This short film, Plastic Bag, by director Ramin Bahrani (Goodbye Solo)

traces the epic, existential journey of a plastic bag and is voiced by

Werner Herzog, one of the German New Wave’s greatest directors.

Pop’Africana’s debut issue has landed!

The buzz and anticipation for a publication that serves as the Africana
Book of Style had reached fever pitch across the blogosphere and amongst
our readers. We can now quell those emotions as Pop’Africana is now out and
available for purchase, both online at www.popafricana.com and at select
bookstores and galleries.

In this issue we remained committed to delivering a refreshing and genuine
outlook on Africans in the Diaspora as it relates to the arts, fashion,
culture and music. We got personal with a slew of creatives, including
artists, Toyin Odutola and Daniela Yohannes, and filmmakers, Eli Jacobs
Fantauzzi and Daddy Rohuoraza. Both Odutola and Yohannes provided us
figurative interpretations of the African through illustrations.
Transitioning to a broader perspective, Rohuoraza and Fantauzzi focused on
Africa’s community settings. The filmmakers gave us mental snapshots into
their critically acclaimed films on local movements in Africa. We then
traversed back to the fusion jazz era of the 1960s to capture the ambiance
at the Pan African Cultural Festival in 1969. As a complement, Sam Coffie’s
jazz-inspired sensibilities and style was chronicled, as were those of
students in Abuja, Nigeria. We round off with fashion’s freshest faces,
Ataui Deng, Atong Arjok, Kaven, and our cover girl, Gaye McDonald, who
showcased spring/summer fashions and style in what is merely a teaser
introduction to our fashion and beauty pages. Fashion then meets literature
in an envisioned literary portrait of Ben Okri’s The Famished Road; a
powerful fashion story that takes you on an ethereal reverie.

In short, this debut issue is truly packed with thoughtful and visually
striking content that you have already come to associate with Pop’Africana.
But as you know, this is only the beginning!

Pop’Africana is now on sale on www.popafricana.com. Orders made online
ship to the U.S., Canada, France, Belgium, and the U.K.

Protein has been around for 12 years, but they will be in NYC on April 29th for the opening of their NY office!

For those of you who don’t know, Protein is a worldwide network of experienced producers and promoters that provide invaluable local knowledge and credible connections to those “hard-to-reach” communities - basically if you are down with them, you have someone on the ground in over 45 cities in the world. That’s right kids - we’re going GLOBAL! Protein gets down with the best of the best (ahem…of course…) including Fact, RCRD LBL, Samurai.fm, Superfuture, Nike Sportswear, Fred Perry, Umbro, Red Bull, Sony Playstation, Nokia, MTV and Warp Films…and of course…yours truly as Good Peoples.
The Protein crew is in town for a speaking event that is invite only -  but I’m throwing an after-party with them! Come out and meet the team and get to know what they are all about! Make sure you RSVP!

Shape Shiftr is a new label we are loving. Based out of our own Williamsburg, they are made up of “2 Triangles” Meghan Lavery and J’aime Lizotte. Their first pieces sold out right away at Pixie Market. Luckily, they refreshed with their new Fall line which is a cerebral blend of pretty neutrals, offbeat mix of silk, leather, and velvet in wearable basic styles that’s just about 15 degrees off. Just right.

For more info, visit their website. Their blog is lovely too.

Shape Shiftr is available at pixie market

Mark Fast has been one of my favorite newer designers for the past couple of seasons. Having just graduated Central Saint Martins in 2008, the Canadian-born knitwear designer has been a rising star in London. Unbeknownstly but cleverly so, he stirred up a bit of controversy when he decided to use plus-sized models in his S/S 2010 runway show.

I was further impressed by him when he declined to lend clothes to Lady Gaga, his soft-spoken voice stating:

“My work is about a lifestyle. It’s not fast-food fashion. It’s not about trends, it’s about classic, it’s about the body, it’s about beauty. Maybe that gets lost in the picture with certain celebrities.”

With no disrespect to the Fame Monster, his clothes truly deserve to shine for themselves.

For more info, visit Mark Fast

Mark Fast’s new affordable line “Faster” is available at Curve

And joining in with the rest of my favorite London-based deisgners, he is the latest one to design his first ever Topshop collection, which comes out in April/May. Can’t wait!

-Sophie

“Fuss Free” Opening Reception!

Friday, March 5th, 6pm-10pm
Shadow’s Space @ 1248 N Front St (@ Thompson St., Girard stop on the Market Frankford Line)
Philadelphia, PA

“Fuss Free” is a traveling group show curated by Roy Miranda. It features Philly-based artists and returns to its motherland March 5th where it will be exhibited at Shadow’s Space through April 30th, 2010.

Participating Artists: Dave Delaney, Matthew Kucynski, Hawk Krall, Martha Rich, Thom Lessner, Christopher Luxton, Adam Wallacavage, Matthew Michalak, Jayson Musson, Joel Flood, Carrie Collin, Don Vincent Ortega, Ted Passon, Linda Smith

Get there via: Bolt bus (from 34th st)
www.boltbus.com

OR the chinatown bus
wwwchinatown-bus.com

There’s been more play with layering and weaving together of fabrics as opposed to the normal cut-and-sew for the past couple of seasons, as seen at Gucci and Herve Leger. Most prominent with the basket-weaving details for the Fall/Winter 2010 collections are present in ThreeAsFour and VPL, in which it takes on a delightfully strange and hairy twist…

It deeply brought to mind one of our favorites, Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir a.k.a. Shoplifter. The Icelandic artist and fashion designer is best known for her intricate and eerie hair sculptures (i.e. Bjork’s Medulla’s album cover).

For more info, check out:
threeASFOUR
VPL and
a.k.a. Shoplifter

Images via style.com & shoplifter.us

Images via style.com & elle.com

This cover is very aesthetically pleasing to me because:
a. I’m a sucker for LiLo drama
and b. I love religious references.

Will purchase.

Her show titled “The Heart of The Woods And What I Found There” took place at the Soho Grand February 15, 2010 where she presented her “mini-me’s.”

Visit Katie Gallagher online: katiegallagher.com