All posts filed under: Style

Stella walking down a raining street in Rome

Stanning for Stella

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I’ve been stanning for Stella, designer Stella Jean for a few years now. When recently profiling her for TripAdvisor, I ended up feverishly writing my love story with the brand in a way that made my editor laugh. I submitted about 3 times more than was required and they worried it wasn’t “digestible” for the TripAdvisor audience! Fully understandable. I got carried away. TripAdvisor is not where people go for essays, word play etc. They go for quick, digestible info in graphically appealing formats, and great crowd sourced reviews. But that’s why I started ‘N A Perfect World. As a place where I can go into depth on subjects that I’m passionate about and my perfectionists appreciate it! So… as Stella Jean’s latest Laboratorio Delle Nazioni partnership was just released (it’s with Kyrgyzstan), let me tell you the origin story of my full on stanning for Stella Jean. It’s been argued that the Italian fashion system is harder for new designers. Do a google search of “Italian fashion designers.” Nestled between greats like Miuccia Prada …

Cropped Stella Tripadvisor Image

New Byline for TripAdvisor: A Profile on Stella Jean!

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I have a new byline for TripAdvisor: a profile on of Stella Jean, my favorite Italian designer! In honor of Black History month, I’ve contributed to Heather Greenwood Davis and Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon‘s package celebrating Black Joy internationally. The women wonderfully state You won’t find tragic stories in this package. Instead, we’ve opted to focus on Black Joy, on the parts of travel that draw us all year long, and on the ways we are working to change the industry so that it welcomes us as much as we yearn for it. Travel is in our blood, whether by force or by choice. And in a year when the world has shut down much of our access to it, we hope the decision to celebrate our past, present and future – told through this collection of contemporary stories by young Black writers – resonates with you, too. Heather Greenwood Davis and Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon Take a look through this package, and check out my quick run down on Stella Jean! For me, it was exciting to share …

Black guy on Florentine bridge on Tripadvisor homepage

Giving Tripadvisor a Taste of My Black Italy

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When Tripadvisor reached out to me to create a Tripadvisor Black Owned Italy guide for their Black History Month package, curated by my friends and colleagues @JetSetSarah and Heather Greenwood Davis , I jumped at the chance. Italy is often portrayed as a very homogenous country. This lends to the erasure of a thriving BIPOC community. I often wonder if it’s the chicken or the egg in a country’s brand. Is it tourism boards that solely portray a beautiful yet stagnant view of the country; a view that is deeply rooted in the past? Or is it the travel publishing industry that chooses to only tell the same stories that fit in specific schemas of Italy? One of the most visited posts on ‘N A Perfect World is Black friendly travel destinations. Even more wonderful is when you can support Black-owned businesses in these destinations! We out here! These Black Italian businesses and creatives I featured in the Tripadvisor Black Owned Italy Guide offer a window into Italy’s multicultural present. There was only so much …