When Josh and I first started thinking about this concept, we saw it as the perfect opportunity to  intertwine style, character, education and art with a culture that we are not only familiar with, but actually a big part of. The Black Ivy serves as a tribute to the first black colleges that paved the way for our generation and created a common ground for hardworking, likeminded individuals. What the original Black Ivy league did for folks many years ago is what we strive to do today with individuals that inspire, motivate and spark the creativity of  beings around them.

This is a video that we shot the day of the shoot. The quality of work that flourishes whenever creative minds bind together never ceases to amaze me. CJ of Culture of Creativity was wizardly able to catch the intense fervor and passion of that immaculate day. I am so grateful that we are able to have some sort of video representation of that day; describing it in words is very much next to impossible. Some of you guys probably remember Joekenneth’s epic spoken word performance in Sewn From The Soul. His stage presence, wordplay and delivery is unmatched. When he speaks you not only hear him, you feel his words pierce deep within. What we strive to do with clothes, Kenny does with words.

The Black Ivy from Street Etiquette on Vimeo.

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The Black Ivy from Street Etiquette on Vimeo.

A special thanks also goes out to each and everyone who participated in this project, whether it was behind the scenes or in front of the camera. We are grateful to call each and every one of you our friend, acquaintance, colleague and brother. This will surely not be the last time we make art together. Much love and respect also goes out to the hardworking students who currently attend the historically black colleges of today.

The Bkc also helped a great deal in the building of this project. Ouigi, the man behind the line, is the true backbone behind the whole style and character philosophy. Make sure you keep an eye out for there fall items on their blog and in-store.

Last fall was our first time taking part in NYFW.  For our newer readers, we provided you guys with a taste of that experience first hand. In the span of a year, things changed dramatically for us, including a site re-design and overall post presentation. Even with that growth, we remain as excited about the festivities as we were the first time.

* Note – A special thanks to all the designer shows we’re invited to.

We had the pleasure of working with photographer-model Bill Gente of BackYardBill on a style series presented by GQ Magazine. Each day of the seven-day, style-filled week, Gente would snap a photo of us for the online feature. In between all the shutter snaps, we built a meaningful relation with Gente as we took on conversations spanning from personal style conundrums to marriage. Expect to see us on his great photography blog very soon.

Below are some of the entries from Gente’s week-long project:

GQ Magazine: Five men—and one beautiful woman—with serious fashion-world street cred and totally individual senses of personal style. Seven action-packed days in New York City. One intrepid, artful photographer with an eye for detail and a knack for portraiture. Every day during New York Fashion Week, Bill Gentle—otherwise known as Backyard Bill—will be shooting our superbly-dressed subjects in what they happen to be wearing out on the town. So without further ado, an ever-expanding photo diary of real-life sartorial splendor.

Day 1 -

Joshua

• Vintage Levi’s trucker jacket  (eBay)
• Uniqlo Merino wool V-neck
• J.Crew Stanton Pant (Urban Slim Fit)
• Vintage brown horsebit loafers
• Men’s COACH Harrison slim tote
• Brixton Gain trilby

Fit Description: The usage of the trilby is not only great for stylish use, but also for those oh-so-dreadful bad hair days everyone encounters at some point. I’ve had a growing fondness for the hat and you should expect an upcoming post on the piece. Strangely enough, these orange chinos – ideal for summer use – got their first use on this day, with the weather feeling more like autumn. Regardless, who doesn’t love the color palettes of orange, brown, and maroon for the current season?

Travis

• Vintage denim paperboy
• Vintage Tommy Hilfiger crewneck sweater
• Nudies Black Grimm Tims
• Ralph Lauren loafers

Day 5 -

Joshua

• J.Crew pocket tee
• Zara linen blazer
• Lands’ End pleated trousers
• Tanner Goods belt
• Soludos espadrilles

Fit Description:  In all the years of receiving Lands’ End catalogs, it never occurred to me that I would be ordering pleated trousers from the brand. For many of those years, I was a knucklehead to anything outside of the box in a  sartorial sense. But as we all know, things change and this brand has great quality pieces for the pricepoints, after some slight alterations (depending on your preference to fit).  The important factor with pleated pants is the realization that the overall fit has to fall between slim and straight. Because of the pleats, the option of skinny fit is not the best one.

Travis

• Vintage Ralph Lauren
• Uniqlo trousers
• Ralph Lauren belt

Day 2 -

Joshua

• Vintage Haris tweed blazer (eBay)
• Vintage Ralph Lauren paisley shirt
• Topman trousers
• Del Toro velvet slippers ($195.00)
• Men’s Coach Harrison slim tote
• Thrifted pocket square

Fit Description: Judging by this picture, we can all agree that a well-fitting blazer is essential in any man’s wardrobe. The fall season, where layering comes with comfort, I’d recommend having a creative mind with the concept. Here, Travis has a nice beige jean jacket under his blazer. I scored these nice velvet slippers from a brand inside of the U.S called Del Toro. It’s great  that  a $600+ price tag wasn’t attached to them, like usual velvet slippers.

Travis

• H&M blazer
• Levi’s jean jacket
• Uniqlo corduroy
• Brooks Brothers velvet slippers
• Billy Kirk tote

Day 4 -

Travis

• Vintage tweed blazer
• Uniqlo oxford shirt
• RL pocket square
• Zara messenger bag
• Vintage jeans
• Sebago Boots

Once again, we paired up with good friend and film director Jake Davis. Street style photography is an influential medium for online readers to view the personal style of millions of different people throughout the world. I feel like street style video will have just as strong of an influence when done correctly, and Davis is the best example of why that is. His work provides the ideal mix of style and great music to create the perfect 60-second video. This time around, that mix includes some sound bytes by myself.

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Fashion Night Out w/ Rugby

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Fashion Night Out at Rugby. Special thanks to Kerry Folan and the Ralph Lauren team.

(click for more photos)

A dream for anyone that is a little more “enthusiastic than usual” about style or fashion would be to have their own branded product. While everyone here was stateside experiencing the brutal the winter, I was able to take a trip out to the Dominican Republic along with six influential bloggers to work on a unique opportunity called the Nexus Project.  Personally unaware of the amount of strenuous work that goes into designing and selecting certain leathers, it was an experience of a lifetime to happen upon. - excerpt from Original Sebago Nexus Project 06/9/2010

Fit Details : Joshua

• J.Crew waffle knit henley
• Uniqlo cords
• Light House Boot (Street Etiquette x Sebago)
• Brixton trilby gain hat
• COACH mens Harrison Suede tote

Fit Details : Travis

• Vintage paperboy
• Vintage RL
• Uniqlo pants
• Tassel Moccasins ( Street Etiquette x Sebago )
• Street Etiquette African Print Pocket Sqs – (Will hear more on that later)

Just in time for transition in seasons from Summer to Fall we present you our shoes with Sebago presented by Ronnie Fieg.

Tassel Moccasin & Lighthouse boot : These two shoes equally give you a sense of fall, with one slightly more minimal than the other. First up is the tassel moccasin, with a splash of color on a classic piece and interesting detail such as red tassels to provide a nice contrast. The Fortissimo of the collection – the lighthouse boot, with its 8 eyelet and classic silhouette, is great for F/W to pair over some nice denim or cords. Both shoes directly speak to different individuals but are cohesive in the design aspect of footwear as being classic go-to items.

The Street Etiquette Tassel Moccasin Shoe retails for $110 and the Lighthouse boot retails for $140. Both are limited in quantity and availability and will be releasing this fall 2010 ( September ) – expect a follow up post

If you thought creating your very own shoes would be an easy task you are highly mistaken; it’s a composite procedure, from materials such as various leathers, nubucks,  lace stitches, soles and eyelets, all at your disposal to indulge in.  We bombarded the Sebago factory looking to express our stylistic tastes in these shoes, and even though it was challenging, I’m floored by the finish product at hand.

Revolutionizing the concept of street style we teamed up with fellow Nexus Project participant and good friend, director/film maker Jake Davis, to provide additional visuals of the shoes in motion by shooting Travis. We had the pleasure of observing how the process of what may appear simple to us on the outside, comes to fruition from scratch.We first shot with Jake at the capsule trade-show several months ago leaving a notion that we had to recapture the same elements of style, but of course outdoors this time around.

Jake Davis Test Shots: Tassel Moccasin from Jake Davis on Vimeo.

Ending note  : We would like to thank everyone at Sebago & Ronnie Fieg  for helping making this project come together – Gary, Tom, Caesar, Natalie and the countless workers who crafted our shoes for this project.

All photos by Rog Walker

CLICK TO VIEW SEWN FROM THE SOUL EDITORIAL

Sewn From the Soul is an online editorial project brought to light by seven friends who have all collaborated together in order to see a bigger picture; ultimately meshing and intertwining Style and History.  History is important as it gives us the ability to trace back what has occurred previously to help us better direct ourselves to the future. Style contributes to one’s overall character and truly dictates our persona in everything that surrounds us. We all contributed our individual style to this editorial and used a primarily monochromatic palette to assist the Black History Month theme.

The video below is a behind-the-scenes look of what occurred at the photo studio, starting off with an amazing poem by Brooklyn resident and Street Etiquette friend Joekenneth Museau . There is no way to emulate the magic of that exact date, but to know that something tangible resulted from this gathering allows us, at long last, to begin to write our own scripture in history.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW SEWN FROM THE SOUL EDITORIAL

Sewn from the Soul from Alejandro on Vimeo.

This video is meant to honor individuals from Miles Davis to Dr.Cornel West with a splash of our own Street Etiquette style. We hope you enjoy the editorial just as much as we did. I would like to thank everyone who took part in this , it will definitely form into a bigger project in the future.

“In essence, this is the time of the year when all blacks, be they African- Americans, Haitians, Liberians, Nigerians and all people of color need to reflect on their African heritage, culture and how far they have come in understanding the struggles and sacrifices others have made during the days of yesteryears in America.”

- Edmund Zar-Zar Bargblor

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