UPTOWN girls rejoice!

BCBG’s spring 2011 collection will prove to be must-haves for that Harlem roof time party come next season. Keeping with his usual billowing silhouette, designer Max Azria presented a series of flirty dresses in gray, white, beige, mustard and black. As per usual, the spring/summer hemlines were super high and the fabrics were billowy; creating a natural flow as they moved down the runway.

Micro-mini dresses were the highlight of the 37-look collection. “Micro-mini shifts offer a confident yet playful look. Long, flowing dresses exude an air of easy day-to-evening dressing,” revealed the designer in the show’s liner notes.

Editor’s Note: UPTOWN spotted former child of destiny, Kelly Rowland, front row at the show, rocking a new haircut. Check out the photos and let us know what you think.

For exclusive video of the show and an interview with Max Azria, log on to CentricTV.com/culturelist

Where else can you rock sneakers with your tux? On September 14, more than 50 pro athletes and sports legends will come together at the National Building Museum for the seventh annual SneakerBall. Count on many favorites from our local teams to be there, and awards, including Sportsperson of the Year and Fan Choice, will be presented.

Tickets are sold in tables of ten ($7,500 per table), and admission includes a reception, silent and live auctions, an awards show, and a seated dinner. Tickets for the after party are sold separately ($125 each). Proceeds will benefit the Greater Washington Sports Alliance Foundation and its efforts to support emerging nonprofits that use sports to enrich children’s lives.

sneakerball.org

“Fashion’s Night Out” in New York City will take over Fifth Avenue, SoHo and the rest of the City tonight! Notable celebrities, gorgeous supermodels, the hottest DJs, cocktails  and shopping incentives will be in full effect to make Mercedes Benz Fashion Week 2011 memorable.

Here’s a lineup of some of the hottest spots around town you’ll want to check out a few hours from now.

1. Sephora is hosting one of Fashion’s Night Out’s (FNO) largest events, with all 15 stores in NYC participating in interactive hair, beauty and fashion demonstrations from 6 – 9 pm with Lancome, Josie Maran, Sultra’s styling team and an appearance from Gwen Stefani.  Be sure to catch Josie Maran, former supermodel and founder of Josie Maran Cosmetics at Sephora 5^th Avenue boutique between 44th and 45th Streets from 7 – 9 PM. Josie will host her own in-store photo shoot and give customers mini-makeovers and pointers on how to pose like a pro before they step in front of the camera. The first 100 people who make a purchase that evening will receive a limited edition Argan Oil Color Stick in Cherry Popsicle, created specifically for FNO. For more FNO details at all Sephora locations, visit sephora.com.

2. Lucky Brand – 535 Broadway @Spring Street, S0Ho, 6 – 11 pm, 212 680 0130.  Get a free graphic tote made by John Park and Nathan Palmatier. And enjoy ice cold beverages and live acoustic guitar with great discounts on all clothing.

3. Phyto Universe and Caron Paris Haute Parfumerie,  715 Lexington Avenue, entrance on 58th Street, NYC. 6 – 8 pm. Receive free Phyto hair and scalp analysis and product samples. Plus, get 20% off all Phyto hair care, Lierac Paris Skin Care and Caron fragrances, as well as  20% off future hair treatments and spa services booked that evening. Champagne will be served and you can also enter to win a complimentary Botanical Bliss Hair Treatment valued at $160.

4. Christian Louboutin, 59 Horatio Street, NYC, 212 255 1910, 6 – 11 pm. Have your photo taken with ‘A Life Size Carnival Cut-Out’ of Mr. LOUBI and his canon for a fun ‘Customized Tote’ and shop for the latest Christian Louboutin shoes.

5. SimpleeBEAUTIFUL Boutique, 466 Lexington Avenue, (between 45th/46th Streets), 212 388 9709, 4 – 7 pm.  Start your evening with your’s truly and UPTOWN’s very own beauty guru and author of Textured Tresses for complimentary cocktails &consultations!  I’ll help you discover your tress’s true type and texture. Attn: Brides take this opportunity to get a complimentary consultation on SimpleeBEAUTIFUL Couture Bridal Looks and receive 15% off all luxury products from Curls, Mizani, Jane Carter Solution & Mizani hair care. Schedule an appointment during FNO and get 20% off your next hair service and receive hair care samples.

6. MACY’s, Herald Square, 34th & 7th Avenue, 6 – 8 pm. Get styled by fashion designer Rachel Roy and super model Jessica Stam on level 2 and get an insider veiw of the new collection, RACHEL Rachel Roy.  For every girl who wears RACHEL Rachel Roy and gets snapped for the ‘real girl look book’, $1 will be donated to charity Water.

7. KORRES, 110 Wooster Str. (btw Prince & Spring, SoHo, NY), 6 – 11 pm. Head to the Korres in SoHo for an evening of cocktails, cupcakes and makeovers. The event will feature a detox bar serving complimentary antioxidant-infused cocktails based on the Greek skincare brand’s natural ingredients, along with delicious cupcakes packed with natural ingredients. Get a complimentary ‘green’ makeover or consultation. To book a complimentary makeover, call, Korres Store at 212 219 0683 or email woosterstreetkorresuscom  woosterstreetkorresuscom   .

8. EXPRESS SOHO, 545 BROADWAY, (between Houston & Prince, SoHo, NYC). EXPRESS launches Love Express, the first-ever fragrance for its 30th anniversary. From 6 – 11 pm, get $30 off all purchases of $90 or more; sip Love Express beverages and indulge on ice cream cones and brownie pops, receive manicures with Love Express hot pink polish from 7 – 9 pm, then dance the night away with CoverGirl Jessica Stam in the DJ booth from 9 – 11 pm.

9. Hair Rules, 898 Ninth Avenue (between 54/55th Streets), 7 – 11 pm. Join ’texture guru’ Dickey and supermodel Kara Young for ‘Cocktails & Top Secrets’. Get discount services, including $45 blowouts & $75 gloss treatment/blowouts by the Hair Rules style team and sip cocktails with celebrity and friends like Veronica Webb and Estelle. Schedule appointments at 212 315 2929.

10.  Hudson, 356 W. 58th Street & Royalton Hotel, 44 W. 44th Street, NYC. End Fashion’s Night Out out at the Morgan Hotel Group, 6 – 12 am (Midnight).  Get Cucumber Collins for $8.00 at the Hudson and Runway Cocktails for $10.00 at the Royalton.

  BMWJoyOfSuccessDCuptown-magazinecom  

Thursday, September 16
7 – 11 p.m.

B. Smith’s Restaurant
Union Station
50 Massachusetts Ave NE

RSVP Now  BMWJOYOFSUCCESSDCuptown-magazinecom  

August 29 marked the fifth anniversary of the day Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast.

Paying tribute to the residents who struggled through the disaster, Tony Award-winning Shirley Knight and Kerry Washington lead a cast of performers in Swimming Upstream, a moving theatrical piece directed by Eve Ensler (Vagina Monologues) that retells the Katrina experiences of 16 female survivors.

The two-night-only production comes to the Mahalia Jackson Theater for Performing Arts in New Orleans on September 10 and New York’s Apollo Theater on September 13.

Tickets start at $25. ticketmaster.com

Get your wallet ready to follow D.C.’s style mavens to Georgetown on September 10 when the neighborhood joins 16 cities around the globe, including New York, London, and Beverly Hills, for the second annual Fashion’s Night Out. Some of the District’s most exclusive boutiques will offer extended shopping hours and special discounts. True fashionistas won’t want to miss this event.

fashionsnightoutgeorgetowndc.com

What’s better than mixing a little business networking with premium cigars and a cognac tasting?

Cigars, Cognac & Couture is for stylish ladies and gentlemen who know what they like, are well-connected and want to enjoy life’s finer things with like-minded individuals. Join us September 15, as we sample the finest cigars and premium cognacs. Guests will be fitted for and able to order custom-made shirts by American Bespoke Custom Clothier.

Ticket Price: $150
Buy Tickets Now

In an effort to give back, Blueprint for Style is asking that all attendees bring one gently worn tie or men’s accessory that will be donated to Menzfit.

HE IS: The president and CEO of the Urban League of the Central Carolinas. Since taking over in 2007, Graham has been on a mission to connect disenfranchised people in the Charlotte area to a global economy through education and training.

FOR THE PEOPLE: Graham, who holds a Ph.D. in philosophy, describes himself as an empowerment activist. Inspired by the often polarized views of W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington, Graham maintains a vision that incorporates both perspectives. “We need to dominate academically,” he states firmly, “but we also need to be well versed in skilled labor— those combinations lead to entrepreneurship and independence.”

HOW HE UNWINDS: Graham begins his day with meditation and running, lifting weights, or boxing. After that, his workday can be hectic and might range from holding meetings in the Urban League office to teaching religion classes or ministering at his church. In the evening, when possible, he enjoys reading in his backyard hammock: “I just like to be by myself and chill.”

HIS NEW SOUTH: Envisioning the Charlotte area as a region that can flourish from new sustainable energy and a green economy, Graham aims to lure those industries by training economically disadvantaged people who are typically excluded from those types of jobs. With a properly educated workforce in the area, says Graham, more businesses will want to come. However, like most meaningful change, this effort involves a gradual process, which Graham takes in stride. “You’ve got to walk up the mountain one step at a time,” he says. “You can’t continue to look at the top of the mountain and think about how high it is and how far you have to go. When you have a vision, it takes time.”

Confess and win!

Diesel has teamed up with MTV “Real World” favorites for Fashion’s Night Out to judge customers’ stupid confessions! “Real World” castmates will be at Diesel’s 5th Avenue Planet, not to confess, but to judge others’ stupid confessions for the chance to win Diesel goods!

WHEN: Friday, September 10

WHERE: Diesel 5th Avenue Planet (685 Fifth Ave.) & Diesel Soho (135 Spring St.)

WHO: Confessional Judges are MTV Confessional Experts:
Kenny Santucci from “Real World Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat”
Paula Meronek from “Real World 17: Key West”
Johanna Botta from “Real World 16“: Austin”
Nicole “Colie” Edison from “Real World 18: Denver”
Scott Herman from “Real World 21: Brooklyn“

Plus, Diesel Soho will have famous NYC street pianist Colin Huggins (also known as the crazy piano man) performing every hour starting at 7 p.m.!

]]> http://uptownmagazine.com/2010/09/ny-fashions-night-out-with-diesel/feed/ 0 http://uptownmagazine.com/2010/09/art-beckwith-rising/ http://uptownmagazine.com/2010/09/art-beckwith-rising/#comments Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:53:25 +0000 UPTOWN http://uptownmagazine.com/?p=4853 ... >>Read More]]> The Studio Museum in Harlem’s young curator finds joy in presenting art that puts the world in perspective.
By Rebecca Carroll
Photography by Ashley Sky Walker

Looking at the arrangement of photographs in the exhibit “Zwelethu Mthethwa: Inner Views” at the Studio Museum in Harlem, you get the sense that you are in some way courting intimacy. The collection, on display through October, consists of three series of images. “Interiors” and “Empty Beds” capture the home lives of South African migrant workers, while “Common Ground” documents survival after natural disasters—wildfires in Cape Town and Hurricane Katrina in the United States.

You feel as if you’re in conversation with the nuanced vulnerability of each shaken, resilient subject. It’s both a little pleasing and a little unsettling. That’s how exhibit curator Naomi Beckwith, 34, likes it—disparate people, images, and ideas coming together in kinship to rock your world. What led Beckwith, now in her third year with the Studio Museum, to this arresting and influential place? It turns out that it all started with a game of touch football.

“People sort of blink at me when I tell them that’s really how I entered the black art world,” she says, “but a lot of it is about community.” She’s talking about a football league established back in the day when she first moved to Brooklyn from Philly, where she had been a fellow at University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Contemporary Art. The team, whose name, KIFL, was an acronym for what the players called the Kambui Intergenerational, Intergender, Interracial, International, Interactive, Interdisciplinary, Interad-infinitum… Football League, included then unrecognized and now celebrated artists Hank Willis Thomas, Kambui Olujimi, and Chris Myers. “It was a serious touch football game,” Beckwith assures. “I remember someone broke their finger on the first day.”

Featured earlier this year in J. Crew’s spring catalog, the statuesque Chicago native with a molten voice and elegant eyes initially thought she would pursue a med school path and become a surgeon (a goal she had announced to her family at the tender age of 4). However, her creative side could not be ignored. She spent her junior year of high school in a program that gave students the opportunity to work and travel with renowned installation artist Mark Dion. Shortly after entering college, she had “a crisis of purpose” and realized that it was art she loved most. She credits the outstanding art program at Northwestern University for introducing her to conceptual artists like Adrian Piper and Carrie Mae Weems.

“Serendipity abetted by a nice, close proximity” took Beckwith to the Studio Museum in 2007, where she has since worked fiercely and delightedly under the stewardship of art world titan Thelma Golden. Beckwith’s curatorial vision looks beyond aesthetics. “What is this work doing that allows me to see the world in a different way?” she asks herself of every piece. She declares that her job as associate curator at one of the leading black contemporary art museums in the country gives her pleasure, “and it’s important to recognize that.”