Master Your Makeup 101- Exquisite Eyes Series with Brandi Taylor: Saturday, March 31, 2012
Stylish Entrepreneur - Mashawnta Armstrong Editor in Chief of MASH Magazine
Mashawnta Armstrong
In this month’s edition of Stylish Entrepreneur, Detroit Style Review had the pleasure of interviewing Mashawnta Armstrong, Founder and Editor in Chief of MASH magazine. MASH is a Detroit based beauty, fashion, and design magazine with a social mission, which launched March 2011. On March 30, 2012, MASH will be kicking off The Dream Tour, set to visit one Detroit high school per month, at Cass Technical High School. Here’s what Armstrong had to say about being an entrepreneur and pursuing dreams.
What prompted you to start MASH magazine?
MA: “I started MASH because I love magazines and the fact that I couldn’t find one that included a multicultural audience in the conversation about design, fashion, and beauty. I would go to Borders bookstore when I was in college and buy Interior Design, Vogue, and Essence magazines and thought, ‘Why can’t I just find all of this in one package?’ So, eight years later, I started one.”
Did you always have plans to work in the fashion industry?
MA: “No. I thought I would continue on with my career in architecture and I really don’t consider myself as working in the fashion industry. Yes, fashion is one of the three subjects in the magazine – but that’s not what it’s all about. There is more so a message that I want to get out there about design and the totality of style that shouldn’t just stop at your body, but also your home and into your city – that’s the underlying social mission that we have for the magazine that will be surfacing later on this year.”
Do you feel Detroit has a distinctive style? If so, how would you best describe it?
MA: “I really don’t feel that Detroit has a distinctive style. I can’t call it. There’s more so a post industrial city ‘uniform’ that everyone wears, which is something that I don’t even want to give mention to. And, I guess I’m not paying attention to it. If anything, I want Detroit’s fashion sense to come up a few notches.”
As a young, talented, educated woman you could’ve started your business anywhere. Why remain in Detroit?
MA: “Detroit is my home and I love Detroit. I knew that people would think that starting a fashion magazine here would be crazy – I would imagine people elsewhere asking, ‘What authority does anyone in Detroit have in fashion?!’ – but location doesn’t mean anything anymore. We’re in the age of globalization. I’m here in Detroit, my Style Director Miea Hayden is too, but we have team members that are in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. Our magazine works as a network.
I’d be taking every penny that I have just to pay rent in places like New York and Los Angeles. We don’t have investors for this magazine, so every penny counts.”
What advice would you give to anyone looking to start his/her own business?
MA: “All of my advice is thoroughly explained in my editor’s letter of issue No.2 (which I encourage everyone to check out), but essentially the most important advice is to just start. Don’t worry about how small you are in the beginning. One of my favorite scriptures is Zachariah 4:10 ‘Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin…’ Don’t worry about the next step, you’ll get there and get past that too.”
The magazine industry is very competitive – what sets MASH apart from other fashion magazines?
MA: “We aim to have multiple high fashion editorials in each issue that incorporate models of color.”
Where would you like to see MASH five years from now?
MA: “We would like to see MASH as an internationally recognized magazine and the number one tablet magazine for the multicultural audience.”
What are the pros and cons of being your own boss?
MA: “PRO: You have fun doing what you love everyday. CON: I don’t know how to stop working – I don’t know how to treat this like a 9 – 5PM.”
What do you know now that you wish you’d known before starting MASH magazine?
MA: “I wish I understood the time that it takes to turnover a single issue. In the beginning we set out to publish four times a year, but we’re pushed that back to two to allow time to grow properly. I was being really naïve in thinking that everything would go smoothly, but Murphy’s Law states anything that can go wrong will. Stress can kill you – I’d rather be laid back about this thing and put quality over quantity.”
~Jessica R. Simmons
All images courtesy of MASH Magazine
ERollins Group Meet and Greet and Fashion Preview: March 24, 2012
ERollins Group will hold a Meet and Greet and Fashion Preview March 24, 2012 at the Detroit Institute of Arts. This unique industry event will introduce the entire ERollins team, celebrate the company re-brand and showcase spring and summer fashions. ERollins Group invites fashion lovers, models, designers, stylists, makeup artists, hair stylists, industry professionals, media and more to join in on the celebration.
ERollins Group is a marketing firm assisting its fashion-forward, nationwide clientele in marketing, branding and consulting. ERollins Group was founded by Ebony Rollins in 2006. As the CEO, Rollins has taken her interests in fashion and marketing and joined them to form a team with combined experience in marketing, branding, social media, public relations, styling, photography and web and graphic design.
The event will be held in the Romanesque Hall at the DIA, beginning at 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 7). Tickets are $15 and available for purchase at www.neptix.com and www.eventbrite.com. The fashion showcase will include The Charles Chic collection by Charles Lynch, the Diane Berry Collection by Diane Berry and more.
For more information about ERollins Group and the Meet and Greet visit the brand new website www.erollinsgoup.com or check out the fashion marketing firm on Facebook and Twitter.
Fashion In Detroit 2012 - Designers Revealed
Fashion In Detroit 2012 is just around the corner. Are you ready? The final list of designers/brands showing at this year’s event has been revealed:
Peter Soronen
Homeslice by Emily Thornhill
Denise Ilitch
Motor City Blues by Joe Faris
Neimans
Natalia Villafana
Bachrach
Morada Blue
IADT Student Show
Dana Keaton presents JCC Project Runway Amantes de la Moda Student Show
Be sure to follow all the festivities via Twitter using the official event hashtag #FID2012. To purchase tickets or for more information go to www.fashionindetroit.com.
~Jessica R. Simmons
ERollins Fashion Preview Casting Call - February 18, 2012
Ford Model Bianca Golden from America’s Next Top Model Hits Detroit to Host Casting: February 4, 2012
WALK Fashion Show, one of the Midwest’s largest fashion event, is back for Spring 2012. This season, Ford Model Bianca Golden from America’s Next Top Model Cycles 9 and 17 will host the WALK model casting, where over 500 hopefuls are expected, ready to rip the runway. Golden, best known for ANTM and multiple appearances on the Tyra Banks show, hopes to inspire local Detroit women in the fashion industry. Golden is excited to share the knowledge and experience she’s gained from her successful modeling career since ANTM with Detroit’s fashionistas. Golden is now signed with Ford Models in Chicago, Major Model Management in New York, Fusion Model Management in South Africa, and Click Models in Boston. Golden appeared on the Project Runway Season Five Finale and has graced the pages of Essence Magazine, Cosmopolitan, The Source and various other publications. WALK is not Golden’s first involvement in runway shows - she has taken part in multiple fashion weeks and numerous BET Rip The Runway shows.
The WALK casting will be held on Saturday, February 4 from 1pm to 5pm at the 4731 Gallery, located at 4731 Grand River in Detroit, MI. WALK is casting male and female models between the ages of 16-35. All sizes and ethnicities are welcomed. Models should bring a head shot photo or comp card and female models should wear stiletto heels.
Each year, WALK, now in its 5th edition, has averaged over 500 women at each casting call and over 2,000 fashion show attendees from the metro Detroit area and around the country. Each year, WALK donates a portion of its proceeds to various charities. This season’s show is produced by native Detroiters Crystal Bailey, award winning event producer KeKe Dillard and Daishawn Franklin, who was recently featured in the Detroit Free Press, celebrating nine years of successful celebrity event and concert production around metro Detroit.
WALK strives to provide a platform for locally based designers, store owners and the Detroit fashion community. The Spring WALK Fashion Show will take place in May 2012, at the Detroit Opera House.
For more information, contact organizers by e-mail at walkfashionshow@gmail.com or by telephone at 313.79WALK6
Interview: Nava Wiegert, Founder, Partner and Designer of Suum
Detroit is brimming with creative talent, as evidenced by jewelry designers, Nava Wiegert and Brianna Kenyon, the design duo behind Suum. Detroit Style Review recently interviewed Wiegert, who proved to be just as intriguing as the pieces she creates.
DSR: What’s the meaning behind the name Suum?
NW: “One day a few years ago, Brianna and I lined up our micro metal components in robotic army fashion on the dining table of a close friend, Robert McAdow. Always intrigued by his psychological mind, we asked him what they meant to him. Without hesitation, ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It’s Gestalt. More correctly, the whole is other than the sum of its parts.’”
“I later nested into a piece of paper and pulled some words out of that wine fueled discussion, in the inspired mood to finally name our art of parts, a task previously daunting. I chose the word “sum” for manipulation. To it I added a ‘u’ because that’s what you do to find a sum, add, which made the new word both greater than and other than its original self. Inserting the ‘u’also signified the physical addition of U/You to our work as a crucial, physical component of its wholeness. On my paper: Suum. It looked intriguing and made sense, at least to me, its creator. Proud of it, I grabbed Google, which instantly informed me I was not suum’s creator! Suum is ancient, Latin, and means his, her, its own. It is reflective possessive, unisex, individual, ironically perfect. Even more, paired with another curious looking word, suum cuique means to each his or her own. So, it’s a made up word that isn’t a made up word that fits with precision as Suum Sums do!”
DSR: How did the two of you develop the “concept” behind Suum?
NW: “Obeying inborn curiosity and for the goodness sake of jewelry’s evolution, we broke a few rules and parts landed in our laps. There was something beautiful about each individual part, but when it formed an alliance with others, it transcended its individual beauty. Acquiring purpose, each trusted the next, until as a unit, they politely asked us to join them for completion. They pleaded with us to keep the fixing torch away, assuring us we were all they needed to hold. So, to answer your question, I don’t believe we designed the concept as much as we discovered something that invited us to work with it, something too gripping to not give it a voice.”
“As humans, Brianna and I enjoyed the experience of this discovery. As designers, we chose to offer this natural reward of discovery to the conSuumer. It would have been inhumane to solder those parts together.”
DSR: How did the two of you become partners?
NW: “We were friends first, partners second, friends still. We met in a subterranean studio in Ann Arbor, seated beside one another in the wax room, both designers for jeweler, Matthew Hoffman. Initially toiling in anonymity creating inert works (I, led by my right hand, she, by her left), we soon realized we shared an artistic ambition to snub stubborn tradition. Merging minds and putting our strong hands together, we conceived a new understanding of the accessory, a mutual devotion to challenge a perpetually ancient premise: to be no mere ballast, but an integrated instrument of design. What began as a restless curiosity soon evolved into an alloy of vision that eclipsed a mere summing of its parts.”
DSR: What are the pros and cons of being Detroit based designers?
NW: “Detroit can turn and mill metal on one foot with its eyes closed. It’s a natural manufacturing home for Suum. Michigan has produced such precision product for us that Suum Sums have been compared to German engineering at its finest by several of the industry’s most respected, discerning eyes. ‘aSUUMe not,’ we two girls with the muscle of Detroit say with a proud smile!”
“Also, an inspirational gem for our industrial aesthetic, Detroit is so far the only diamond we have set in our work. Its folks gleam with brilliance too and push us forward with their strengths, like Simone DeSousa of Re:View Contemporary who breathes art and discovers talent that rivals the nation’s best. Story sharing, supportive bloggers such as yourself are also a great gift of Detroit for its artists and their progressive work needing a vessel. Thank you!”
DSR: How would you best describe the Suum customer?
NW: “Man and woman drawn to any of the following: the unusual, the unexpected, modern art, architecture, metaphor, mechanics, construction, precision engineering, partnership, teamwork, story, discovery, American innovation, conscious evolution.”
“Equally, the man and woman repelled or bored by any of the following: ‘jewel’ry, dusty notions, assumptions, stiff forms, rules.”
DSR: What sets Suum apart from other jewelry brands?
NW: “Thesaurus.com suggests these synonyms for the word ‘accessory,’ which well-describe the product of the others: additions, adornments, attachments, bells and whistles, decorations, doodads, embellishments, extras, frills, ornaments, trimmings. Such words do not describe Suum Sums because our chosen definition of an accessory isn’t a passive put-on. Instead, it is an assistant, accomplice, co-conspirator, cooperator, helper, partner in crime. We are separated from the others by pure, twenty-four carat definition. Contrasting to the industry’s traditional use of the human form as a hanger for handsome things, Suum integrates both mind and body into form and function. Suum Sums are wearable architecture that require the human form to build, support, and embody. More than metal, they are the experience of acquired function and multi-faceted beauty when beings and design concept work together. Ornaments be damned!”
DSR: Where do you hope to see Suum in the next five years?
NW: “I see Suum with conscious posture as a globally respected design innovator, our Detroit-made Suum Sums available across the nation. We will remain curious, ceaselessly evolve, and continue to produce innovative, interactive products that contain parts with purpose, beauty, integrity, and possibility. We will be forever thankful to those who have contributed to making Suum Gestalt.”
DSR: Where can Suum be purchased?
NW: “Presently, Suum is exclusively represented by Re:View Contemporary Gallery (444 W. Willis, Detroit)in Midtown.
Photos courtesy of Suum; Photo 1 pictured left to right designers Nava Wiegert and Brianna Kenyon
Fashion and Beauty Events at the Detroit Design Festival: September 21-28, 2011
The Detroit Design Festival kicks off tomorrow. While there are a ton of events going on throughout the festival, here is a list of fashion and beauty related events that you should be sure to check out:
Wednesday, September 21, 2011; 6pm-9pm
New Center Park: 2990 West Grand Blvd. Detroit, MI
Enjoy an evening of music, fashion and design as hosts launch the annual Detroit Design Festival
Kickoff Party: Wednesday, September 21, 2011; 6pm-9pm
Exhibit Viewing: Monday and Tuesday, September 26 and 27th 2011; 9am-5pm. Wednesday, September 28, 2011; 9am – 9pm.
Closing Event: Wednesday, September 28, 2011; 6pm – 9pm
Events and exhibit location: Genevieve Fisk Loranger Exhibition Space – University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture; 4001 W. McNichols Ave. Detroit, MI
Vanity Urbanity is a challenge of architectural visualization in re-imagining our city’s housing fabric and an exhibition that parallel the facets of beauty, fashion, and design.
Exhibition, Wednesday, September 21 through Wednesday, September 28, 2011; 7am -7pm, Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm Saturday, 9am-4pm Sunday, 2pm-3pm
Presentation: September 25, 2011; 2pm-3pm
FOURTEEN EAST Park Shelton 15 East Kirby, Detroit, MI
International Academy of Design and Technology (IADT) students from the Digital Media, Fashion, and Interior Design departments have collaborated in an expression of Detroit-inspired design vignettes of photos, “sustainable” fashion, and creative backdrops entitled: “Distinctively Detroit.”
Detroit by Design Fashion Show and Homeslice Label Launch
Friday, September 23, 2011; Reception – 9pm; Runway Show – 9:30pm
Bankle Building, 2944 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI
Homeslice label launch runway show presented by celebrated Femilia Couture designer Emily Thornhill, curated by Detroit by Design.
Avant-garde multimedia exhibit will feature additional designers Camilo Pardo, Terrance Sullivan and Kelly Lynn.
Sponsored by After5Detroit and IT! Magazine.
Buy apparel from show designers available in the 323East popup shop and artwork by Bethany Shorb and fel3000ft.
RSVP requested: www.detroitbydesign.org
Fotoula Lambros Design Showcase
Saturday, September 24, 2011; 7pm
Dalgleish Cadillac Building 6160 Cass Avenue, Detroit, MI
Previewing the latest looks for Autumn/Winter, Fotoula Lambros Design (FLD) will highlight the right silhouettes to stay warm and stand out, long past the holidays. Enhanced necklines that provide multi-functional wear ability are what make this brand stand out amongst other Eco-friendly labels.
Changing the Way The World Thinks about BEAUTY: Roundtable Discussion
Saturday, September 24, 2011; 3pm
MSU - DETROIT CENTER 3408 Woodward Avenue - Classroom 202, Detroit, MI
Inspired by the book, Changing the way the world thinks about BEAUTY, this discussion is an Exploration in BEAUTY.
Beauty is many things to many people, cultures, and ethnicities.
Join hosts at the MSU-Detroit Center as panel speakers define beauty from their multi backgrounds, discuss and dispel stereotypes about beauty, elaborate on the effects of media on beauty, and engage in conversation about various expressions of beauty.
The objective at the end of this discussion is to acknowledge that even if different, BEAUTY is in ALL, if we EXPLORE deep enough.
Motivational Fashion Presents: Speed Networking for the Design Community
Saturday, September 24, 2011; 6pm-9pm
Cafe d’Mongo’s Speakeasy, 1439 Griswold, Detroit, MI
The goal: To bring entrepreneurs, artists, and design professionals together for a fun, networking opportunity at Cafe d’Mongo’s Speakeasy.
This event is for those who love Detroit and would like to come together to make a difference in the community.
Free, but space is limited.
RSVP required at http://motivationalfashion.eventbrite.com
Sunday, September 25th through Wednesday, September 28, 2011; 4pm - 7pm September 25th, 10am - 8pm daily.
The Arts League of Michigan | Virgil H. Carr Cultural Center 311 East Grand River, Detroit, MI
3D FASHION EXPO is a multimedia experience showcasing virtual interactivity, workshops for the community, display and presentations of textile, apparel and accessories to boutique buyers, and retail sales of merchandise by Glenna Johnson, Stef -N-Ty and Salikas.
Opening event features author of The 2 Minute Drill: 10 Basic Steps toSales, Anthony G. Perry ($10 for event, includes book)
RSVP required, e-mail info@3rdeyeview.org.
For more information, visit http://www.3rdeyeview.org.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011; 2pm-9pm
71 Garfield, Ste. 170
Located in Midtown Detroit’s 71 Artists Lofts Building in the Sugar Hill Arts District, 71 POP is a unique retail setting that creates an opportunity for local emerging designers to showcase a pop-up gallery-style shop for a month at a time.
Each pop-up artist and brick and mortar shop is connected to a virtual pop-up shop, video profile, and launch/wrap event that encourage community participation in the curated environment.
This month wraps of the September shops which feature honeyBOOM, Cyberoptix TieLab, Always The Forest, and Andrew Kopietz Photography.
Introducing Somerset Collection CityLoft: July 28 - July 30, 2011
Beginning this weekend and every weekend through September, The Somerset Collection will host, CityLoft, a pop up shop right in the heart of downtown Detroit. Anyone who knows Detroit knows it’s been a long time since downtown Detroit has had major retail shopping within its borders. Although this is temporary, hopefully CityLoft can become a catalyst to show major retailers that investing in downtown Detroit is worth the investment.
