Amber Valletta Fronts Zara's 'Chasing the Light' Spring 2019 Nature Woman Campaign

Amber Valletta Fronts Zara's 'Chasing the Light' Spring 2019 Nature Woman Campaign

Supermodel Amber Valletta is one of fashion’s loudest and consistently-articulate voices on sustainable fashion. AOC has taken the time to research any sustainable credentials behind Zara’s newest ‘Chasing the Light’ collection, and don’t that these beautiful all-white summer styles are part of Zara’s sustainable ‘Join Life’ project, currently estimated to be only 1.5-3% of sales. We wish ‘Chasing the Light’ had green credentials but can’t find any.

With Amber Valletta appearing as the nature-woman model, it’s easy to think the collection is sustainable, especially coming on the heels of last week’s release of H&M’s exciting Conscious Exclusive Collection. H&M actually used orange peels from the end of the juice production cycle for their Orange Fiber. If Valletta was also eating pineapple, I’d call foul. Piñatex, a leather alternative made from the cellulose fiber of pineapple leaves (which become waste after the fruit is harvested) is a key new fake leather product used in H&M’s 2019 Conscious Exclusive collection.

Safari Tourism May Make Elephants More Aggressive – But It’s Still the Best Tool for Conservation

Safari Tourism May Make Elephants More Aggressive – But It’s Still the Best Tool for Conservation

By Isabelle Szott, PhD Candidate in Conservation Biology, Liverpool John Moores University and Nicola F. Koyama, Senior Lecturer in Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University. First published on The Conversation.

Going on safari in Africa offers tourists the opportunity to see some of the most spectacular wildlife on Earth – including African elephants (Loxodonta africana). Known for their complex social systems, long memory and high intelligence, this species is also threatened by poaching and shrinking habitats, so further disturbance to their precarious existence could have serious consequences.

Wildlife tourism can help protect these animals and their habitat by generating income for conservation and providing stable work in local economies. Countries such as South Africa and Kenya receive two to five million visitors to protected areas each year, generating receipts of up to USD$90m. But as it becomes more popular worldwide, it’s worth remembering that we often don’t know how tourism affects the animals we observe.

Gemma Chan Can't Help Talking Substance, Lensed By Paola Kudacki For Allure April 2019

Gemma Chan Can't Help Talking Substance, Lensed By Paola Kudacki For Allure April 2019

Actor Gemma Chan is styled by Karen Kaiser in images by Paola Kudacki for Allure US April 2019./ Hair by Kevin Ryan; makeup by James Kaliardos. Jessica Chia conducts the interview.

Chan has dominated headlines since playing the troubled cousin Astrid in ‘Crazy Rich Asians’. Chan reminds us that political correctness works both ways, and she’s clearly still smarting from the racial pushback against her for playing Bess of Hardwick from the 2018 film ‘Mary Queen of Scots’.

Kylie Jenner Unseats Mark Zuckerberg As Forbes Youngest Self-Made Billionaire

Reality TV ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ star turned makeup mogul Kylie Jenner has unseated Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as Forbes Youngest Self-Made Billionaire. Her three-year-old makeup brand ‘Kylie Cosmetics’, solely owned by Jenner, is now valued at $900 million.

The expansion of ‘Kylie Cosmetics’ to a new partnership with Ulta Beauty ‘s 1000-plus stores reportedly generated $54.5 million in six weeks, making it one of the fastest-growing cosmetic brands in the world.  Kylie Cosmetics launched in 2015 with the Lip Kit and now includes 30 products including highlighters, setting powders, blushes and makeup brushes. The launch at Ulta in physical locations in all 50 states was considered a blockbuster, with inventories wiped out in hours.

“It’s the power of social media,” Jenner says. “I had such a strong reach before I was able to start anything.” Forbes writes: “Ulta and Jenner are a sensible pairing. With Ulta’s mix of pricier prestige brands, like MAC Cosmetics, and cheaper selections, such as Nyx Professional Makeup, it has a larger footprint than that of its closest competitor, the more expensive Sephora. “

Kylie, the youngest of the ubiquitous Kardashian-Jenner sisters at age 21, dethrones Mark Zuckerberg who achieved the youngest self-made billionaire at age 23. In addition to her 175 million followers on social media, Kylie Jenner has a one year old daughter Stormi with rapper and boyfriend Travis Scott.

NIKE, Pls Help Us FREE 'Fearless Girl' From State Street Global Advisors. We NEED Her Now More Than Ever

NIKE, Pls Help Us FREE 'Fearless Girl' From State Street Global Advisors. We NEED Her Now More Than Ever

Patriarchal, capitalist forces are clamping down on ‘Fearless Girl’, with her ‘owners’ State Street Global Advisors saying that Fearless cannot go worldwide, unless she flies the State Street banner. A New York federal judge issued a preliminary injunction this week, barring ‘Fearless Girl’s’ birth mother and creator, artist Kristen Visbal, from duplicating her likeness in any way.

The problem is that countries and their governments worldwide want their own ‘Fearless Girl’. She is a unifying, American vision, but her ‘owners’ State Street Global Advisors say “No Way. ‘Fearless Girl is our property.”

Simply stated, yet another female has become an unwilling advocate for big-money capitalism and the boys club. ‘Fearless Girl’s’ debut on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2017 inspired us beyond words. The small bronze goddess arrived in the dead of night, originally installed at Bowling Green in another legal battle with ‘Charging Bull’.

Lupita Nyong'o Is Pure Wisdom + Glam Style In 'Drama Queen' By Paola Kudacki For Porter Edit March 8, 2019

Lupita Nyong'o Is Pure Winsdom + Glam Style In 'Drama Queen' By Paola Kudacki For Porter Edit March 8, 2019

Oscar-winning actor Lupita Nyong’o is styled by Tracy Taylor in liquid, evening elegance in bold colors for ‘Drama Queen’. Paola Kudacki is in the studio for the March 8 issue of Porter Edit. Marjon Carlos conducts the interview

AOC won’t spend time on Lupita’s upcoming horror film ‘Us’, directed by Jordan Peele. The psychological thriller, also featuring Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex, Elisabeth Moss, and Tim Heidecker, opens in theaters on March 22. Nyong’o is never a dull, robotic interview and she shed great light on her taxing role and relationship with Jordan Peele in her recent Marie Claire US cover story.

A-Squad Mentoring

Actor Lupita Nyong'o is a queen for many reasons, including her universal messaging of inclusion and protection in Hollywood -- even by Brad Pitt. Lupita opens her Porter Edit interview speaking to more protection and genuine support of Hollywood people like Sarah Paulson, Alfre Woodard, Gabrielle Union and Jared Leto, who remains on speed dial.

Anilez Silva 'Africa' by Daniel Bracci Delves Into Woman's Collective Unconscious

Anilez Silva 'Africa' by Daniel Bracci Delves Into Woman's Collective Unconscious

Originally written July 7, 2012, 3am — same time I found it again just now. Little by little, I am restoring the far-flung DNA of GlamTribal.

Looking at Daniel Bracci’s magnificent images of Anilez Silva entitled ‘Africa’, my rational mind says “don’t go there, Anne”. Our politically-correct world only sees stereotypes where you see art and connection.

After all, Anilez Silva is fiercely tribal, sensual, erotic, impenetrable, dangerous, ancestral, aboriginal and ancient. She is ferocious, native, natural, primeval and primitive; turbulent, unbroken and proud. 

My friends at Jezebel would probably hate her. We tend not to see eye-to-eye on a few issues, and this is one of them. Are Bracci’s images stereotypical? Racist? I’m not an African American — or African woman — or African Parisian woman, so I can only speak to how these images affect me personally.

When the subject is Africa, I have a visceral response that another person might have with India. Most Americans have no visceral response at all, in terms of connection with “foreign” imagery, but this is not the case for me.

New Survey Raises Concerns About Elephant Poaching in Botswana

PHOTO BY DIGITALARBYTER :) ON UNSPLASH

New Survey Raises Concerns About Elephant Poaching in Botswana

By Ross Harvey, Senior Researcher in Natural Resource Governance (Africa), South African Institute of International Affairs. First published on The Conversation

Botswana has an elephant poaching problem. The numbers far exceed previous years according to a new survey. The survey was conducted between July and October 2018 by conservation group Elephants without Borders, in collaboration with Botswana’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks.

The survey reported a total of 1677 observed carcasses in the survey area of northern Botswana. The surveyors visited carcasses that were of concern – reported as possibly poached – which numbered 104 out of a total of 128 “fresh” carcasses.

SIA Legal Team + If/When/How Unite As Pro-Choice Counter To Anti-Women Federalist Society

MERGER OF SIA LEGAL TEAM AND IF/WHEN/HOW REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE LAWYERS UNIT ANNOUNCED MARCH 13, 2019

SIA Legal Team + If/When/How Unite As Pro-Choice Counter To Anti-Women Federalist Society

Two powerful groups fighting for women’s reproductive rights have joined forces under the If/When/How name. Their goal? Creating a national network to push back against restrictive abortion legislation in every state, helping those ‘whose rights are being trampled.’

The merger of SIA Legal Team and If/When/How—two existing pro-choice groups that already shape policy, file lawsuits, and inform lawyers around reproductive rights issues — launched today March 13. To date, most legal work in the reproductive rights arena has focused on protecting clinics and providers. Executive director Jill Adams says the new organization will also focus on providing a network of attorneys for everyday people facing reproductive rights challenges.

Ryan Magers Madison County, Alabama

Examples of new lawsuits include that of Alabama man Ryan Magers of Madison County, Alabama, who recently filed suit on behalf of an aborted fetus, claiming that his girlfriend had a medication abortion against his wishes in February 2017. In the law suit, filed in January, Magers filed a petition to serve as the “personal representative” of the aborted fetus’ estate.

Next, Magers sued the clinic that performed the abortion, the Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives in Huntsville, on behalf of himself and “Baby Roe,” as the fetus is referred to in court documents.

On March 5, Madison County Probate Judge Frank Barger granted Magers’ petition to represent the estate in a decision his attorney, Brent Helms, said broke new legal ground.

NARAL President Ilyse Hogue called the decision a “very scary case”. “This is the logical consequence of all anti-abortion activity,” tweeted Erin Matson, founder of Reproaction. “Fetuses are treated like people and women and people who can become pregnant are not.”

Abortions Rise Worldwide When US Cuts Funding To Women’s Health Clinics, Study Finds

Abortions Rise Worldwide When US Cuts Funding To Women’s Health Clinics, Study Finds

By Yana Rodgers, Professor of Labor Studies, Rutgers University. First published on The Conversation

Fulfilling Republican efforts to “defund Planned Parenthood,” the Trump administration announced on Feb. 22 it would end federal funding to health providers that perform abortions.

This new ruling is the domestic version of the “global gag rule” that Trump imposed in 2017. It cuts U.S. global health funding from organizations abroad that perform – or even talk about – abortions, including the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

First implemented under Ronald Reagan in 1984, the global gag rule has been rescinded by every Democrat and reinstated by every Republican to occupy the Oval Office, reflecting the partisan nature of abortion.

Supporters of the global gag rule say defunding abortion providers will reduce abortions. However, researchers from Stanford University in 2011 found that this U.S. policy actually made women in sub-Saharan Africa twice as likely to have an abortion.

Eye: Lineisy Montero Is In CR Paradise For SS2019 As Carine Roitfeld Announces Changes Ahead

Eye: Lineisy Montero Is In CR Paradise For SS2019 As Carine Roitfeld Announces Changes Ahead

Model Lineisy Montero is styled by Avena Gallagher for ‘En el Paraiso’, lensed by Aeix Webb for the Spring-Summer 2019 issue of CR Fashion Book.

Founded in 2012 after Roitfeld left her position as editor-in-chief for French Vogue, Carine announced that she intends to let a new generation take the reins of her magazines CR Fashion Book and CR Men. WWD writes that Roitfeld will be doing far less styling on the shoots, although no one is replacing her as editor. “I don’t know what I now want to be called,” the French icon explained. “I don’t have a desk [at the office] either. I had one a while ago but I didn’t like it. I just sit at any table with a free chair. I don’t want a door, ‘Oh, knock before entering.’ That’s not me.”

“I’ve become another stylist in the magazine,” Roitfeld continued, referencing the grown of her CR Studio brand consultancy, which is taking on new clients besides Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld and Tom Ford. “I think it’s definitely time to open the door to a new generation. People of fashion, you know, they get bored, so we need to feed them something exciting, energetic and new.”

Models Of Color Are Thriving In Today's Fashion Industry. Do Hair Stylists Need To Go Back To School

Models Anabel Krasnotsvetova + Olivia Anakwe by Nicolas Kantor for Bobbie Brown Extra Lip Campaign

Models Of Color Are Thriving In Today's Fashion Industry. Do Hair Stylists Need To Go Back To School

Olivia Anakwe: “Fashion brands are getting praise for being inclusive and casting black models, but they are still not hiring creatives who are skilled enough to style textured hair. "No matter how small your team is, make sure you have one person that is competent at doing afro texture hair care OR just hire a black hairstylist," Anakwe wrote.

Jessica Andrews: For Bustle's "Good Hair" series, writer Faith Cummings reached out to hairstylists to address the disparity in cosmetology schools. She spoke with Topher Gross, a stylist at New York City’s Seagull Salon, who said "it's likely a result of many beauty schools centering their training on fine, straight hair, inherently excluding natural hair and kinkier textures.” He told her, “You [have to] go back to school or [pay to] get extra training for textured, natural, and ethnic hair. That’s a huge problem. Every stylist should know and be trained to cut, style, and/or color all textures [from the start]."

Eye: Ethan James Green Delivers 'Young New York', Portraits Of People Unleashing Cultural New Wave

Eye: Ethan James Green Delivers 'Young New York', Portraits Of People Unleashing Cultural New Wave

‘Young New York’, Ethan James Green’s first monograph, presents a selection of striking portraits of New York’s millennial scene-makers, a gloriously diverse cast of models, artists, nightlife icons, queer youth, and gender binary–flouting muses of the fashion world and beyond. Under the mentorship of the late David Armstrong, Green developed a sensitive and confident style and an intense connection with his subjects; his luminous black-and-white portraits, many taken in Corlears Hook Park on the Lower East Side, bring to mind Diane Arbus’s midcentury studies of gender nonconformists. Although he often shoots on commission for fashion brands and magazines, for ‘Young New York’, Green photographed his close friends and community for more than three years, and his humanist approach transcends the trends of the moment.

Model and actress Hari Nef, one of Green’s frequent subjects, “In Ethan’s world, the kids who inspire him ought to be (and are) the subjects of his work. Ethan is an artist among so-called image makers.”

In a new interview with Vogue Italia, Green explains his first connection with Nef in New York at the Up & Down nightclub. It came at a time when he was new in New York, didn’t have many friends, and didn’t even admit that he was gay.

Linda Sarsour Accuses Nancy Pelosi Of Upholding Patriarchy As Ilhan Omar Calls Obama A Pretty-Face Murderer

Linda Sarsour Accuses Nancy Pelosi Of Upholding Patriarchy As Ilhan Omar Calls Obama A Pretty-Face Murderer

Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour had choice words for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as House Democrats struggled this week to respond to Rep. Ilhan Omar accusing Jewish lawmakers of displaying "allegiance to a foreign country."

Sarsour, who served as co-chair of the Women's March in 2017 and 2019, accused Pelosi of "doing the dirty work of powerful white men" by condemning Omar’s words, writes the San Francisco Chronicle. .

"Nancy is a typical white feminist upholding the patriarchy doing the dirty work of powerful white men," she wrote in a Facebook post. "God forbid the men are upset - no worries, Nancy to the rescue to stroke their egos."

Friday night, Rep. Omar stole the narrative yet again, igniting a new controversy by appearing to bash former president Barack Obama as some sort of “war-mongering, neoliberal shill”, according to Vanity Fair.

Omar says the “hope and change” offered by Barack Obama was a mirage. Recalling the “caging of kids” at the U.S.-Mexico border and the “droning of countries around the world” on Obama’s watch, she argues that the Democratic president operated within the same fundamentally broken framework as his Republican successor.

“We can’t be only upset with Trump. … His policies are bad, but many of the people who came before him also had really bad policies. They just were more polished than he was,” Omar says. “And that’s not what we should be looking for anymore. We don’t want anybody to get away with murder because they are polished. We want to recognize the actual policies that are behind the pretty face and the smile.”

Diane von Furstenberg + Painter Ashley Longshore Unveil 37 Large-Scale Portraits Of Extraordinary Women

Many younger fashionistas might not know that designer Diane Von Furstenberg has a long history as a feminist supporting women’s rights, feminist activism and women’s-focus philanthropy + small business development. In honor of women’s history month, the creator of the wrap-dress is bringing her feminist credentials to her D.V.F. flagship store in lower Manhattan, in a major art collab with Ashley Longshore.

Unveiled in time for International Women’s Day on Friday March 8th, DVF and Longshore, a 43-year-old Alabama native who is currently based in New Orleans, have created 37 large-scale portraits, intended to celebrate extraordinary women. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Michelle Obama, and Gloria Steinem.  The entire show will reside in Von Furstenberg’s Washington Street store through May.

In 2018 Longshore was the first female artist to exhibit at Bergdorf Goodman. Known for vibrant, embellished paintings that reference pop culture, writes Vanity Fair.

“To me, color is just so comforting, it makes me feel alive,” she said of her creative process in a recent interview. “I love that playfulness, I’m drawn to that like a moth to a flame.” 

When Von Furstenberg explained her concept for the new installation, Longshore said, “She was talking to me about my work and telling me [her] idea about powerful women, fearless women, and I said, ‘Look Diane, I am so in on this. I’ll work myself to death for you for this.’” According to Longshore, von Furstenberg’s did request that the portraits be created without the artist’s signature bedazzle, glitter, and resin. In this situation, DVF felt that these memorable women subjects of great influence and inspiration should stand alone.

Gisele Bundchen Rises From Sea As Mythical 'SHE' Firebird Lensed By Luigi + Iango For Vogue Germany

Gisele Bundchen Rises From Sea As Mythical 'SHE' Firebird Lensed By Luigi + Iango For Vogue Germany

Supermodel Gisele Bundchen channels the mythical, sacred firebird, ‘SHE’, who dominated the evolution of human consciousness until the rise of monotheism and Abrahamic religion, based on one God who is male. Scholars generally consider the Phoenix to be female or a creature embodying both female + male elements. Many of the Greeks began to write of the Phoenix as male, and early Christianity adopted the Phoenix as a symbol of resurrection.

Paul Cavaco styles Gisele, who has a near elemental relationship with nature, the foundation of her environmental activism. And photographers Luigi & Iango captures her as a mythical water goddess ‘Making Waves’ in the pages of Vogue Germany April 2019./ Hair by Luigi Murenu; makeup by Erin Parsons

NH Legislators Insist Wearing Pearls To Oppose Gun Control Legislation Doesn't Mock Moms With Dead Kids

MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE FOUNDER SHANNON WATTS JOINS OTHER GUN-SAFETY ADVOCATES FOR A NEWS CONFERENCE TO INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO EXPAND BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR FIREARM SALES IN THE RAYBURN ROOM OF THE U.S. CAPITOL JAN. 8, 2019, IN WASHINGTON. VIA CBS NEWS

NH Legislators Insist Wearing Pearls To Oppose Gun Control Legislation Doesn't Mock Moms With Dead Kids

It seems that Republican male legislators in New Hampshire are really taking the gloves off -- wearing pearls to mock moms involved in trying to act against gun violence. The trope of pearl-clutching, easily-offended liberals has a tradition in American politics.

"Male New Hampshire lawmakers on the hearing committee wearing pearls to mock Moms Demand Action volunteers and gun safety advocates," wrote Shannon Watts, founder of the gun control group Moms Demand Action, to describe the picture above.

Her post condemning the men quickly spread, accruing more than 6,000 shares and almost 5,000 comments, writes the BBC.

Debra Altschiller, a Democratic representative who sponsored the bill, tweeted: "Disappointed in the pearl clutching by @NHGOP [New Hampshire Republicans]. There are families who have lost loved ones here and this mocking prop shows how little they empathise with suicide."

Victoria's Secret To Close 53 Stores in 2019 As Global Auto Sales Also Drop In Major Spending Shifts

PHOTO BY IHTESHAM ISMAIL ON UNSPLASH

Victoria's Secret To Close 53 Stores in 2019 As Global Auto Sales Also Drop In Major Spending Shifts

American teenagers no longer hang out at the mall like generations past. Their lives are far more complex and demanding; then add in the high priority of digital culture and online shopping in their lives. Their fashion fav brands often aren’t even sold in America’s shopping malls.

Last week was a brutal one for American retailers. L Brands made the decision to close 53 Victoria’s Secret stores in North America. Gap Inc. announced that it will close 230 stores in the next two years. J.C. Penney weighed in with 18 new department store closures. Earlier in February Payless announced the closure of 2,500 in America.

It’s not all bad news. Planet Fitness Chief Executive officer Chris Rondeau said his business is immune to e-commerce’s effects on brick-and-mortar, making it a good mall tenant, writes Business of Fashion.

“Our business can’t be Amazoned. We’re un-Amazonable,” he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “We do about 5,000 workouts per gym per week, about 8 million workouts a week in the U.S., so look at how much traffic we drive to these centers every day. And the majority of those visits are Monday through Wednesday; most retailers are busy on the weekends, so we’re a great co-tenant for these retailers to drive that traffic.”