FALL 2012 / WINTER 2013VOLUME IV, ISSUE NO. 1

CCCULTURE COUTURE

artist spotlightcharity:water by the numbers

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Through the Decades

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A Note from the Editor...

A Note onInternships

23 30 Years Ago... 8 For this issue, we decided to take a trip through time to explore and celebrate the decades past. We rummaged through our closets for pearls, polka dots, pleated skirts and more for our photo shoot “Blast from the Past” (page 4), and Jeremy Dorne considered how our world has advanced in just thirty years (page 3). Still, at Culture Couture, we are al-ways looking to the future. This magazine has not only become our way to promote fash-ion, culture and art through journalism, but it has also been our way to raise both funds

and awareness for a cause we are passion-ate about: water. We give every penny of our profits to organizations that will bring clean drinking water to areas in need. In addition to raising money for charity: water, we have also begun working with Hurley H20 this year. X’s, O’x, and H2O’s, Jenna Shapiro

4Local Artists

Blast from the Past

From the polka-dotted, poodle-skirted 50s, to the neon-lovin’80s... we took a trip through all the trends

Culture Couture is a collaborative effort among editors Jenna Shapiro, Maggie Ann Re, Carlyn Kane, Eliza-beth Frost, and Chanelle Diaz.

takes Ted BakerGrace Guan

This past summer, I was initially planning on being a Branch Manager for Revolution Prep. I had, in es-sence, convinced myself that having the free-dom and responsibility to run my own SAT tutoring business would be a good chance for me to practice my entrepreneurial skills in an environment close to home. Let me save you some time—don’t do something unless you’re actually interested and pas-sionate in it. Look at summer internships as a way for you to basically test-run potential jobs in all different industries and areas. A few weeks into planning my sum-mer as a “Branch Manager,” I realized that I wanted to have a newer and more excit-ing experience. I scoured Penn’s internship database for any marketing, consulting, or fashion positions and dropped my résumé for at least thirty or so companies. By May, I had interviews for two positions: as a show-room intern at the Ted Baker London US headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, and as a marketing intern at Benecci Corpora-tion, a company that owns an Italian suit-manufacturing label called Santorelli as well as a French clothing brand called Vicomte A. I began working at both of these companies. Two days a week, I commuted to LA to work behind the scenes at Ted Baker. Surrounded by young, hip, predominantly British bosses, I learned about how the in-side of the fashion industry works. I realized

that everyone has to start somewhere, and for me, that was a lot of cold-calling, going down to the affectionately-nicknamed “dungeon” to dig out pieces needed for the next trade show, and organizing the showroom by collection and style. But I loved it. I felt like I was in the West Coast heart of fashion, seeing for my-self what really makes the retail industry go ‘round. The other three days, I went to the Benecci Corporation headquarters to work at their warehouse office. I was given an assign-ment to research and put together a proposal on how Vicomte A., the newly acquired French brand, needed to adjust its Facebook in order to successfully cater to the US market. It was interesting to look at Facebook, a platform that our generation is almost too comfortable with, in an analytical sense. It’s hard to say how my summer would have turned out if I hadn’t realized that there were other choices available. I’m so grateful for the opportunities that I was given this summer, and it only makes me even more motivated to plan and research ahead for next summer. For now, I’ll just keep following my interests, and I can’t wait to see where it ends up taking me.By Grace Guan2

In our fast-paced and ever shrinking world –in which the universe seems to be contained in a palm-sized iPhone–it is easy to forget just how different things were just 30 years ago.

Artists like Jay-Z and Kanye West cemented hip hop’s place in the music industry. Electronic music influences crept their way into popular music as well, making appearances across all genres. Globally, China rose to become a global player and grew the world’s second largest economy. On the other side of the world, the United States found itself increasingly involved in the Middle East with its fight against terrorism. The Berlin Wall fell and paved the way for the reuniting of Germany.Looking back thirty years, one thing is certain: no one could have quite predicted the innovations and events that have changed the way we live our life and view the world. The next thirty years will most likely bring just as much change to the world. The future is excitingly unpredictable; with the pace at which society is moving now, who knows, perhaps we are not that far from jet packs after all.By Jeremy Dorne

Looking back to the year 1983, it is hard to imagine the extent to which our world has advanced. While science fiction told us we would have time travel, jet packs, and trips across the galaxy by the year 2000, we have still ended up with some remarkable achievements that are quite out of this world. The technology that has been created within the last three centuries has made life fast-paced and information plentiful.The modern world is filled with readily accessible information and we are consuming it faster than ever. The personal computer—not to mention its pocket-sized counterpart, the iPhone—has become a possession in the majority of American households. Whenever a breaking news story occurs, most people’s first instinct is to pull out a cell phone and follow the news as it happens. Thirty years ago, we were content to let the news come to us either through the radio, television, or newspaper. Culturally, the last thirty years have seen the rise of the hip hop and electronic genres, fitting in the context of such a technological craze. While The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s De-light” introduced America to hip hop in the late 1970s, early artists such as A Tribe Called Quest and Run DMC helped hip hop gain popularity.

how the world has changed30 Years

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Spotlight: Young and talented artists in the community

Kristopher Harper

What are you passionate about?I am passionate about the problems we face today around the world. Whether it’s battles with finding your identity, racism, or even environmental problems. I want to be the voice for the many in my art, people who, like me, aren’t the most expressive with words.

Who or what inspires you?My passion for art keeps me going each and every day. I want to learn more, use different medias, challenge myself. I believe by doing this, art will never just be a hobby, but it will be something I can’t live without.

Coral Lee

Brittany Andressoo

What is your favorite medium and why?I tend to work with both my digital and film camera; I love how both are extremely versatile and how I constantly feel like I’m “catching up” to learn the medium. I’ve found that photography in itself has so many methods, tricks, and techniques to learn.Do you have a theme that often appears in your work?Though I enjoy photographing portraits and fashion, my strength lies in coastal landscapes.

Who or what inspires you?Street art, often mistaken for graffiti, always manages to capture my interest. Artists such as Vhils, C215, JR, Slinkachu, and, the most popular, Banksy utilize public settings to exhibit their beliefs and designs to the common man. “It makes me feel like my city has a creative pulse.” -Anonymous

Do you feel you have a voice as an artist or are you still finding it?

I definitely have my own voice as an artist. It’s not a mat-ter of finding it, just naming it. 8

Parker Reposa

Why are you drawn to art?Art is a language. It’s a way to communicate and express yourself on a daily basis. It’s my creative outlet and it’s what I look forward to everyday. I will be an artist for the rest of my life and I’m proud to say that.Who or what inspires you?Every photo, every sunset, every wave, every smile, and every magic moment I’ve ever captured inspires me to continue what I do. It’s the feeling I get when I do get to display my work and when I finally get to show people my photography that motivates me to keep doing it.

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