New Store Openings at Ponce City Market

On November 14th, industry-leading lifestyle apparel brand Alternative Apparel will open a pop-up shop, which will be their fourth brick-and- mortar store, inside Ponce City Market—Atlanta’s nationally acclaimed, mixed-use community hub. With current store locations in California and New York, Alternative Apparel is excited to bring their motto of soft, simple and sustainable with the opening of the temporary Atlanta store – the city home to their office headquarters.

Since 1995, Alternative Apparel has set out to re-create that soft, lived-in look and feel of a favorite vintage tee while seeking to inspire alternative ways of thinking and empowering positive change in the community. Offering the best in everyday wardrobe staples, each piece embodies comfort, craftsmanship, community and authenticity. Each piece is sold with a sustainable future in mind. While sourcing the finest fabrics for softness and durability, Alternative incorporates organic and recycled materials wherever possible. More than 70 percent of the garments are made with sustainable materials and processes. Over the past 21 years, Alternative Apparel has evolved to a lifestyle brand, offering a complete collection of casual clothing and accessories for men and women around the globe. Atlanta shoppers will now be able to browse their offerings through spring 2017 in person at the 720-square- foot showroom located in the outside retail portion – across from Alex and Ani – at Ponce City Market.

"We've been in love with Ponce City Market since day one. The rehabilitation of an important landmark, the revitalization of the creative community around it, and what we think is the most exciting dining and shopping experience in the city”, says Alternative Apparel CEO Evan Toporek. “What better place, in our own hometown, to connect with our customers and bring them our comfortable collection of tees, sweatshirts and other hand picked items”.

Alternative Apparel at Ponce City Market will pay homage to their Atlanta roots. Designed by local artist Gavin Bernard and marking “Designed in Atlanta” in the storefront window, the pop-up will feature their current collection of men and women’s everyday apparel and accessories composed of their own products and curated items from outside brands they love with a similar mindset, including Atlanta-based vendors Melting Sun, Little Barn Apothecary, Neva Opet, INK + ALLOY, and more. Alternative Apparel at Ponce City Market will celebrate their soft opening on Monday, November 14th and will hold weekly in-store events.

On November 18th, revolutionary lifestyle brand Chubbies is bringing their unique-yet- beloved brand to Atlanta with a pop-up store in Ponce City Market. Through the end of January, San Francisco-based Chubbies is excited to offer their festive, fun and distinctive offerings to Atlanta shoppers.

After four close friends realized that most clothing companies were all about abiding by “fashion” norms, they set out to revolutionize the clothing industry. With just a handful of pairs of shorts, a vision to do something different and inspiration from their dads’ 70s and 80s attire, these friends and Stanford graduates launched Chubbies in 2011 on two fundamental premises: that pants represent the work week and that the state of shortswear was dire. Fast forward a few years and the brand’s collection of short shorts has become a phenomenon for men’s clothing, or as their motto states, a Weekend Revolution.

Due to the rapid success of their shorts, which are available in everything from khaki to holiday-themed Santa shorts, Chubbies has expanded to offer swim trunks, Hawaiian shirts, half-zip sweatshirts and more.

The Weekend Revolution spreads to Atlanta this holiday season with the Chubbies pop-up shop on the second floor of Ponce City Market. In addition to a vast collection of their signature clothing pieces, the showroom will feature arcade games, a tiki bar and lounge area, exclusive accessories and free koozies.

“Atlanta is one of our top markets, so it felt completely natural to select the city for our 2016 holiday pop- up”, says Jon-Mark Craddock, Chubbies’ Retail Operations Manager. “Not to mention, Ponce City Market is one of the coolest storefront set-ups we’ve ever seen with such an incredible selection, making it a one-stop destination for all holiday shoppers. We’re thrilled to be here!”

Chubbies will launch their pop-up at Ponce City Market with a Grand Opening Party in their showroom on Friday, November 18th from 5PM – 10PM. Then, they will kick off the weekend every Friday at 5PM with a weekly Happy Hour complete with free beverages, hot dogs and koozies.

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Theater of Self: Daniel Lismore and Bin Feng SCAD Exhibition

Theater of Self, a SCAD-curated exhibition featuring ensembles styled by London-based artist and designer Daniel Lismore and photography by SCAD graduate student Bin Feng (M.F.A. photography), will be on view Dec. 1–13 at 1601 N. Miami Ave., Miami, Florida.

An exploration of constructed identity through fantasy and materiality, Theater of Self is a joint exhibition of fashion and photography by London-based artist, stylist and designer Daniel Lismore and SCAD graduate student Bin Feng (M.F.A. photography).

Lismore, who was named “London’s Most Outrageous Dresser” by Vogue for his outré style and wildly imaginative wardrobe, transforms everyday objects into living art. He juxtaposes the luxurious and unusual —charity-shop finds, vintage custom fabrics, discarded theatrical props and more — to express his unique sartorial vision. These life-size sculptural ensembles, each worn by the artist at one time, are reflections of his own multidimensional identity and are a tapestry of his journey to his true self. Theater of Self features more than 20 of Lismore’s most avant-garde, theatrically designed creations fashioned from his collection of couture and ephemera.

Complementing Lismore’s work are the cinematically styled self-portraits of Bin Feng, a SCAD graduate student and Shanghai-born artist living in the U.S. Staging himself in dramatic scenes, Feng captures the ethos of the elusive “American dream.” His carefully constructed tableaus make powerful statements about class, race and gender in Western society from an Eastern male perspective.

Theater of Self is co-curated by Rafael Gomes, SCAD director of fashion exhibitions, and Ben Tollefson, assistant curator of SCAD exhibitions.

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PUMA Drops the Latest Fierce Trainer- Adding Fierceness to Your Training Routine. Worn by Kylie Jenner

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Kylie Jenner wears the new Fierce KRM

Global Sports Brand PUMA continues to slay with innovative performance gear merged with contemporary styling. Dropping this month is the latest style of the brand’s next level training shoes, the PUMA Fierce KRM.

First introduced in April and worn by style icon Kylie Jenner, the PUMA Fierce features a lightweight lace-less design that mixes performance technology and street-worthy style. The PUMA Fierce has a demi height slip-on construction, a supportive midsole, and flexible outsole allowing for fast, multi-directional movements. The style’s performance functionality and distinct design will carry the wearer from their latest training class to the street.

There’s not a fitness routine that the Fierce KRM couldn’t handle. It works with you – never against you – through every workout. It’s inspired by dance movements and designed for rigorous training: a lightweight construction, supportive high collar, and full length flex groove for stronger moves. In addition to its fierceness, it exudes beauty. The upper material features an exquisite 3-dimensional kurim lace-like pattern intertwined with the Fierce’s trademark neoprene construction. Available in four sophisticated colourways - Black, Winetasting, Olive and Whisper White, you are sure to rock the gym in style.

The PUMA Fierce KRM drops in PUMA.com, PUMA stores and selected retailers worldwide starting November 1st.  In Europe the Fierce KRM is available exclusively from the 31st October in Black, Winetasting and Olive at Footlocker EU stores and online at www.footlocker.eu

Gigi Hadid Joins Forces with Reebok to Tell Next Phase of Be More Human Campaign

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Gigi Hadid, style icon, fitness advocate and trendsetter, joins Reebok’s community of inspiring women as the newest face of the brand’s #PerfectNever movement; a powerful and inspirational call to action that asks women around the world to celebrate the beauty of imperfection and champions Reebok’s intrinsic message of self-betterment.

Together, Gigi and Reebok will challenge women to use physical fitness as an escape to drown out all of the negativity that surrounds them by deploying the three-point principles of the Reebok delta that puts forth the social, physical and mental benefits of fitness.

As an international supermodel Hadid is no stranger to the pressures of perfection placed on women, living under the constant scrutiny of a global audience of critics.  It is through fitness that Hadid has found her tranquility. “Working out isn’t only physical for me. It’s mental. It helps me escape the noise in my head. It’s the only time my mind goes quiet.” shares Hadid.  “When I was a competitive athlete, I used to be so focused on being perfect that my coaches would take me out of competing all together.  I’d focus on my mistakes which would breed more missteps - a domino effect. Until I learned to change the channel, to re-focus, re-set. It was my mistakes, my imperfections that motivated me most.”

Learning to “change the channel” and take control, Hadid discovered that it was in fact these failures and setbacks that helped her improve – accepting them and using them as motivation to better herself. Hadid will now work with Reebok to motivate women to accept their own setbacks and imperfections by embracing their inner strength, grit and determination.

Praising Gigi’s influence on women and women’s fashion in particular, Corinna Werkle, General Manager of the Training Business Unit at Reebok states, “Gigi is setting the standards of modern style across the world; her ability to fuse fashion and fitness together inspires people globally. The fashion icon constantly pushes the boundaries by not being afraid to take risks and be different. Working with Reebok, Gigi will empower women by challenging them to express themselves to the fullest through bold, fearless style and to be confident enough to embrace their uniqueness.”

Reebok’s partnership with Hadid marks the second phase in the #PerfectNever movement’s chapter. July 2016 marked its debut, led by a powerful campaign video featuring athlete Ronda Rousey.  The poignant video captured Rousey at her most raw and real, as she shattered the illusions of perfection and empowered women to be the best version of themselves through embracing and learning from their imperfections. Gigi and Reebok will work together in 2016 and beyond to further champion this message.

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RIGBY & PELLER AT PHIPPS PLAZA HOSTS 'FREE THE GIRLS' BRA DRIVE THIS OCTOBER

Rigby & Peller, the acclaimed global lingerie brand best known for its lingerie styling, is hosting a bra drive at its Atlanta flagship store in Phipps Plaza this October 2016 to benefit Free the Girls. 

A national non-profit organization, Free the Girls works to provide jobs to survivors of sex trafficking in developing countries by helping them make connections and earn a steady income in a safe environment through selling bras. Atlanta women simply need to drop off their gently worn bras Saturday, October 15th through Monday, October 31st and they will receive $10 off their next bra purchase at Rigby & Peller. For more information about Free the Girls, visit freethegirls.org. 

Throughout its 75 years, Rigby & Peller has evolved into one of the most talked about global lingerie brands and has dressed some of the world’s most iconic women, from rock royalty to crowned heads. Offering carefully curated collections of exquisitely-made lingerie, their boutiques create a luxurious and reassuring atmosphere for style and fit appointments, which are carried out by highly trained expert lingerie stylists. Rigby & Peller’s aim is that each client leaves their boutique feeling confident and beautiful; like the very best version of themselves. 

The Atlanta flagship store, formerly Intimacy, will be celebrating its one-year anniversary October 7th through 9th with a special shopping experience. Guests are invited to sip prosecco, enjoy sweet treats and more during their style and fit appointments. For more information, visit rigbyandpeller.com. 

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UMANO Clothing - Fashion + Art

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Alex Torrey Umano Clothing & E. Vincent Martinez

This is the story of two brothers and child artists who are making a difference in the fashion world and having an impact socially. During a visit to Athens, Ga, Umano Clothing co-founder, Alex Torrey, shared with me his (and his brother's) inspiring success story. They've been featured on Shark Tank and Vogue Magazine and (most importantly) in the lives of 100K + elementary school children.

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