Blog

  On October 25, 1854, a Russian army attacked the port city of Balaclava on the Black Sea, in hopes of lifting the siege of the nearby Russian port of Sevastopol, which had been under attack by a combined British, French and Turkish force for over a month. This battle was part of the Crimean War, and while fascinating in its own right (especially with the recent tension in the region), it’s also a way to attempt to date two fashion innovations. The British forces were commanded by Field Marshal FitzRoy Somerset, the 1stRaglan, an accomplished British soldier and an...

                                                 Sir Jonathan Ive, Apple's Senior Vice President of Design, has been called “one of the most inspiring and influential product designers ever.” He is responsible for some of Apple's most revolutionary products like the MacBook Pro, iMac, MacBook Air, iPod, iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad, and iPad Mini. Yet, this creative genius is guided by a fairly simple concept: inevitability. In the words of Ive: “So much of what we try to do is get to a point where the solution seems inevitable: you know, you think 'of course it's that way, why would it be any other way?'” Like...

                            The environment. The term, particularly when used in the context of “saving the environment,” often prompts a visceral reaction. And while there are nuances, exceptions, and disagreements on environmental policy, what causes environmental damage, and how best to save the environment, I imagine that one would have to search pretty extensively to find someone who is fundamentally anti-environment. Someone who just hates clean air, trees, bunnies, and wants his or her tombstone to read, “Here lies Mr./Ms./Mrs. “X,” pro-swag yet anti-environment by principle.” The point being, the majority of rational human beings are of the mindset that environment =...

                                           Today denim is ubiquitous, and there’s rarely an occasion where you don’t see someone wearing some form of denim. But where did denim come from? And how did denim come to define America, and become such an important part of American fashion culture?   Jeans originated from the Italian port of Genoa in the 1500s, where the hardwearing fabric used by sailors was called “bleu de Genes” for its indigo color, although they didn’t enter the American consciousness until 1873, when Levi Strauss began manufacturing and selling denim. Based in San Francisco, California, Strauss sold his rugged clothing to...