It has been a hard few weeks with seeing the onslaught of violence against black bodies on full display that has finally garnered enough of a call to action in America. This in turn lead to a wide scale social movement in the world. Black Lives Matter is not new. It did not start with the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery or Breonna Taylor. In fact, reading about the Ferguson protests and violent police response, there was a moment this week that I became dismayed about what is really going to change. But this time it’s different.
White allies are stepping up to confront systematic racism hoping to make long lasting generational change. When I made this video for my IGTV last week, it was in response to several posts and asks from white allies about what they can do, what they can say without overstepping and how they do the work of being anti-racist. I want to address some next steps and tasks for us all as well as a call to action for an anti-racist white ally. I’ve never been so galvanized to participate in my local government than I have been after going to protests and rallies. The police must be demilitarized. We have to stamp out white supremacy in this country. It’s strange, I can finally see the rumblings of change happening.
I’ve discussed with friends a lot “What’s the ask?”
And most importantly, the ask that we think would implement change? This is the importance of being ANTI-racist vs. not just racist and committed to being A PART OF the systematic change.
Call to Action:
Use your platform or your position for equality and black economic empowerment. This is something that I saw in full force while in South Africa.
Re-examine your elected officials and their objectives. As Trump calls your governor to go after protestors aggressively, for fear of not “looking like a bunch of jerks” make sure your governor hears from the people they are serving.
Side with disruptors publicly in whatever field is your “lane.” It is hard to speak out for fear of loss of job opportunities.
Share black stories. There’s a whole Instagram sticker for it! And brands, be aware of the climate, maybe give your favorite influencer an extension on that post right now.
F the feed. Your concern for black lives should disrupt your grid and call attention to it.
Question your privilege. As people of color, it is our actual black lives at stake here so being anti-racist needs to be your lifestyle.
I remember the scene that hooked me on 90 Day Fiancé a few years ago. My mother kept insisting I watch the show. With my propensity for dating foreign men, she told me the concept over and over again but it wasn’t until I walked into her bedroom and overheard Luis chastising Molly about her brujeria and Molly screaming in bewilderment, was I hooked. Luis probably used Molly for a green card. I’d heard of “green card marriages,” even knew one or two and as a reality tv junkie whose business is in travel, I am even able to take Sharp Entertainment’s portrayal of the “dodgy foreigner” with a grain of salt.
Upon hearing that my partner is Italian, many people ask if I’ve seen the show. Believe it or not, it the same thing that has many transfixed on the relationship between Meghan and Harry, curious about mine, Loren and Alexei, Tom and Rachel. Love is hard enough without factoring in oceans away, completely different cultures and lifestyles. So for seasons and spin offs, I was entertained by the revolving cast of characters in the 90 Day universe, but for some reason, this season, I found myself catching it on streaming more and more. The problem is Big Ed.
me and my “90 Day Fiancé” in West London
Despite delayed tuning in this season and watching passively, Big Ed, Ed Brown, all 4’11” of him and his relationship with Rosemarie has infiltrated pop culture. His sycophants range from the average anonymous person on social media to Chrissy Teigen, Tori Spelling and Heather McDonald. I’m a fan of these women so I find this even more disappointing. Chatting with my friend Tia, I sussed out the root of my problem with Big Ed, why I finished 90 Day episodes disgusted at having watched him. He boils down to a sex tourist and he’s how PC culture can go the extremely wrong way.
Big Ed has said he suffers from a a rare genetic defect called Klippel-Feil syndrome. This is a condition where two bones in the neck are fused together. This is really unfortunate and in the initial episodes, I was happy to see that he was thriving in his career, friends, family. Due to his condition, Big Ed revealed that he has been bullied all of his life. I started on team Big Ed…. Even as we saw his disconcerting relationship with his daughter when she didn’t say what he wanted to hear. Even learning of the large age gap between he and Rose.
Rose and Big Ed shopping in the Phillipines
But Big Ed is white privilege personified. Everything people think is wrong with Americans. On 90 Day Fiancé we’re used to see age differences all over the board and power dynamics off. We’re especially used to seeing this with white older American men and women overseas in impoverished areas. We love David & Annie, we love Akinyi & Benjamin, we even love Angela and Michael despite LOTS of problematic power dynamics. From Jay and Ashley we learned Jamaica has its share of f*boys like anywhere else. This show has taught us different forms of love that aren’t so foreign if we take a closer look at ourselves. Love in the form of stability, love towards someone who can build a home, can mean just as much as romantic love. It can substitute for sexual attraction.
But the problem with big Ed is that he knowingly lied to Rose. First, about his height — no big deal — then made an excuse re: not trusting her about her sister asking him for money, the STD test that’s not good enough for him to take, shaving her legs, giving her a toothbrush…. The list of disgusting offenses go on! But that STD test though….
Doesn’t that sound like something a typical sex tourist would do? You’ve been bullied your entire life so you bully and verbally abuse a woman from overseas. All while under the guise of the “nice guy,” that Chrissy Teigen may have fell for. He berates her in whatever way he can, all the while knowing — as he admits to his mother — that he had no intentions of committing to her and her child because at his ripe old age of 54, 31 years her senior, he didn’t want to start over. That’s completely fine, and actually understandable, but it seems like Ed knew this going in and was not clear to Rosemarie.
Dare I say that if Ed was a man of say 5’11” the attention would be wildly different. Predatory behavior comes in all heights, guys. Because we so want to separate ourselves from whom we assume to be the ignorant tormentors of his childhood, we enable and encourage his not so lilliputian reign of terror on poor Rose week after week. Two bottles of champagne wasn’t enough for that first night Rose had to spend with him for hope of a better life.
Podcasters I love that have viewed his IG Lives say that it is common for Ed to accept share screen-time requests mainly from young girls, though he confirms their age when he starts chatting with them. Gross. Though we don’t cover 90 Day anymore — my podcasting partner on Housewives of Milan, Tiffany, and I discuss the dark turn some of the 90 Day characters have taken quite regularly.
It took you 28 years to find love because you are a bad person, Big Ed. Let’s wrap up his 15 minutes.
A few weeks ago in April, videos of the horrible treatment black people were receiving in the Chinese city of Guangzhou were making its rounds on the internet. I watched in dismay as African immigrants and black expats in China’s Guangdong province were being denied service in places like hospitals, restaurants, housing and hotels and more in a new wave of Covid-19 blaming. It seemed strange that this was happening given the recent spread of sinophobia in the United States and the Chinese government repeatedly asking trump to not refer to Covid-19 as the “Chinese virus” or “Wuhan virus.”
The situation was so bad that the US State Department issued a travel warning to African Americans against going to the province. As we perfectionists know, traveling while black is a nuanced subject. The crazy thing about the 24/7 news cycle is people’s day to day horrible realities can quickly become yesterday’s news to those of us around the world. As of last week, officials in China’s Guangdong province have announced new measures aimed at combatting racial discrimination. The measures target businesses such as hotels, shopping malls, restaurants and other places where Africans have been routinely turned away, as well as residential compounds. Education, public transport and medical service providers are also included in the new regulations.
This comes after many African countries’ officials, including Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda, along with the African Union commission summoned China’s ambassadors to answer for what’s happening. China has a special relationship with the African continent. Some might even call it new waves of imperialism. To keep Africa welcoming this “partnership” with open arms, China had to address and rectify this issue. But there’s a history of friction in the city of Guangzhou with its African population … This is not just a result of discrimination due to Covid and I wanted to delve into this.
Have you ever been to China? What province and what were your experiences? Do you believe that the government will successfully combat racism to maintain a happy “partnership” with African countries?
If you’ve been to Cartagena de Indias you’ve seen the women who are icons of the city: las palenqueras. These beautiful Afro-Latinas, dressed in colorful traditional garb and often pictured selling fruit or candy, are the pride of Colombia and on much of the country’s promotional material, especially that of the city of Cartagena. Tourists line up to get that Cartagena picture with the woman whose bright smiles and deep eyes often hold the story of Colombia that many of these same tourists might not care to know: the story of the black Colombia.
After Brazil, Colombia has the highest black population in Latin America and the Colombia population historically ranges from the white decedents of the Spanish to what they call negra negra, the African descendants of slaves that were brought to the then Spanish colony and did not mix with the indigenous population or Europeans. Today, there are mestizos, mulattos, first nations, Europeans and every mix in between. But most of the Colombianidad we have “exported” internationally, the Colombian ideal of beauty, is seen through white Colombians, like Sofia Vergara — she’s actually a natural blonde, or Shakira, who does proudly discuss her mixed heritage, including Arabic background.
Cartagena de Indias was Spain’s biggest slave port in the New World and the beautiful city was built by slaves. However, as we saw throughout the US and West Indies some groups of slaves rebelled, think Haiti, the maroons in Jamaica. Before these incidents, in Cartagena it was Benkos Biohó, a former African King who rebelled, ran away and took his wife, children and 22 other men with him, eventually forming San Basilio de Palenque about an hour north of Cartagena. It was the first town in Colombia to secure their independence from the Spanish on May 12, 1851 and was home to the first free men and women of the New World. A ‘capitulation of peace’ was signed between the Spaniards and the former slaves in 1603 — after the Spanish captured and killed Benkos Biohó and, in 1713, the Spanish crown issued a Royal Decree that officially freed the people of the palenque from slavery.
Now the story brings us to my #WCW. The palenqueras of Cartagena, and the palenque communities around Colombia, were instrumental in helping countless slaves to freedom. While blending in with their traditional garbs and head-wraps, they braided the routes to freedom in their hair and passed along this knowledge amongst the enslaved. Those head wraps and fruit that we still today traditionally see atop their head was to hide their resistance work! Slaves were brought from different African countries, and language was made to be a barrier in their communication. Patterns of rivers, mountains and roads indicated the route to safety, stealthily and in a way they all understood. Wow!
What strength, what ingenuity! Today, the palenqueras of Cartagena wear colorful traditional clothing and sell fruits, vegetables and traditional palenque treats to make money to support their communities. Sometimes travel while black gives you the opportunity to dig deep. This is just one of the reasons that I listed Cartagena is a black friendly travel city.
Now, given the history of the palenqueras, isn’t it almost revolutionary for them to be the city of Cartagena’s marketing symbol? What a long way we’ve come though we have much further to go.
This #TravelTuesday is #GivingTuesday and with communities around the world in need and hard hit by the crisis, it can be overwhelming thinking where to look or what to do or where to give back! Here’s a suggestion, The Rockhouse Foundation’s Covid-19 Relief Fund – give back to Jamaica.
When I say the travel and tourism industry is hit hard by this, I don’t only mean beautiful escapes and airlines, but communities that rely on tourism dollars to sustain themselves. Yes, the carbon emissions from travel can be detrimental to environments but at times, if distributed wisely, the good that your travel does, can offset this. Make your travel dollar count — it’s one of the reasons I like to fly Norwegian. Rockhouse Hotel is not one of my top three favorite places I stayed solely because of the beautiful villas overlooking dolphin cove, delicious on-site restaurant that reminds me of home-cooking and amazing staff that make me truly feel at home. It’s because of the Rockhouse Foundation.
The Rockhouse Foundation tied with the property group is charity that has been transforming schools in and around Negril, Jamaica since 2004. The Foundation has built, expanded and renovated seven schools and the Negril Public Library and invested over US$5 million in projects and programs. All administrative and marketing costs are underwritten by Rockhouse & Skylark Hotels and Miss Lily’s so all donations directly support the work. The foundation has positively impacted the lives of thousands of children.
If you stay at the property, you can visit one of the schools in Westmoreland — where my maternal grandfather was from.
So, what does this Covid-19 Relief Fund do?
Jamaican communities have been hit hard by the COVID-19 shut down of the island. Families need help putting food on their tables and navigating their children’s disrupted education. Rockhouse Foundation is making bi-weekly distributions of food staples to impacted families. Through their on-the-ground network Rockhouse is prioritizing the most desperate and they need our help supporting their school families.
For a $10 donation you can provide staples for two weeks to a family (10 lb rice, 10 lb flour, 2 lb cornmeal, 2 long life milk, 2 cans mackerel).
Many children receive most of their nutrition at school. With schools not to re-open until September at the earliest, parents and teachers face a daunting challenge keeping up. Families struggle to effectively homeschool with prohibitively expensive access to the internet and few computers or devices at home. Simple obstacles become overwhelming and with our help we can make a HUGE difference. They are also sponsoring free wifi credit to facilitate home schooling for the children. It is a HARD time for us all — but if you can, pay it forward. I just donated in memory of my Uncle Claude Walker who passed away this month. A chef and a caterer, he’d do his damnedest to make sure none of those kids went hungry, so it’s a small tribute in his honor.
It’s been a bit. I took a full month off of blogging here on NAPerfectWorld.com. While I have been creating digital content almost daily, it has lived in the faster consumption space of my Instagram. Yes, it seems ridiculous for me, as a digital creator to not take full advantage of the eyes on me and create to “grow my brand.” To me, as I processed the world coming to a halt, and went through my own trauma, short-form Instagram was all I could give publicly. I haven’t shot as much content in my apartment ever. I also have done a lot of “press” during this time, I’ve been featured in Grazia, on All the Pretty Birds, virtual career days and Bravo-lebrity lives!
It’s been a reflective time. One where I’ve connected weekly for Instagram lives with friends. (I’m going to share those on Youtube and in blog form in the next few days) We talked about issues going on around the world — why Sweden didn’t fully embraced lockdown, the racism in Guangzhou, checking in with Tamu in Italy, to name a few. They were wonderfully healing and a way I could bring you global content, without saying “hey! Look at this cool place, go here!” while the tourism, airline and hospitality industries were crippled.
I shared travel photos few and far between. I couldn’t advocate traveling at a time when upon advice from WHO and international governments, it was safer for many people to shelter-in-place. Is it responsible for me to see you dream explorations while many people’s biggest concern was their next paycheck? I know many of you can’t afford to get to a destination and self-quarantine for a few days or a week before having to come home again. I grappled with the idea of arm chair traveling — I wrote an article on Zihuatanejo, Mexico for a magazine and had a Mother’s Day Travel article furloughed. But ultimately, mentally, I wasn’t ready to flippantly share beautiful destinations and cultures that I think you should experience. Until recently.
Summer’s Cancelled.
Hey now, summer’s my favorite season. My birthday. A time when cities and beach towns are pulsating with life. There’s even a new Italian Netflix show, SummerTime. I love a steamy, Spike Lee hazed summer in Brooklyn — but no one does beachside summer like the Italians. As a people, it’s almost as if they were really made to fully blossom in the warmer months and mass exported the beauty promos of their culture for warmer weather. Dolce Vita isn’t happening in the winter. Giorgio Armani’s perma-tan doesn’t fit with January. Vespa cruising isn’t for snowy sludgy Milan days. So I was inspired for content.
Much of my Italian travels are slow travels: we take the car or a train. This is the way I think a lot of people, internationally are going to be traveling in the near future. I have to go back to Italy eventually — I’m not really looking forward to the plane ride. Moreso out of concern that I may contract Covid_19 and be a carrier to my loved ones. But I am looking forward to summer in Italy and being able to stimulate an industry that’s taken a major hit with this: tourism.
I travel for the people. I was reminded by that and rejuvenated looking at photos from this past summer when I came across this woman. I can’t wait to share what Northern Italian summers look like with you. Have you seen Call Me By Your Name? It’s actually set near where we’re based. Summer’s in Italy can be magical, and I hope you can see them through my eyes.
Never before has the quick flight to St. Croix, in the US Virgin Islands looked more appealing. This quarantine has some of the closest destinations seeming like bucket list locales! Covid-19 has hit the world hard and I recognize the privilege I have in being a travel journalist so first and foremost, I wanted to put that out there as sort of a pardon or a mea culpa of a “woe is me.” From baggage handlers to TSA to airline CEO and luxury resort owners, the travel industry is one of the hardest hit by this strain of coronavirus. Even when we collectively get over this curve, there is going to be a new normal, the world will not be the same. I, like many of my colleagues, am pivoting how I think about travel. For some time, New York to Italy is going to be the longest plane ride, at nine hours, that I will take — and that’s only out of necessity.
This time last year, I was heading to St. Croix for the Taste of St. Croix festival and it was glorious: check out five minutes of me eating my way through the island. The US Virgin Islands get a bad rep among a lot of “cool kids” “authentic experience travel seekers. But, as we Perfectionists know: there’s always more than meet the eye in any destination. Each Virgin Island, US vs British, and the islands of each is different from the last. While friends of mine are Virgin Gorda locals, I thought most of the US Virgin Islands were cruise day trippers and retirees.
St. Croix proved me wrong and I loved it!
And I’m not the only one. Plenty of newer locals came to the island for work or a vacation and ended up staying; I tell a funny story about that to Bleu Magazine. Read about it and the rest of my travelogue of the island on Bleu’s Issuu Magazine site (see the full spread — how it’s laid out for print, photography by me) or grab a copy on your newsstands!
with Michele in Lake Garda last spring — vacation spots like this are currently desolate
In the first days of March, I returned from Lombardia, Italy to NYC to speak at Women’s Travel Fest the following weekend. Days later, Italy was recognized internationally as the fastest growing epicenter of Coronavirus / Covid-19 outside of Asia and put in a state of emergency. Initially expecting to return within a few weeks — I didn’t bring my spring clothes to NYC — Michele and I are realizing that I will probably be in NYC for the next two months minimum as New York State and many states across the US declare a “shelter-in-place” edict. I’ve received a flood of well-wishes questioning where I am and how are my loved ones in Italy as Bergamo, a place that my friends previously only knew because of me is reaching international press as the epicenter of Italy’s crisis. Hospitals in Bergamo are overcrowded. There is a line of army trucks to carry the dead as they’ve run out of room at a cemetery I’ve spent many an afternoon in (cemeteries in Europe aren’t as creepy). It’s a pretty bleak time for the region.
Michele and I are thankful for the well-wishes and know a few international couples that find themselves in the same situation as us. We wanted to make a video addressing how we’re handling the crisis, especially as a couple with its home bases in travel red zones. We are thankful for our health and realize that if this is the worst of our problems, we are extremely lucky. Navigating a relationship and love in the time of Coronavirus can be tricky — it’s something that several people have reached out to me about in the last few weeks. We also wanted to give updates from Michele, in Bergamo, Italy’s Covid epidemic epicenter.
Living between New York City and Lombardia, Italy I’m caught in a long distance relationship as my partner and I quarantine in separate countries.Check out my latest video to see how we’re making it work.
I’m writing this at 7:30am the morning after a flight from Milan, Italy to NYC — that’s right Milan, Italy, the international city in Lombardy, considered the hub of the Italian 2019-nCoV Coronavirus outbreak — and I’ve never felt better after this trip. I just knocked on wood. This is a trip I frequently make, multiple times a year, and with age, I’ve been prone to getting sick during travel. While I observe basic good hygiene practices, wash my hands every time I use the rest room, wash my hands before eating, on a plane use that moist toilette, and even often spray my tray table with disinfectant after reading a news report about them being a breeding ground of bacteria, planes still seemed to be petri dishes to me and no matter what I did I usually ended up with a bit of a sniffle at best, worst, a full blown cold when making this trip in the winter months. This time was different. It was of utmost importance to me that I remain in great health and, in my mind, be let in at the border: I am coming back to NYC for Women’s Travel Fest and am excited to speak on a panel this weekend about responsible tourism. So, hand sanitizer, which I do carry at times, has been my best friend over the past few weeks. Before, I just thought they bred supergerms, but, desperate times…. This was a bad flu it seems, after all. Deadly to those who already had a susceptible immune system, but I can’t afford to be sick this week and the idea of quarantine freaks me out.
I didn’t have a face-mask but I wasn’t worried about that. During Trump’s address to the union with the Coronavirus multitask force they discussed checks being done at the border/ US airports, limited travel to this area of Italy, and checks being done before you board the planes. As many American airlines like Delta and American cancelled flights to Italy, I feverishly checked Emirates to make sure my flight wasn’t canceled. My friends both Italian and American texted me asking about my flight because of Trump’s “travel ban” on Italy. “He didn’t say ban guys,” I assured them, an odd instance of umm defending Trump? “He just said limit travel and take the precautions for people from the area coming in.” It wasn’t it was a strange idea. I had friends skiing in Switzerland, a family, that had to leave their trip early because the cleaning lady didn’t want to service their room and the hotel proprietor thought it best they eat breakfast by themselves. The area of Ischia didn’t want Lombardy people coming in. Patient 0 cases in Nigeria, Brazil, Dominican Republic, North Africa and many other countries were linked Italians bringing coronavirus in. Northern Italy, birthplace of Lega, Salvini and racist and xenophobic rhetoric, was experiencing their own shaming. Unfortunately the irony was completely lost on those that needed to understand it: sinophobia has continued and hasn’t missed a beat.
I insisted Michele get to the airport early fully prepared for a quick doctor check up. Flying into Italy, hazmat looking doctors scanned our foreheads for fevers. A friend of mine who flew back to NYC during fashion week said that at JFK, they were just checking Asians. Based on what Trump said, I just knew they’d be checking everybody before we even got on the plane. Strange, not one check on this end. In a plane flying from a high-risk area. I was a little annoyed that I came so early expecting it. The airport was relatively empty for Malpensa with only two security lanes open. My plane was flying from Dubai to Milan to NYC and in my section there seem to be a smattering of white and black Italians and Americans and Indian nationals — I’m a passport creeper — I like to see the color different countries use. I was in a window seat, 48A, and there was an older Indian gentleman who just seemed off. He kept trying to push past me as a pair of Italian women figured out their luggage. When the air steward opened the cabin bin for me, he immediately lifted his luggage and expressed disappointment when I put my luggage in. All and all he seemed rude and oblivious.
I get into the window seat, an Italian guy, let’s call him GucciScarf, probably early 30s gets into the aisle seat and we have the seat in the middle free. As we both lather on some hand sanitizer and settle in, we smile. That older Indian gentleman is in the set of middle rows in the aisle seat and 2 seats next to him were free so he spreads out. Flights going well, I listen to a podcast and fall asleep before take off, as usual and heard some people maybe coughing in the background, but I’m not a full on freak it’s ok. GucciScarf and I get the meal service. I must say, it was awkward taking a menu from a woman in a facemask. I settle in and start watching Queen & Slim. Loved it, riveted for over two hours; my meal was delicious two. Grilled chicken with tomatoes and orzo. I doze off a bit after the movie, removing my headphones during this sleep and awaken to someone who sounds like they are hacking up a lung. It was the Indian gentleman lying in 48 aisle rows. He sits up and begins blowing his nose. GucciScarf wasn’t sitting, he may have been in the bathroom. Over the next 5 minutes the guy seemingly blows through his tissues, coughs without cover his mouth into the air, and did I, did I just see him pick his nose. I start spraying sanitizer furiously around me and giving him death stares. GucciScarf comes to sit down and puts his hoody up and gives me a “WTF” look as the man has another open mouth cough. I race to the bathroom and wash my hands up to elbows hoping he hasn’t been in there yet. It was about 4 hours to landing and my logic was if I went now, I might not have to go into a bathroom after him. I could hold it. I fix my scarf like a facemask and prepare to sit confined in my window bubble miserable the whole trip. As I walk back the gentleman is rubbing his face and his eyes and picking his nose. Truly disgusting. I think, is this Punk’d?! Is this a test of how I would treat another human being? Well I failed because I wanted to take a video of him and demand he be tested before being let into the US. If I’m being honest, the only reason I didn’t was because I was reading what was going on in India right now and speaking about it with an Indian national friend. Weird what compassion can make you do. He shouldn’t have been let on the plane. He is a public health risk at any time with poor hygiene, and especially right now. GucciScarf had called over a steward at this point and they were discussing in Italian. They moved to the kitchen area and I walked with them because GucciScarf was gathering his things from his seat and looked at me and said “Sorry, I can’t stay here. It’s a matter of hygiene.” “Move me too! Can I come with you?” I really said it like that. That desperate of a plea. I talk to the steward and he told me in Italian that there are empty rows in the back.
“We’re sorry. We can’t move someone for being disgusting” another steward said. I could tell she truly meant it as the number of complaints about him were rising and he seemed oblivious. I walked straight to be back and had a more relaxed flight for the next few hours. Our flight landed about 30 minutes early, 6:30pm EST and had to wait about 15 minutes. With my Global Entry, I was in a cab by 7:14. Not one check at JFK. There weren’t very many people on my flight with Global Entry it seemed. In the line there was one other woman that wasn’t crew. Still, I’ve never had a faster plane door to cab with checked luggage. Every moment from selecting my plane was flying from Milan at the kiosk, to the guy taking the printed receipt, to before walking through the exit door, I expected to be stopped, at least a fever tested held to my forehead, but nothing. For peace of mind, I’m rationalizing this as an irrational global entry perk. However, as scrutiny heightens I can tell you there is a serious lack of oversight happening between Malpensa and JFK in my experience and with this, it’s only a matter of time before 2019-nCoV becomes the pandemic we’re all worried about. We can’t halt global travel, nor would I want to, but I wouldn’t have minded being inconvenienced by some checks.
If you’ve followed my blog for a few years, you may know that one of my favorite designers is Stella Jean. I came across the brand many years ago, I think through Vogue Talents while I was looking up young, fresh, Italian design talent. This was before Beyoncé and Rihanna wore her pieces. Stella Jean’s designs, and who she was a person, Afro-Italian, Afro-Carribbean- Italian, stopped me in my tracks. Stella Jeans mom is Haitian and her collection then (and now) celebrated the duality of that Haitian-Roman identity in a burst of colors and patterns. I filled Pinterest pages, wish lists and mood boards with her designs. Referenced her collection to anyone that would listen. Seeing my first show of hers at the Armani/Teatro space in 2014, solidified my fanaticism. While styling in Italy for Tamu McPherson’s All the Pretty Birds, I got the opportunity to pull Stella Jean for one of my favorite looks!
That’s Stella Jean’s motto. Her work highlights and empowers diasporas of women around the world. Including them in globalization and economic trade, giving them agency to showcase their artistry and earn an income from this. She doesn’t just pull inspiration from other cultures but involve them in the creation of beautiful garments often working with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Considering all of this, when I was asked by All the Pretty Birds to be photographed for a showcase of Digital Creatives of Color in Italy and to attend the event with Camera della Moda, I knew exactly who I wanted to wear. The package didn’t make it in Rome in time for the shoot but made it in time for the event and some weekend shooting!
I pulled mainly from the Spring 2020 collection which highlighted the artistry of the Kalash women in Chitral region of Pakistan. There are only 3,000 people in these remote valleys and Stella Jean collaborated Chitral Women’s Handicrafts Center, founded by the 22-year-old Karishma Ali on the fabric for this collection — incorporating the over 4,000 metres of fabric in her designs for the collection. This provides economic opportunity and brings awareness to a community that is dying out. This is the first time the embroideries have left the region.
