Nigel Barker Thinks Designers Need to Step it Up: Fashion photographer Nigel Barker (whose mother was born in Sri Lanka) recently teamed up with the beauty and fashion site Joyus to give a lucky contest winner a makeover and a professional photo shoot.
Barker spoke to Racked about the collaboration and shared some thoughts on the issue of diversity in the fashion industry.
Fashion is for everyone. Designers shouldn’t make stuff only for people who are 5’10”, size 2, and only look one way. The reality of fashion is that it’s there to be sold and bought and worn. I love the fashion industry, and I dare a designer to invest in a collection enough that they can actually make it wearable for all women and send it down the runway on women of all shapes and sizes. Even if it’s just the one-off piece; to prove that they’re not just good at designing clothes for size 2, but that they’re good at designing clothes for all shapes and sizes and colors. That would be a first.”
Preach it, Nigel. (Racked)
A Bank for the Ladies: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh helped open the country’s first state owned bank for women on Tuesday. Only 26 percent of Indian women currently have bank accounts. Al Jazeera reports that “the bank is focused on lending to women and aims to employ a mostly female staff, although men will be able to open accounts too.” (Al Jazeera America)
World Toilet Day Aims to Raise Awareness of the Lack of Sanitation Infrastructure: Tuesday was also the first ever World Toilet Day. The U.N. established the day to draw attention to the 2.5 billion people on Earth who do not have access to a clean toilet. As ABC News reports “Sub-par sanitation often creates contaminated drinking water and, when facilities aren’t safe, can put women and disabled people at risk of sexual violence.” (ABC News)
Mindy Kaling’s Touching Tribute to Her Mom: The most touching moment of Lena Dunham’s recent interview with Mindy Kaling was when Kaling called her mother ‘the Love of My Life’. Kaling’s mother died last year of pancreatic cancer. (People)
Aziz Becomes A Homeowner: Aziz Ansari may not be quite ready for marriage and kids yet, but he is ready for the responsibilities of home ownership. The Parks and Recreation star recently bought a home in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles. The house is described as “the Mid-Century Modern post-and-beam home features an inner courtyard that leads to a two-story central hall, 20-foot vaulted ceilings, exposed beams and walls of glass.” Ansari’s new digs has four bedrooms — so there’s plenty of space for when cousins Harris and Darwish come visit. (Los Angeles Times)
Lakshmi Gandhi is an editor at The Aerogram. Follow her on Twitter @LakshmiGandhi. You can find The Aerogram @theaerogram.
