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Monday, February 21, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
MS. WEK
Okay, so I have been an absolutely terrible blogger, I apologize immensely!! The internet in my apartment just decided to stop working (that's still no excuse though, there's plenty of Borders and Starbucks around for me to work at, not to mention school -___-). I am supposed to be doing posts on influential black individuals in the fashion industry. Today, my lady of choice is African model Alek Wek!
The Sudanese-British model was born April 16, 1977 as the seventh of nine children in Wau, Sudan. She is of the Dinka ethnic group in southern Sudan, and she says her name means "the black spotted cow". In 1991, her and a few family members escaped the Civil War in Sudan to Britain where she was discovered by a Models 1 scout at Crystal Palace in London.
She was signed to Ford Models in 1996 and has done ads for Victoria's Secret, Issey Miyake, Moschino and Clinique (which is pretty awesome for Clinique because her skin is quite dark and for those of you who don't have dark skin, finding makeup to match it is quite a feat!) She has walked the runway for LaCroix (acting as the center bride on a few occasions), John Galliano, Donna Karan, Chanel, Shiatzy Chen, Calvin Klein, and more.
In addition to modeling, this talented woman also designs a line of handbags called "Wek 1933" which can be available through Selfridges stores. The inspiration for the bags came from the brass-clasp briefcase her father would always carry for work, and naturally the date 1933 corresponds to the year her father was born.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
IMAN
Here is another influential black icon in the fashion industry! This legendary goddess of a supermodel, actress and entrepreneur was born Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid in Somalia. Her father was formerly the Somali ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and she lived in Somalia, Egypt and Kenya before she began her modeling career.
Iman was a political science major at Nairobi University in Kenya before she was discovered by American photographer Peter Beard. The rest is history!
The Muslim legend is fluent in five different languages: English, French, Italian, Arabic and of course her native language, Somali.
With her striking facial features, long neck and smooth copper-toned skin, it's not difficult to understand that she was a muse for over 10 different prominent designers include Halston, Issey Miyake, Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein, and most notably, Yves Saint Laurent.
In addition to being a world-reknown supermodel for over 2 decades (a true feat for any above average model since you're considered old at 26), she started her own line of cosmetics for the ethnic woman who spent forever and a day looking for the right shade for her skin (I am definitely one of those ladies sadly). I am lucky because makeup has come very far since she was at the height of her modeling career, for when she would be made up for photo shoots and such, she would often have to mix her own powders and colors to fit her skin tone.
To top off her awesomeness, she went and married an equally legendary rockstar, David Bowie! They have three children, two from a separate previous marriage and one of their own!
Iman was a political science major at Nairobi University in Kenya before she was discovered by American photographer Peter Beard. The rest is history!
The Muslim legend is fluent in five different languages: English, French, Italian, Arabic and of course her native language, Somali.
With her striking facial features, long neck and smooth copper-toned skin, it's not difficult to understand that she was a muse for over 10 different prominent designers include Halston, Issey Miyake, Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein, and most notably, Yves Saint Laurent.
In addition to being a world-reknown supermodel for over 2 decades (a true feat for any above average model since you're considered old at 26), she started her own line of cosmetics for the ethnic woman who spent forever and a day looking for the right shade for her skin (I am definitely one of those ladies sadly). I am lucky because makeup has come very far since she was at the height of her modeling career, for when she would be made up for photo shoots and such, she would often have to mix her own powders and colors to fit her skin tone.
To top off her awesomeness, she went and married an equally legendary rockstar, David Bowie! They have three children, two from a separate previous marriage and one of their own!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Black History Month!
And the first post will go to...
ANDRE LEON TALLEY!!
If you call yourself a fashion enthusiast and you don't know who this man is, be very ashamed of yourself. The former editor-at-large for Vogue magazine was born October 16, 1949 in Durham, NC to Alma Ruth Davis and William Talley, though he was essentially raised by his grandmother. He attended North Carolina Central University for undergrad and Brown University for a master's degree in French. He started out working for Andy Warhol for $50 a week and the rest is history! He is notably linked to former editor-in-chief of Vogue, Diana Vreeland, as well as Marian Carey, Venus Williams, Kimora Lee, and recently Jennifer Hudson and Michelle Obama (He was the sneaky devil who introduced Michelle to Jason Wu which resulted in her purchasing several of his gowns, including her inaugural one).
ANDRE LEON TALLEY!!
If you call yourself a fashion enthusiast and you don't know who this man is, be very ashamed of yourself. The former editor-at-large for Vogue magazine was born October 16, 1949 in Durham, NC to Alma Ruth Davis and William Talley, though he was essentially raised by his grandmother. He attended North Carolina Central University for undergrad and Brown University for a master's degree in French. He started out working for Andy Warhol for $50 a week and the rest is history! He is notably linked to former editor-in-chief of Vogue, Diana Vreeland, as well as Marian Carey, Venus Williams, Kimora Lee, and recently Jennifer Hudson and Michelle Obama (He was the sneaky devil who introduced Michelle to Jason Wu which resulted in her purchasing several of his gowns, including her inaugural one).
He also received an honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Savannah College of Art Design and serves on the Board of Trustees! For those of you who didn't know, I am a SCAD student lol.
So I think you can see why I love this man so much.
1) His name is Andre. Win.
2) He studied French. Win.
3) He's a libra. Win.
But besides those fabulous reasons, he is a legendary face in fashion, and to make it even better, he is African-American. Happy Black History Month!!
Let me ramble for a second...
So for those of you who don't live in the United States and are unfamiliar with American holidays and such, February is known as Black History Month. I am very proud to be African-American, to be Haitian-American and to be Trinidadian-American! As a tribute to this very special and history-driven month, I will post tributes to my favorite black icons in the fashion industry! I promise I will actually post about great icons and not new ones that can't even really be called fashion icons (cough cough Kanye- I can't tell you how many people think he's an actual innovative and legendary fashion icon). I also apologize for not posting in FOREVER and a day! I've been trying to get photos of my outfits and its hard without a camera. I've been asking friends and they're always busy with work :/ But anyway! Let's get this month's posts started!
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