Models Sessilee Lopez, Lyndsey Scott, Aminata Niaria and Adama Diallo are featured in a Lurve Magazine editorial that ascends from smoky darkness. A hybrid of aesthetics appears from classic Grecian to country chic with east African nuances in strict black and white detail.

Photographed by Alexandra Catiere, styled by Jenke-Ahmed Tailly with art direction by fashion-favorite, Pop Magazine’s Editor-at-Large, Shala Monroque.

Source

What sets this accessory designer apart from a nest of other Etsy chicks is her love for the most classic medium: paint and brush. She is an artist in the classic sense, and has shared space with an array of exceptional artists at Antfarm Studios in Raleigh, NC. Stewart brings her eye for large-scale graphic displays down to wearable sizes for the chic and fashion-forward woman of style.

The Southern belle sat down with Clutch to discuss her art, accessories, and the importance of the new movement.

Clutch: When did you begin painting on canvas? Was it an extension of your already apparent artistic nature?
Rachel: I started painting on canvas about three years ago. Before that, it was any object I could find: glass, wood, fabric, metal… anything I could get my hands on. Canvas was a luxury I couldn’t afford… I wouldn’t call it an extension, because I still prefer using discarded items. It was really a matter of practicality that I started using canvas.

Clutch: You’re a North Carolina-based artist; what’s the art scene like in your area?
Rachel: It’s definitely a mixed bag—but just like any other city, black artists are severely underrepresented, there just aren’t enough [of us]. Raleigh has a lot of art, though. It’s filled with great galleries and museums. On the other hand, there are a lot of pretentious, rich gallery owners and artists who make it hard for anyone to penetrate that circle. I kinda dropped out of that scene a few years ago; I have no desire to be a token black artist.

Clutch: How did your environment contribute to your expression?
Rachel: I am a very resourceful person. The best work I have produced happened in times of my life when I was limited most. Necessity made me creative.

Clutch: What inspired you to begin funneling your art into wearable pieces of jewelry?
Rachel: Necessity. I needed another creative outlet. I paint large-scale, so some of my paintings are 5- and 6 feet tall. It takes a good amount of planning to get a canvas that size made and a ton of effort to move it around. I needed something smaller to do, something I could work on every day.

Clutch: There is a growing trend of home-based African American female artisans making their own wares and selling them online. With all the competition, how do you set yourself apart as an artist?
Rachel: I see more and more women taking advantage of online opportunities, and I think it is wonderful to be able to start your own business without the traditional obstacles that used to face many small business owners, especially minority women. Personally, I don’t set myself apart as an artist. It’s very important to me have a collective spirit.

Clutch: What kind of woman wears Rachel Stewart custom pieces?
Rachel: My consumer is not a wallflower. She does not want to wear what everyone else is wearing and she is not afraid to be noticed. She isn’t a slave to labels- she can wear an outfit from a thrift store and look like she spent a grip.

Check out Rachel’s art at www.rachelstewart.net and her jewelry blog Target Queen, at targetqueenjewelry.blogspot.com.

Kebede’s spread for Vogue April, titled “Float On” is the definition of a fashion editorial. Styled by Edward Enniful, Kebede graces romantic dresses by Chloe, Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs and Narciso Rodriguez. Shot by the acclaimed photographer team, Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot, these images are a definite keepsake for fashion heads.

Source

Is Target the chief of designer collaborations or what? Mossimo, a Cali-based designer teams up with the Target brand for a colorful collection complete with all of your summer essentials in tow. Patterned skirts, classic trench coats and cutesy country plaids is only half of it’s offering. The line also features accessories, swimwear and a leopard satchel we live for!

Check it out!

Here we go again! We were critical of Louis Vuitton’s so-called, “ghetto fab mash up” during Spring 2010 Paris Fashion Week. Misdirected cultural references of the iconic afro continues over at Dazed & Confused. In their February issue, the magazine covers the Vuitton collection referring to the wigged models as “frizzy haired travelers.” The “hippie movement” is championed, completely ignoring the significance of this hairstyle during a little something called the Black Power movement. Misappropriations of Black cultural aesthetics is nothing new. I mean, at least give credit where it due.

Do you find these images problematic? Speak on it!

Popular e-tailer ASOS.com has launched a new brand, ASOS Africa which falls under their new initiative, The Green Room – a new online marketplace merging brands that promote people and the world. The ASOS Africa capsule collection (which is in conjunction with SOKO Kenya) will consist of several chic silhouettes such as blazers, jumpsuits and playsuits, cropped trousers all using African Kanga. Kanga is a vividly colored printed cotton fabric that is traditionally worn by men and women throughout Eastern Africa. The collection will also begin to incorporate accessories as well as organic hand-crocheted tees and vests embellished with brass beading. What do you think of the collection so far Clutchettes?

“On our continuing quest to find new inspiration, we recently spent time in African working with artisans and small producer groups. The vibrancy of the continent inspired us to create the ‘ASOS Africa’ collection with the aim of supporting trade in Africa.” -Caren Downie, buying director, ASOS.com

Price points for the ASOS Africa capsule collection range between £15-75 for clothing and £18-32 for accessories. To see more from the collection, visit the online shopping site here.

Clutch was one of the online publications present at the Independent Fashion Bloggers Conference during New York Fashion Week. One of the many incredible features of the IFB was a presentation by Like.com. The company has launched Couturious.com, an innovative and distinct web destination. Couturious is a site that allows users to channel their inner stylist while shopping. The site has partnered with a slew of featured designers like Tory Burch, Cynthia Rowley, Charlotte Ronson and Alice + Olivia.

Here’s how it works: Users can choose from a selection of models casted exclusively for Couturious to style personalized looks. Once a unique model is selected, users may pick from a series of mood scenes to create a backdrop. Next, there is a selection of styles to elect from classic, causal chic, street and edgy. Within each category are tops, dresses, bottoms and outerwear fresh off of recent runway. Shoes, accessories, bags and jewelry can be personally selected for each look.

The cool thing about Couturious is that you have the option to buy parts of your creation or the entire look. Couturious also highlights stylists and top looks. Users may vote for their favorite looks, leave comments and post their own unique creations to Twitter and Facebook. Trust, there is no other site like Couturious allowing online shoppers to experience clothing before purchasing by working with models, scenes and accessories. The Courturious site is up and running. Check it out and tell them Clutch sent you!

Experience Couturious: www.couturious.com
Follow Couturious: www.twitter.com/couturious

Arlenis Sosa is all face in a sultry Tush Magazine spread titled, “On A Night Like This.” Each face speaks a different narrative in the seamless makeup done by Frederik Stambro. Photographed by David Slijper, known for his eye-popping close-ups, these images are a stunning addition to Sosa’s growing collection of images.

Source

Vogue Italia launched Vogue Black and Vogue Curvy as supplemental web sites to focus on fashion, beauty, and news in the aforementioned factions. Through the successful experimentation of diversity in its 2008 and 2009 black issues, the magazine is hopeful that it can fill a void in the mainstream.

Vogue Black’s home page includes R&B singer Ciara for “Look of the Day” as well as media mogul Tyra Banks featured in a video interview. For Vogue Curvy, model Crystal Renn and actress America Ferrera satisfy those voluptuous wishes of women labeled plus-size, who rarely grace fashion pages.

Without a doubt, Vogue Italia featured black women more often than its American counterpart but its attempt at provoking change segregates the overlooked segments even more. Embracing diversity takes time –it also takes bravado, where people don’t have the choice of overlooking a tabbed link in oblivion.

When Vogue Italia’s homepage features some of the same articles that are posted on Black and Curvy, why would they need further segmentation?

To put it bluntly, size and race are the two elephants in everyone’s atelier that no one wants to admit they see. Talks of slavery, obesity, eating disorders, and classicism still make us uncomfortable and there’s no light trampling over that. Not even if your parent company is Condé Nast.

For more visit www.vogue.it/en

Amber Rose takes an ambitious shot at the iconic Grace Jones image shot by acclaimed photographer Jean-Paul Goude in 1978. The original photograph of Jones, interestingly titled, “Nigger Arabesque” is apart Gourde’s Jungle Fever series.

Dr. Richard J. Powell, Professor of Art History at Duke University and author of the widely critical text, Cutting a Figure: Fashioning Black Portraiture offers a necessarily assessment of the Jungle Fever series. “The implicit “contract” between the portraitist and the portrayed in Jungle Fever unabashedly embraces Goude’s racial/sexual affliction and, just as important, each subject’s willed exhibitionism, resulting in portrayals that are profane yet revelatory, beguiling, and often quite imaginative.”

While Rose’s version of the image seemingly releases racial implications, it certainly retains if not heightens a sexual temper. Centered as the leading image of Kanye West’s new website, one wonders what the appropriation and remixing of the Jones archive evokes. Is the couple a new pairing of artist and muse? More importantly, why is there always a nude Rose before West’s gaze?

Speak on it!