Thurgood Marshall College Fund’s Emerging and Established Designers of Color

The launch party for Thurgood Marshall College Fund’s “Emerging and Established Designer’s of Color featured at Front Row” event presented the press and fashionistas alike with the information, excitement, and anticipation of the October 24th event. Hosted by The View’s Sherri Shepherd, the event celebrates and features runway shows by breakthrough and culturally diverse fashion designers. The launch event was sponsored by Moet and Hennessy and guests were treated to passed appetizers of fried shrimp and delicious red velvet cake.

The designers showcasing their collections and featured in the October 24th event include: Byron Lars, Russell Simmons Argyle Culture, Kai Milla Designs, Angela Dean for DeanZign, new ethnic collection from Walmart, Nico & Adrian, Annie S Intimates, Amsale, Montgomery, Magnami Style & Company, and Ellie Owen.

Adrian of the amazing design duo (and a Scallywag and Vagabond favorite!) Nico and Adrian graced us with his presence as well as three looks from his collection. The looks featured elegant evening wear, furs and long dresses, perfect for strutting down the red carpet.

The Fashion Icon Award will be presented at the “Front Row” event on October 24th, honoring individuals who have significantly been influences in the fashion world. The recipients of this award include supermodel Naomi Campbell, revered make-up artist Sam Fine, Emmy award winning hairstylist Andre Walker, and Fashion Institute of Technology President, Dr. Joyce F. Brown. The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, will also be honored posthumously with the 2009 Avante Garde Award.

Save the date for the Emerging and Established Designers of Color Featured at Front Row on October 24th at 8:00pm the Roseland Ballroom. We will see all you fashionistas there!

Photography by Sidnei Beal III
Go to Scallywag’s Photo Gallery.

MOROSO M’Afrique Exhibition Design

Stephen Burks and his New York studio Readymade Projects was retained by Moroso to coordinate and design the 2009 Moroso showroom exhibition during this year’s Milan Furniture Fair. The exhibition, entitled “M’Afrique C’est Chic” by Stephen after his recent trip to Senegal, features African artists Soly Cisse and Fathi Hassan, photographer Mandemory, and architect David Adjaye’s “African Cities” research project alongside new designs by Ayse Birsel & Bibi Sek, Phillipe Bestenheider, Tord Boontje, Stephen Burks and Patricia Urquiola. Burks was also one of 32 international speakers at this year’s Design Indaba conference in Cape Town, South Africa. See more of Burks’ design at www.readymadeprojects.com

Architect Jennifer Coleman enjoys sharing city’s heritage as head of Cleveland Landmarks

The Fairfaix neighborhood is a “city within a city because it has almost every single aspect you’d find in a stand-alone community.”

Jennifer Coleman has been immersed in Cleveland history her whole life. An architect and Cleveland native who lives in Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood with her husband, August Fluker, and their son, Cole, she chairs the city’s Landmarks Commission.

Coleman, who is in her 40s, is also the founder of CityProwl Cleveland, a collection of recorded walking tours of the city that can be downloaded free at cityprowl.com.

Tours of the Fairfax, Buckeye and Wade Park neighborhoods will be posted on the Web site soon, Coleman said. “It’s been lots of fun to find out how people came to Cleveland and how they interacted, grew as a group and dispersed into the community.”

What needs to be done to preserve Cleveland’s architectural heritage?

The Landmarks Commission and the historic neighborhood design review boards do a fine job. My biggest concern is that with all the foreclosures, a lot of the fabric of non-historically designated neighborhoods will be lost to the wrecking ball. Ultimately, 10 years from now, we don’t want to have neighborhoods where there are “missing teeth” — no buildings and no memories of how special the neighborhoods were.

What building do you regret the disappearance of?

I still mourn the Hippodrome Theater downtown [which opened in 1908.] I know that the need for it was definitely dwindling by the time it was demolished [1981], but it was just beyond belief in its ornate style. It’s too bad that it’s gone.

Name another building that’s just a memory.

The Bond Department Store downtown [northwest corner of East Ninth Street and Euclid Avenue -- now demolished]. It was a building that looked like a spaceship had landed on Euclid. It had a triangular shape with a V-shaped fin that appeared to hover over it. It was a pretty rad building — a cross between Art Deco and a 1950s sci-fi movie set! You can see photos of it on the Cleveland Memory Project [clevelandmemory.org].

Tell us something else we don’t know about an a historical Cleveland spot.

One of the fun things I found this spring is the residence of Levi Scofield, who was the architect of the Soldiers & Sailors Monument and the Mansfield Reformatory. His home [built in 1898] is on Mapleside Avenue in the Buckeye neighborhood. The street is filled with double houses now, and the Scofield home stands out. It features his trademark rusticated stone, castle-like turrets and large windows. It was built on a bluff that overlooks the city and the Baldwin Filtration Plant Reservoir. It would have had a breathtaking view.

Is there another historical building we don’t know much about?

The Medical Associates building on East 105th Street is a four-story building built in 1962 for nine black doctors by black architects — the Madison & Madison firm, now Robert P. Madison International Inc. It’s probably one of the first, if not the first, significant buildings building in Cleveland built by black professionals to serve the black community.

What’s special about the Fairfax neighborhood?

I call it a city within a city because it has almost every single aspect you’d find in a stand-alone community. It has an active and diverse housing environment and thriving small and medium-sized businesses. It has the Cleveland Clinic, old churches, new churches, the Play House — for now — and it’s getting a juvenile justice center.

The neighborhood harks back to the beginnings of Cleveland. It had a very strong Czech population in the 19th century. It’s named for Florence Bundy Fairfax, who was appointed Cleveland’s assistant commissioner of recreation in 1966.

What bakery do you particularly like?

Lucy’s Sweet Surrender pastry shop [12516 Buckeye Road Road. ].They have a white chocolate mousse cake that is just to die for.

It’s date night for you and your husband. What will you do?

This is the ideal thing that never happens, but it will be a good story: we’d probably go meet friends early for a drink somewhere in the Warehouse District, then have a fabulous meal involving steak or seafood or both. We might go to XO Prime Steaks or Blue Point Grille [at 500 and 700 W. St. Clair Ave.] then end up at the Velvet Tango Room [2095 Columbus Road Rd.].

In reality, we’ll probably go to a sub shop and fall asleep on a movie on cable.

What do you think of the Euclid Corridor?

I think it’s great. What’s cool is that you see a lot of people biking to work. It’s clean. It’s pretty. It’s not in itself a generator of new business growth but hopefully will facilitate new development moving into the area. I like taking the bus down to Tower City to go to the airport.
Associated Press fileBruce Springsteen played to a huge crowd in downtown Cleveland during the presidential election in November 2008.

Do you have a recent Cleveland memory?

Cole and I took the bus down to the Mall to the Bruce Springsteen concert on Public Square when Obama was running for president. There was a long line outside the Board of Elections of people waiting to vote early.

Coming home, people on the bus had such a brotherly and sisterly feeling. Everyone was talking to each other. It was just a great time. I hope Cole remembers it.

Commission: My Cleveland
by Sarah Crump/Plain Dealer Reporter
Saturday July 11, 2009, 1:08 PM
Scott Shaw/The Plain Dealer

Sustainable Suite Design Competition – Deadline is Aug 31st

USGBC, The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), and The Hospitality Industry Network (NEWH) are sponsoring the Sustainable Suite Design Competition to help drive green design practices within the hotel industry. This competition provides a platform for student and professional teams from around the world to present their approach to green hotel room interior design.

The winning design will be built as a model guest room to be presented as an educational display for the design industry, hotel owners and brands, and corporate travel executives. Additionally the winning team and design will be profiled in Hospitality Design, ASID ICON, and the NEWH Magazine. Entries are due by August 31, 2009, and judging will be completed by October 1, 2009. The winning design team must commit to producing construction documents within six-weeks of award notification for model room fabrication. The Sustainable Suite will be unveiled at HDExpo in Las Vegas, NV in May 2010.

Deadline approaching – All entries are due by August 31, 2009