Aleks Susak
This Toronto label's 2017 Fall/Winter show was all about pastels and hand -painted silks- with a volume of sensual velvets. This soft, gentle and sweetly tantalizing line hints at one of our fave looks - the bohemian flare, she calls Folk Rock. We just call it Cool!
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We will continue to keep an eye on her, as it is obvious Aleks knows what sassy, sophisticated women want.
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Shravan Kummar
Fashion is my religion is where you can find this man's magnificent jewel creations - just add .com. 24 years of crafting such magical pieces should have his name on more of out tongues. Particularly, with his mission of Social and Environmental Commitment to empower poor families by generating employment opportunities, and also by cultivating bio-degradable and ecofriendly products. In an effort to meet this objective, Shravan has taken up the responsible initiative to promote handicrafts and workmanship from rural India – paying tribute to weavers, through “AN ODE TO WEAVES & WEAVERS’’, the annual show showcasing over a 100 weaves.
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Alas, we long for MORE online presence - as in, his own Spring show! Psst, take a peek above...
Mara Hoffman
Swim Ware, Ready to Ware, Children's Ware we cannot get enough of Mara's designs. None of us know her, personally, but, it is agreed, Mara is like a best girlfriend a warrior princess and magical wizard rolled into one. We want to spend the day with her just to see what makes her tick.
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Her focus on using more eco-conscious and sustainable materials i.e working to eliminate fibers sourced from ancient and endangered forests, endangered species habitat or illegal logging, aligned with, and building upon, the work of not-for-profit organization Canopy, also leaves us environmentally eco-inspired. Her creations are as bold as her beliefs - as apparent in her Fall 2017 show! Enjoy.
What the Curl ? con't
If we want to STOP having the same OLD conversation, we have to take a moment to understand the underlying problem that has caused us to get "stuck," in the first place. WHY is someone with "better" hair (styles) than we have SO very upsetting???
For starters, we must understand that hair is a major defining element of identity to woman across cultures. Hair is a major defining piece of identity for men across cultures! HAIR is both a social and private reflection of our self, that drastically affects self-esteem.
Why?
From the beginning of human socialization, "Good Hair," was an attribute. A lot of hair (or long hair) was considered an attribute because it was sign of health, virility and strength - all positive traits NECESSARY for perpetuating life.
Fast forward to today, these same requirements remain in the neurons of our brains. Our ancient mothers' and fathers' knowledge (and guidelines) for producing healthy offspring (and sustaining good care for them as well as ourselves) have been forwarded to us - like a video gone viral. We all want (because it was necessary for our survival) healthy, strong, virile partners.
Part of our conflict is, we are unaware of this subconscious message - this assessing that we do. We believe we admire someone who happens to have "a great head of hair" because... well... s/he is attractive. We don't realize we find her/him attractive because a great head of hair, nice hair, good hair - usually long (or high) hair - signals to our ancient brain "Perfect Mate." Having "great hair" is like having a sign over our heads flashing: "I'm the one: Mr/s. Right!"
You might wonder why "high" hair is mentioned along with long hair. African history notes that hair (styles) conveyed age, marital status, ethnic identity, religion, wealth, and rank in the wearer's community. High hair, and or tall additions to the head, signified royalty as well as spiritual connectivity.
Numerous African groups believed much communication occurred through the hair. This is why "doing" a person's hair was/ is a bonding experience between recipient and stylist. Hence the value placed upon our hairdressers, today, and why so many of us spend hours at the hair salon.
In our African tradition, unkempt, untidy hair was unheard of - it was CONTRARY to the masterful, well maintained styles in the various forms of braids, coils and twists, adorned with beads, pearls, shells and other treasures the message/style demanded. This may attest to WHY those "how to" natural hair videos are so relevant.
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Great hair is deeply embedded in our DNA, both anciently and culturally. It is no wonder that approximately 20 generations after leaving the continent, Our Hair remains an extremely significant component to us, as people of the African diaspora.
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The challenge we of the African diaspora face is, our connectivity to hair value severed shortly after our kidnapping - when colonizers told us "Our Hair" was ugly. For over four hundred years we were told - and many of us were convinced - that the tighter our curl, the less attractive our hair. Maybe this sentiment was conveyed because the oppressors were more comfortable with those who resembled them, but, whatever the reason, tight curls meant "ugly" or "bad" hair.
If we buy into the ancient message about the Perfect Mate, and we are told our curl is ugly, then the underlying message is that we are ugly... If one feels ugly, what is the logical reaction to someone considered beautiful? It ain't pretty but it is human nature (to be resentful and jealous of what you are not).
So, what does one do with feelings of ugliness?
Much of what we do with these feelings will stem from gaining an understanding of history, as well as ourselves.
We must understand what we are feeling and trace those feelings to the messages we have received throughout our child/adulthood; messages from parents, friends, schoolmates, co-workers - even strangers - who admire one "look" over another, for example.
Understanding the ancient viral message looping in all our brains, as well as the centuries of brainwashing that told us we were ugly, will help us know these messages as outdated and untruths. When we finally see The Lies, we will (be able to) see - as well as value -the many attributes we possess.
Understanding the history behind our outdated messages will help us realize our uniqueness as people of the African diaspora, whose blood is blended with every other people across the globe. This will help us know the impossibility of being identical to each other - in spite of how we may resemble.
Once we embrace our uniqueness which, as we know, is often obvious in our curl, and factor in appreciation for our attributes, we can use each other as inspiration to write our own story instead of feeling we must have the same experience and result (and if we do not there is something wrong with us).
Writing our own personal story will allow us to release those old feelings of being "unattractive," as well as feeling jealous, resentful and or angry toward those our brainwashing identified as "better." We will see the beauty in our specific traits like our pigmentation, body shape, size, and hair curl with pride.
We may have lost the story of our ancient traditions, and our connection to that essence, but, becoming reacquainted with ourselves allows us the opportunity to fall in love with our attributes, knowing there are many factors to being our Perfect Self.
