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How Karl Kani And Magic Las Vegas Pioneered Brooklyn Streetwear Into Global Fashion Trends

by Monica C. Smith

When you think of streetwear, you likely think of oversized hoodies and baggy jeans, clothing you see worn today. Contemporary streetwear trends have come full circle and replicated in high fashion among familiar labels. For these trends to become what they are and were, someone had to infiltrate and break the norms of the fashion industry.

Today, the MAGIC and PROJECT bi-annual trade show helps streetwear fashion brands find their place. The display of styles is free from the rigid designs of past trends. The show features upcoming styles from brands like Doctrine Denim, Awet, Primitive, Pro Standard, and Honor The Gift have all had impacts on streetwear culture stemming from the urban aesthetic of inner-city street kids.

This year at MAGIC Las Vegas, which took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Project Now Forum stage held the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop at MAGIC Happy Hour panel, hosted by long-time Editor-in-chief Datwon Thomas now at VIBE magazine. Panel guests James Ferrel, Chief Operation Officer, Head of Marketing of Sprayground, Jason Geter, CEO of Grand Hustle, and Tony Shellman, founder of the Mecca and Enyce labels and Brand Marketing Executive Consultant,

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FASHION

J Balvin and Miller Lite Drop BodegaWear Collection

by Monica C. Smith

J Balvin and Miller Lite are showing love to local convenience stores with a new collaboration collection called BodegaWear.

The 10-piece capsule designed by the Colombian reggaetón artist and Miller Lite celebrates the fashion and streetwear scenes of bodegas, or small delicatessen and/or convenience stores mostly in New York City. The collection is comprised of styles meant to be thrown on for a quick corner-store run, like socks and slides, hoodies, graphic T-shirts, sweatpants, a shacket, varsity jacket, beverage wrap, metal cooler and a bucket hat that doubles as a beer bucket. Prices range from $19 to $349 and proceeds from all sales benefit Accion Opportunity Fund, an organization supporting bodegas, corner stores and Latino-owned businesses.

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“For millions of people, a stop at the bodega is part of their daily routine,” said J Balvin. “It’s a space deeply rooted in community, where you always know what you’re looking for but never know what you’re going to get — a place where street style meets convenience. This collection is reflective of that easy but functional vibe.”

BodegaWear, a new capsule by J Balvin and Miller Lite.

BodegaWear, a new capsule by J Balvin and Miller Lite.

This tie-up is Balvin and Miller Lite’s second partnership, serving as the follow up to Es José Time, a play on the brewer’s Miller Time phrase and Balvin’s real name José Álvaro Osorio Balvin. In 2021, the partners produced limited-edition cans in vibrant colors, which Balvin has been known for. He stressed his affinity for rich colors with his award-winning 2020 album Colores, his collaboration with Air Jordan that debuted at the Super Bowl in 2020 and launched at the end of the year, and his popular dyed hair look in blue that took over the 2022 Grammy Awards this year.

Es José Time in 2021 took over a New York

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DESIGNER

Raf Simons, Palomo Spain, Giles Deacon to Design Costumes for New York City Ballet

by Monica C. Smith

Send in the tulle: New York City Ballet will mark 10 years of fall fashion galas this fall with a new set of costumes from globally recognized designers.

On Sept. 28, the company will mark the event’s milestone anniversary with costume schemes designed by Raf Simons, Palomo Spain by Alejandro Gómez Palomo and Giles Deacon. As in previous years, the designers will work in tandem with choreographers to present an original new ballet that aims to defy traditions of movement and aesthetic.

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Deacon is the gala’s first repeat designer, while Palomo and Simons will join past collaborators including Thom Browne, Dries Van Noten, Alexander McQueen’s Sarah Burton and Iris Van Herpen.

Originally devised by Sarah Jessica Parker in 2012, the institution of fashion at City Ballet has proven lucrative for the company, while at times falling afoul of dance purists. In its decade-long run the fall fashion gala has proven financially important — raising more than $24 million in donations. But when examining the larger whole, ballets to emerge from the gala have debuted to questionable success — a select few have become repertory classics, while others have been shelved into the archives.

City Ballet costume director Marc Happel said that this is par for the course. “There will always be those two camps — the camp that does not like overly-designed dance because it distracts from the dancers and choreography, and I do understand that. But coming from a theatrical background myself, I think costume really lends itself to ballet and can create a mood and sense of place.”

Happel sees himself as a chief facilitator for the choreographer and designer’s vision. “I think a lot of the time I run into a situation where the costumes can be over-designed or over-embellished and that

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FASHION

Why these ‘sneakerheads’ say shoe culture is stepping up

by Monica C. Smith
From his first job at Foot Locker, to his current work designing footwear for Fila in New York City, Jaden Zhai has managed to transform his love of shoes into his career. (Submitted by Jaden Zhai - image credit)

From his first job at Foot Locker, to his current work designing footwear for Fila in New York City, Jaden Zhai has managed to transform his love of shoes into his career. (Submitted by Jaden Zhai – image credit)

Jaden Zhai grew up loving basketball and by extension, basketball sneakers. But soon, the footwear became his primary passion — even when the shoe didn’t actually fit.

“One time there was a pair of LeBron shoes that went on sale and they were two sizes too big,” the 28-year-old recalls.

“But I begged my mom to get them for me and the salesperson kind of convinced her that I would grow into them … which I never did,” laughs Zhai, who now has a collection of over 75 pairs, starting with his first Nike Zoom LeBron IVs way back in middle school.

He said he’s one of a growing number of Ottawa “sneakerheads,” as they call themselves — people who buy, sell and collect limited-edition sneakers, many of whom have managed to transform their passion into a career.

Submitted by Jaden Zhai

Submitted by Jaden Zhai

In Zhai’s case, it started with a job at the Rideau Centre Foot Locker (where the employee discount helped him fuel his collection) and eventually landed him a job as a footwear designer for Fila.

Though his work took him to New York City, Zhai continues to run the Ottawa Sneaker Community Facebook page, which has grown from 100 members when he began in 2014 (it was started by a Foot Locker co-worker) to over 10,000 today.

Submitted by Jaden Zhai

Submitted by Jaden Zhai

Shoes as art

That’s one of the places Brea Cristobal first went to learn more about sneakers when she thought about using them as a way to showcase her art.

The 24-year-old artist and physiotherapy student did her

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FASHION

Tier Goes From Brooklyn To Los Angeles With Its First Streetwear Pop-Up

by Monica C. Smith

There is a bit of irony in starting a streetwear brand in a city on one coast and opening up retail space on the opposite coast. But the Brooklyn-based line Tier has done just that, in the midst of becoming a New York City stand-out streetwear line. On April 15, 2022, Tier opened its first brick-and-mortar pop-up not in The Big Apple but in the Beverly Center, located in Los Angeles, after seven years of growing its presence in the New York City streetwear scene.

Founded in 2014 by Brooklyn Natives, creative director Nigeria Ealey, finance director Esaie Jean Simon, and art director Victor James, Tier represents a city of art lovers and creatives that see fashion as a vehicle of expression and for building self-esteem. Tier creates staples

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