Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Local Designer Series: Designer Merges Architecture and Accessories for a Cool Jewelry Line

Starting as a way to support herself during grad school, Beau Sinchai took her architecture background and created Koonyai Studio. Specializing in jewelry and sustainability, Beau is inspired by building materials including  metals and concrete. Her geometric, simplistic designs are the perfect addition to any outfit.


Photo Credit: Koonyai Studio




DGG: Tell me about yourself, Beau.
Beau: I was born in Thailand and grew up in Minneapolis, MN. I love food more than diamonds and I am super thankful for Detroit’s amazing food scene. 



DGG: Tell me about Koonyai Studio.
Beau: Koonyai means beloved grandmother in Thai. I grew up under the care of my grandmother and it is where I got my entrepreneurial spirit. Koonyai Studio started while I was studying at Cranbrook Academy of Art as a means for myself to turn my wild ideas into a career.



DGG: What lead you to beginning to work with jewelry?
Beau: It is actually accidental. During my years at Cranbrook, I had been exploring the idea of body architecture quite a bit. The topics of what it meant to be architectural, materials, and it’s social and cultural association came up a lot. Then, I started to merge architecture with body adornment and starting to make jewelry. 

Photo Credit: Koonyai Studio



DGG: What is your vision for the brand?
Beau: I hope that the brand will become a design house and do more design work under all the scopes from jewelry to buildings while making impact to the world, environmentally and socially. 



DGG: Where do you see your brand in 5 years?
Beau: This is what I have been super excited to talk about. I am working toward becoming a zero-waste business. Sustainability, social and environmental aspects have always been the top priority when I started Koonyai studio and I hope to be able to make positive impact to our community through design work and jewelry.



DGG: If you could have anyone in the world wear your jewelry, who would it be and why?
Beau: Michelle and Barack Obama. Michelle wearing my work would make me die happy. I would love to have POTUS wear my jewelry to shatter some stereotypes surrounding gender and jewelry.


DGG: Describe your style.
Beau: Minimalist and comfort, but my friends are calling it “art-mom” style.

Photo Credit: Koonyai Studio


DGG: What's the most meaningful piece of jewelry you own?
Beau: A battery-less watch that uses solar power. I purchased it with my first paycheck in high school. It was the first “big” purchase I ever made in life.

DGG: How do you take your coffee?
Beau: With a lot of sugar and cream. I mean I take a lot of sugar and cream with a drop of coffee. I love tea though!


DGG: Etsy or Bluefly?
Beau: Etsy

DGG: Cartier or Tiffany?
Beau: Neither. I love independent makers and imperfections from being handmade.


Photo Credit: Koonyai Studio



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Thursday, December 15, 2016

Detroit Native Has Pieces in New York Museum Exhibition

Photo Credit: Seth Wenig

Tracy Reese, former FashionSpeak keynote speaker and Detroit native, is featured in a new exhibition titled "Black Fashion Designers," at The Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.

Running through May 16, the exhibition will offer a look into how much of an impact designers of color have had on the fashion industry through the decades. Other designers include Jeffrey Banks, Laura Smalls, Stephen Burrows and Eric Gaskins, who trained under couturier Hubert de Givenchy.

The exhibition explores the experiences of several generations of fashion designers of African descent from the1950s to the present, and it will be organized by categories and themes, such as evening wear, menswear, street style, experimental fashion and African influences.

For more information on the exhibition, click here.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Do It: This Weekend's Style, Beauty and Fashion Events That are Not to Be Missed

This weekend is full of fun and fashionable things to do, so if you're itching to hit the town, these events will keep you busy.



Urban Exchange Speakeasy | Thursday, December 15
The Urban Consulate is popping up at Detroit Sip with Live6 Detroit and Model D for a special urban exchange with guests from Chicago and Philadelphia. Guests from Philadelphia include Taayib Smith and Meegan Denenberg from Little Giant Creative, and Michelle Freeman and Jermaine Jenkins from Witty Gritty. Guests from Chicago are Carson Poole from Place Lab Chicago. You'll have the chance to share creative ideas for community engagement and ethical development. There will also be featured projects.

Detroit Sip is located at 7420 W. McNichols Rd., in Detroit.


Holiday Zims Vodka Tasting | Thursday, December 15
For $40 a person, come out to El Barzon for a special five course meal with handcrafted Zims Vodka cocktails in each course. Reservations are required, so call 313-894-2070 if you're interested. Click here for the description of each course.

El Barzon is located at 3710 Junction St., in Detroit.


Holiday Spirits 2016 | Friday, December 16
Holiday Spirits puts a holiday twist on classic cocktails and creates "just for the holidays" options with the industry's best distillers, and Detroit's best mixologists and bartenders. This is a great event to get your friends together and have a lot of fun! This will be happening at the Royal Oak Farmer's Market with admission at 7:30 p.m. There are different ticket options so click here to see and purchase them. There will also be plenty of delicious food from local restaurants.

The Royal Oak Farmer's Market is located at 316 E. 11 Mile Rd., in Royal Oak.


Real Detroit Events & Detroit Mercantile Co. Mitten Market | Saturday, December 17
The Detroit Mercantile Co. and Real Detroit Events present a one-evening, once-a-year pop-up holiday market at the Royal Oak Farmer's Market featuring 70+ Michigan art/design/craft/food/gift/vintage/antique vendors, as well as food and drink from local restaurants and companies. There will also be live music and much, much more.

The Royal Oak Farmer's Market is located at 316 E. 11 Mile Rd., in Royal Oak.


17th Annual Detroit Santarchy | Saturday, December 17
The only SantaCon event in Michigan will be a pub crawl through Corktown, Midtown, Eastern Market and Downtown Detroit from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. Full costumes are required so get creative. Tickets are $20 and available on the night of the event at the Gaelic League Irish American Club of Detroit starting at 7 p.m. This is definitely an event that shouldn't be missed.

The Gaelic League Irish American Club is located at 2068 Michigan Ave., in Detroit.


Winter Soulstice Class | Sunday, December 18
Come out to House of Yoga to celebrate their 11th anniversary and the Winter Soulstice Celebration. There will be candle light Yin Yoga and live music by Vishnu Blue. The class will be followed by the chanting of the Hanuman Chalisa and Arati.

House of Yoga is located at 2965 12 Mile Rd., Ste. 100, in Berkley.


Thursday, December 8, 2016

Do It: This Weekend's Style, Beauty and Fashion Events That are Not to Be Missed

This weekend is full of fun and fashionable things to do, so if you're itching to hit the town, these events will keep you busy.



Evening on the Ave | Thursday, December 8
Enjoy an evening of shopping, drinks, eating, music and more with this unique retail experience in Downtown Detroit. Parking will be free in the Z lot, located at 1234 Library St. To see a full list of participating retailers, which include Kit and Ace, Detroit is the New Black, Warby Parker and more, click here.

This event is happening at 1001 Woodward Ave., in Detroit.


Grand Circus Issue 4 Release Party | Friday, December 9
It's time to party with the Grand Circus collaborators and contributors with a chance to be the first to see the brand new Fall/Winter 2016 issue. Taking place at Bank Suey, there will be free drinks and a DJ, This is an awesome issue diving into tactical urbanism.

Bank Suey is located at 10345 Jos Campau, in Hamtramck.


2016 Detroit Historical Society Ball | Saturday, December 10
The Detroit Historical Society is hosting their annual ball will be taking place at the iconic Joe Louis Arena to bid a final farewell. From 6 p.m. to midnight, come out for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, a seated dinner, entertainment by Nicole New, and a live and silent auction. There is also an afterglow from 9 p.m. to midnight with late night snacks and drinks, and a dancing reception. Patron tickets are $450, and afterglow tickets are $75 (or two for $100). For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.

The Joe Louis Arena is located at 19 Steve Yzerman Dr., in Detroit.


Holiday Nights in the Village | Saturday, December 10
Take a step back into time and come to Greenfield Village to enjoy some holiday spirit. Tickets are $26 each, which includes ice skating, a ride in a classic Ford Model T, demonstrations, carolers, horse-drawn wagons and much, much more. This event takes place every weekend throughout December. To purchase tickets, click here.

Greenfield Village is located at 20900 Oakwood Blvd., in Dearborn.


Corktown-a-Glow | Saturday, December 10
Stop by Corktown all day for tons of holiday fun and festivities. There will be a holiday shop tour with free shuttle service from noon to 6 p.m., a Santa visit at 6 p.m., tree lighting ceremony at Bagley and Trumbull, caroling, specials at bars and restaurants, and donations of unwrapped gifts for children in need. For more information, click here. This is definitely a holiday event you don't want to miss!

Corktown is located in Downtown Detroit.


Holiday Shopping Party | Sunday, December 11
Join The HSS Feed and your's truly, DGG, at L.K. Bennett in The Somerset Collection to get some items off your holiday shopping list. Cocktails and light bites will be provided, as well as the chance to get your makeup touched up by makeup artists from Dior at Saks Fifth Avenue and a braid bar from Blo Blow Dry Bar. 10% of proceeds will benefit DGG so we can continue helping the local fashion industry. This event is free, but you must RSVP here.

The Somerset Collection is located at 2800 W. Big Beaver Rd., in Troy.

Friday, December 2, 2016

Industry Spotlight: An App for Fashion Advice

Have you ever put on an outfit and wanted to get some one's opinion, but you don't have anyone around to do that? Well, your problem has been solved. Spree, an app where users can give and receive fashion advice as soon as the photo is posted, has given the people an answer to "how does my outfit look?". Learn about the creators of the app, who grew up right here in the mitten.



IMG_0380.PNG
Image from Spree


DGG: Tell us about yourselves.
Mihai: There are 3 co-founders: Irene, Ryan, and I. We all grew up in the metro-Detroit area, graduated from the University of Michigan, and moved to San Francisco around the same time. Ryan and I are both software engineers and we met during out first weeks at Google. Irene and I met all the way back in highschool, about 12 years ago.

Ryan and I have been doing the coding for Spree. Irene has been a key part of the interface design, has come up with lots of features, and was instrumental in coming up with the original idea. I met DeJanea when I was visiting friends back in Michigan. A mutual friend introduced us and I told her about Spree. She was really excited about it and we’ve been happy to have her input since then.

DeJanea: I met Mihai at a mutual friend's birthday party earlier this year. He introduced the two of us because he knew that I had just finished my internship with The Detroit Garment Group and was finishing up my fashion merchandising degree at Wayne State. Mihai admitted that while he and the other developers were creating a fashion app, they didn't know anything about the fashion industry so I was brought on to utilize my fashion industry expertise.


DGG: Tell us about Spree.
Irene: Spree is about bringing a community of fashion lovers together. You snap a selfie of your outfit, other people using the app can give you advice and help you pick out what to wear.

Mihai: Spree is for anyone that wants a second opinion when getting ready to go out or buying clothes.  Post a full-body photo and we’ll start giving you advice from other people in just 1 minute.  

We use emojis to capture the overall feeling of your outfit- the best outfits get a 🦄 and the worst get a 💩!  Of course you can get detailed comments, too, and we created an awesome feature called a Thumb: just swipe up or down anywhere on an outfit when giving advice and we’ll add a thumb up or down on that part of the outfit. It’s so much faster than typing “cute shirt”!

DGG: How long have you all been developing apps, and why did you want to develop an app for fashion?
Ryan: I've been making apps for about six years. We became interested in building Spree because we saw a need for a feedback-focused fashion experience for ourselves and our friends.

Mihai: I started working on apps when I was a software engineer at Google. I wanted to leave the big corporate life behind and build something people found useful. One day after work, Irene, Ryan, and I were hanging out in the kitchen talking about how now that we’ve finished college and have real jobs, we’re not broke, but I still didn’t know what to wear besides baggy t-shirts and jeans. That’s when Irene brought up the movie Clueless- Cher, the main character, had a computer that helped her pick out outfits in the morning. We realized that trying to do it like that would be really hard and, realistically, wouldn’t work well. To us, asking other people was the key, because giving quick and accurate opinions on something as subjective as clothes is where people blow computers out of the water!

DeJanea: I've never developed an app before and don't know a thing about coding. My tech background is just basically making Sailor Moon and anime websites on Geocities in the late 90's/early 2000's, but when Mihai told me about the app, I felt it was a genius idea that I needed to be a part of. With all the fashion geared apps out in the market right now, there was nothing like this one. I believe that this app could revolutionize the fashion industry in some way.

Image from Spree

DGG: Why did you feel this kind of app was needed?
Irene: A lot of people get advice from their friends on what to wear out or buy, but what if your style differs from your friends, or you're just getting interested in finding your style. Who can you ask?

We all see so many pictures of clothes that are highly edited and specific for a certain body type everywhere, but we come in all shapes and sizes - something that looks great on the model in the ad might not look great in real life. We wanted to build a community of real people posting photos of themselves and can share tips or ideas with one another.

Mihai: I don’t like ads, not by a long shot. I understand they’re necessary for businesses, but in so many industries, including fashion, everywhere you look, all you see are ads. If they were realistic it’d be fine, but they’re not. There are teams of people involved in just taking a single photo for Instagram or a magazine: photographers, editors, make-up artists, stylists, models, designers.  Even if we buy the exact same outfit we see see on Instagram or in a magazine, what hope do we have of looking even half as good as the model did?

Of course we can’t blame whoever made the ad or whoever published it, they’re just trying to make money, but in pursuit of profit and sales, they forget about the people buying the clothes. We just want well-made clothes that fit and look great. That’s why I think Spree is important. It’s real people, not some unrealistic fantasy that you see in an ad.

DeJanea: Spree is perfect for those times when you're just not sure about what to wear that day. Or for people who need a little help with fashion in general. Everyone has these situations and needs a little advice to help them out.

Image from Spree

DGG: What do you have planned, long term for Spree? Anything you can share?
Ryan: One of the first things we noticed after launching Spree is that users love reviewing each other's posts. Many have rated hundreds, even thousands of outfits. We will eventually allow users to tag where they bought the outfit, so others can easily find outfits they like. We’re also working on a variety of features to allow designers, stylists, and bloggers to build up their name with Spree.

Irene: We're focusing on building a strong community and would love to see bloggers, designers, and trendsetters use this as a tool to connect with their fan base. We'd love to have this eventually be a tool that people can use to shop for clothes as well. As we were saying before, models and clothes in ads just aren't an accurate representation of reality. With this, you can see people with similar body types to you and you can shop for things similar to what they wear and get an actual idea of the quality of the clothes.

Mihai: There are a ton of features that have been swirling around in my head. Right now we’re focused on making sure we can make the core experience useful and easy to use. Down the road we’d love to let people tag clothes in their photos so others can see where they bought them. I think that’d be so useful: you’ll be able to go into a store and look up all the photos posted to Spree with clothes from that store.

DeJanea: I see so many great things coming out of Spree in the future. Like I said before, I truly believe that this app could revolutionize the fashion industry in new and exciting ways. My hope for the future is to somehow get designers, retailers and stylists integrated in the app.

DGG: If you could have anyone in the world use Spree, who would it be and why?
Ryan: This question is tough because Spree is designed for everyday people looking for unbiased opinions. 

Irene: Just normal people! We want to make feeling great about what you put on an attainable goal for everyone, not just celebrities or models with teams of stylists.

Mihai: I would love to have designers and fashion bloggers use it because that’s traditionally been more of a 1-way dialog. If we can foster a reddit-esque AMA (Ask Me Anything) where there can create a hashtag and tell their fans “tomorrow from 1-2pm, I’ll be giving advice to anyone that posts on Spree under #whatever”.  I think that would be so cool, to start a conversation between the designers and bloggers of the world, and everyone else.

DeJanea: While I agree with everyone else and say that Spree is for everyone... I have to admit, however, that I would DIE if Rachel Zoe used our app! She is my idol and whose career I aspire to emulate.

Image from Spree

DGG: Describe your style.
Irene: Probably like a baby alien? I like pieces with interesting colors or shapes that stick out and make people whisper about it when I walk by.

Mihai: Being techy means I’ve always loved hoodies and t-shirts, but nowadays I pay a lot more attention to fit; gone are the days of unfitted t-shirts and baggy jeans. I’m still not quite a fashion guru, so I try to stick the simple things: a solid colored tailored dress shirt and well-fitted jeans with some fashion sneakers are tried and true favorites of mine.

DeJanea: I always feel my style is trendy with an edge. I love color blocking and mixing patterns. I'm also very girly... pink is my favorite color!

DGG: How do you take your coffee?
Irene: I'm more of a tea fan. Straight tea, no nonsense.

Mihai: I always have a long list of things to do for the day, that always keeps me going, so no coffee for me! If I am feeling really tired though, I’ll reach for a caffeine pill--I’m all about efficiency. 

DeJanea: I'm not a coffee person. I love green tea!

DGG: Polypore or Mallzee?
Irene: Neither! Get spree :p

Mihai: Neither. I’m a guy that’s 5’ 6” and 125 lbs., so finding things that fit me can be tough. I like to go straight to Amazon, filter for things that are Prime and available in my size, then go from there. Their selection is huge and prices are reasonable. I load up my cart with more than I’ll ever need and return anything I don’t like!

DeJanea: I think Polyvore is a lot of fun and very useful for making inspiration boards.

DGG: Classic or minimalist?
Irene: Minimalist.

Mihai: I love tailored suits, so definitely classic!

DeJanea: Classic

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Style It Local: Torie Fagan, CMU Student

Name: Torie Fagan
Major: Recreational Therapy at Central Michigan University with a minor in Child Development
Instagram: @torie_fagan

About Me:
I am a junior at Central Michigan University and I am originally from Commerce, Michigan. In my spare time I enjoy singing and all things music. I am also very passionate about photography and working with kids. I am the director of a recreational gymnastics program in Mt. Pleasant and am also Vice President of the Child Life Student Association at CMU.

Black Leggings- Lulu Lemon (Twelve Oaks Mall)
Black Booties- Target (Commerce)
Long Sleeve Sugar Lips Top- Posh Boutique (Novi)
Grey Quilted Jacket- Cabi




Style Inspiration: I would consider my style simplistic, but with the occasional statement piece. I like shopping at boutiques and local stores to find unique clothes that few people have.

Favorite Winter Accessory: My favorite winter accessory are all things BOOTS!

Favorite Winter Trend: Oversized sweaters and knit socks that peek out of your boots are my favorite trends this winter.