2015-02-27

TOMS launches its fourth One for One® product, the TOMS Bag Collection, to address maternal health.

TOMS, the company known for starting a global movement through its One for One® business model, has launched its fourth and newest product, the TOMS Bag Collection, addressing the issue of maternal health worldwide. With every TOMS bag purchased, TOMS will help provide a safe birth for a mother and baby in need. The announcement was made today by TOMS Founder Blake Mycoskie.

After years in the field, I recognized a need for advancements in maternal health,” said Mycoskie, “so we developed a program with our Giving Partners to identify two key ways TOMS can aid in safer birthing conditions. Being able to give in this way – one that helps save the lives of mothers and newborns – is incredibly special. The issue of maternal health is very close to my heart, as I just became a father this past December. I truly believe people around the world will be amazed at what these bags can do.”



TOMS Traveler Duffel in Saffrom Ikat ($164). TOMS Coastal Canvas Tote in Chili Ikat ($108)

The TOMS Bag Collection features three distinct bag lines including Artisan, Travel-inspired, and Campus and Tech, in canvas, leather and global prints ranging from $30-$328 CDN. TOMS bags will be available for fashionable, philanthropic Canadians at TOMS.ca and select retailers across the country starting on Friday, March 6.

The Artisan line is hand-crafted, hand-beaded and hand-sewn using special construction techniques that have been passed down from generations. The Travel Inspired line draws on TOMS’ employee’s experiences as world travellers, and are extremely lightweight, utilitarian, multi-functional in design and are built to wear-in beautifully with everyday and travel use. The Campus and Tech line is colourful and multi-textured and is designed to carry computers, iPads, tablets and more in style, with many of the offerings being unisex. Key silhouettes for this collection include the tote, baby bags, bucket and the hobo crossbody.

Funds from TOMS bag purchases will help provide safe births in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Haiti and India. This work will be done by a network of TOMS Giving Partners involved in maternal and child health programs, who will help provide training for skilled birth attendants, along with a safe birth kit that includes vital materials like soap, gloves, gauze, a cord clamp, surgical blade and a clean surface to help a woman safely give birth.



 TOMS Linen Woven Backpack ($108). TOMS Leather Canvas Backpack in Caravan Cognac ($274) 

TOMS’ Giving Partners in this area include respected organizations such as United Nations Population Fund, BRAC and ayzh. In addition, TOMS has selected Every Mother Counts as its maternal health advocacy partner.
 
Infection is a leading cause of death among mothers and newborns worldwide, and by providing clean birth conditions and skilled birth attendants, nearly half a million lives can be saved each year. (Source: UNFPA and Every Newborn Action Plan, 2014). Each year, 40 million women around the world give birth without the help of a skilled birth attendant (Source: Millennium Development Goals Report, 2014), but with the training of skilled birth attendants and proper materials to help provide a safer delivery, women are up to 80 per cent less likely to develop an infection and nearly half of newborn deaths can be prevented (Source: UNFPA, 2015).
 

Of the potential impact the TOMS Bag Collection can have around the world, Mycoskie added, “While in the field, I’ve met mothers and entire families who have been affected by the physical and emotional repercussions of giving birth alone, or in unsafe environments. We feel it’s our responsibility to change this through the TOMS business model, and we’re so proud to be able to present the first One for One product that can actually help save lives.”

TOMS Tablet Sleeve in Jetset Black ($140). TOMS Canvas Drawstring in Reef Chili Chevron ($86)

For More Info: 
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA):
UNFPA (www.unfpa.org) is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. Since 1969, UNFPA has been working in over 150 countries that are home to 80 per cent of the world’s population.

BRAC:
BRAC (www.brac.net) is a development organization founded in Bangladesh in 1972 and a global leader in creating opportunities at scale as a means to end poverty. With more than 102,000 employees, it is the world's largest non-governmental organization, touching the lives of an estimated 135 million people in 12 countries.

ayzh:
A for-profit social venture, ayzh (www.ayzh.com) provides health and livelihood solutions to impoverished women worldwide. This includes developing low-cost, appropriate technology designed to meet the unique needs of women in resource-poor settings.

Every Mother Counts:
Every Mother Counts (www.everymothercounts.org) is TOMS’ maternal health advocacy partner. Founded by global maternal health advocate Christy Turlington Burns, Every Mother Counts is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to making pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother. Every Mother Counts informs, engages, and mobilizes new audiences to take actions and raise funds that support maternal health programs around the world. Every Mother Counts supports programs in Haiti, Uganda, Malawi, Indonesia, India, Tanzania and the United States that address three critical barriers to maternal health care: lack of education, transportation and supplies. 
 
Image courtesy of TOMS

2015-02-26

Warming Huts v.2015 AN ARTS + ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION ON ICE

Warming Hut is a international design competition about testing the ability of architecture and art to establish meaning for users of the skating trail as they enjoy leisure time on the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, Canada. Within the context of a cold climate, the huts should embody the potential of creativity in responding to the pragmatics of shelter in this context. The designs must allow for the hut to be delivered to the site on pre-fabricated skids. Each design is then judged under two category, "shelter" or "installation". This year's winner are as follows; 




Category "Shelter" - Recycling Words by: KANVA, from Montreal, Canada. 

Recycling Words is an interactive art installation that assembles everyday objects and words to create a playful river narrative. Drawing reference to the physical and vocal exchanges that historically flocked the Red and Assiniboine rivers on canoe,Recycling Words offers a new cultural and social means of gathering along the Red River Mutual Rivertrail.  

The chair-ski combo invites the user to push, pull, sit or glide in tandem or solo, while also setting into motion other chair activities such as musical chairs, or learning how to skate. The fifty words assigned to each chair are mindfully selected in collaboration with a local art historian to enable users to physically construct improvised phrases or reconstruct narratives or memories of Winnipeg based on the infamous fridge magnet game.




Category "Installation" - The Hole Idea by: Weiss Architecture & Urbanism Limited, from Toronto, CANADA



The portable hole – first developed by Prof. Calvin Q. Calculus in the 1955 Looney Tunes animation, “The Hole Thing” and later sold by the Acme Company – has a troubled history. Almost right from inception, the ominous, mobile void was put to use for evil purposes – first as an effective enabler for a vicious crime spree and later as a means to capture the American desert fowl Geococcyx californianus or as it is commonly known as, “the Roadrunner”. It is important to note that the later use always ended up with the direct opposite result than that of the intended; which is likely why the portable hole is no longer commercially available.
This proposal takes as a starting point the portable hole, and by utilizing modern paint technologies, adds color. The resultant 1’-6” diameter holes – which can be located anywhere along the snowy banks of the Assiniboine or Red River – are resistant to being co-opted by evil forces (including the greyness of soul-sucking foul weather) due to the sheer cheeriness of the palette of introduced color. Further, a large, bright and yellow 10’ diameter hole is horizontally located in a 30’ long snow drift and provides skaters a warm and sheltering burrow in the snowy river bank.


By Invitation: The Hybrid Hut by: Rojkind Arquitectos, from México D.F. MÉXICO

Mexico-based practice Rojkind Arquitectos were invited to constructe an installation in addition to the competition’s other chosen entries. The complex timber structure The Hybrid Hut invites skaters and other visitors to enter the pavilion’s relative warmth by chilling inside.







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2015-02-24

Garmann Lee, Mode Models International


Special thank you to Binzento Vincente my business partner at Vinegar Designs Lab for covering my new book shoot for Mode Models International. (Binzento's Journal) Very excited to join Mode Models International, it will be a brand new start. Personally I had a lot of fun shooting this series and truly grateful for all the support and love my fellow partners has given me. My partners and I have been developing in various areas, and will continue to work together as a creative team. Its an honour and blessing to be able to work with such amazing individuals. Great things are expected uphead. Thank you all for your love and support all along. And don't forget to check out Binzento's Journal for the all details of this series. 
 







Full credits
Photography by: Paul M. Lee
Styling by: Binzento
Graphic Design by: Jack Lee

More About Vinegar Designs Lab Inc: visit http://www.vinegardesignslab.com/
For Contact: info@vinegardesignslab.com
For booking contact info@modemodels.com

"Alice in Wonderland" 150th Anniversary x RANDA


To celebrate Alice in Wonderland 150th Anniversary, on February 28th RANDA Japanese online shoe shop will release a series of styles inspired by Lewis Carroll's much-loved children's book. The fantasy world of mad hatters, secret doors, rabbit holes and magical beings will in incorporated into the collection. Along with purchase, a limited edition shoe bag will be given to each customer. Join the fantasy land of Alice in Wonderland, for more info check out RANDA's official website. (RANDA Japan)

















 

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2015-02-19

NYC Ballet x Dustin Yellin "Psychogeographies"

(NYCB art series presents: dustin yellin)

NYC Ballet presents their latest Art Series for this winter season. Brooklyn-based artist Dustin Yellin joins the NYC Ballet for their third installation of its art series. 15 of Yellin's on-going "Psychogeographies series" are being exhibit at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Art through Fabruary 22nd. The installation, features 15 large-scale glass and mixed-media sculptures. Each piece is a complex combination of paper, acrylic paint, floral and compressed portrait suspend in layers of heavy glass sheet, depict the human form into three-dimensional collage. Below are their opening hours. Find out more about NYC Ballet and Dustin Yellin visit their official site. 

Lincoln Center for the Performing Art

Monday - Friday: 10 AM - 5 PM
Saturday: 10 AM - 12 PM
Sunday: 10 AM - 1 PM
    









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Image courtesy of Andy Romer Photography

2015-02-15

"M / Mika Ninagawa" Wedding Collection


M / Mika Nanagawa will be releasing their first wedding collection is summer 2015. The complex and vivid color cues fro the world of Ninagawa itself will present an unique wedding collection. There are a total of 24 style available. Ninagawa's photos are used as prints and pattern in each design. All the fabrics used within the collection are made by Japan's world-class fabric manufacturer Komatsu Seiren. To find out more abour Mika Ninagawa and her work, check here.   






















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