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Fashion Goes Green

Sustainable Fashion is the Future
In the past decade, the architecture and engineering industries have taken great strides in sustainable design. Designers and builders are increasingly encouraged to use materials and building techniques that have less harmful effects on the environment. Programs including certifications and accreditation through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guide designers and builders to choose the most eco-friendly practices when crafting and shaping the buildings in which we exist.

Embrace the Mini

Fashion Forward Feminism
Having attended college at the apex of so-called “slutty” fashion, I’ve seen my fair share of skin. I was in my 20s when trends like the “whale tail” (a style in which the top of a woman’s thong underwear can be seen peeping out of her low rise jeans) graced streets everywhere. Young women left very little to the imagination. Our style role models included Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, who were known for accidentally flashing the paparazzi in teeny skirts sans undies. Perhaps fueled by the popularity of “Sex and the City,” or the normalization of Playboy bunnies via reality television, young women in my generation reclaimed our sexuality. We were the women who wanted to be able to hook up like men without being judged for it.

Fashion 501

An Introduction to the Denim Design Course at Academy of Art University
In fashion, there is no garment as versatile and effortless as a well-made pair of jeans. Walking down the street in any major city, it is likely that a majority of people will be wearing a pair. No other piece of clothing conveys the same level of effortless style.

Beginning in February 2018, Academy of Art University is offering a Denim Design elective for Fashion students. This class offers emerging designers and industry hopefuls with a unique opportunity to learn everything about denim.

Master of Photography

Herb Ritts: A Legend in Fashion Photography
For more than three decades, Herb Ritts served as one of the most sought-after photographers in fashion and entertainment, producing images that are still influential to his contemporaries. Throughout his career, his subjects included well-known celebrities, many of whom were icons themselves. He later incorporated cinematography into his repertoire, translating his distinctive style into music videos, which is commonplace in current fashion advertising.

According to Time magazine’s “All Time 100: Fashion Icons” by Erin Skarda, Ritts’ photography career began in the 1970s while on a road trip. “Ritts was traveling with his good friend, budding actor Richard Gere, when they got a flat tire. Ritts shot some photos of Gere while they waited, and eventually sold them to various national magazines.” (Skarda, 2012).

It's All About K-Pop

Korean Boy Band EXO Rides the K-Pop Explosion at the Olympics Closing Ceremonies
After two weeks of memorable action on the ice and in the snow, the 2018 Olympic Winter Games officially came to a close on Sunday in Pyeongchang. Performing at the closing ceremonies, K-Pop boy band sensation EXO delighted fans over the world with their electrifying showmanship.

Like much of the opening and closing ceremonies, EXO’s performance featured use of technology, as members of the group danced in time to coordinated images projected on the stage. The performance also utilized traditional elements of “boy band” shows, including coordinated choreography and charismatic singers. EXO brought matching style prevalent in pop music with a collective ensemble of tailored white suit jackets with black lining and coordinated skinny ties.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Faux Fails

What's In Your Fakeup Could Be Killing You
In fashion, the word “knockoff” conjures up images of Canal Street shops featuring fake purses from “Gocci” or “Prado.” This has been dramatized many times over in Hollywood, notably in the “Sex and the City 2” scene in which the girls risk harsh punishment for shopping in the “private” store in Abu Dhabi. Most people don’t think counterfeiting stretches to other items, including makeup.

Knockoffs are a serious problem permeating many industries from electronics to pharmaceuticals, and makeup is no exception. But counterfeit makeup is not innocuous, as the products are not subject to the rigorous testing and quality standards required by the FDA for legitimate cosmetics. A CBS News article titled, “Fake Makeup Can Be an Easy Buy – and a Health Hazard” showcases the potential dangers of phony cosmetics. “Some fake makeup has reportedly been found to contain dangerous chemicals such as arsenic, mercury and aluminum. ... Most concerning: some of the eye shadows in the fake palette had nearly four times the amount of lead as those in the real version.” (CBS News, 2017)

Last Spring in the Mile High

For the past five years, the city of Denver has been one of the fastest growing cities in the country. The Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation estimates the current population of the city itself at 692,000 with an overall metro area population of over 3 million. With this growth, retailers, salons, restaurants, pop ups and more are sprouting up all over the city, and neighborhoods are continually being revamped making them more enticing to shoppers. While Denver has a reputation as town in which Southwestern chic and athleisure are the height of style, some retailers have looked past the cowboy legacy, eyeing a market that is more fashion savvy than its reputation would convey. This year, the Ballpark neighborhood welcomes a newly re-branded salon, a boutique sets its sights on expansion, and a popular retailer is bringing its wares to the city for the first time.

Sharp Dressed Men

How Denver’s Bespoke Edge is Outfitting the Mile High City

Ryan Wagner is not only in the business of style, he is also regularly complemented on his own. Sitting in a coffee shop sipping on a latte and working on ideas for Bespoke Edge’s social media, Wagner is approached by the shop’s owner. “He’s always the best dressed person in here,” the man gushes.

Filling the Need for Timeless Style
Wagner founded Bespoke Edge, a custom menswear company based in Denver, Colorado, six years ago with his father and brother. Today, he wears a dark grey sport coat with a white and blue plaid shirt, pulling it all together with an Aegean blue pocket square.

Images used with permission from Bespoke Edge. Credit: Ashley Kidder

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