One of the most highly anticipated films of the year is without a doubt Marvel Studios’ Black Panther.
“I just started thinking more about the issues that are surrounding the idea of black cinema and black designers having more representation.” – Aurora James
Marvel Studios Black Panther hit theaters yesterday and it has been madness.
Imagining an urban traveler’s spiritual pilgrimage through the Himalayas to Tibet, Vivienne Tam strives to conjure the concepts of unity, wholeness, and infinity through practical cold-weather ensembles in her Fall/Winter 2018 collection.
Behind the scenes of the Naeem Khan AW18 show, TRESemmé New York Fashion Week stylist Odile Gilbert was racing against the clock to craft a perfect “side slicked braided twist” on every model.
If you know anything about the designer brand Chromat, you know that they are always serving up superhero vibes. Each collection explores the idea of merging architecture, fashion and technology, with a special focus on empowering women. So when it came to teaming up with Disney and Marvel to make a one of a kind look, inspired by the film Black Panther, it was a perfect match. Chromat was founded by Becca McCharen-Tran in 2010 and has taken off with superhero speed since then. We had the opportunity to sit down and speak with Tran alongside fellow Chromat designer Tolulope Aremu. Check out what these two unapologetic women had to say in our exclusive interview below.
Can you tell us about collaborating on this project with Disney and Marvel’s Black Panther?
Tolulope Aremu: When we got this project, I immediately thought okay, Black Panther, super hero, African, Chroma babes … And the first person I thought of was my mother. I’m 100% Nigerian, so growing up in our household, seeing her cultural garbs and her Ankara fabrics fill the closets from like brim to brim; it seemed very natural to put this Ankara into the look. Then when we finally saw the film and saw the technology behind it, it seemed like we had to add a tech element to it. So, we added neoprene, as well as a bonding fabric. Then to kind of wrap it all into the chroma babe world, we added the cages to the dress, as well as the halo piece behind me. Adding all those three things into one look seemed very natural. Then putting that look inside Wakanda was very fluid and it just kind of worked.
Do you feel like this look could be a part of your collection or is within the same realm with the message your brand portrays?
Becca McCharen-Tran: I would say definitely one unique thing about this piece is that we made it for plus size models specifically, and that’s something that we are always trying to encourage more of in fashion. Not only diversity in race and ethnicity, but in body size and shape. So we’re always about highlighting plus sized, curvy models, as well. I would say it’s funny we’ve never worked with a print before for our main line but this project was really special to be able to work with this Nigerian Ankara fabric. But a lot of the other shapes with the neoprene is very much in line with us … it’s super Chromaty.
What dose this experience, being a part of this collaboration, mean to you personally?
Becca McCharen-Tran: The Black Panther project was so major. It’s a huge, huge deal. It’s changing the world, so it’s a huge honor to be apart of it.
Tolulope Aremu: Just to have any small part of this whole thing was really an honor and a privilege. It’s just going to take over the world. Just to have like a little dab … in it, is just amazing.
Do you have an ideal person or celebrity that you would love to see in the look?
Tolulope Aremu: When I thought of designing this look, I thought … I didn’t want it to be tribal. I wanted the look to be for a Nigerian queen, going to this Wakanda event, wearing this piece that she got from Chromat and was like, I’m gonna wear this and slay all day. That’s what I thought of.
What is your super hero piece? When you wake up some mornings feeling blah and you feel like “I need to put this on so I can conquer the day”.
Becca McCharen-Tran: For me it’s eyeliner, cat eye, like liquid liner.
Tolulope Aremu: For me it’s the three dots that I put here (points next to her eye). It feels like war paint and it kind of represents my mom, my dad, and my brother.
Be sure to check out Marvel Black Panther in theaters February 16.
This event was brought to us by Marvel Studios and Disney and sponsored by Lexus, Lancôme and benefits Save The Children.
Photo Credit @withlovetammyb
Towering over Midtown Manhattan with awe-dropping views of clothes and the Empire State Building, streetwear clothing brand Manhattan Knights shows off their new collection for the upcoming season.
The rules?
Plastic, transparency, honesty.
In a move to accept a wider range of fashion-minded individuals, Manhattan Knights’ collection features non-gender conforming clothing with a unique twist on fashion throughout the centuries. Different materials come into play, just as our generation’s typical cynically is featured right on our chests.
Chainmail and plastic provide an excellent material for our mood—the transparency of plastic forces people to get to know us, to know our personalities with the sleeves on our shoulders, or in this case, the plastic front of our 
shirts. Chainmail, on the other hand, shows our hard exterior, bounded together with meticulous care, telling people we care about our appearance on the outside just as much as the inside. That we’re hard to know but working through that will provide the greatest of relationships with that inside person.
Material takes over Manhattan Knights’ show, held on a penthouse floor of a building directly aligned with the Empire State Building a block over. And with its location comes its delivery. Sticking with streetwear’s rejection of normality, Manhattan Knights decided to disrupt the cliché catwalk for a more casual—and more enjoyable—living look. Models sat on couches, danced to live music, and just hung out while acting like any streetwear-wearing person would. In that living arrangement, not only did they show off their clothing brand as a new approach to an already new fashion, but they showed their personality through their atmosphere.
Amazing window views of midtown surrounding the models, with already chic clothing featuring an upside-down Nike logo with the words “Just Don’t,” Manhattan Knights forces consumers to question what they’re buying, and onlookers to ask how those got to confident.
Like Manhattan Knights describes themselves as being “inspired by a deep love for New York, its culture, its people, and its humor,” Manhattan Knights’ new collection depicted just that. New Yorkers’ cynicality came out just as our uniqueness was shown. Our hard exterior followed by remarkably cute interior shows how we view ourselves, just how those who don Manhattan Knights’ clothing.
Chinese-born New York-based designer Gemma Hoi, who graduated from Parsons School of Design, was the first of the day to showcase her Fall/Winter 2018 collection at Mercedes-Benz Manhattan this past Sunday at Nolcha Shows.
The 2018 New York Fashion Week kicked off this past Thursday and American designer and MILLY co-founder Michelle Smith was amongst the many big names in fashion to preview her Fall/Winter 2018 Collection on Friday.
The fashion elite showed out for this top of week Title of Work launch event at Cadillac House. The interaction was keen, as Title of Work’s designs have always been high stakes.