True Religion Introduces (D)Hydrate Denim True Religion has been one of those iconic brands from the very beginnings of the premium denim days, carrying with them a huge following as they stayed true to their roots for years, confidently not changing a whole lot as other new brands popped up around them and other veteran brands evolved their way of doing things to stay competitive. I’m not sure the brand needed to worry much about that, but recently I’ve been seeing a new new innovations, including their release of a curvy line earlier this year. And now, they’ve made perhaps the most important change they’ve ever made: the introduction of (D)Hydrate Denim, a line of men’s and women’s jeans that leave less of an environmental impact through the use of less water, waste and energy. Joe’s was the last I saw to do this, and it’s amazing to me to see other established, household name brands taking the initiative too!
Image: Peace Over Violence. Maya Jupiter and Aloe Blacc, Artists and Official Denim Day Spokescouple.
Today is Denim Day 2016 by Peace Over Violence
You might remember this from a post I wrote about last year! With all of my writeups about sustainable and ethical fashion, it’s only natural to share political or humanitarian activism in the apparel industry. Peace Over Violence is a a sexual and domestic violence, stalking, child abuse and youth violence prevention center headquartered in Los Angeles and dedicated to building healthy relationships, families and communities free from sexual, domestic and interpersonal violence. For 17 years, they have been running an annual campaign called Denim Day, which calls for women and men everywhere to wear jeans in honor of Sexual Violence Awareness Month. Why jeans? In 1992, a rape conviction was overturned in the Italian Supreme Court because the 18 year old victim was wearing tight jeans—which, in their eyes, must have meant she helped her attacker remove them, thereby implying consent. After the outrage, Denim Day was founded to stand in solidarity with the victim, and other victims everywhere. Wearing jeans on this day is now a symbol of protest about destructive attitudes and misconception towards sexual assault. This year, April 27 is that day! I actually wear jeans every day (surprise surprise), so…count me in!
For the third year, denim brand GUESS has partnered with Peace Over Violence as the official sponsor. “The GUESS woman is sexy and confident but sexy is NEVER an invitation or an excuse to rape, and we are here to spread that message and create awareness even further by bringing Denim Day across the globe,” says Paul Marciano, Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder and President of the GUESS Foundation. As a further motion, GUESS will donate 10% of the proceeds from all denim and select accessory styles between April 25th and 30th. Shop and support the cause here! In addition, visit a GUESS store today for a free tote bag with any regular priced purchase.
In addition, GUESS encouraged everyone to stand up to sexual violence by creating their own video promise to wear denim on Denim Day in support of Peace Over Violence and survivors of sexual assault.
So this is kind of a different blog post…but my original intention of my blog was to showcase a myriad of things that I feel benefit the world, and everyone in it! If you haven’t noticed yet, my passions lie in several different avenues…some that mesh together and some that don’t seem to hold any common ground. But one thing is for sure, fashion and music form a special bond as art forms that are universal and have the power to make great change.
When I first started DJing in 2008, one of my greatest inspirations was producer J. Scott G. of Deepsky, an influential electronic group that rocked dance floors and dreams in the late 90s and early-to-mid 2000s. I consider myself to be a bit of a networking queen, which began when all I wanted to do was tell musicians that changed my life, face to face, how much I appreciated them, as I know being a music artist in this world is not an easy one. As my networks grew, that sprouted into a genuine love of playing the matchmaker of similar minds, introducing people and helping others continue their networks to advance their dreams! Recently, and thanks to Facebook (see, some good comes out of that cluster of a social media platform), I was able to get in touch with J. Scott G. and had a chance to meet him and his fiancé Naomi for drinks and dinner in Ventura, CA. It was then that I learned of his next venture in life. No longer a regular of the nightlife scene, his passions now lie in creating music for change. Prayer Song is the duo’s new life, which is a collaborative music project put together by people like you—thousands of voices from around the world are being collected to create a wholesome world choir to represent the need for world peace, the end of suffering, and overcoming our own obstacles and boundaries. Launched on January 22nd, 2016, the project is gaining traction and even earned a non-profit status thanks to HOPE!
I’ve been eyeing Threads 4 Thought® for some time now…mainly for their gorgeous prints in the form of activewear like leggings, tops and outerwear, as well as other everyday apparel items. I didn’t even initially realize that everything they create is ethical and sustainable, made from organic cotton, recycled polyester and lenzing modal®, a CO2 neutral fiber that is harvested from beech trees that never need to be cut down. On the manufacturing side, the minds behind Threads 4 Thought® travel around the world to solidify good relationships with the factories they employ and to make sure they share their same values. Some of these factories even recycle the water used in production! They are even accredited with Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP), The Sustainable Apparel Coalition and are Fair Trade Certified. That was enough to get me to focus on a future feature here on my blog, but this new scarf collection benefiting endangered species really did me in.
At one time I was mostly a bootcut kind of girl…and then my first favorite pair of jeans was a straight cut from Gap. Then as time went on and fits and fabric content improved, I fell for the skinny jean, and it still is my staple piece. Out of all the jeans I own, probably 80% are of the skinny kind! When looser cuts like flares and bootcuts popped up again last Spring, I didn’t really give it much thought, but lately the flare has grown on me again. They definitely are more flattering on curvier shapes, accentuating that hourglass shape, and tend to fit better in the hips and waist more often than not. The style is still going very strong (it probably helps that the bohemian trend never really truly dies) and it’s been fun seeing all the different renditions of flares from all of my favorite brands.
Collaborations in the denim industry are always super exciting. There is definitely something very special about seeing two amazing artists working together to make something even greater! I’ve written so much about how artwork and denim have gone hand in hand for…well, almost ever, and it’s not hard to find paint splattered details on a premium denim piece. Last year I wrote about Nok Nok Denim and artist Jackson Pollock’s collaboration to create denim pieces painted with Pollock’s energetic “drip” technique, and now we’ve got a new one that I’m really excited to share with all of you!
MADE GOLD is the denim company run by Marta Goldschmied, daughter of denim guru Adriano Goldschmied (of AG Jeans), which was exciting enough in itself to me! Lately, the brand has joined up with artist Yuki Haze to produce a limited edition line of hand painted jeans, shorts and jackets. This Tokyo-born illustrator is also a co-founder of the online magazine Sukeban, but her passion lines in clothing design, illustration and set design. At this time, Yuki is on the hunt for models, photographers and stylists who want to work with her signature illustrations. MADE GOLD is such a perfect company to take on the job, as Marta already has filled up her line with all sorts of edgy styles featuring paint splatters, eyelets, lace-up and distressing details.
As noted in the topmost image, each item purchased will be custom made for the buyer and will require a 15-day delivery. These are definitely super cool and are sure to turn heads and start conversations!
Well I’m back, and I have to say how tough it is to get back to the commercial world after a freaking transformational festival. For those who don’t know, I was camping and dancing it up with friends at Lucidity Festival over the weekend, and oh how great it was to be back there again. I always leave feeling so refreshed, re-inspired and reminded what really matters in life: camaraderie, spirit, love and personal growth. The little things that drive me nuts on a regular basis just don’t anymore when I return, so it is so awesome to start writing again with a fresh mind. I was debating whether or not to wait until next week so I have more time to decompress, reflect and enjoy the afterglow, but I hate leaving things for too long!
First off, this is my last post for the week, and possibly until Wednesday, as I am off on Thursday to my second home…Lucidity Festival! I am so excited to rest, recharge and get back in touch with myself and my intentions with the numerous workshops and classes the festival has to offer besides the music and party element. Whenever I leave this annual event I always feel so creatively refreshed as well and enlightened on new ways of living sustainably. Sometimes I find it funny being such a fan of denim which in many cases lies in the world of consumption, and also being so rooted in the transformational festival culture which is oftentimes fairly against it. But as I’ve mentioned before, my interests lie in many places, and I see it all really coming down to personal responsibility. There are also a ton of ethical, handmade apparel vendors there, many of which are on Etsy (and that I have probably written about…see a big ol post I posted on festival fashion here), and I’m excited to see what I can find! Hopefully this will inspire many more ideas to write about here.
On that note, I don’t usually like to post a lot about sales because so many other bloggers cover that just fine (and my list of things to write about is ever growing), but I figured it would be a fun opportunity to leave off for vacation with this awesome 3-day Friends & Family sale from Shopbop. It’s not often that they release discount codes, and even less often that they can be applied to both regular AND sale items! So I decided to do some wishful window shopping in the denim department (naturally), and shared my favorite pieces below.
Shop the entire Shopbop Friends & Family sale here, and I’ll see you guys again next week.
Years ago when I first started out this blog thinking I’d focus primarily on denim, I was blown away by the several awesome cases of art blending with fashion that I’d never seen before. Granted yeah, fashion *IS* art, but I’m talking about actual hand-painted artwork or any kind that originally wasn’t necessarily meant to be worn blending with pieces that are. I wrote about Sociale Revolution, a brand that fuses the two in the form of tees, hats and more for men and women; Dragonfly by J. Claire, which once offered a beautiful collection of hand painted jeans, and companies like Society6 and The Coterie which allow artists to get their work out there in the form of wearable pieces, home decor, and more. Now, years later, thanks to a Hautelook sale, I found another awesome blend of art and fashion, with hand painted leather bags by Anuschka™.
These gorgeous bags are the real thing…designed in the USA by mother-son design team Bhaskar and Roma, and constructed in their family owned workshop in India. All bags are sketched and painted after being hand cut and stitched out of high grade soft cow nappa leather. When done, each one is lovingly inspected and numbered by a family member before being shipped out to the buyer!
“Our artisans paint their dreams on leather.”
“Our artisans use every color and hue to create masterpieces on leather.”
“We use only the finest grade of soft, supple cowhide and every piece of leather is hand selected and hand cut.”
“Our trained artisans sketch each piece before painting the entire bag with exotic and original Anuschka art.”
“A family Member personally signs ‘Anuscha’ on each accessory as a reflection of our commitment towards the highest standard of quality before it leaves our workshop.”
Denim is such a special fabric! You can do just about anything with it…durable enough for almost any kind of abuse and resistance to unraveling opens the door to all kinds of possibilities, even crafty DIY ones. I’ve written a lot about my fascination with it, sharing beautiful denim furniture, glasses, artwork, watches, shoes and more (see that post here). It makes some pretty awesome bags, too!
