Happy Belated Birthday, Dr. Barnes!

On the first Friday of the New Year, Philadelphia art enthusiasts gathered at the Barnes Foundation to celebrate and remember Dr. Albert C. Barnes. This dedicated art collector was born in the city of brotherly love on January 2, 1872. A true renaissance man, he was a doctor, chemist, writer, businessman, educator, and philanthropist. How do you celebrate the 142nd birthday of a man who left such a legacy of art?

The galleries opened from 6-9 pm to members and anyone who could snag a $25 ticket before the event sold out. As a lover of music who provided scholarships for many young students to learn at prestigious music academies, Dr. Barnes had very eclectic taste and appreciated everything from classic Mozart to soulful African American spirituals. To honor his distinct musical taste, a string quartet and a tabernacle choir filled the grand hall with joyous sound that surely would have had Dr. Barnes dancing and humming in his grave.

My roommate and I attended this 142nd birthday bash for only $12.50 thanks to a deal on uwishunu.com. We enjoyed gourmet cupcakes provided by Whole Foods and a very expensive but delicious cheese assortment before exploring the nearly empty galleries. Note: when there is a cash bar and drinks are not permitted in the galleries, you are guaranteed to have an unobstructed view of the art for approximately the length of time it takes to finish a glass of wine.

As it was my second trip to the Barnes and my roommate had never been, I took it upon myself to be her tour guide. We started in the main room on the first floor, where the sheer volume of paintings is enough to make your head spin. My technique for absorbing everything was to embark on two rounds of art viewing: a strategic speed-through followed by a slow perusing. This way, the shock of the amount of artwork could be absorbed in one fell swoop so that during round two, one could actually linger and appreciate the collection.

Some personal highlights of the collection are Van Gogh’s House and Figures and Still Life and Matisse’s Blue Still Life and La Joie de Vivre (pictured above). Each room of the museum is home to artwork of different eras and regions, showing that Dr. Barnes’s taste in art is as eclectic as his taste in music. 

Duke & Winston

Upon entering the offices on the second floor of the Duke & Winston showroom, I was eagerly greeted by an English bulldog who I recognized as none other than the Duke himself. Founder Seun Olubodun was kind enough to sit down with me and talk about the story behind his Philadelphia-based casual wear line as well as his plans to grow his business this upcoming fall for an upcoming issue of The Triangle. 

Located on 2nd Street just north of Spring Garden, the showroom sits less than a block away from other independent boutiques including Art Star, R.E.Load, and Arcadia. According to Seun, their showroom location is just over a year old and houses four to five full-time employees as well as several interns. The Duke & Winston brand began with a single design in 2009 and quickly grew to encompass an entire t-shirt line. Eventually the merchandise categories expanded to include men's polos, sweatshirts, and even pet products. 

It turns out the Duke has a role greater than simply serving as the brand's mascot. Olubodun noted that from the start he intended to build a personal relationship between his brand and his target customer: A man and his dog. Duke & Winston looks to serve a preppy, outdoorsy and casual clientele who is not necessarily fashion-oriented but who wants to look put-together. Most distinctively, the Duke & Winston customer wants the same quality and style for his four-legged best friend.

So what will 2014 hold for Duke & Winston? Olubodun hopes to expand his brand nationally through networking at trade shows, incorporate women's wear and work towards producing all of his goods in the U.S. 

Words and photos by Courtney Denton

An Introduction to Fashion Photography

By Tara Giancaspro
I have experience with just about every type of photography you can think of. I have snapped concerts, sporting events, portraits, plays and musicals, still-lifes, speeches and presentations. I have photographed the President. I have photographed the Vice President. I've photographed Bill Cosby, twice. But I had never before photographed a fashion spread, and to my own surprise I found the experience, at first, a bit daunting. The fashion industry and its players are strong-willed people with forceful and creative ideas. I saw these same traits when I worked with my classmates on my first shoot, an Old Hollywood "behind the scenes" display. My classmates had clear ideas and a clear vision. When I am hired or asked to photograph, I am often given little or no direction. And while that freedom is appreciated, it also leaves me at risk to wind up with photographs that those involved do not love. With the direction of my classmates, I was able to secure that their vision and their goals would be represented, and hopefully enriched by my own stylistic touches and shooting style. I feel that this shoot was educational. I taught myself how to focus on the clothing and accessories, and how to frame, light, and position a model to best accentuate their features and the outfits they wear. With the retro styles we featured, it was important to find the best way to capture the flow and sweep of the beautiful dresses we worked with, to give the pictures lively movement. This photoshoot was supposed to convey a sense of the accidental. Sophie, pictured above, accidentally broke her strand of pearls, creating a funny moment for us to capture, resulting in photos that I believe will be featured in the final layout for the magazine. The shot above was also an accident of sorts - the models were simply waiting around for direction, and I liked what I saw. I did not think that so many ideas would come to us on the fly, but they did, and I am grateful for that. I think that this shoot was one of my favorites that I have ever done.

Philly Fashion

Philadelphia, though it possesses its own unique charm, does not currently have a reputation as a fashion mecca in its own right. Within the United States, that honor has been given to a few cities, but Philly’s fashion scene has always fallen short of recognition. But this Fall, all of that stands to change, as Philadelphia stages a daring attempt to ascend to the status of an east coast center of fashion.

Philadelphia Fashion Week, a movement that has long been attempted and not yet seen success, delivered on its promise something more this year. Under the guidance of successful buyer and manager Michael Anderer of Matthew Izzo fame, the three day event consisted of shows, parties, and concerts designed to show off Philadelphia’s local talent and entice the locals to show some brotherly love to their “phashionable” fellow citizens. While in years past many individuals and organizations have held similar events, Anderer and his team added a new level of style and prestige to the event, two very necessary ingredients when hosting a fashion event of any scale.

In addition to the local fashion renaissance, Philadelphia will also host an international fashion event later this October. The Arts of Fashion, an international organization born in France and dedicated to promoting the advancement of fashion innovation and education, will be hosting its annual symposium at Drexel University with the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. The five-day event consists of master classes, lectures, film screenings, and it culminates in a fashion show displaying the talents of the best fashion students from around the world, as well as former students and emerging designers. The Philadelphia Museum of Art will host the finale show for the symposium, further tying in Philadelphia’s own artistic treasures with their emerging interest in fashion. (Visit arts-of-fashion.org for full details.)

With these two events under its belt, and an abundance of local talent ready for the spotlight, things are looking up for the fashionable people of Philadelphia. If the buzz about the fashion scene is any indication, the city is well on its way to establishing its own reputation as a city of style.