#FashionCrush- Princess Charlene of Monaco

The story of Princess Charlene of Monaco truly reads like a Hollywood movie.

Her origins were a far cry from the palatial world she now lives in. Born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe, the blonde stunner could never have imagined the life destined for her. Having been born to a mother, who was a former competitive diver, young Charlene to the reigns and began swimming competitively. Her passion took her all the way to the 2000 Olympics where she competed as a member of the South African women’s 4 x 100 m medley.

After placing fifth in the Olympics, Princess Charlene went on to compete in a slew of other swimming competitions. At one of her competitions she met Prince Albert II. The two began dating in 2001, however, it was not made public until 2006. On July 1, 2011, the couple was married. From then on her new title was Her Serene Highness The Princess Charlene Of Monaco. This new title has brought her international respect. The Princess can now be found at every major event from the Met ball to front row at top shows where she is the guest of honor. These outings are highly anticipated since the princess can always be counted on to show up in the best of the best haute couture.

Three years into the marriage, Princess Charlene gave birth to twins Gabriella Therese Marie and Jacques Honore Rainier. Even though her daughter was born first, it is her son, Jacques, who is first in line for the throne. Not surprising. The Princess, however, has proven that a woman can be a strong figure, even though they are not favored for the throne. She not only uses her name to gain entry into exclusive events, she also dedicates her life to a good cause. She has brought awareness to the inclusion of people with physical and mental disabilities and cites the Special Olympics as something that is close to her heart.

Written by Dominique Bedell

@artfreak88

#Fashion Crush- Rihanna (@rihanna)

It almost seems unfair to the other people in the entertainment industry to make Rihanna this week’s fashion crush.

After 10 years in the public eye, Rihanna has aquired an array of amazing red carpet and street fashion looks. So many, in fact, that designers are clammering to work with her on special collaborative collections. All in order to get that ‘Rihanna’ influence so fans will flock to their stores.

Her collaborations with such designers as Manolo Blahnik and Puma and even a jewelry collection with French jeweler Chopard have been commercially successful all thanks to the barbadian beauty. After all this time it seems that Rihanna has pretty much always been a style star. When looking back to 2005, when her career was in it’s infancy, Rihanna’s style was majorly influenced by her Caribbean roots. Most of her performances were done barefoot.

Cut to 2007 when Good Girl Gone Bad swept the nation. It seems that Rihanna’s style seemed to change from that ‘Good Girl’  mentality as well. We started to see her favor a more high fashion look. Rihanna’s street style was being imitated by every girl looking to spice up her wardrobe. Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to see Rihanna on many style boards. Every red carpet waits in anticipation for Rihanna’s arrival, which is probably why the singer often chooses to be the very last to show up.

The influence of Rihanna as fashion muse to the world’s top designers has been iconic to say the least. For a black woman to command such attention in the fashion world can only be described as historic. Rihanna has fronted campaigns for Balmain and has been a muse for the house of Dior for the past few years. With a burgeoning acting career and designer friends in her bag, Rihanna is trending to become the next Audrey Hepburn.

Written by Dominique Bedell

@artfreak88

#FashionCrush – Zayn Malik (@zaynmalik)

One could argue that Zayn Malik was too hot to stand next to four other guys in a group.

Normally the person that leaves the group is under constant scrutiny about what they’re gonna do next and how is their career gonna withstand a solo career.  Who could blame people for wondering how someone could leave the number one boy band since the Beatles with countless hit records. When you’re the heartthrob of the group, however, one never needs to fret. Since leaving One Direction in 2015, Zayn Malik’s career has seen incredible heights. After signing a solo deal with RCA Records, Malik’s first single Pillowtalk debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 as well as a series of music charts in the UK and other European countries.

With a successful music career under his belt, Malik then began to focus on a lucrative career in fashion.  He has collaborated on a number of high profile collections with Italian shoe brand, Giuseppe Zanotti and Versus Versace which debuted in May of 2017.  His personal style also gained notoriety when The Business of Fashion listed him on their BOF500 list of the most influential people in fashion.  Malik can usually be seen around cities like New York and Los Angeles looking casually cool in band tees, ripped jeans, and rocking a number of different hair do’s like buzz cuts and, most recently, the ubiquitous man bun.

#Fashion Crush – Dev Hynes (@devhynes)

Every now and then someone like Dev Hynes comes along and makes you look at fashion from a different perspective.

Having been dubbed “New York’s last bohemian” by the New York Times, the London born  musician marches to the beat of his own drum with his fashion as well as with his extensive career.  Since starting his career in 2005 with the band Test Icicles, Hynes has changed aliases many times. In 2007, under the name of Lightspeed Champion, Dev Hynes utilized such friends as Florence and the Machine as his touring band. After officially retiring Lightspeed Champion in 2010, Hynes moved on to Blood Orange whose R&B sound differed from the indie rock sound of Lightspeed Champion. Blood Orange saw much success having had songs on the MTV shows Skin as well as performing on the last episode of MTV’s It’s on with Alexa Chung.

Hynes’ accomplishments exceeded far beyond being frontman for Blood Orange. His writing and producing credit has also given him great success. Along with co-writing Florence and the Machine‘s number one album Lungs, Hynes has written for Solange Knowles as well as Britney Spears and Carly Rae Jepsen. He was even featured on english electronica band The Chemical Brothers album We Are The Night which won them a Grammy in 2008.

The past year has seen the fashion world stand up and take notice of Dev Hynes’ keen fashion influence. First was his appearance in H&M’s 2016 holiday campaign where he posed alongside fashion’s new “It’ girl Adwoa Aboah and Vine star Gabriel-Kane, son of actor Daniel Day Lewis. Recently, Hynes sat front row at the Gucci resort 2018 fashion show where he was chosen to take over Gucci’s Instagram and live stream the show. With a list of accomplishments that seems to constantly grow longer it shouldn’t be hard to believe that we’ve only scratched the surface of how remarkable Dev Hynes truly is.

Written by Dominique Bedell

@artfreak88

#FashionCrush – Bella Hadid (@bellahadid)

As daring as she is beautiful, Bella Hadid is one of the more fashion forward supermodels around.

Bella can easily be described as the exact opposite of her blonde, bubbly sister GiGi. With her dark hair and a piercing blue gaze, Bella exudes a sexy, sultry aura that can’t be rivaled by any other.  Since signing with IMG Models in 2014, her career has gradually blossomed and exploded all coming to a head in 2016 when the 20 year old was voted model of the year by Models.com.  Just one of many awards Hadid earned as she is highly ranked on numerous model lists as well as men’s magazines.

More recently Bella Hadid was chosen to be the face for Dior’s makeup line.  Among such company as Natalie Portman and Charlize Theron, her position as muse to such a prestigious house keeps her front and center on red carpets from the Met Gala to the Cannes Film Festival. Wherever she goes passersby and photographers are mesmerized by the gorgeous raven-haired beauty.  Almost always in black, her style is the antithesis of today’s time where maximal-ism is reigning supreme as everyone’s go to style choice. When walking the red carpet, Bella Hadid can slip into any piece of haute couture all while still keeping her cool girl charm.

The fashion world took notice of her keen fashion sense when LA based fashion house, Chrome Hearts tapped Hadid to design a 40 piece collection which they debuted in Paris during Paris Fashion Week. The edgy yet fun collection had tongues wagging with every piece from the leather caps with sterling silver piping to the cashmere cardigans with pink fur and those always in fashion leather mini skirts.

 Though it’s only been three years since Bella Hadid was signed she has skyrocketed and remained at the top of the fashion world. Having already before the age of 21, there can only be bright lights ahead.

Written by Dominique Bedell

@artfreak88

Rihanna (@rihanna) “Shines Bright” in Chopard (@Chopard)!

With the Cannes Film Festival in full swing, Rihanna came to town to celebrate her recent collaboration with Swiss jewelry designer, Chopard.

It’s not hard to realize that everything Rihanna touches turns to double platinum.  Any brand the “Diamonds” singer attaches her name to is instantly a cash cow.  When you look at her majorly successful collaboration with Puma, we see every launch selling out in a matter of hours, or sometimes even minutes. Rihanna’s latest collab is her most high end to date.  Swiss jewelry company, Chopard, has ranked highly amongst the jewelry world almost since it was started back in 1860. Many of their pricey baubles could easily exceed six figures.

#FashionCrush-Met Gala edition

Loads of A-listers showed up and showed out at last night’s Met Gala.

This year’s theme was all about the living legend and uniquely talented Rei Kawakubo and her label Comme des Garcons.  Having started the company in 1973, Kawakubo’s Comme des Garcons collections have impressed many a fashion lover with it’s avant garde aesthetic and distorted proportions. The name translated means “anti-fashion” which ironically has been the driving force behind the label’s success.

This being said the avante garde theme of this year’s Met Gala gave the celebrities in attendance the perfect excuse to turn up the shock and awe. There were lots of amazing looks but a few of them in particular had me smiling from the inside out.

I couldn’t post without mentioning my boys Jaden Smith and Luka Sabbat.  It was no shock that these two would eventually find themselves in a picture together.  This is perfectly fine with me seeing as how I’m low-key obsessed with them both. Jaden wore his go to label of choice Louis Vuitton, where he formerly was house muse. Smith accessorized his look with a diamond encrusted grille as well as his newly shorn blonde locks.  Luka Sabbat, who still has his locs, chose to don a bold red tuxedo by Dolce & Gabbana Alto Sartorio (Dolce & Gabbana’s mens couture line). Sabbat, who is currently starring in Dolce & Gabbana’s spring ad campaigns, was a perfect mix of sartorial elegance and laid back cool.

Speaking of Jaden, his ex Kylie Jenner took my breath away.  Say what you want about her, Kylie was nothing short of perfection in her Atelier Versace creation. Platinum blonde bob and Donatella Versace as her accessories, Jenner was the queen of the night.

Last but certainly not least I have to give it to my girl Rihanna. The “Phresh off the Runway” singer was sort of “fresh off the runway” having chosen a Comme Des Garcons piece straight from their fall 2016 runway collection. You gotta hand it to her, not many people can pull off wearing a byzantine conduit of fabric in assorted colors and prints.  No surprise, consequently the pop singer could have walked down the carpet wearing a burlap sack and would still have looked better than half the women there.

#FashionCrush- Jaden Smith (@officialjaden)

Not much can be said about the success of young Jaden Smith.

Being the spawn of two internationally famous stars could easily lead you down a road of despair and disappointing career choices–and who’s to say this still couldn’t happen? However, at this very moment no celebrity kid is as hot as Jaden! His amazing style can only be categorized as High Street Glam. The playful mix of high end brands with contemporary urban streetwear, accompanied by those now signature locs. It evokes a style reminiscent of a young Jean-Michele Basquiat (I could totally see him doing a biopic in the future!).

As influential as his style is, it only seemed necessary that our Louis Vuitton would collaborate with the young actor for an iconic campaign. The images were classic, utilizing Smith’s laid back swag as he even dared to wear a studded skirt in the pictures. It is things like this that keep Jaden on the front rows of Paris’ hottest runway shows. Even his onscreen style makes bold statements, as seen on the Netflix series, The Get Down (premiering the second half of its first season this this weekend). There he portrays “Dizzy/Rumi,” a meek graffiti artist, who along with his best friends and brothers, stumbles onto a cultural revolution. As a fashion lover, I couldn’t help but drool over his seventies style consisting of jean jackets covered in buttons, figure hugging bell bottoms, and sporting a voluminous Afro!

Though still a very young man, it is clear Jaden Smith has the drive and the style to measure, or dare I even say, surpass the success of his megastar parents. It is weird to reflect on how excited I get whenever I see him on my timeline or television screen. For me, I have seen a lot of stars shine brightly only to quickly dim. When it comes to Jaden, however, his name will ring from coast to coast for years to come!

Written By: Dominique Bedell

IG: @artfreak88

#FashionCrush-A$AP Rocky (@asvpxrocky)

From the front rows of Paris’s top fashion shows, to the streets of London, one man, whose style consistently captivates my psyche, is the ever stylish and uber talented A$AP Rocky.

His allure is not only indicative of his witty lyrics but also by his cool “don’t-give-a-fuck “ attitude, when it comes to his knowledge of fashion and its many day players.  Those that don’t believe me should refer to his song Fashion Killa, in which he melodically lists the fashion designers his woman bathes herself in day after day.  Listening to the line “Her jeans is Helmut Lang, shoes is Alexander Wang And her shirt the newest Donna Karan wearin’ all the Cartier frames Jean Paul Gaultiers ‘ cause they match with her persona,” simply makes me melt with the notion that a rapper could be so unapologetically real about his love of fashion.  Those words left me pondering that perhaps there is rap that I could actually relate too.

Not only has he embraced fashion, but the fashion world has also stood up and taken notice.  He became the first African American male ever to front a campaign for the historical, and ridiculously famous House of Dior.  Currently, he can also be seen putting his wonderfully handsome features to use in the world’s most notable fashion magazines, having graced the pages of American Vogue; as well as the covers of Dazed & Confused, I-D, and Jalouse.

His personal style, in my opinion, is nothing short of brilliant, successfully mixing Parisian chic with his signature street flare (i.e. grills and gold chains) making it hard not to spot his influence among rappers and hard street thugs alike. Even yours truly looks to him for inspiration when I’m having trouble choosing an outfit for work.   One thing I can say about this elegant lyricist is that if his existence is a foreshadowing of men’s style for the future, I couldn’t think of a better person to emulate.

Written By: Dominique Bedell

[VIDEO] Reebok Classic (@ReebokClassics) & Curren$y (@CurrenSy_Spitta) Launch The New Reebok Classic x Jet Life Club C 85 Sneaker

As basketball athletes and their legions of fans descend into New Orleans for an action packed weekend, Reebok Classic along with Curren$y hosted a special event last night at the Sneaker Politics powered by Reebok Classic and Mitchell & Ness store to launch Curren$y’s new collaboration with Reebok: the Reebok Classic x Jet Life Club C 85.

Reebok Classic x Jet Life Club C 85 Sneaker Release Party