The Fabrics of our iLives

"Fashion forward" -- more than pleasant alliteration, this (sometimes mis-ascribed) describer of the sartorially daring and innovative is in essence the perfect compact description of the most basic fashion mindset. There is always an eye on the future, conversation of winter wear in the summertime, an unending precognition of what people will want to wear in the year ahead.

Acting with an eye on the future begins with the smallest details of garment making -- like selecting textiles and design inspirations -- and benefits tremendously from comprehensive tools that utilize the connectedness 21st-century artists get through the iLife every man, woman, and child now leads.

Downtown LA's Fashion Business Inc. building was the nexus of textiles and fashion seminars at the end of October during LA Textile Week -- while fabric vendors showcased their wares for Fall/Winter 2013 in the lobby through loose groupings under varied and enticing thematic inspirations, seminars on the latest wholesale fashion buying business aides were being held upstairs. One tool featured was a new app for the iPhone and iPad called Balluun, a free and simple business-to-business platform that connects fashion designers and boutique buyers through what Venture Beat called the "trade show that never sleeps."

Created by two sons of German fashion retailers who grew up on an island in the middle of a lake separating Germany from Switzerland, this simplifying tool will revolutionize fashion buying. Instead of retailers having to go through dozens of avenues to fill their shelves and hangers -- hunting for, contacting, and purchasing from each designer individually -- they can now simply browse through Balluun's ever-growing assemblage of featured designers, easily shopping this virtual designer mall for the perfect pieces and purchasing as they go. All the buyers' selections are compiled into a single inventory, so say goodbye to those mountains of paperwork and incessant filing just to keep orders straight. What's more: Balluun also incorporates a social media component that allows designers and buyers to converse about the purchases through the app in real time.

screenshot of Balluun homepage courtesy of Venture Beat

Brothers Karl and Peter Koch grew up traveling Europe going to trade shows with their fashion retailer parents. After Peter graduated from college and began working in the computer industry with Cisco, he and his brother decided to take their childhood experiences and re-fab them with a new age spin.

"I have seen how technology can change whole industries," Peter said. "Together my brother Karl and I have founded Balluun to tackle the fashion industry's inefficiencies. With Balluun, the seller can reduce the paperwork and time to conduct business. [They] can announce new products and collections all year-round. A buyer can review their designers' line sheets at anytime, and of course from anywhere."

Peter said of the app's popularity, "the response has been outstanding, and we're growing very fast with more designers and retailers joining every day." One such designer who has been using Balluun since August is Kiki Kashyap Hasija, the head designer behind Aria by Kiki Resortwear. Kiki said Balluun was particularly beneficial to her when her website was under construction, because she was simply able to make professional presentations to buyers on her iPad using the app.

"Balluun is indeed a useful platform for designers who want to get their lines out there without having to spend a dime," Kiki said. "I have been able to connect with retailers all over the U.S., and they have been able to view my linesheets and give their feedback instantly."

To read about the LA Fashion Week debut of Aria by Kiki's to-die-for Spring/Summer 2013 collection at the Project Ethos runway in October, check out my guest feature on her blog here.

The debut of Aria by Kiki Resortwear's Spring/Summer 2013 collection at the Project Ethos fashion show during LA Fashion Week, October 2012
(photos courtesy of Aria by Kiki Resortwear)

Kiki said she is always eager to attend the bi-annual LA Textile Show in the city's Fashion District, and at October's gathering she "got totally inspired by all by all the lovely new fabric offerings they had. I found some gorgeous prints, laces, and silks that I will be using for my Fall 2013 collection." Furthermore, as Kiki looks to expand her line to include accessories, she said she benefitted from meeting some high quality manufacturers through the textile show.

Indeed, there was an abundance of delicate lace in a variety of textures and colors to choose from, as well as a great showing of technical handiwork; strips of fabric were adorned with 3-D cloth blooms, there were little individual leaves made entirely of sequins, and cloth feathers that looked strikingly like the real thing, the cloth base overlaid with some strings of thread that were feathered at their ends to give the illusion of plumage.

Though super soft faux fur and exotic unique prints made a strong showing, it was truly sequins and brocade that ruled the forward gaze to Fall 2013. In fact, at one point I even found a swatch of sequins that had been sewn into a glittering brocade pattern that would have made Marie Antoinette weak at the knees.

LA Textile Show, October 2012
photos by Kyveli Sophia and Emvy Venti

Leading trend forecaster WGSN contributed three thematic trend ideas for next fall's fashion as well:

Living Design

This theme, as the name implies, was an ode to the natural elements that inspire fashion. There were the faux fur, feathers, earth tones, and animal bones incorporated into fabrics alongside printed fabrics that featured animals, plants, and the instances where humans and animals come together (such as an adorable silk swatch adorned with images of cowboys, Indians, and horses). In addition to organic, flowing lines in the designs, a major focus of this trend was comfort and protection (clearly inspired by the elements of weather and protecting the poor, ill-equipped human animal from them), and in that vein there was an abundance of cozy quilted and wrapped construction in the garments.

Hack-tivate

A hyper-modern thematic trend, the Hack-tivate presentation was dominated by a sense of DIY and deconstruction. Customization and repair are optimized with creative cutting, color blocking, and other technical elements. Unexpected styling and layering loan this trend the eccentricity that comes with its aim at quirky, futuristic luxury.

21st Century Romance

Beginning from the base of simple dancewear and evolving into something regal with a modern take on fantasy dress, this feminine, clean, whimsical trend theme struck a chord with me, and was the favorite of Kiki Hajisa as well. Defined by delicate sheers and trims and simple silhouettes, this theme's artistic draw for me was in the juxtaposition of humble draping and modern sharp lines keeping with the main idea of clerical style meeting theater wardrobe.

"I loved that the theme is surrounded by craftsmanship, luxury, and beauty but is updated with a contemporary sharpness and ethereal feel," Kiki said. "This theme tends to fit the Aria by Kiki label in its current and future collections."

It's All In The Jeans

"[Denim] is basically a blank canvas," says Kent Denim designer and Ark Apparel manufacturer Noah Landis. "There's no other fabric where you can wash it, rip it, bleach it, distress it, destroy it, paint it, and make something beautiful and charge more money."

The fact that denim is an ever-evolving fashion frontier is just one of the reasons Landis has such an affinity for the ubiquitous fabric. Indeed, two of the biggest trends to have emerged in the past year are both demin-based: the kaleidoscopic array of colored washes being presented alongside jeans adorned in floral patterns; once thought to be reserved for only the most daring stylists, they are now wardrobe staples for all. And the "Canadian Tuxedo" is back in such a big way that The Sartorialist, Scott Schuman, dedicated not one but two posts to the trend on his esteemed blog.

Photo courtesy of Ark Apparel

Of course another draw to jeans -- for Landis, Ralph Lauren and the everyday person -- is that nostalgic and endearing sense of Americana one feels just at the sight of denim. We remember the workers and farmers who donned the heavy cousin of cotton to build this country from the ground up and feed its people along the way. We think of how denim has stayed with us through the decades: gals in the 1950s feeling sexy, daring, and liberated from poodle skirts in their high-waisted jeans; rockstars of the 1960s decked out in denim as they gave a lost generation something to gather around, while motorcycle gangs of the same era let their insignia-adorned denim jackets crust over with the filth of life on the road; the never-big-enough bell bottoms that defined 1970s style; the shredded and acid-washed jeans of the 1980s and 1990s; and the myriad reiterations and innovations jeans have seen in the 21st century. All this and more drew a young Landis to his specific focus on denim design and construction when he channeled his passion for photography and styling into a love affair with fashion when he graduated from high school.

After growing up on a Northern California farm "literally in the middle of nowhere" (closest town: Placerville), Landis took his newfound adoration to San Francisco's Academy of Art University, where he earned a fashion design-focused Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2006. After working in production and manufacturing for Gap, Inc. for two years, Landis decided he "wanted to be more hands-on and see it go through the process instead of just writing reports" about apparel production. And so, five years ago, Kent Denim was born.

Noah Landis holding up one of the first pairs of jeans ever made under the Kent Denim label -- he gave
them to a friend and asked him to wear them religiously for four years and never wash them,creating
the actual wear pattern seen here. Landis will now create a new style of Kent jean imprinted with this
pattern. How to keep your jeans clean without washing them? Freeze them, of course: "I'm a denim
purist; I always freeze my jeans," Landis says, explaining that freezing kills bacteria, eliminating odor
without degrading the denim through countless washes.

The next big jacket trend to hit Kent denim -- though composed of one type of denim,
the sleeves were treated more than the body of the jacket, creating a matte look that
contrasts with the softer, more natural denim. "It's kind of top secret, but you can show it,"
fearless Landis said. "If you get too caught up thinking everyone's going to copy you,
that's just fear. If your designs do get copied, you know you're doing something right."

Designer Noah Landis shows off the latest graphic tank to join the Kent Denim family

Shortly after establishing Kent -- which features innovative, premium quality jeans, jackets, and tees for men, as well as adorable and vivid graphic tees for women -- Landis expanded his impact on the fashion industry by connecting with the manufacturing and consulting company Ark Apparel, and he began producing small-scale premium apparel for up-and-coming designers, again focusing on denim.

"Karl Lagerfeld designs for five lines," Landis said. "A real designer does not have a conflict of interest."

Indeed, Landis modeled his business after just such a multifaceted designer and personal inspiration of his, Renzo Rosso, the proclaimed "Jeans Genius" who founded and is the president of premium denim brand Diesel. Additionally, Rosso manufactured for two of Landis' other major fashion inspirations, DSquared2 and Vivienne Westwood (whose name was the first out of Landis' mouth when asked of his inspirations, without even a nanosecond's hesitation -- "That t-shirt with the chicken bones!" he swooned). More of Landis' inspirations are represented through the striking visuals on the Tumblr pages for both Kent and Ark; if it's high-energy, unconventional, unexpected, tattooed, darkly humorous, vintage, beautiful, thought-provoking, and memorable, it's in. "That's just what's going on in my head," Landis explained with a chuckle.

Inside the Ark Apparel factory (clockwise from top right): sewers hard at work in the larger of the two sewing rooms; inspirational collection book from Spring 2013 Paris and Milan shows; designer/manufacturer Noah Landis;
the cutting table; Landis working with selvedge denim

Since this past summer, Landis and fellow manufacturer Rocio Evanette ("He's my business husband, and he's a keeper," she said of Landis) spend four days per week working at their Vernon-based factory with a tight-knit crew of about five people who locally produce small-scale premium orders (average size is about 200 units) for up-and-coming designers. Though the focus is still on denim, the talented sewers can also produce garments with fabrics ranging from jersey to leather. Landis said the cost of local production of high-end fashion is "very competitive" with sometimes cheaper international production when the designer factors in the shipping costs and the possibility that the work could be done incorrectly the first time and would require repeats of the international process, as opposed to simply driving over to Vernon and having it corrected immediately in a cost-effective manner. Of course there's also the obvious boost to the American economy by keeping production local, and the support to up-and-coming American designers by providing an option for affordable small-scale production.

"Starting the factory was the easiest way to do what I wanted to do and help new designers," Landis said. "Because if you want to start a denim line, you should be able to."

And that's how you use the heart of Americana fashion to make the American Dream a reality.

On Noah Landis: shirt and jeans - Kent Denim, sunglasses - Gucci, belt - "This belt was released in 1969 when the Corvette first came out. I found it in a leather factory I was working in up in San Francisco and the owner let me have it for $5. I think he was high from all the leather fumes, but I took it!" said Landis; On Kyveli Sophia: shirt - Piko 1988, skirt - BCBG, belt - thrifted, braided leather cuff - found, earrings - BCBG

iPhonography by Kyveli Sophia

Art is about seeing the world differently, seeing things for what they could be as well as appreciating them for what they are. So it's obvious that photography is a fundamental way of inviting others to this viewpoint most clearly; through the snap of a shutter, one can see the world through another person's eyeballs -- a miracle we owe (in part) to Louis Daguerre. This post, however, is also owed (in part) to Steve Jobs.

Truth time: Kyveli Sophia doesn't really have the best technology (yet), and thus my only camera is my iPhone 4S. But like cavemen with their primitive paint and sculpting tools, I'm not letting limited resources inhibit my artistic expression. Here, for your viewing pleasure, are 15 of my favorite photographs that I've taken over the last year; if you like what you see, follow me on instaGram @kyvelisophia.

SF Street Style on the Golden Gate Bridge - May 2012 / San Francisco, CA

United Nations Plaza, Civic Center - April 2012 / San Francisco, CA

Tenderloin Street Art - April 2012 / San Francisco, CA

Rivets on the Golden Gate Bridge - May 2012 / San Francisco, CA

Gay Beach, Dolores Park - March 2012 / San Francisco, CA

Rainbow flag at Harvey Milk Plaza and Sutro Tower, Market & Castro - June 2012 / San Francisco, CA

Sahuarita Desert - November 2011 / Green Valley, AZ

Union Square palm tree - December 2011 / San Francisco, CA

Golden Gate Bridge south tower - May 2012 / San Francisco, CA

Palisades Park succulent - March 2012 / Santa Monica, CA

Lifeguard tower at sunset - September 2012 / Santa Monica, CA

Sutro Tower and a rising crescent moon - October 2011 / San Francisco, CA

Santa Monica Pier through morning haze - September 2012 / Santa Monica, CA

Sunset and Moonrise - September 2012 / Venice Beach, CA

After the Final Show on Day 3, Outside Lands Music Festival - August 2011 / Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA

You Should Know: Fire In The Hamptons

Fire In The Hamptons at the historic Malibu Inn, Sept. 19, 2012 (from left: Emvy [keyboard, bass synth], Aaron [drums], Zack [vocals], and Ian [guitar])

Four flat tires in five hours en route to a show in San Francisco. Every door on the tour van breaking at the same time. A 300-pound buck (dubbed "Bambo") leaping out of a perfectly still night in Malibu Canyon in front of said tour van, crushing its radiator and taking out a second car before disappearing back into the darkness. Not exactly events indie-electro-rock group Fire In The Hamptons expected when they set out for those gigs, but as the band always says in the face of adversity, "That ain't nothing for dragons."

Representing that dragon side with matching gold talons around their necks, the Los Angeles-based foursome is rapidly proving unstoppable, be it on the road or on stage. Since their formation at the start of 2012, the group has headlined The Viper Room, The House of Blues ("the fifth F.I.T.H. show," keyboardist Emvy Venti points out), and The Malibu Inn, and kicked off a month-long state-wide tour at August's Echo Park Rising Festival. But for drummer Aaron Bilyeu, the band's most memorable show didn't require a venue whose name evokes memories of music legends past, nor did it need the packed house of adoring fans that's becoming as guaranteed for this group as a sound check.

"We played outside a house in Joshua Tree -- just as the sun set -- for us, a few of our close friends, and the whole of the desert," Aaron says of his favorite performance. "It was an amazing view. I'm sure we sounded like shit, but it was beautiful, and one of those moments you can hold on to."

Forging unforgettable moments isn't difficult for  this group. They pride themselves on the showmanship of their live shows, where lead singer Zack Arnett insists on an ocean of lasers and incites dance-offs in the crowd. Zack's vocals transition seamlessly from breathy cooing to an amplified, full-bodied howl that plays across octaves with a soulful yet playful tone that is both unforgettable and incomparable. Coupled with Aaron's powerful drumming (which was evocative of Young The Giant to me, but is in fact inspired by, according to Aaron, a combination Carter Beauford, Dave Grohl, and Miley Cyrus' new haircut), Emvy's masterful weaving of classic piano tones and innovative electronic overlays, and guitarist Ian "Values" Dowd's diverse, poppy sound that loans the group a touch of Two Door Cinema Club's upbeat attitude, F.I.T.H.'s catchy lyrics and widely varied tunes will remain comfortably buried in your brain weeks. If you don't believe me, try this on for size:

"Stargazer" quickly became one of the hits F.I.T.H. fans couldn't get enough of, and whenever it's performed live the energy of the show instantly bubbles over from a fun dance party to an unhinged rock show -- the adoring crowd pumps their fists with each "Up!" and all four band members feed off of the energy, dancing on stage and losing themselves in their musicality.

Monterey natives Zack, Aaron, and Ian knew each other long before Zack (who spent years in the funky hip-hop crew Ostrich Head) came up with the idea for F.I.T.H. Lifelong Los Angeleno Emvy was added to the ensemble after the multifaceted musician (in addition to piano, guitar, and electronic instruments, he's also a percussionist and will wildly drum on anything from a steering wheel to water glasses to the nearest person if the spirit moves him) played at the Troubadour in January with another group he's in called Siren's Eye. A couple months after their first rehearsal, Fire In The Hamptons officially debuted at The Viper Room, an epic beginning that -- with rumors of Coachella now flying around -- apparently foreshadowed the band's skyward trajectory.

"Luckily, I have been grinding my face into the sandpaper stone of the music industry for over a decade...along the way I was able to sweep a couple gems into my pocket that would later help out if this situation were to arise," Zack says of forming and launching the year-old band.

But the thing that makes F.I.T.H. such a joy to watch live and listen to endlessly in the car, on your computer or on repeat in your head is the obvious joy the members take in creating their wholly new sound together. They've been frequently compared to Passion Pit, but that comparison is always followed by a statement about how, in reality, they sound like everyone and no one all at once. Theirs is a sound that simply moves you and fits as a perfect soundtrack to every scenario life could offer, a sound these men create with ease and alacrity simply by relaxing, sharing a laugh, hopping on stage and starting a party.

"It's hard to explain," Aaron says of the nascent group's cohesion, "but one day you're not learning the songs, you're just playing them. Ya dig?"

Hurry and buy your $15 pre-sale tickets to see F.I.T.H. live at The Mayan (1038 S. Hill Street in Downtown LA) when RAW: Los Angeles presents PROVOCATIONS, an eclectic collection of art, fashion, and music on Thursday, October 11th! What to wear? The invitation specifies cocktail attire, but let your personal style rock as hard as F.I.T.H., like my cousin Natasha and I did at their Malibu Inn show last month:

Top: 5th Stitch Collective; Jeans: BDG; Heels: ShoeDazzle; Braided Leather Cuff: found

While I rocked out in my favorite seafoam green cigarette jeans with another dazzler from San Francisco's 5th Stitch Collective and my sky-high/dirt-cheap pumps, Natasha opted for one of my favorite recent trends: the long lace dress over exposed legs. This style exudes the subdued sex appeal of black lace over bare skin but the floor-length column skirt elevates the look's elegance, gives it a sense of class and maturity, and lets a rock fan show off her gorgeous gams without looking like a hoochie groupie (also known as "That Girl"). Buy the F.I.T.H. LP on iTunes, and let tracks like Natasha's and my personal favorites ("Children Of The Sun" and "Crystalize", respectively) guide you to the perfect ensemble. Just make sure you can dance in it, as people standing still is the one thing that will definitely never happen at a F.I.T.H. show. Everything else is on the table -- case in point: Zack is already planning a stage dive at the Mayan.

Freudian Critiques

Two words: ballet recital. What comes to mind?

Six year olds in powder pink leotards and floppy ballet shoes trying to keep up with each other while a frantic instructor coaches from the wings? Not tonight, not at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and not on Benjamin Millepied's watch.

Photo courtesy of LA Weekly

The acclaimed French dancer turned choreographer on Saturday debuted his curatorial collective of six dancers who form the Los Angeles Dance Project. The remarkably talented sextet -- Julia Eichten, Nathan B. Makolandra, Amanda Wells, Frances Chiverini, Morgan Lugo, and, my personal favorite, Charlie Hodges -- performed three pieces on the concert hall's BP Hall stage:

First was a 1993 William Forsythe piece called Quintett, which saw five of the performers engaging the audience with incredible physical balletic movement and a display of the farthest reaches of human capability to the tune of the monotonous, repetitive, yet flowing "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet" by Gavin Bryars. For my personal taste, this piece was not cohesive enough and, despite the dancer's superhuman physical abilities and mastery of the difficult choreography with which they were tasked, it left me a bit bored and confused. Searching for meaning, I got the sense it was a comment on domestic abuse and the abused consistently returning to their abuser....but upon reading the printed description of the piece it seems to be simply an ode to movement. I felt like there was a message waiting to be conveyed that was ignored or didn't make it across, and the dancers' costumes in this piece were also a let down, with no cohesion in color, fabric, or style. The end result of the costumes looked like a frantic group had snatched whatever they could grab from a 1970's discard pile in 30 seconds in pitch darkness. And after hearing the same 30 seconds of (what seemed to be) a nostalgic geriatric crooner singing one line repeated with minimal variation for 26 minutes, I felt as if I'd just spent the evening visiting someone with Alzheimer's.

The second piece was vehemently panned by most of the audience, but for me it was unspeakably inspirational. Choreographed by Merce Cunningham in 1964, Winterbranch featured all six dancers dressed in simple black tight-fitting sweatsuits, with black football-esque warpaint under their eyes and a nontraditional lighting display (modeled after walking along a freeway at night) that featured random flashes of illumination in various colors, intensities, and patterns -- often, it resembled lightning, and other times the black-clad dancers were in complete darkness save for some off-stage lighting from the wings. To me, it loaned an intoxicating sense of mystery and closeness to the performance. The piece was choreographed by Cunningham to highlight two motions of dance: rising and falling. The dancers rose and fell in a wide variety of motions and speeds, at times tumbling over each other in slow motion or holding an extended pause mid-rise, while in other instances the six came together in a whirling human tornado or breathed up and down, in and out, like a massive organ of human bodies. It certainly breathed life into me.

The highly experimental music piece by La Monte Young was what offended most of the audience: entitled 2 Sounds, it was an overlapping of the sound of ashtrays being rubbed against a mirror and wood being rubbed against a Chinese gong -- if those are not sounds you've ever had the pleasure of hearing, imagine a screaming tea kettle meeting an impossibly heavy iron table being dragged across a hardwood floor. Many patrons plugged their ears, some walked out and others booed, but I found the jarring music combined with the serene dancing to be a liberating comment on duality, the expansiveness of life's experiences, and how people must continue peacefully along their path of life -- rising and falling with the tides -- in the face of distractions or turbulence. During the second intermission after this 16-minute performance, a man I spoke to said he felt the piece to be insulting to the attendee's artistic intelligence -- he felt that, by including it, Millepied doubted the artistic intelligence of Californians (as opposed to New Yorkers) and was purposely presenting a piece that the audience was sure to hate simply so he could prove that they don't "get" performance art. Which, to me, was the night's Freudian Critique. It's one thing to dislike a piece and know why, but if you dislike it because you feel you were expected to understand it and can't, I don't consider that a fault of the artist. I consider that a fault of a too-narrow perspective coupled with a lack of curiosity and courage to ask questions.

The final and crowning piece, the world premier of Moving Parts, was Millepied's choreography, with the six dancers clad in simple, elegant pieces designed by sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte and moving to music composed and performed live by Nico Muhly. This trio -- Millepied, Muhly, and Rodarte -- have already proven their success as a team through performances around the world and on the silver screen in 2010's Black Swan, and they did not disappoint on Saturday. Muhly played the organ that sits above the BP Hall stage, and was accompanied by violinist Lisa Liu and clarinetist Phil O'Connor. The whimsical organ and traditional balletic style of the piece's opening gave me a poetic sense of the dancers as children at play, and yogic poses highlighting the dancers' strength captivated me while the emotion-filled violin nearly drew me to tears at the beauty I had the privilege of witnessing. The costumes by Rodarte were simple black pieces that featured well-placed stripes in either gray, red, or yellow -- one across the dancers chest from shoulder to shoulder, and the other running down their left sides from shoulder to ankle -- that perfectly accented their motions. The women's flowy dresses had a delicate stringed back that was so indicative of the designers but also perfectly elegant without being so showy as to distract from the choreography. The set involved three large panels on wheels adorned with overlaid numbers, symbols, and lines using the same three colors featured in the costumes which were pushed around the stage throughout the performance by the dancers.

For some reason, Millepied felt the need to break his 27-minute piece into three small sections with a full black out and applause in between -- this, to me, was both unnecessary and detracted from an otherwise fluid and poetic arrangement. The second portion had a faster tempo and spectacular leaps and spins, with a stronger emphasis on performance art movement than Ballanchine-inspired dancing. At one point all six members pressed into each other, slowly evolving with the more somber tone of Muhly's composition and writhing in a massive, connected expression of human beauty and emotion. Also in the second portion was a duet featuring Makolandra and Lugo that saw many of the same movements as a male-female pairing (lifts, spins, soft closeness that resembles a heart pulsing under velvet), but with a greater variety as both participants here had the strength to lift and throw each other in entrancing whirls of motion that were ever-unexpected. The third and final portion of Moving Parts returned to more traditional ballet choreography, with Hodges making the energized moves look astoundingly easy, the ecstasy he felt evident in his face -- each of the dancers seemed, for the majority of Millepied's piece, to be blissfully unaware of the audience, lost in the music and the energy of their dance. They rode the intricate music like a wave, responding to plucking violin strings with high-knee tip-toeing and switching easily between solo performances, duets, trios, and ensemble portions. To me, the message of the piece was one of coexistence, of appreciation for both the individual self and the unity of many. When all was said and done, the dancers -- and a seemingly elated and relieved Millepied, who had spent the evening looking rather nervous -- received a standing ovation.

Photo courtesy of JustJared.com

The after-party celebrating the premiere was hosted by sponsor Van Cleef & Arpels. Joining the honored artist were, among others, his newly-blonde wife, Natalie Portman (in Christian Dior), and personal friends Robert Pattinson (in Gucci) and Dita von Teese (in Burberry). I myself took the opportunity to prove fashion does not exist exclusively at one lofty price point: my entire ensemble cost less than $150, with my beloved teal peplum stunner from Anat B on Montana Avenue ($50), black platform almond-toe pumps from ShoeDazzle.com ($30 -- no shame in the fashion game; remember: it's how you look, not what you spend!), an exceptional vintage clutch handed down from my mother, a gladiator helmet ring from new boutique 5th Stitch Collective in San Francisco's Castro district ($16), and earrings from BCBG that I bought for 75% off by working at their Union Square flagship store. I did a smokey eye with Stormy Pink Revlon Lustrous lipstick, and my hair pulled back in a ballerina bun (always my preferred hair-do for ballets -- firstly, as an ode to the performers; secondly, because I tend to wear more stand-out dresses that need not be fettered and hidden by flowing locks).

Overall, the evening gave me the feeling of a group of artists coming together and uniting for the sole purpose of fulfilled expression. There was a pronounced lack of fear for harsh criticism, and a profound connectedness, alacrity, whimsy, and support among the group as they fully committed themselves in the name of unadulterated creation and inspiration.

First Impressions

Lovely to meet you...

This is Be // Wear, a bastion of information on and appreciation for all forms of artistic expression with a focus on the art of fashion; one's personal style is truly the portal that allows people who haven't performed an artistic act since kindergarten finger-painting to wordlessly tell the world everything they feel. Art speaks for itself, and it is in the creation of that art -- the swipes of paint across canvass, the chiseling of a sculpture from solid stone, the plucking of guitar strings or coordination of a stylish outfit -- that the artist breathes that voice into each piece.

Art begets art. Even if art only begets criticism, that piece has still inspired a unique thought in the critic's head that otherwise would never have manifested. This ignition of inspiration's chain reactions explains why so many artists have a multimedia focus, or why, even if they consider themselves professionally "only" a singer or painter or designer or chef, their awakened artistic sense draws them to inspirations outside of their medium in their personal lives. Quite often, this can lead artists to have exceptional personal style. These well-clad creators see clothes not for their antithesis to nudity but for the expansive opportunities each piece offers in terms of personal expression.

These philosophical postulations were the impetus for this serial self-publication. Updates will highlight the specks of artistic expression that live and breathe, often unnoticed, right under our noses (or sometimes our feet). You can also look forward to musings on street fashion style trends and some of my own personal style choices as vehicles of artistic fulfillment. Additionally and most importantly, up-and-coming artists will be featured weekly in special "You Should Know..." posts. Coupled with mini profiles about the artists will be a relevant style commentary about dressing for events connected with the artist, or featuring the artist's own fashion expression.

It is the intention of this publication to provide honest, accurate, well-researched, and provocative ideas that will hopefully spark further artistic expression and creative bravery. Indeed, being an artist is the most daring thing a person can do -- to place one's still beating heart on a beautiful silver tray adorned with perfect waxy orchids and thick droplets of crimson blood, hoping your notes on life are being clearly received through the rhythmic beating of the organ and the light reflecting off the polished silver.

Advancing ever bravely forward...

K.S.