Most generations have a playground trend, like kendamas or silly bands, that spread through schools like a wildfire. Millennials in America were obsessed with beaded crafts, from lizard shaped keychains, friendship bracelets to handmade purses that could barely hold a wallet. Every kid either beaded or knew someone who did. And like most of these typical kids’ crafting trends, it was expected to be nothing but a nostalgic memory once you left school. But, fashion designer Susan Alexandra refused to let the fun, vibrant appeal of this craft go to waste. 

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Spirituality, sexuality and Americana don’t usually go hand in hand. The terms can at first seem contradictory, but American musician Sufjan Stevens combines them as his influences, along with folk and indie rock, to create a wholly unique sound that not even he can replicate from album to album. The Musician is perhaps best known for his soundtrack for the 2017 film, “Call Me By Your Name,” where his song “Mystery of Love” was later performed at the Oscars, but Stevens has been around for decades, making critically acclaimed music that speaks on deeply personal topics, despite Stevens being a private person outside of his music. As Stevens stated in a 2015 interview with the London-based magazine Uncut, “You have to cast out your demons and rebel against your traditions, but you always have to crawl back to the motherland.” Stevens’ music pushes and pulls from his surroundings, but he is always tied to his own histories and traditions. 

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Fashion is an artistic business that’s hard to be objective about. It is virtually impossible to not form an opinion on, and it comes with more than its fair share of skeletons in the closet. Fashion requires models to adhere to rigorous body regimens, limited diets, and maintain a short shelf life; previous fashion model Stella Duval told the New York Times, “I see models who are 13, 14, 15. I’ve had someone tell me that she hadn’t eaten for two days because she didn’t know where to go to eat. I saw girls doing lingerie at 14.”

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In most recent years, the conversation on social media has been heavily focused on women empowerment. Naturally, this comes into the music scene. Most young women know the empowering anthems “New Rules” and “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa to help get them over breakups and exes. Popular female artist Dua Lipa lets women let it all out through her songs.

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In July, Pinterest created a list on their daily inspiration page of Black artists and creators to look out for. Among the list of artists, there was a photographer who took her still images and added on different materials like gold. The picture posted to Pinterest was of a young Black girl from  “The Redemption” collection by Photographer Tawny Chatmon, in which the girl had unapologetically natural hair with extra elements to essentiate her beauty. 

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