Snacks- A Hood Editorial

Designer and Fashion enthusiast Nareasha Willis, is notable for coining the term, “Ghetto Until Proven Fashionable”, and while there have been heated debates in her comments about the use of the word “ghetto”,  WE couldn’t agree more with the phrase. For decades, urban or cultural garb has been stolen, remixed, renamed, and thrown on runways by colonizers. And if you don’t believe me, google the $50 durag, check out the persons’ name who begins with a K’s “Bo-Derrick” braids, Gucci’s replication of Dapper Dan’s work, and the list goes on and on.

I’m not sure what type of balls you have to be toting to believe ripping off an entire culture is ok, but it happens— often. And like the resilient people we are we find a way to reclaim the features, clothes, or accessories we were taught to hate by the people who grow to love them. “Everybody wanna be Black, but no one wants to be BLACK.” So, my only question is what the hell is next?

I could go on about this for days, but I’d like to spend more time celebrating our culture and the gems that come from it. In effort to do so, a dream team was assembled, to include: Photographer Jassie, Stylist Leticia Hunt, Creative Director Laci Jordan, and model Tari. The team captured a monochromatic photo story exploring the relationship between things considered “hood”  or “ghetto” and editorial fashion, with the use of ‘Snacks’. Snacks are enjoyable until they are consumed and then their remains are discarded. Familiar? We’ve seen many brands and fashion houses reference black culture while not including a person of color in the creative, this is not that. You WILL NOT enjoy and then discard our culture!

This series highlights various snacks commonly found in black houses paired with an editorial setting and is black through and through. Enjoy the ‘Snacks’.

Photography- Jassie http://jassieuo.com/

Styling - Leticia Hunt https://www.leticiahunt.com/new-gallery/

Creative Direction- Laci Jordan http://www.solacilike.com/

Muse- Tari Elegele https://www.instagram.com/tarielegele

BTS- FOREH: HELLA BLACK Shoot

I wanted to curate a shoot for my FOREH beret line and the project turned into something so powerful. I can write an entire book on the importance of embracing your blackness is but you can watch the video and look at the images below for the visual representation. 

Black is...

Photographer: Riki Wright

Creative Direction/BTS VIdeo: Leticia Hunt

Muses: Laci, Natalia, Evelyn, Carnita, Autumn, Roger, Ron, Rajah, Chris

Black Men

Black Women

COLORED Series: ❤️💜💛💚💙BTS

Over the last few months I have had the pleasure of working with photographer, Darrin Baldridge to capture a series entitled, “COLORED.” It was very refreshing to have my ideas welcomed and captured and lucky for you all, my younger sister was able to record some behind the scenes.

I hope you all enjoy the series as much as I enjoyed making it and please watch below to see how the magic was created!! 

Also, here are my favorite photos from each color, to see the full shoots look back at my previous post.

COLORED Series: The Blue Edition 💙

Colors are very important to me. They can define the mood of a person, they can also create a specific aura or energy in the atmosphere. Colors form an integral part of our lives. The spectacular hues have varying effects on human nature and mind. For example, most people associate the color orange with warmth.

Please keep reading for more on the Blue Edition. 💙