I’m so grateful for growing up with Disney, for embedding certain consciousness into the subsciousness of us 80′s babies. As a little girl I wanted nothing more than to grow up and be Pocahontas. I knew Colors of the Wind by heart, living by the lyric “come roll in all the riches all around you and for once never wonder what they’re worth.”

I see quite a few aspects of modern society as being the cancer of Earth and mankind, over-consumption being the number one killer. People walking around so confused and disconnected from their purposes as a close second. I’ve always fantasize about how different we would be if America wasn’t stolen and built on greed; if back then we decided to co-exist with this peaceful nation of people who based their entire lives around community and working together for a bigger purpose. In native America what was taken from the Earth was what was needed and the process of doing so was deeply respected. For thousands of years inherited wealth has ruled the world. From laying our original laws to designing our banking and financial institutions to determining what we see, learn and consume, there hasn’t been much opportunity in the past for those with a more down-to-Earth and “for the people” perspective to be heard. Hierarchy and a “better than my neighbor” mentality exists when ego and a heightened level of fear exists. We are a society dominated by fear. Looking back at the structuring of modern society the architects, these inherited wealthy individuals, were engrained to hold tightly to and continue to amass their wealth by any means possible. Fear of losing control and losing everything was the biggest fear to those who have tried to keep wealth within a family or an organization. Slowly but surely as more and more billionaires are self-made the fear of losing everything is dying out. When you’re self-made you’ve been through the struggles and you gain trust in the struggle. You don’t fear losing everything because you know you can make it back. I love today’s progressive wealthy who are sharing and even renouncing cash/possessions- all for the bigger picture. Ask yourself why must one be wealthy? Besides buying and consuming everything you think you want, what does it mean? And when you get to that answer, what does that mean to you? Is it based on ego/fear or is it based on something that is truly necessary for the greater good of all mankind?

I’m American, but I am saddened by the history of America. Even in middle school I would argue Howard Zinn’s history of the establishment of America over the sugar-coated government mandated text book version scripted to build American pride in students. Our history is something we can’t ignore or deny, but like everything else in the past we must accept it, learn from it and move onward/upward. I love the idea of an innovative and progressive America and the potential of this beautiful country, if only we can dig deep down and reconnect to the same principals this land was founded on before superficial ideals came into play. Until then let these words resonate in your heart and mind and imagine how different we would be if we merged with this intellect thousands of years ago:

Digital art by Archan Nair

Any state below the “anything is possible” state of mind should be classified as a form of depression.

xoE

3M put $3 million behind their own security glass as a street ad
via Danny Estrada

Bored and connected? Why not see all the places on Earth you’ve only dreamed about going to. If you haven’t already, download Google Earth and spend a night digitally globe trotting to your dream destinations. Explore scenery, street view and surroundings and navigate at your own pace. Randomly check out places where you’ve always wondered what it would be like there. Roam and play, if only currently from your digital device. Roam with friends! My mom and I recently took a scenic tour of where her family is from in Castle Gregory, Ireland. Don’t stop at Earth… check out Mars, the moon and star constellations!

“You are the artist of the reality you create. Your thoughts paint your world in the colors of your feelings and emotions. Each brush stroke adds your everyday actions. The canvas is a living montage of your life expression in the gallery of human experience.” – Dr Jeff Mullan, via Dawn Morningstar, Facebook

I’m excited about a performing arts project I’m working on that fuses dance, live music, theater, light and sound experience all in one large scale arena show. While doing some reference research I came across this beautiful duet that communicates the language of dance at its finest. Enjoy with wonder!

When thinking of different industries I’d like to do projects in I try to see the common thread in everything. Usually general assumptions are not my cup of tea, but in business I’ve noticed the “purpose” is pretty straight forward: there’s a product or service that needs customers to buy into it in order to survive/profit. Straight supply + demand = profit. Surrounding this formula, like the small fish swimming alongside a whale, facilitators like sales, public relations, advertising and marketing teams think of creative ways of getting that product/service before your eyes and then selling it into your lives. Most importantly in this cycle of produce/consume are the two groups of people keeping it all going: the billions of good employees working hard for the profits and dreams of another’s vision and the customers out there fueling it all.

We are all customers and consumers on different levels. We consume energy, food, natural resources and an over-abundance of options of materialism. The results of lofty marketing budgets meeting an assembly line of “new & improved” products that are flashed before our senses hundreds of times a day will have us thinking that we need an obnoxious amount of things in order to function. Phrases like “built to last” have been reinterpreted to “built to last… until the next season”, and we accept this downgrade with open wallets. The oil and diamond/precious stones industries have learned very well from street drug dealers in order to keep prices high: create a demand, control the supply.

We are still, for the most part, stuck in a profits-based mentality. Besides bragging rights and buying everything you could possibly dream of, why else would one need to profit so obsesely? And the theory of holding on to and dying with everything you’ve got? It’s a fear-based philosophy and I try hard not to get involved with any idea that was conceived in fear. Or even something that is ran in fear, like most corporations for instance. The moment they play the IPO/stock market game (which may as well be a video game) their number one priority becomes profit. In the past and unfortunately still currently, this has been by any means possible. As a 21st century more responsible business model takes flight, people and companies who aren’t giving back are not going to make it. For each customer that realizes the potentials of good ethics and integrity, people will find no reason to revert back to the old mentality. All we have to remember as customers (and human beings) is do not settle for less for ourselves and as consumers, we give back.

As one who studies youth intelligence and social trends, I see an empowered, informed and evolving consumer on the rise and I luuuvvit. I found this interesting and inspiring: My friend Kevin aka “Noni”, a native NJ-fox hunting teen-turned-NYC-pr/sales exec-by-the-age-of-22-turned-free-spirited-world-explorer-at-24 type, told me that in many ancient cultures it was customary for the wealthiest of the community to fearlessly give away everything they had during a celebratory ceremony, knowing they would be replenished.

yolo

<3e

I fell in love with Alexander McQueen in 1995. I was an eleven year girl, sitting on the floor surrounded by fashion magazines, feverishly tearing inspiration out of them to wallpaper my room with. Through foreign editions I learned about the London Fashion Scene, which captivated me at the time. I may have been 3500 miles away but I knew about Isabella Blow, the Kate Moss clan, the Primrose Hill set, Katy England, and anything coming out of Central Saint Martin’s. I studied it. It got me- the attitude, the energy. And I was only getting it through glossy images and obscure dial-up pioneers…. Read more at LuxuryFashion.com

For more Carine visit LuxuryFashion.com

I remember when my brother, sister and I used to sit around the kitchen table having fashion ‘meetings’ on things like fabrics, trends, design, budgets and sales projections. Three times a week after dinner we had comprehensive conferences where five new sketches would be due (we had to stay within a set budget) and I’d grade designs and take attendance. It was only the three of us and nobody was older than twelve, but in our minds we may as well been in the boardroom of a fashion house in Paris. Recently while sorting through some old things, I came across a tattered binder stuffed with the designs, report cards, attendance sheets, design reviews and meeting notes. A rush of nostalgia came over me as I remembered how drawn to fashion and the business of it, I have always been. Growing up in a small town where Dior came far behind John Deer, fashion on the internet became my savior. I could connect to other enthusiasts and designers and daydream looking at inspirational pictures, the modern equivalent would be known as Pinterest or Polyvore. My walls were covered with magazine clippings, items individually cut out and pasted onto huge poster boards, categorized by things like trends, inspiration and style icon. This was my wallpaper. On LuxuryFashion.com I reported on underground designers like Michelle Mason and Mara Hoffman. While this was more of a hobby and diversion from middle school coming-of-age drama, it really took off in the industry! Suddenly I was being invited everywhere. However, at events and meetings I was always so self conscious about my pre-teen age, go figure. I wanted to be taken seriously and this was a full decade before 13 year old bloggers like Tavi would become celebrated.

At the time, celebrity stylists barely existed and rock icons like Gwen Stefani, Courtney Love and Shirley Manson were making their own clothes and sharing tips. I decided to start making my own line of clothing called Coutorn and that year I got a sewing machine for Christmas. I hadn’t mastered patterns and cuts, so I took the Charlotte Ronson route of ripping up old t-shirts and reconstructing them (thus cou-”torn”), which lead to dresses and an attempt at pants. When I was 13 I tried unsuccessfully to become Gwen Stefani’s best friend at a Vivienne Westwood after party. Nonetheless, I did give her some samples I had on me. I didn’t take the line too seriously and only made things for myself and friends I gifted to. In the following years LuxFash took precedence and I decided to appreciate and curate fashion rather than focus on actually creating it myself. But the desire to create exquisite clothing hasn’t vanished. I’m now excited to help my brother Nick’s project, Monolith, a brand for men and women where the focus is beautifully designed clothing using high quality fabric, each item being under $111. As a 21^st century business (responsible), for each item sold that same item is donated to an individual in need.

Like most industries today, fashion has been hyped up, injected with steroids, twisted around, turned upside down, swallowed up and spit back out into the faces of the masses. Manufacturing has been outsourced to the cheapest facilities, production quality has plummeted, while selection has gone up, even though at the end of the day leftovers are usually burned instead of donated. Fast fashion chains and discount one-stops like TJ Maxx and Marshalls are popping up like McDonalds, flooding consumer minds with not only ‘trendy’ pieces changing weekly, but with racks upon racks of cheap polyesters and knits… mostly produced in China for pennies on the dollar.

You deserve better!

High quality clothing does not need to cost as much as it does, plain and simple. The premium you pay is for the ‘hype factor’, not necessarily the quality. I won’t keep ranting on knowing that you can either complain about something or you can change it… I’ll just say I am super proud of my big brother Nick and his new baby monolith, which was recently announced on Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Runway. Click here to read. To learn more about monolith visit mlth.co

E