Posts with tag asian

We love companies that really give back, and when it's a tiny mom & pop business working hard to make a difference, even better! Vivian Cheng and Eric Jean-Louis are a Canadian husband-and-wife design team who started their jewelry company, Blend Creations, in 2005. They recently launched a fabulous new limited-edition line of pendants called Metal for Monsters with the goal of raising $10,000 for UNICEF.

We all know that Ebay is a gigantic player in the retail world, but because of its virtual nature, it's hard to keep tabs on just how large the worldwide garage sale really is. Here's an indicator, the International Fund for Animal Welfare says that the online retailer is big enough to be responsible for "63% of the trade in endangered species -- with elephant ivory comprising 73% of all products tracked." Just think, that leopard skin purse could be real leopard skin. That's why eBay feels compelled to start cracking down on ivory sales starting January 1st.

We love all of the amazing independent designers out there and we wanted to find out more about what makes these creative types tick. If you do too, check out more of our Indie Designer Interviews.

Want to express something a little more meaningful through your jewelry choice than just how much you spent on that bling? Today's featured designer, Kristian McIntyre of Creative Art and Soul, creates sandcarved gemstone and glass jewelry pendants inspired by many of the world's different religions and cultures.

A bright accessory is a great way to liven up an outfit. A bright accessory inspired by a different culture not only livens up your outfit -- it can help define it, which is just what this Flat Beaded Clutch by Moyna does.

We love all of the amazing independent designers out there. In order to find out more about just what makes all of these creative types tick, we present to you an ongoing segment called Indie Designer Interviews.

Today's interview is with jewelry designer Vanessa Leu of Wishgiving. A native of Taiwan, Vanessa now resides in California and creates beautiful, unconventional jewelry designs.

Oh, boy oh boy. Do we have a treat for those perusing Styledash this easy summer night or what.

So. Harem pants. They're kind of popular (thank you Stefano Pilati!) and unflattering on practically every body type. But so are jodhpurs, and we all saw what Nicolas Ghesquiere did for them a couple of seasons ago. However, if there were ever some voice of reason out there able to persuade people to leave the awkward trousers alone, it would have to be this viral video.

You know, it's 2008. You wouldn't think I'd still be writing about this sort of thing, but unfortunately a model's race is still a big issue. This season of runway shows is coming to a close and the tallies are out -- most designers put no more than 0-2 African American or Asian models on the runway.

Jezebel has the full count but at the Ann Demeulemeester show her models were 100% Caucasian, John Paul Galliano had 52 models and of those he had one African American and one Asian. The winner of the season for most diverse casting was none other than Vivienne Westwood. Her totals came in at 2 Asian, 5 African American and 1 Latina out of 25 girls.

Vivienne is definitely one of my all time fave designers and seeing that her show was kinda sorta diverse just gives me another reason to love her. But, that really doesn't excuse the fact that even though she had more shades of the skin tone rainbow on her runway than anyone else, 8 girls out of 25 is still barely over 30%!

Tyra Banks, Iman, and Naomi Campbell have been some of the most wildly successful models of this day and age. Models don't have to be Caucasian in order to be a household name. C'mon designers, get with the times. We live in a Benetton world!

Browse the gallery to see some of the fierce and diverse models that rocked the runway this past season.

If you haven't figured it out by now, this weekend rings in the Chinese New Year, so rest assured that I will be focusing pretty famously on all things Asian. Now while I am usually not wildly fond of Mandarin collars because I seem to have problems with their causing much itching and discomfort around my neck, I make an exception for this weekend, particularly for the Ruffle Lace Top by Shelli Segal for Laundry. The top features a Mandarin style collar with the typical cap-sleeve styling of a qi pao. It may be lace, but it's more modest than you think, since it overlays an opaque nylon lining. What's lovely about this top? It does double trend duty by fitting in with the Romantic trend for spring.

The Ruffle Lace Top by Shelli Segal for Laundry is $109.90 at Nordstrom.

If you feel like you're ready to give up on New Year's resolutions because you haven't been able to keep up witha single one thus far, don't fret! Just tell yourself that you've been waiting for the real new year, the Chinese New Year, which starts this weekend on Sunday. Sunday, February 18, 2007 is the beginning of year 4704, and not only is it the Year of the Pig, but it is the Year of the Golden Pig, which happens all of once every 600 years.

In honor of this festive and prosperous occasion, today's dress of the day is a golden lace qi pao - the traditional Mandarin style dress made of silk that we very often associate with Chinese women. Not only is this the fact that this dress is gold perfect for this year of the golden pig, but because it is gold, it's perfect for keepig in line with one of Spring's hottest trends - metallics. The sleeveless dress made of lace overlay and satin lining comes in both gold and shimmering peach. If you can manage to find some sparkling gold, strappy sandals, you are, well, golden.

The dress is available from Ancient Moods for $79.90.