOW I SEE THINGS, AN OUTLET FOR ALL THE VISUAL INPUT SO I DON'T GO CRAZY.
DK: WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO TAKE PHOTOS?
HA: WOMEN WITH BIG PERSONALITIES, AN EXPRESSIVE FACE AND UNIQUE STYLE. LIKE AN ACTOR THEY BRING SOMETHING INTANGIBLE TO A MOMENT THAT CAN BE CAUGHT ON FILM. FILM IS ANOTHER SOURCE OF INSPIRATION, THE WAY ALFRED HITCHCOCK, JEAN-LUC GODARD AND DAVID LYNCH TELL A COMPLEX STORY WITH LIGHT, COLOR, COMPOSITION, SUBTLE DETAILS AND EXTREME EXPRESSIONS.
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DK: WHAT KIND OF CAMERA DO YOU SHOOT WITH?
HA: I SHOOT WITH MY YASHICA T4. IT'S MY BEST FRIEND, LIKE AN EXTENSION OF MY MIND.
DK: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO PICK UP PHOTOGRAPHY?
HA: I WAS ALWAYS PLAYING AROUND WITH DISPOSABLE CAMERAS WHEN I WAS LITTLE. I REMEMBER AT FIVE YEARS OLD I WAS ALREADY DRAWN TO TAKE PHOTOS OF RANDOM THINGS LIKE MY BIKE, MY STUFFED ANIMALS OR MY CAT. SOMETIMES I WOULD BRING A CAMERA TO SCHOOL AND SHOOT MY FRIENDS. I GUESS NOT MUCH HAVE CHANGED SINCE THEN.
TO SEE MORE OF HER WORK, PLEASE VISIT WWW.HEDWIGAHLGREN.COM OR CHECK HER OUT ON INSTAGRAM AT INSTAGRAM.COM/HEDWIGAHLGREN.
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ALL PHOTOS ARE THE WORK BELONGING TO AND TAKEN BY HEDWIG AHLGREN.
FEATURE
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FIT
DON’T KNOW EL NIÑO? YO U W I L L BY TAYLOR SICKO
of the record set in 1997. During the first full week of October, researchers from the United States Climate Prediction Center revealed the Pacific Ocean was 2.4 degrees Celsius (4.3 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than normal. A resilient El Niño heats up the atmosphere and alters the circulation patterns around the world. Intense storms over the western U.S. become stronger and more frequent, especially in California. It also means more rain for the west coast of South America.
PHOTO COURTESY:MEDIA.GRAYTVINC.COM
PREVIOUS MONTHS THIS YEAR HAVE BEEN THE HOTTEST EVER RECORDED, SETTING 2015 UP TO BE THE HOTTEST YEAR IN RECORDED HISTORY. OF COURSE, MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING IS TO BLAME, BUT A STRONG EL
Certainly everyone has noticed the unusually warm weather patterns that have been occurring this year. At the beginning of November we are still checking the weather on our cell phones every morning only to realize it is still 70 degrees outside. Previous months this year have been the hottest ever recorded, setting 2015 up to be the hottest year in recorded history. Of course, man-made global warming is to blame, but a strong El Niño is also the main culprit, causing more problems than just an increased temperature. An El Niño is an increase in water temperature in the eastern Pacific Ocean, often varying in intensity, they transpire every two to seven years. The waters can be up to 4 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than usual. The increased water temperature in the Pacific Ocean this year is seen paving the way for an El Niño rivaling the strength
NIÑO IS ALSO THE MAIN CULPRIT, CAUSING MORE PROBLEMS THAN JUST AN INCREASED TEMPERATURE.
PHOTO COURTESY: CDNS.YOURNEWSWIRE.COM
The monstrous El Niño is getting a lot of the blame for the recent Hurricane Patricia, but Phil Klotzbach, a Colorado State University atmospheric scientist who studies tropical storms, doesn’t think El Niño deserves all the credit. If El Niño gave any contribution, it is safe to say it was with regards to the warm water, he said. The storm that made landfall on the western coast of Mexico Thursday, Oct. 22 into Friday, Oct. 23 grew at “an incredible rate” in a 12-hour timespan, according to the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization. The storm damaged many homes due to extreme flooding and intense winds and caused power outages as well as small mudslides. Although El Niño may not be at total fault this time, Klotzbach is certain El Niño will play a big role in the unusual number of storms whipping across extensive areas of the central Pacific this year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stated that this year’s El Niño is “significant and strengthening.” Winter 2015 is expected to resemble the weather patterns in 1997–1998, which means California and the eastern part of the U.S. should be expecting some major impacts. “California will be much more active weather-wise this winter than last winter,” AccuWeather meteorologist Ben Noll said. California is expected to experience significant amounts of muchneeded precipitation this winter in the form of both rain and snow, which is essential to fill reservoirs in the spring.
“The current deficit is too large for this winter to end the drought,” according to Noll. “But this would certainly put a dent in it.” Although this may sound like the sigh of relief Californians have been waiting for, this scenario is likely to be problematic. Mudslides and flooding would lead to devastating results for home and property owners. Currently 50–70 percent of the people that live in high risk flood areas in California are not insured. FEMA is urging all Californians, even if they don’t live near those areas, to buy flood insurance. They are advising them to do this sooner rather than later since it may take up to 30 days to be approved and winter is rapidly approaching. On the opposite side of the coast, the Northeast and the Southeast should prepare to be greeted by above-average storminess, especially in cities such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Newport, R.I., and Raleigh, N.C. As for us New Yorkers, we should be expecting a warmer winter as well. Usually rainy, southern Asia and Australia become uncharacteristically dry and experience droughts, whilst seemingly all of the precipitation goes to North and South America. The indication of an El Niño breaking the 1997 record is unsettling given the estimated 23,000 people that were killed due to the conditions it created. Parts of Latin America experienced hammering amounts of rain and mudslides. On the other side of the El Niño-powered Pacific in 1997, Indonesia’s record high drought led to irrepressible forest fires in southeast Asia. Thirty-five counties in California were confirmed areas of disaster after the rain caused massive flooding and mudslides. While it is difficult to predict exactly how this year’s El Niño will play out, it is safe to say we are armed with a surplus of information and knowledge to assist in the preparation for what the 2015 El Niño will bring.
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SEPTEMBER 2015
DEALING WITH DEBT:
STUDENT LOANS BY MADELINE GRANDUSKY-HOWE
PHOTO COURTESY:WWW.DEMOCRACYNOW.ORG
As students across the country deal with the high cost of higher education, the 2016 presidential candidates are weighing in. With nationwide student loan debt currently hovering around $1.3 trillion, young voters across the country are concerned about spending their entire future swimming in debt. These students and young voters are tuning in and looking for a possible solution on personal and national levels. According to the latest research from the Institute for College Access and Success, seven in 10 seniors who graduated from public and private nonprofit colleges last year had student loan debt. The average debt amount in New York state falls slightly below the national amount, around $28,000. Data from TICAS also shows that, over the last decade (2004-2014), while the same amount of students are requiring loans, the amount of debt is growing at more than twice the rate of inf lation. Even though public universities such as FIT or other SUNY affiliates have lower tuition rates than private universities, public students are worried about how debt will affect their future. “Because I’m going to school and getting myself into all of this debt, I wonder if it’ll be worth my investment,” Corinne Scripps, an in-state sophomore at a SUNY university, said. “A lot of the time it feels like I’m just going to be paying for years and years and end up broke.” The latest data from the New York Federal Reserve shows that 65 percent of student loans are held by Americans younger than 39, while people ages 40–59 hold another 30 p ercent.
Although many campuses offer loan counseling, most students are left confused and overwhelmed by the entire counseling process. Some campuses also offer programs to help students track and manage their debt; however, many students are not aware of these programs or services and do not seek them out on campus. For instance, FIT uses a program called Student Access Loan – Technical, a free, nonprofit-backed educational program that helps students with budgeting and financial responsibility. SALT provides advice, information and interactive lessons to help students gain financial knowledge that helps them budget and keep track of loans. Although it is a useful resource for students, many do not take advantage of SALT at all, let alone know that it exists.
A C C O R D I N G T O T H E L AT E S T R E S E A R C H F R O M T H E
Young voters are turning to the 2016 candidates to create governmental plans of action to fix the growing college loan debt. Recently, a Harvard poll found that 57 percent of people under 30 believe that student debt is a major problem for young people. Millennials, who currently make up a quarter of the voting population, are especially concerned as tuitions continue to rise by thousands of dollars.
Bernie Sanders has been extremely vocal in his campaign about the need to give more American students access to an affordable college education. His methods would include implementing tuition-free courses at public and community universities, as well as lower loan interest rates. “At a time when the average student is graduating from a four-year college $27,000 in debt, when hundreds of thousands of capable young people no longer see college as an option because of high costs, and when the U.S. is falling further and further behind our economic competitors in terms of the percentage of young people graduating from college, this legislation will make college even less affordable than it is today,” Sanders said.
The front-running Democratic candidates, hoping to attract millennial voters, are extremely vocal about fixing the college debt. According to the party’s official stance, “Democrats are focused on making sure that taxpayer dollars support high-quality education programs.” The party supports expanding Pell grants, which provide scholarships for the country’s poorest students, giving tax credits to families paying for college and putting a cap at 10 percent of earnings on federal loan repayments. Democrats also support reducing federal aid to colleges that do not keep costs down.
INSTITUTE FOR COLLEGE ACCESS AND SUCCESS, S E V E N I N 1 0 S E N I O R S W H O G R A D U AT E D F R O M P U B L I C A N D P R I V AT E N O N P R O F I T C O L L E G E S L A S T Y E A R H A D S T U D E N T L O A N D E B T. Hillary Clinton has always been adamant that student loan debt is a huge problem. During her 2008 campaign, she remarked that the federal government should handle the student loan business only. For 2016, she is proposing a plan that would allow Americans to refinance private loans at lower interest rates and provide incomebased repayment plans.
The Republican party has been more inclined to support cuts to their states’ higher education budgets. The party officially supports “higher education programs that are directly related to job opportunities.”
Marco Rubio co-sponsored the 2014 Investing in Student Success Act, aimed at private financing options for college education, including repayment plans based on percentage of income between students and private investment firms. Jeb Bush argued that universities should be more transparent about how many of their graduates are finding jobs so that potential students can make smarter financial decisions when choosing a program. According to CBS.com, Republican Ben Carson said, “Many people get into financial strife because they don’t understand the importance of work. … There’s nothing wrong with working a few years before going to school.”Carson dismissed President Obama’s proposal to offer two years of community college free to all students with certain income restrictions, reasoning that Pell grants already assist the poorest students. While the Democrats want to implement new programs to completely restructure the college loan process, the Republicans focus more on informing students and lowering government costs, as opposed to implementing new federal programs. As the election approaches, student loan debt will continue to be a popular topic among candidates appealing to young voters and those dealing with the cost of higher education in this country.
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FIT The release of the videos resulted in an investigation being opened by the Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee to determine whether or not Planned Parenthood was illegally selling and profiting from the donation of tissue from aborted fetuses, as the Center for Medical Progress claimed. Planned Parenthood, in response, denied these claims, stating that the videos were edited to give misleading information. After analysis, it was revealed that the videos were indeed edited, therefore compromising their validity. Though this would seem to be a closed conversation, the debate did not stop there.
PHOTO COURTESY: MSNBC.COM
S TA N D I N G WITH PLANNED PA R E N T H O O D BY KAYLEE DENMEAD
On Oct. 13, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards announced that the organization will no longer accept reimbursements for fetal tissue that will be donated to research. This announcement comes after months of debate over the medical centers that are most well-known for providing care to women, especially those who cannot otherwise afford it. Planned Parenthood’s donation of fetal tissue for medical research and the reimbursement of these costs, in exchange for storing and properly distributing the tissue, are not only legal, but also extremely helpful for scientific research. In lieu of the announcement, conservatives across the country have rejoiced, deciding that this is a victorious aspect of their ongoing fight to defund Planned Parenthood. Richards’ announcement and the ongoing Planned Parenthood debate is directly related to secretly recorded videos seemingly proving that Planned Parenthood has been profiting from the fetal tissue donations. Republican Tennessee Representative, Diane Black responded to Richards announcement saying, “While Planned Parenthood officials maintain there has been no wrongdoing, they still find it necessary to change their policy.”
Or maybe, as the investigation has shown, there was no “wrongdoing.” Perhaps rather than endlessly fight with Republicans, just donating the fetal tissue is easier as a cost covered from Planned Parenthood’s own pockets. Perhaps the organization wants to donate the tissue for researchers to learn and benefit from, and just as they have never profited from it before, they never intend to. Perhaps, for a medical center known for being affordable, it was never about the money that Republicans are so very concerned over. Planned Parenthood has proved over the years to be a tough fighter. A history of pushback has given them little choice to simply exist peacefully as a medical center providing a multitude of care to a multitude of men and women. As of today, to fund or defund Planned Parenthood has become a major talking point of presidential campaigns, yet another great divide between our two American political parties, and an ongoing battle over what does or doesn’t define a woman’s right to choose. Planned Parenthood has constantly and consistently battled the “haters,” as Taylor Swift would call the conservatives and Republicans who have treated the videos as a rally cry. To give some background, over the summer the Center for Medical Progress, described on their website as “a group of citizen journalists dedicated to monitoring and reporting on medical ethics and advances,” posed falsely as researchers and conducted interviews at Planned Parenthood regarding the donation of fetal tissue. These interviews, secretly recorded by the imitation researchers, were released in a series of videos clips, causing immediate and diverse responses from the politicians and the public alike. Yes, it is also absurd to me that the Center for Medical Progress, largely known as anti-abortion activists, was able to pose falsely as researchers of an extremely personal topic and yet, our country can see only the un-proven fault committed by Planned Parenthood. Moving on.
Though the videos have provided no evidence that Planned Parenthood is breaking the law, they have sparked a major debate: Should the U.S. government stop funding Planned Parenthood? Planned Parenthood has a budget that rests near $1.3 billion with $528 million of that total coming from the U.S. government. This federally funded money is prohibited to be used to fund abortions, though Republicans have chosen to turn a blind eye to that major fact. By defunding Planned Parenthood, services provided to U.S. citizens such as STD and STI testing and treatment, cancer screening and prevention, contraception methods, and gynecological exams would take a major hit. To fund or defund Planned Parenthood has skyrocketed into a major debate and at the end of September, it could have caused the second government shutdown in two years (think Obamacare). Conservatives in both the House and Senate demanded that leaders block federal funds going to Planned Parenthood by attaching the request on to a spending bill. The Democrats, in response, decided that they would block the bill at all costs. President Obama also announced that he would veto the bill if it were to make it past the Democratic resistance in the House and Senate. To put it simply, without deciding on a budget, the government ceases to run. We narrowly missed a second shutdown with a shortterm fix, giving the disagreement a Dec. 11 extension to be negotiated. The Planned Parenthood debate is, to say the least, a heated discussion that falls back on beliefs. Defunding Planned Parenthood will not keep women from getting abortions, nor will it stop Planned Parenthood from performing them. The government money doesn’t fund the abortions, which let’s note is legal in the U.S. Instead, defunding Planned Parenthood will hurt the 11 million men and women who relied on the organization for affordable medical services in 2012. Defunding Planned Parenthood will provide women with less access to birth control, mammograms and yearly gynecological checkups. Defunding Planned Parenthood may help Republicans, but it hurts those in poverty, it hurts families, and more than anyone else, it hurts women.
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AFTER 35 YEARS, CHINA ENDS ONE - CHILD POLICY BY JENNY KIM
C H I N A C L A I M S T O H AV E PREVENTED AROUND 400 MILLIONS BIRTHS, YET IT IS S T I L L T H E M O S T P O P U L AT E D N AT I O N W I T H A S TA G G E R I N G 1 . 3 BILLION PEOPLE. PHOTO COURTESY: EUROPE.NEWSWEEK.COM
On October 29, China’s state news agency, Xinhua, reported that the existing one-child policy, which strictly limits each married couple to having one child, has extended that number to two. The new policy will take effect in March of 2016. In 1980, China’s population was growing at an exponential rate, negatively affecting both its economy and its environment. To combat this, then Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping introduced the one-child policy. He claimed it was crucial that China implement it right away so that “the fruits of economic growth are not devoured by population growth”. Since then, China claims to have prevented around 400 millions births, yet it is still the most populated nation with a staggering 1.3 billion people. This policy further emphasized the power of the Communist Party of China, but it received wide criticism, especially outside the nation’s borders, as many were outraged over the barbaric lengths the government was going to enforce it, from forcing women into abortions to making couples pay outrageous fines. One couple was reported to have paid 1.3 million yuan ($205,732.02) for having a second child.
However, the policy recently came to an end as the Communist Party of China announced that married couples will now be allowed to have two children. Why China abandoned the policy is a major question. President Xi Jinping revealed the country’s next five-year plan and said that lifting the policy would lead the country to “a slower, more balanced growth.” The National Health and Family Planning Commission stated that ending the policy would “increase labor supply and ease pressures from an aging population.” And many Chinese citizens agree. It is part of Chinese culture to have your children take care of you when you get older, and having two children makes doing so much easier. The Chinese government states that the working population is between the ages of 16 and 59, and the number of workers has continued to fall drastically each year. Between 2012 and 2014, the working age population decreased by 260,000. Some have projected that by 2030, the working population could decrease by 61 million and by 2050, at least 25 percent of China’s population will be retired, and the younger generation will not be able to support them. This policy change drew different reactions, as some parents thought that this would prevent spoiled, ungrateful children. However, some noted that having two children would crowd the country and would further increase the burden of the cost of education, as it already costs 2,500 yuan ($395.54) per month to send one child to school. Having to send two children to school would double the cost, leaving no room for daily expenses or money to save for the future.
It is debatable whether ending this policy will bring significant changes to China’s population. In 2013, China already loosened the it, allowing all couples to have a second child if either parent was a single child. According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, when China did so, only 1.45 million couples, out of 11 million eligible couples, had applied to have a second child. Many couples, especially those who reside in the urban areas, realize that it is sensible to have only one child because the economic pressure of raising children is extremely high in China. Though the two-child policy will not take full effect until March of 2016, there is a debate over whether or not the Chinese government should be able to regulate the size of families whatsoever. Reggie Littlejohn, the president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, a coalition that exposes and opposes forced abortion, gendercide, and sexual slavery in China, told lifenews.com, “The one-child policy does not need to be modified. It needs to be abolished.”
PHOTO COURTESY: TELEGRAPH.CO.UK
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A N G E L I N A D ’A U G U S T E IN THE EXPOSURE OF ALBINISM BY CATERINA NICOLINI
In a hectic world of idealized aesthetics, we’re not always aware that everyone we encounter is beautiful in a unique way. Drawn by the beauty standards of society, we often forget that the differences in each one of us are what truly make up our essence and beauty. This is exactly why Angelina d’Auguste, a former senior student at FIT, decided to photograph people with albinism for her photography thesis. She wanted to emphasize the existence of beauty in unusual ways, and chose to do so by portraying people with this uncommon condition in her pictures. To those unfamiliar with albinism, the National Organization for Albinism and Hyperpigmentation states: “Albinism is an inherited genetic condition that reduces the amount of melanin pigment formed in the skin, hair and/ or eyes. It occurs in all racial and ethnic groups throughout the world.” It is most likely that a person with albinism will have vision problems due to the lack of pigmentation in their eyes, as well as incredibly sensitive skin. This uncommon mutation that one in 18,000–20,000 people in the U.S. are born with is what inspired d’Auguste on her project. D’Auguste said she has always felt inspired by “things that are out of the ordinary,” or matters that “involve appearances and social issues.” This is why in the article she was featured in, on Refinery29, she mentions the way Shaun Ross, a model with albinism, inspired her to explore this out-ofthe-ordinary type of beauty through portraits. She attempted to depict a part of our world’s diversity by choosing people with albinism, photographing a group of people of all ages and ethnicities.
During her photo shoot with Refinery29, d’Auguste shared her models’ stories and provided a glimpse into their lives. Driven by her own personal interest in this rare disorder, she made it her mission to help viewers and readers understand and furthermore appreciate the sometimes harsh realities associated with albinism. They explained their medical conditions and how albinism impacted their daily lives. For example, transportation can be a huge issue at times: some can’t drive because of their eyesight, and others rely on public transportation and have trouble even seeing stairs. Others shared about what life with albinism has forced them to unwillingly become: “One told me, ‘Albinism has really affected my personality. I can’t be who I am, truly, because of how others look at me and how they treat me. I always stick out in a crowd, I’m always noticed, and most of the time the center of attention, and I don’t really want to be’.” Another told her, “Being different in society becomes a cool thing when you grow up.” One said, “having albinism...broke me out of my shell, because I am very shy. It is a big part of who I am, and I wouldn’t trade that for the world.” The anecdotes she included in the article greatly differ from one another in terms of positivity and negativity, as someone else said, that “Albinism has really affected my personality. I can’t be who I am, truly, because of how others look at me and how they treat me. I always stick out in a crowd, I’m always noticed, and most of the time the center of attention, and I don’t really want to be.” Most of the people she met embraced their condition and considered themselves to be “just like anybody else,” confidently reaffirming that “being different in society becomes a cool thing when you grow up.”
Although d’Auguste states that she did hear touching stories about how some of them had been picked on at a younger age, and that the tougher side of it all is the excessive attention they receive on a daily basis, the grand majority of the models agreed that having albinism has positively shaped them into bigger persons: less shy and more confident.
The portraits d’Auguste shared with Refinery29 are all natural and exposing, and effectively depict her thesis’ intended purpose, she was the first FIT student to be individually featured on the site for her refreshing images and amazing photography skills. Not only is it a wonderful achievement for her career and future, but for the growing goal of the appreciation of beauty within diversity, amongst today’s ever so heterogeneous society as well.
‘A L B I N I S M H A S R E A L LY A F F E C T E D M Y P E R S O N A L I T Y. I C A N ’ T B E W H O I A M , T R U LY, B E C AU S E O F H OW OT H E R S LO O K AT M E A N D H O W T H E Y T R E AT M E . I A LW AY S S T I C K O U T I N A C R O W D , I ’ M A LW AY S N O T I C E D , AND MOST OF THE TIME THE C E N T E R O F AT T E N T I O N , A N D I D O N ’ T R E A L LY W A N T T O B E ’
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF: ANGELINADAUGUSTE.COM
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PHOTO COURTESY OF: SHEKNOWS.COM
BRIDGING THE GAP: R O B E R TA K A P L A N A N D G L O R I A S T E I N E M TA L K S O C I A L I S S U E S O F T O D AY BY ALLISON HATCH
There were tears, there was laughter, there was silence and there was roaring applause. On Oct. 26, attorney Roberta Kaplan joined journalist Gloria Steinem on stage at the New York Public Library in relation to their recent book launches. Kaplan has written “Then Comes Marriage: United States v. Windsor” as well as the “Defeat of DOMA,” and Steinem has released “My Life on the Road.” Over the course of the evening, Kaplan and Steinem delved into the social issues that pervade present day media, including reproductive rights, marriage equality and stigmatisms associated with the women’s and gay rights movements. Kaplan is an attorney most noted for her work in the well-known United States v. Windsor case as a representative of Edith “Edie” Windsor after hearing about her mistreatment under federal law. Kaplan, a lesbian who sought psychiatric treatment from Windsor’s partner, Thea Spyer, took the case and worked closely with Windsor before bringing it to the Supreme Court. On June 26, 2013, the Court ruled DOMA unconstitutional and a violation against states’ legal recognitions and validations of marriages. She has since written two books on the defeat. Steinem is a celebrated journalist and civil rights activist, who co-founded the feminist magazine Ms. in 1971 as a form of truth-telling for women around the world to find a voice. Steinem has received the National Gay Rights Advocates Award, the Ceres Medal from the United Nations and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among other awards and honors. At 81 years old, she continues to travel the world and stand as a vehicle for change.
Kaplan admitted that she has been an avid supporter of Steinem from the time she first read Steinem’s book, “Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions,” in a book club in Cleveland. Kaplan was inspired by Steinem’s prominence in the secondwave feminist movement, which started in the early 1960s and established the grounds for the early gay rights activists. Kaplan noted, “It took society a long time to come around” while people “would have stayed in the closet.” Steinem agreed and shared her belief that all progressive movements around the world have been conjoined by the shared force of truth, saying, “I think that the ordinary magic is telling the truth. … Just telling the truth is the source of all liberation movements.” Steinem has been a longtime critic of a patriarchal system, whether a monotheistic religion that derives all power from a single “fatherly” source, or politics, as women’s reproductive rights and abilities to control their own bodies are fought over by a maledominated government. Steinem sarcastically upheld the rule of law, as she told Kaplan, “I so admire that you have this crazy idea that the law has something to do with justice,” to which the room erupted in laughter. While Steinem playfully mocked the degree of authenticity and equality under law, she commended Kaplan’s ability to still find truth and integrity in the judicial system.
As a segue for discussing Hillary Clinton, Kaplan sarcastically referred to “the non-elephant in the room.” Steinem professed her own support for Clinton in the political race, as she would be the first person to make it a part of her foreign policy to protect and uplift women in other countries through anti-abuse support and offering more access to education for females. However, Steinem pointed out the uneasy reality for most men and women of seeing and supporting a woman of authority in a role outside of her standard motherly confines. Steinem claimed that “some TV commentators felt regressed to childhood” upon seeing Hillary Clinton. Despite the fervent support for Clinton enveloping the room, there was a quiet tension as people acknowledged there is an equally strong anti-Hillary movement. Steinem pointed out that, recently on a college campus, white males wore T-shirts saying, “Too bad O.J. didn’t marry Hillary.” A silence swept across the room, with the realization that, though there is great progress being made with a female presidential candidate being held in high contention, it will take a lot more to change the mindset of the majority.
The evening progressed with Kaplan sharing her experience of presenting United States v. Windsor at the Supreme Court, and Steinem spoke about titles and pronouns such as “husband and wife” or “he and she” that she felt exasperated the issues of addressing gender and transgender divides. Before coming to a close, Kaplan and Steinem took questions from the audience, a majority of them being young women who were passionate advocates for women’s and LGBT rights. An 18-year-old thanked Kaplan for her fight against DOMA while her mothers were given the opportunity to marry recently for the first time. Another woman from Prague spoke about changing the status of women and how they are viewed in young, developing democracies, while the final question, uplifted by a young woman, asked what she ought to say to the men whom she loved in her life and were afraid of the word “feminism.” Steinem told her to direct the men to a dictionary, where they would find that feminism is the belief in the right to political, social and economic equality between women and men. And what if that fear is not merely a lack of understanding, but an unwillingness to grasp the depth and values of feminism? For closing words, Steinem kept it brief: “Get rid of them.”
HAUTE CULTURE
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FIT
TALES FROM A GEEK’S FIRST COMIC CON BY DAN NISSIM
THERE WAS A CERTAIN LEVEL OF JOY, AND VALIDATION, PHOTO COURTESY: DANIEL NISSIM
EXPERIENCING THESE Once upon a time, comic books and the associated comic book culture were thought to be the stuff of children and, even worse, social outcasts. Today, comic books are at the top of the entertainment industry with comic book films dominating the box office and invading TV lineups. Each fall, the Jacob Javits Center is home to New York’s premier comic book convention, New York Comic Con, which celebrates the best in comics, anime, pop culture, TV and movies. This year, I had the pleasure of going to my first “con,” as it is commonly referred to by those in the know. After months of waiting, the day had arrived. I had gathered all of the pieces for my costume, a simple Superman T-shirt, jeans, boots and my own handmade cape. I carefully pressed my cape — I wondered if Superman sits there with an iron — and soon donned my costume, ready for a new adventure. As I made my way to the Javits Center, I knew I was heading in the right direction. By 30th Street and Eighth Avenue, I could already see a steady stream of cosplayers, people who dress up in costumes to celebrate their favorite characters. I was just about to step into the convention center when an older gentlemen walked by me. I thought, “Oh, what a great John Noble costume that guy’s got on.” John Noble played Walter Bishop on “Fringe,” one of my favorite TV shows. It took me a few moments to realize: (1) Who would cosplay as John Noble? and (2) Oh my God, I just walked by Walter Bishop!
Fan boy moment aside, I entered the convention center and was overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the event. I took a moment to appreciate what I was witnessing: an unapologetic, shame-free celebration of geekdom. People of all shapes and sizes, ages and cultures donning costumes in public, and it wasn’t even Halloween. People were constantly taking pictures together, and there was an overall feeling of unity I didn’t expect coming in. Some costumes of note: Harley Quinn was a fan favorite. I even saw a girl dressed like Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn in the upcoming “Suicide Squad” film. There was a squad of Ghostbusters, probably seven or eight, each with their own homemade costumes and nametags. My favorite was probably this one guy who wore Batman armor, similar to one in the upcoming “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” film, with a dummy Superman dragging from his Kryptonite-laced gloves — bonus points for creativity. To say there was a lot to do at NYCC would be an understatement. I got there around 11 a.m. and left close to 10 p.m. I got to go to some panels including a “Dark Knight Returns” 30th-anniversary panel with special guest Frank Miller and a “Justice League” animated series reunion. There was a certain level of joy, and validation, experiencing these legends talking about comic books and comic book culture. Even more, having fans ask the same questions you’ve been dying to have answered, such as: “When are you going to do a new ‘Batman Beyond’ TV series/movie?” Apart from the panels, there were vendors who sold various prints and posters, clothing, action figures, statues and other memorabilia. It’s a lot of the same stuff, but there were some standouts. I got a sweet T-shirt with a Star Trooper looking out a window — like the cover of the children’s book “Goodnight Moon” — observing the Death Star, saying, “That’s no moon.” Money well spent.
One part of the convention that I did not come prepared for was Artist’s Alley, a hall where artists, many wellknown in the industry, had booths for signings and commissioned pieces. Imagine having an original piece from your favorite artist — what a dream. It’s the 21st century, and geeks are the heroes of tomorrow. NYCC is a celebration of this shift of power, and it will only get bigger, with roughly 170,000 attendees this year. Tickets sell out fast, so be sure to be by your computer when they go online next year. It was real comic con. See you next year.
LEGENDS TALKING ABOUT COMIC BOOKS AND COMIC BOOK CULTURE. EVEN MORE, HAVING FANS ASK THE SAME QUESTIONS YOU’VE BEEN DYING TO HAVE ANSWERED, SUCH AS: “WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO DO A NEW ‘BATMAN BEYOND’ TV SERIES/MOVIE?”
PHOTO COURTESY: EW.COM
PHOTO COURTESY: NEWYORKCOMICCON.COM
W27
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NOVEMBER 2015
CONCERT REVIEW:
C AT F I S H A N D T H E B O T T L E M E N BY ANDREA NAVARRO Catfish and the Bottlemen, the Welsh rock band, finally appeared onstage at 9:37 p.m. on October 14th and the crowd went insane when the first notes of “Rango”-- known to fans as it was the band’s first smash single, began playing. Despite doing a concert in New York this past summer at Governors Ball Music Festival, Van McCann the band’s lead vocalist couldn’t seem to hide his excitement to play in the city once more. “Are we coming New York?” he asked between I-love-you!- screams during the song “Homesick.” The answer he received was his own lyrics roared back at him when the heavy drums dropped. At the end of the same song, McCann went completely solo, demonstrating his vocal ability, and then abruptly stopped allowing the fans to take the cue to end the song for him. He smiled, raised his thumb in approval and then thanked them. Whether he was thanking them for finishing the song or the overwhelming passion, only he knows, but it was probably a little bit of both.
They closed the nearly one-hour show with their album’s last track, “Tyrants.” When they left, the promise of returning was never mentioned but was implied in their barely held enthusiasm. Some fans left as soon as they did, while others lined up in hopes of obtaining a memento of the night, whether it be a drumstick, a set list, a used water bottle or even McCann’s guitar pick, which I ended up walking away with. But even if other concert goers didn’t walk away with a souvenir, the experience of watching such a genuinely good band perform live was reward enough.
PHOTO COURTESY: OLIVIA D’AMICO
It is 2015 and Marty McFly’s wildest dreams are finally becoming a reality. No, hover boards have not been invented, and neither have f lying cars. But on a more stylish note, Nike revealed their new self-lacing shoes during the Oct. 21 episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” October 21 was celebrated as “Back to the Future” Day because in the film, “Back to the Future Part II,” Marty McFly travels to the future (to October 21, 2015) to save his children who hadn’t yet been born in the movie’s present time (1985). Marty McFly actor Michael J. Fox sported the shoes on Kimmel’s show, wowing both the viewers as well as international media. As the updated model of the Nike Mag (which were previously released as a non-self-lacing version back in 2011), these sneakers are inspired by the 1989 science-fiction hit sequel “Back to the Future Part II”. Although Nike designed and created the shoes used in the original film, they’ve had trouble replicating them for mass consumption. In 2005, an online petition demanded that Nike return their focus to the shoes. The company listened to consumers, and after nearly six years of research and prototypes, the shoe was almost perfected. With an electroluminescent sole and a rechargeable internal battery, Nike Mags debuted to the public in 2011 with an overwhelming positive response. One thousand five hundred pairs were auctioned on eBay, and a whopping $4.7 million dollars were raised and donated to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which funds research for Parkinson’s disease.
WELCOME TO THE FUTURE: S E L F -T Y I N G L A C E S A R E H E R E
BY MADELYN ADAMS
PHOTO COURTESY: CLUBHOUSENEWS.COM
However, these Nike Mags were missing one critical feature: self-tying laces. Four years after the introduction of the original Nike Mags, Nike proved they mastered the technology of powerlaced shoes during Michael J. Fox’s appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” According to a tweet from the “Back to the Future” star, the futuristic sneakers will be available for purchase during the spring of 2016. But don’t get your hopes up just yet. Although there has been no official word about the exact cost, the shoes are rumored to be valued at nearly $4,000. All proceeds will go directly to the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
Besides being innovative in terms of style and technology, the Nike Mags could potentially be tremendously accommodating for people with diseases such as Parkinson’s or severe arthritis. In addition, Nike revealed that they are currently testing the shoes in a wide arrange of sports in the hopes that they can be worn in a functional, everyday fashion. On the subject, Nike Inc. President Mark Parker told Nike News, “We started creating something for fiction and we turned it into fact. By imagining the future, we create it”. Parker believes it is a “product that comes alive, with on-demand comfort and support when you need, [and a] product that senses you and adapts to you is right around the corner.”
So, what’s next for the ground-breaking brand? According to Nike, the “power lace” technology is just the beginning, and they hope to conduct further research and testing in order to design even newer and better shoes. Who knows? Maybe one day self-lacing shoes will become the norm, and maybe you will be rocking your very own pair of Nike Mags.
HAUTE CULTURE
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THE TIPPING POINT: W H Y T H E 2 0 P E R C E N T D O E S / D O E S N ’ T M AT T E R BY DANA HEYWARD
“Tipping is actually a demeaning practice,” restaurateur Danny Meyer told CNBC during a live interview this past October while explaining why he will be eliminating tipping from 13 of his New York City restaurants. “The tipping system is actually antithetical to creating a profession for people who don’t really take their jobs seriously,” Meyer added. “You don’t tip your doctor if they do a good job, and you don’t tip the airline pilot if the plane actually lands.” Meyer is the current COO of Union Square Hospitality Group and is one of most recognized figures in the New York food scene. He is the genius behind spots such as Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park and the Shake Shack chain and has been attributed to many of the trends in the New York restaurant industry over the past several years. Meyer’s status in the industry is one of the primary reasons why this shift to gratuity-free restaurants has people either nodding in agreement or raising their eyebrows in concern. Meyer defends that his reasoning for this change is to increase base wages for servers, cooks and back-of-house staff in a way that’s fair across the board. He hopes to increase wages to $15 an hour. Inspired by the European style of gratuity-free, all-inclusive restaurants, menu prices at all 13 of the USHG restaurants will be going up 21–25 percent. Meyer admitted to Eater.com that he actually had ideas to do this back in the ’90s and even wrote a newsletter back in 1994, where he expressed his dreams of New York adopting a tip-less restaurant system. Twenty years later, Meyer is finally taking the initiative to make those dreams a reality. However, Meyer is not the first to enlist a no-tip policy in New York. Amanda Cohen, owner of the Lower East Side vegetarian-centric restaurant, Dirt Candy, established a no-gratuity policy last January. Instead of a tip line, an “administrative fee” of 20 percent is tacked onto every diner’s bill. Similar to Meyer, Cohen created the policy to raise wages for her staff. There are also a number of restaurants, like the Michelin-starred restaurant Per Se, that automatically add gratuity to patrons’ bills. But Meyer is viewed as a pioneer in the restaurant world, so it seems inevitable that almost everything he does, a slew of others will follow. So the real question is: What does this shift mean for the future of the NYC restaurant industry and both its employees and diners?
“I am not in favor of this policy, as it leads to mediocre service in many cases, and only the restaurant ownership makes out on the end,” said Ryan Madigan, who has worked as a restaurant consultant in NYC for several years. “There is a long way to go until the new policies are fair and commonplace.” Last winter, New York Magazine released a full spread entitled “We Are the 20 Percent: What Tips Mean to Servers, Bartenders, Doormen and Baristas,” and interviewed several restaurant employees around NYC. Those who worked at expensive and busy restaurants admitted making anywhere from $300–400 in tips per shift, while those working in less-pricy restaurants made typically $80–$150. With the minimum wage being a solid $8.75, according to the New York State Labor Standards, it’s easy to assume the majority of New York restaurants workers’ incomes come from their tip earnings. So while these new tip policies are intended to make wages fairer and possibly even increase workers’ incomes, they may end up affecting their entire livelihood. It could be either feast or famine. “Tips don’t just make up the bulk of server’s income. Tips are our income,” said Silvana Ramos, who has worked as a server and bartender at different restaurants in New York for more than 12 years. “The bad thing about being a server or bartender is that you don’t have guaranteed income. … With this new tip policy, the unpredictability of income is still there because a server would still make their money based on how many people walked through the door.”
“I feel like tips are a real ref lection of service in New York,” Adrian*, a server at Five Napkin Burger, said. “It’s practically a part of our culture. People reward waiters and waitresses with handsome tips if we feel they went above and beyond. If service was lackluster, tips — if they even choose to give any — are the same. Taking away tipping might make some restaurantgoers feel uncomfortable, as if they’re leaving something out. But others might feel relieved that they don’t have to scramble and figure out how much they should leave their waiter.” Starting in late November, The Modern, a French eatery located in the Museum of Modern Art, will play the test dummy, as it will be the first of the USHG restaurants to have tip-line-free checks. The other 12 restaurants will follow throughout 2016. “We [USHG] felt a responsibility to go first and we’re proud to do it because it’s the right thing to do,” Meyer told NPR. While it may end up being the “wrong” thing, history shows that Meyer has almost always been right. He was right about using organic and local farming in restaurants. He was right about Shake Shack. So chances are he’ll probably be right about gratuity. But despite all these mixed feelings and predictions on the matter, only time can really tell how these new policies will affect the NYC restaurant industry in the long run.
But how will the millions of NYC diners adjust to this shift? While some restaurant workers find the tip policy won’t help servers economically, some of the people who actually provide the tips have mixed feelings on how the policy will affect service.
PHOTO COURTESY: HUFFINGTONPOST.COM
W27
NOVEMBER 2015
25
ARE YOU DRESSED UP FOR HALLOWEEN ALREADY? “SO EVERY YEAR DURING THE LAST WEEK OF OCTOBER, I CELEBRATE ‘HALLOWEEK.’ I DRESS UP EVERY DAY AS A DIFFERENT PERSON. IT’S USUALLY LIKE A LAST-MINUTE PLANNED THING. BUT I STILL DO IT, AND I HAVE FUN. SO YESTERDAY I WAS VERONICA SAWYER FROM ‘HEATHERS,’ AND MY BOYFRIEND WAS J.D. TODAY I AM MIA WALLACE FROM ‘PULP FICTION.’ I LIKE TO DRESS UP AS STRONG AND UNIQUE FEMALE CHARACTERS. ALSO, I JUST LOVE HALLOWEEN BECAUSE IT'S SPOOKY. AND I LIKE BEING
HUMANS OF FIT
C O M M U N I C AT I O N D E S I G N M A J O R
BY MELISSA DEOLIVEIRA
S A M S K O PA S
MELANIE LEONARD C O M M U N I C AT I O N D E S I G N M A J O R “WHEN IT COMES TO ART AND DESIGN, I’M REALLY INTO THE OLD AND THE CLASSIC. I THINK ASPECTS OF QUALITY LOSS ARE APPLICABLE TO EVERYONE. FOR INSTANCE, WHY DOES NO ONE HANG ORNATE WALLPAPER ANYMORE? I ALSO THINK, IN THE ASPECT OF QUALITY, PEOPLE NEED TO SLOW DOWN, MAKE GOOD FOOD OR HAVE TIME IN THEIR DAY FOR THEMSELVES. I DON’T KNOW WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE CAREER-WISE, BUT I KNOW I WANT TO WORK TO INCREASE PEOPLE’S DESIRE FOR QUALITY.”
NICOLE MILANO FA S H I O N D E S I G N M A JO R
SPOOKY.”
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND? “MIDTERMS [LAUGHS]. MIDTERMS AND — THERE’S JUST TOO MUCH — STRESS. STRESS AND DRAPING PROJECTS.”
I LIKE SHINY THINGS [LAUGHS]. IT’S REALLY BAD THOUGH BECAUSE IT’S SO HARD TO SEW ON. BUT IT’S THE PRETTIEST OUT THERE. CHIFFON IS LIKE SEWING JELLO. I TRIED IT THIS SUMMER BECAUSE I WAS LIKE, ‘I’M GONNA PRACTICE. I’M GONNA GET GOOD,’ BUT IT CAME OUT TERRIBLE. OH! MY SISTER MADE STATES FOR TENNIS, SO I’M MENTALLY ROOTING FOR HER. I’M REALLY PROUD OF HER.
MONTH IN REVIEW
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THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP: THE MOST DANGEROUS AGREEMENT YOU PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF BY DARA KENIGSBERG
If you haven’t heard of the TransPacific Partnership (TPP), you are not alone. Over the last seven years, 12 nations, including the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, Mexico, Japan and Canada, have held secret meetings and conducted hushed negotiations working out the 30 chapters of this so-called free trade agreement. A deal was finally reached on October 5, and in June of 2016, because of President Obama’s decision to fast-track it, this controversial, potentially damaging deal will likely be signed into effect, thus essentially becoming global law. Critics of the TPP say that it is worse than anything they could have imagined. Charles Chamberlain, executive director for Democracy for America said, “This agreement would push down wages, f lood our nation with unsafe imported food, raise the price of life-saving medicine, all the while trading with countries where gays and single mothers can be stoned to death.” Nick Dearden of Global Justice Now charged that, “on issues ranging from climate change to food safety, to open Internet access to medicines, it is a disaster.” Evan Greer of Fight for the Future stated that, “If Congress signs agreement despite its blatant corruption, they will be signing a death warrant for open Internet and putting the future of free speech in peril.” And in response to the final text of the agreement, Friends of the Earth said that it “is designed to protect 'free trade' in dirty energy products such as tar sands oil, coal from the Powder River Basin, and liquefied natural gas shipped out of West Coast ports,” warning that the result will be “more climate change from carbon emissions across the Pacific.”
Throughout the negotiations, the text of the treaty was kept from the public. The only people who knew what it said were the 550 corporate lobbyists that had been drafting it. Over the years there have been numerous leaks of various chapters, all of which have been met by harsh criticism and protests. Said by many to be “NAFTA on steroids,” all 6,000 pages were finally released on November 5, confirming its critics’ worst fears. According to stoptpp. org, “The Trans-Pacific Partnership would create a super-treaty which would jeopardize the sovereignty of the nations involved by giving that power to large corporations like Wal-Mart, Monsanto, Goldman Sachs, Pfizer, Halliburton, Philip Morris, GE, GM, Apple.” According to USTR.gov, the deal was originally intended to, “promote economic growth; support the creation and retention of jobs; enhance innovation, productivity and competitiveness; raise living standards; reduce poverty in our countries; and promote transparency, good governance, and enhanced labor and environmental protections.” However, it seems as if it will do just the opposite. Also, this bill of goods that the American public was sold is not the real reason why the U.S. wants to adopt it. The TPP will give the United States, as opposed to China, the ability to set future rules. Or at least that is what we have been led to believe. The fact is that whether or not the TPP is signed, China will still have a major hand in setting the rules of 21st century trade. Just because the U.S. is signing a free-trade deal with the Pacific Rim nations doesn’t mean that China can’t, and won’t do so in the future as well. China is already doing the majority of trading with many of TPP’s signatories. It would be much smarter to work with the Chinese than to delude people into believing that the “United States will really set the terms of Asian trade and thereby court a rising contest with China that could ultimately turn into competing trade blocs or worse,” says Jeffrey D. Sachs in his analysis in the Boston Globe. There are four main parts to this agreement. The first is a free-trade deal between all of the signatories. The second is a set of standards that said trade must adhere to. The third is a set of supervisory regulations for intellectual property, investor rights and key service sectors, and the fourth deals with labor and environmental standards (yet there is no mention of climate change).
The following are just some of the main problems with the deal:
Massive Job Loss and Eventual Global Proletarianization
Sovereignty and Democracy are being Undermined
By now, we all have the hindsight to know that NAFTA was bad for jobs. After 20 years, the U.S. has higher income-inequality and has lost around one million jobs. And yet, many of the provisions in the TPP were modeled after it. According to citizen.org, the TPP includes, “special protections for corporations that offshore American jobs to low-wage countries.” In fact, it would expand “privileges for firms that relocate abroad, and eliminate many of the usual risks that make firms think twice about moving to lowwage countries. The TPP's offshoring incentives include a guaranteed minimum standard of treatment in the offshore venue and compensation for regulatory costs.” Domestic and small businesses are not going to fare well against this. American manufacturing will decrease even more. The TPP makes it so that jobs are moved to wherever they cost the least. In doing so, workers’ rights and protections are completely trampled in the process. Dissidentvoice.org paints this picture: “imagine the Lance Armstrong of neoliberal trade deals: doped-up, ‘roidf lushed, viscous-blooded, deceitful, win-at-any-cost, brazen, in-your-face, winner-take-all, corrupt, corporate leviathan.”
Chapter 28 deals with ISDS – Investor State Dispute Settlement mechanisms. Under this process, governments can be taken before tribunals made up of corporate lawyers if they believe that their rights or laws are being violated, or if they feel future profits are being limited. Yes, you read that correctly, future profits! Let’s take a guess how they will rule. And there are no appeals either. According to citizen.org, “This extreme ‘investor-state’ system already has been included in a series of U.S. "trade" deals, forcing taxpayers to hand more than $440 million to corporations for toxics bans, land-use rules, regulatory permits, water and timber policies and more. Under a similar pact, a tribunal recently ordered payment of more than $2 billion to a multinational oil firm.” Individual foreign corporations are given the ability to go over domestic courts and challenge any policy enacted by a sovereign nation if they feel they will lose money in the future. This gives foreign companies greater rights than domestic ones, and the rulings, which will undoubtedly favor the corporations, will be binding.
This will additionally add to income inequality. In a report on the TPP by the Center for Economic Policy and Research, David Rosnick estimated that only the top 10 percent of workers would see their wages increase under the deal and that the real wages of middle-class U.S. workers would decline from the 35th percentile to the 80th. According to alternet.org, “NAFTA, contributing to a decline in manufacturing jobs (now only 9 percent of the economy), has forced workers into lower-paying service jobs and resulted in a decline in real wages of between 12 and 17 percent. The TPP would only accelerate this process.” A new study by the Social Security Administration reports that 51 percent of Americans make less than $30,000 a year and 40 percent are making less than $20,000. Since the American government considers a family of four living on less than $24,250 to be at the poverty level, nearly half of the workers in the U.S. are at or below it. The TPP will only exacerbate this.
PHOTO COURTESY: AMAZONNEWS.COM
W27
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NOVEMBER 2015
“ O N LY T H E T O P 1 0 P E R C E N T O F W O R K E R S W O U L D S E E T H E I R W A G E S I N C R E A S E U N D E R T H E D E A L A N D T H AT T H E R E A L WAG ES OF M I DDLE - CL A SS U. S. WORKERS WOU LD DECLI N E FROM TH E 35TH PERCENTI LE TO TH E 80TH ”
PHOTO COURTESY: INDEXONCENSORSHIP.ORG
Environmental Carnage due to Corporate Assault
Privatization and Commodification of Global Commons
According to dissidentvoice.org, “The agreement will result in needless, unnecessary death, suffering and risk to the poor, the vulnerable and the sick. Millions will die because of reduced access to basic life-saving generic medicines, medicinal procedures, dismantled public health measures, or because medicines and medical services will be made unaffordable.” Under the TPP, for-profit corporations will gain control. Social assistance programs will either be scaled back on a major level or cut entirely. Pharmaceutical prices will reach astronomical levels. Those countries that have relied on public health care systems will likely see them breakdown under corporate control. Plants and animals will become marketable products because companies will be given the right to patent them. And any time a government dares to push back on drug prices, the tribunals can sue them. In fact, just about everything can be sued into extinction. From health, food and safety regulations, to environmental protections and climate change policies, the rights of consumers will eventually all but disappear.
Our right to free speech, most Americans would agree, is not something that should ever be tampered with. Yet the TPP will implement restrictions and measures that do exactly that. According to eff. org, countries will have to “adopt many of the most controversial aspects of U.S. copyright law in their entirety. At the same time, the TPP's IP chapter does not export the limitations and exceptions in the U.S. copyright regime like fair use, which have enabled freedom of expression and technological innovation to f lourish in the United States. It includes only a placeholder for exceptions and limitations. This raises serious concerns about other countries’ sovereignty and the ability of national governments to set laws and policies to meet their domestic priorities.” This puts some of our most fundamental rights regarding how we get information at risk. The Internet will become “privatized, enclosed, and surveilled,” according to dissidentvoice. org. Whistle-blowers and investigative journalists may be criminalized based on the extremely vague wording on the misuse of trade secrets. And those that do infringe on copyrights, even without a commercial motivation, will be hit with extremely harsh criminal sanctions, including jail time and exorbitant fines. Even file sharing could result in this, and users “may have their property or domains seized even without a formal complaint from the copyright holder,” according to eff.org. The chapter on Intellectual Property, Chapter 18, is basically a corporate F-U to intellectual, artistic and cultural commons.
Now these are just a few of the issues with the TPP. For an agreement that is supposed to promote free trade, it seems to be doing anything but. Take, for example, the expansion of intellectual property rights for big pharma. The TPP is going to restrict open competition and increase prices for consumers worldwide. According to project-syndicate.org, “pharmaceutical companies would effectively be allowed to extend – sometimes almost indefinitely – their monopolies on patented medicines, keep cheaper generics off the market, and block ‘biosimilar’ competitors from introducing new medicines for years.” Regulatory agencies like the FDA will be prevented from registering generic versions of a drug for a certain number of years and the international tribunals (Chapter 28) could require that corporations be compensated for any possible profit loss coming from regulations. This could, in turn, impede domestic health policies. This brings me (again) to ISDS. Wellknown Consumer Rights Activist Ralph Nader told journalist Chris Hedges that, “The TPP, along with the WTO (World Trade Organization) and NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), is the most brazen corporate power grab in American history. It allows corporations to bypass our three branches of government to impose enforceable sanctions by secret tribunals. These tribunals can declare our labor, consumer and environmental practices to be unlawful, non-tariff barriers subject to fines for noncompliance. The TPP establishes a transnational, autocratic system of enforceable governance in defiance of our domestic laws.” Essentially, corporations, and even individual investors under the TPP are being given the same status as nations and the means to enforce a public treaty, privately. This puts an overwhelming amount of power into the hands of a single interest. Even when the government wins, they can be ordered to pay for the legal fees and costs of the case, which, according to citizen.org, is usually around $8 million. Imagine this: It is January of 2017 and the mayor of New York City signs a bill that will raise minimum wage to $20 an hour, starting May 15. However, in February, a Malaysian company that own 10 restaurants in NYC files a lawsuit that says increasing the minimum wage will violate the provision of the TPP that protects investors. This would not be heard in federal or state court, but “by three private arbitrators; the United States government is the sole defendant; and the city can participate only if the U.S. allows it,” according to theatlantic.com. The U.S. would be sued, and though the minimum wage law would not be affected directly, Congress would most likely step in and override it because it opened the door for other foreign investors to bring similar claims.
This is not as far-fetched as one would imagine. In Canada, a similar situation actually occurred. The government reversed a ban on certain toxins and released a worldwide advertisement that claimed the chemical was safe so they could avoid paying substantial damages in the future. Economists Joseph Stiglitz and Adam S. Hersh further questioned the TPP provisions on ISDS on project-syndicate.org, writing, “Imagine what would have happened if these provisions had been in place when the lethal effects of asbestos were discovered. Rather than shutting down manufacturers and forcing them to compensate those who had been harmed, under ISDS, governments would have had to pay the manufacturers not to kill their citizens. Taxpayers would have been hit twice – first to pay for the health damage caused by asbestos, and then to compensate manufacturers for their lost profits when the government stepped in to regulate a dangerous product.” The TPP will lead to the privatization, commodification and monetization of, well, everything! Civil liberties and Internet freedoms are being threatened, as are public and environmental health, bargaining rights, food standards and safety, financial stability, jobs and even our very own democracy. According to the Huffington Post, “The Economic Policy Institute estimates that under the TPP we stand to lose more than 130,000 jobs to Vietnam and Japan alone, with American workers having to compete with their counterparts in Vietnam, where the minimum wage is just 56 cents an hour.” Truthdig.com sums it up best with these two words: “corporate enslavement.” It is a coup by corporations, which will now become more powerful than nations. Individuals will lose their rights and countries will be forced to serve the interests of companies. The buyAmerican sentiment that has been building recently will be replaced by the overwhelming need for jobs as we continue along in this global race to the bottom. With the specter of TPP there has never been a more urgent need for citizen and student activism than now. That’s what it will take to thwart the malignant designs of global corporations vaulting in their bid for dominance and profit at our expense. It is a Pandora’s box of capitalist excess, terrifying for what demons it may unleash in the future.
FIT SPEAKS
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WHY “ALL LIVES MATTER” IS PROBLEMATIC BY DANA HEYWARD
PHOTO COURTESY: PITTSBURGHURBANMEDIA.COM
Sorry, not sorry but “All Lives Matter” (ALM) is probably one of the most problematic statements of 2015. The “catchphrase” was created as response to the “Black Lives Matter” (BLM) which was was formed after the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the murder of the black teenager, Trayvon Martin in 2013. What was originally a hashtag turned into a movement and since then, the BLM movement has continued to grow. The movement gained particular traction during the summer of 2014 after the death of Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York and then the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri less than a month later. Both deaths were at the hands of the police. For the past two year BLM has been a continuous political and social effort in creating dialogue on the on-going issues black Americans face within the justice system. But over the last year, the rumblings of ALM started to rear it’s head to counteract the movement under the guise of being an allinclusive alternative. However, it’s not just your everyday non-black citizens who’ve been preaching ALM. It’s some of our very own politicians and presidential hopefuls. Back in July, Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley was speaking at Netroots Nations conference when a group of activists shouted: “Black lives matter!” O’Malley responded: “Black lives matter. White lives matter. All lives matter.” He was then met with boos and criticism that still follow his campaign today. Just a month before his fellow Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton took some heat for doing essentially the same when she said, “All lives matter” while speaking at a historic black church in Missouri. This was also a week after the shooting at a predominately black church in Charleston, South Carolina that left nine dead. Like O’Malley, she was criticized and her campaign took a minor hit. Both candidates have since apologized and tried to mend their missteps but BLM vs. ALM has become a huge talking point of the upcoming 2016 election. Even during the first Democratic debate in October, candidates were asked: “Do black lives matter or do all lives matter?” But my question is: Why is this even a question?
Yes, all lives do matter. But using that as a response to the BLM movement is inappropriate because it actually detracts from everything the movement stands for and is trying to achieve. The BLM movement isn’t out here claiming, “Black lives matter and no one else’s do.” It’s circling in on the fact that issues of black Americans are legitimate and should matter even though history and recent events have shown us otherwise. What are some of these recent events that make black Americans feel like they’re unequal? Eric Garner, a black man who was strangled to death by officers after being accused of selling loose cigarettes. Michael Brown, a black teenager whose body was left out in the middle of street for four hours after being shot to death by a police officer who went onto describe him as a “demon”. Sandra Bland, a Texas woman who mysteriously died in police custody this past summer. Tamir Rice, a 12-year old boy in Cleveland who was shot by police for playing with a BB gun they suspected was real. The shooting took place exactly a year ago and there isn’t a trial in sight. Then there are the numerous less-publicized cases and wrongful deaths at the hands of law enforcement that plague the black community into feeling like their voices are unheard and their lives are meaningless within the system.
I could continue going on and on about why ALM just needs to crawl back into the tone-deaf hole in came from with numbers, facts and figures. But instead I’ll leave you with this quote from comedian, Felonious Munk who completely nails it on why ALM should never be uttered again with a simple analogy. “If I break my leg, I do not want the doctor telling me, ‘All legs should be healed,’” Munk explained on “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore”, “I want the doctor to fix my leg.”
YES, ALL LIVES DO MATTER. BUT USING THAT AS A RESPONSE TO THE BLM MOVEMENT IS INAPPROPRIATE BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY DETRACTS FROM EVERYTHING THE MOVEMENT STANDS FOR AND IS TRYING TO ACHIEVE. THE BLM MOVEMENT ISN’T OUT HERE CLAIMING, “BLACK LIVES MATTER AND NO ONE ELSE’S DO.” IT’S CIRCLING IN ON THE FACT THAT ISSUES OF BLACK AMERICANS ARE LEGITIMATE AND SHOULD MATTER EVEN THOUGH HISTORY AND RECENT EVENTS HAVE SHOWN US OTHERWISE.
One of the most recent cases that displays this lack in equality is the Oklahoma City police officer, Daniel Holtzclaw who is facing 36 counts of rape and sexual battery against 13 different women, the majority of whom are black. According to the Huffington Post, Holtzclaw (who is Japanese and white) targeted these women as he viewed them to be more vulnerable and was arrested back in August of 2014 yet his trial only began this month. However, the final jury selection of the trial is composed of all white men and women so the chances that he’ll face a “life sentence in prison” seem slight. Beneath what seemed like a “nice” attempt at an empowering and fair response, ALM is actually redundant, encourages erasure and ultimately still displays resistance in actually acknowledging some of the very separate issues black Americans continue to face. If all lives truly matter, then we should be able to acknowledge and support that a specific group of lives feel that this statement doesn’t ring true for them.
PHOTO COURTESY: STUDENTAFFAIRSCOLLECTIVE.ORG
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WHAT BERNIE WOULD MEAN FOR YOUR FUTURE BY MEGHAN KANE
“As a cultural icon, he has kind of risen to fame and has a huge following of young people, and I think this is largely due to his platform and his beliefs on things like free college education and his progressive beliefs on racial issues. I think PHOTO COURTESY: LATIMES.COM
that he’s more outspoken than a lot of the other Democratic nominees, and I think that’s also something that’s inspiring and something that makes more young people like him a lot.”
As The Washington Post so warmly pointed out, we grew up in a recession, watched our parents struggle to make ends meet and became anxious about our futures. We are graduating from college with huge debt and a gnawing uncertainty about landing jobs and affording homes. Statistically, we have little faith in government and other institutions we once thought we could depend on. We are the country’s gloomand-doom generation of millennials. Our answer to the 2016 presidential election: Senator Bernie Sanders, the Democratic socialist who has millennials “feeling the Bern.” Sanders is sensationally active on social media and has inspired a myriad of hashtags such as #feeltheBern and #Bernie2016. There’s even @babesforBernie, an “Internet generation” feminist Twitter account, verifying his cult following. He has 1,778,682 likes on his Facebook page — 188,272 more than Hillary Clinton, the current Democratic front-runner. There are even T-shirts popular among trendy liberals with the messages “Bernie is bae” and “Talk Bernie to me.” Where is this success coming from? People ages 18–29 who like his anti-establishment positioning and Democratic socialist ideals. Here are some reasons as to why the senator is “Berning up” — and why it may not be enough to get him to the White House:
1 . H E B E LI E V E S CO LLE G E S H OU LD B E F R E E : The cost of higher education in the U.S. continues to increase with 40 million Americans currently facing $1.2 trillion in student loan debt, according to a report from CNN in 2014. This being an issue hitting both young adults and their families, Sanders’ College For All Act has rapidly gained appeal. The senator wants to substantially lower interest rates on student loans. “[Sanders] mentioned college students and exactly the point of why we shouldn’t be paying so much for college,” Andrea Antomattei, a first-year Fine Arts student, said. “And, you know, I’m struggling here, so I’m kinda like, someone’s looking out for me.”
2 . H E SU PP O RTS WO M E N :
Clinton may represent a kind of feminist movement, but Sanders’ welldocumented commitment to women’s rights has attracted a lot of millennials. Sanders is pro-choice, pro-access to birth control and supports funding for Planned Parenthood. Sanders spoke out after senators tried to vote in favor of defunding Planned Parenthood, claiming it was an “attack on women’s health.” As pointed out by On The Issues, in 2006 he co-sponsored a bill to make emergency contraception universally available in hospitals for victims of rape and voted yes on an act that would make it illegal for pharmacies to deny birth control to patients. He wants to extend paid maternity leave, close the gender pay-gap and voted for the Paycheck Fairness Act. “It boggles the mind that in this day and age, the average woman still only makes 78 cents for every dollar the average man makes,” Sanders said.
3 . H E SU PP O RTS I M M I G R ATI O N R E FO R M :
Sanders has emphasized several times that we are a “nation of immigrants.” He wants to support immigration reform that will address the legal status of the 11 million undocumented individuals living in this country, as stated on feelthebern. org. And he supports the DREAM act, which would create a path toward citizenship for young, undocumented immigrants.
4 . H E C A R E S A BOUT B L AC K LI V E S M AT TE R:
According to The Huffington Post, Sanders met with Black Lives Matter activists, including DeRay McKesson, Johnetta Elzie, Samuel Sinyangwe and Brittany Packnett, in September to discuss racial justice and policing reforms. Black Lives Matter has been an important subject in the 2016 election among minorities and young adults. He also appointed Symone Sanders, who is of no relation to the senator, to serve as the national youth chair of the Coalition on Juvenile Justice, a nonprofit that focuses on appropriate care of American youth in the justice system, as his campaign press secretary. “As a cultural icon, he has kind of risen to fame and has a huge following of young people,” first-year FBM student Zachary Jones said, “and I think this is largely due to his platform and his beliefs on things like free college education and his progressive beliefs on racial issues. I think that he’s more outspoken than a lot of the other Democratic nominees, and I think that’s also something that’s inspiring and something that makes more young people like him a lot.”
5 . H E DO E S N 'T S E LL OUT:
According to The Guardian, Sanders rejected a $2,700 donation from Martin Shkreli, the pharmaceutical CEO who tried to raise the price of an anti-parasitic drug used in AIDS and cancer patients by 5,455 percent. “We are not keeping the money from this poster boy for drug company greed,” Sanders stated.
“I don’t think I’ll vote for him if he doesn’t get the nomination — if he does decide to run as an independent and not a Democrat, which I think he might do,” Jones said. “I’ll probably vote for Hillary Clinton because I know that, if the base of the Democratic party votes for Bernie Sanders and the more moderate liberals vote for Hillary, then there will be ... a split vote, and the Republican nominee will win the presidential election. I’m kind of reluctant to be fully in support of Bernie Sanders, especially because I know that he’s probably not going to get the nomination.” “I’m not voting,” Antomattei said. “I’m not trying to get into that.” “Traditionally, younger people aren’t a great group to bank on,” Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, said. “They tend to be the f lakiest of voters.” Sanders’ team has launched several efforts to keep younger Americans engaged from now until it’s time to vote. The campaign is even building an app that will provide carpool opportunities for supporters for campaign events and on Election Day. College students are among those most often without cars who could benefit from the technology. After being attacked by older generations for so long, it’s refreshing to see a politician attempt to drive such compelling matters home. The millennial generation is starved for a leader, one that rejects the BS that Jon Stewart warned of in his final “Daily Show” monologue. That leader has arrived in the form of a blunt-yettactful socialist who’s based his entire campaign on an off beat political idea — telling the truth. The grassroots campaign growth continues to reach new heights as Sanders is becoming a surprise favorite among young people in the upcoming election. Now all they have to do is vote.
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PHOTO COURTESY: HUFFINGTONPOST.COM
“It is a struggle for a lot of women — even those who are not religious — to find a garment that is f lattering but doesn’t show everything,” Ayala Tiefenbrunn, a Communication Design major, said. As an Orthodox Jew, she said she believes every person comes into the world with a mission. “My personal mission is to dress in a way that helps me to be a better person. Modesty holds me to a standard because people remember me and what I do since I dress differently.” BY VERONICA MARRINAN
THE PROBLEM WITH
FASHION WHEN IT COMES TO FAITH “It always feels like women who wear hijab are ignored when it comes to fashion,” Mariah Idrissi said. The 23-year-old fashion model knows what she’s talking about. This past September, during her first time working with a large company, Idrissi stepped up as the first hijab-clad model to be featured in an ad by a mainstream brand. Close the Loop, produced by H&M to encourage the recycling of clothing in fast-fashion markets, featured many customers who often go unnoticed. Some say that the best part of the ads is seeing the models express their faith alongside their fashion sense. “H&M’s campaign was a huge move for those of us on the modest fashion blogging front,” Sobia Masood, an International Trade and Marketing major and fashion blogger, said. Masood, who wears the hijab as well as turban-style scarves in her interpretation of hijab, shared her beliefs with The Huffington Post in 2014. “Islam doesn’t tell us exactly what to wear. Rather, it gives us a certain guideline — and every Muslim woman has the right to interpret it how she wants to,” She continued, “Hijab and fashion are not mutually exclusive. Just as fashion is a form of selfexpression, hijab is a form of religious self-expression.” Because of her blog, Masood has met many women that the fashion industry has failed to cater to. Instead of having a simple, stress-free shopping trip, women from all different faiths struggle to find a garment that they can comfortably wear as is — or style into wearability.
As part of her faith observance, Tiefenbrunn dresses more conservatively than the majority of women her age. In order to dress in accordance with her faith, she often buys basics from Israel to wear under all the clothing she buys here in the U.S. “I wouldn’t want to place my personal preferences on everyone in the world. But I know there are more women out there like me who are looking for clothing to suit their lifestyle.” And there are. Not only do Muslim and Orthodox Jewish women have a difficult time finding clothing that does not need to be altered, but many Christian woman do as well. Soobin Im, a freshman in Fashion Merchandising and a fashion blogger, faces similar challenges when shopping on a budget. “Modesty to me is not just limited to the clothing choices I make. It’s the way I speak, carry myself and act towards others,” Im said. “But where it does apply to how I dress, it can be difficult to find clothing that I feel comfortable in and can afford.”
One only has to do a little research to find that Im’s statement rings true. Long skirts tend to have huge slits and little to no lining, while shirts are typically low-cut or thin enough to showcase a woman’s bra. For the modest customer who adheres to even the fewest guidelines, shopping and getting dressed in the morning can be a chore. And while brands like Shabby Apple, ModCloth and MikaRose offer more conservative and attractive clothing options, most of their pieces retail at a price point higher than the average college student, struggling to balance coffee and design school supplies, can afford. H&M seems to be setting a great standard with its latest campaign, but the question is whether other brands are going to step up to the plate as well. While the desire for religious affiliation appears less important among millennials as a whole, one only has to speak brief ly with a religious millennial to realize that they take their faith very seriously. This is a worry for fast-fashion companies because a young woman who continually has trouble finding modest clothing at their stores is likely to cross them off her list. “In my opinion, modesty means dressing in a way that shows your inner confidence, but above all, your dignity,” Im said. “That’s not something I’m likely to compromise.” The modest customer wants to feel beautiful as well, without having to compromise her religious expression or drain her bank account. Tiefenbrunn summed it up best: “I think that all women should have the opportunity to feel beautiful, and it’s the industry’s responsibility to enable all of their customers to do that. If that’s not what’s happening then something is f lawed in the system.”
FOR THE MODEST CUSTOMER WHO ADHERES TO EVEN THE FEWEST GUIDELINES, SHOPPING AND GETTING DRESSED IN THE MORNING CAN BE A CHORE.
PHOTO COURTESY: HUFFINGTONPOST.COM
STYLE ON 27
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STYLE ON 27 B Y: V I C K Y M AT H E W W H AT I S Y O U R F AV O R I T E H O L I D AY T R A D I T I O N ? MELODY LANGJAHR - FBM
MADISON SCHREIBER - AMC
SHIREEN CHAN - FBM
TERESA CHONG - ITM
DRESS - H&M
DRESS - FOREVER21
SKIRT - NEW LOOK
SHIRT - NASTYGAL
VEST - H&M
JACKET - ALL SAINTS
SHIRT - ZARA
JACKET - BURBERRY
SHOES - STEVE MADDEN
SHOES - H&M
SCARF - BURBERRY
BAG - NASTYGAL
HAT - BRANDY MELVILLE
NECKLACE - THRIFTED,
My favorite holiday tradition would have to be decorating a gingerbread house and baking lots of sweets to share with my whole family!
Favorite holiday tradition - My favorite holiday is Chinese New Years. Nothing ever beats spending time with family and receiving red envelopes and free money!
My favorite holiday tradition would have to be on Thanksgiving when each individual family makes their own pie and then we all get together and compare them and then we play flag football after dinner. It’s the little things; something I look forward to every year!
BAG - LOUIS VUITTON LUGGAGE - TUMI SHOES - CUSTOMIZED CONVERSE Christmas - the spirit of sharing gifts are so much fun, family getting together and Christmas vacation. And looking forward to the new year and my birthday.
JIYOUN HAN - FMM
SARAH KWON
DEVLIN CHRNELICH - PACKAGING DESIGN
- FBM
JOHN LANSANG - TEXTILE DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING TOP - SANDRO
SWEATER - AMERICAN APPAREL
JACKET - URBAN OUTFITTERS
BOTTOM - TOP SHOP
PANTS - ZARA
SHIRT - AMERICAN APPAREL AND UNIQLO
VEST - MUST.BE
SHOES - NIKE
SHOES - CONVERSE
I like Christmas and spending it with friends and family.
JEANS - TOPMAN
My favorite Christmas tradition is to go to church with family and have fun with my friends.
SHOES - ADIDAS STAN SMITH BEANIE - URBAN OUTFITTERS My favorite tradition is opening one present on Christmas Eve
OUTFIT - NIKE, ONE OAK, ASOS, SUPRA My favorite holiday tradition is stuffing my face with the box of family Christmas cookies.