I think out of all the brands, this was my oldest brothers favourite! I kid you not, there would be days that I’d see him in head to toe ROCAWEAR. I have the photos to prove it but I don’t want him to hate me hahaha. From its beginnings, ROCAWEAR planned on being the biggest player in this game we call fashion – but more specifically streetwear. They were on the way to becoming an international company that would compete with the biggest brands of our generation. I am talking Supreme, Dsquared, Comme des Garcon, bathing ape etc. So my question is, where did it all go wrong? Right now ROCAWEAR should be dominating the streetwear scene, we should be looking to them for our urban style outfits, not the likes of Givenchy and off white.
This brand had so much potential because ROCAWEAR was more than just your average fashion brand but a lifestyle. A lifestyle that everyone aspired to – one including; private jets, yachts, and penthouse suites but on top of that, it was also a community that was all about goodwill, and never forgetting your roots. That is what ROCAWEAR stood for. Style, music, the high life, sex appeal. They instinctively knew the definition of the latest trends and fashion because they lived them. From the streets to the design studio, they knew trust started with the people, so that’s where they took their inspiration from. They watched the trends on the New York City streets, then translated these into fresh looks that rocked that fashion world. Showing up on the runways in Milan, New York, London and Paris, ROCAWEAR introduced a new, casual glamour with a streetwise sensibility. They didn’t just sell clothes, they sold an image—and the brand took off, becoming one of the hottest in 90s fashion and an international sensation!
This was ROCAWEARS 20th anniversary collection;
The crazy thing is that I don’t hate the collection, everything about it actually has potential. But it’s the same thing with Akademiks. The entire team need to be FIRED. The design team, the branding team, marketing team, social media team. EVERYONE. They all need to get in the bing because how can they disgrace a brand that was once the king of the game like this!! Personally, I think if Jay Z gives me the opportunity to handle his brand, with my team of creatives, I could take ROCAWEAR to different levels. And the crazy thing is that I’m literally not even being cocky. I’m just speaking straight facts.
Times like this where people are coming to support black-owned brands, where streetwear and urban wear is dominating the scene, where 90s fashion is prominent in everyone’s wardrobes. Right now ROCAWEAR should be taking advantage but they’re here just making clothes for the purpose of making clothes. There is ZERO passion and that’s the thing that pisses me off. You can tell that no detailed market research has been done whatsoever because these are clothes that my dad and uncles would wear, not people of this generation. It’s sad really. The core values of ROCAWEAR that I previously describe in this post no longer live in the brand we see today.
Now let’s compare it to past campaigns
ARE YOU GUYS SEEING THE DIFFERENCE!!!!! Look at the passion that was placed in their old campaigns! Look at the lifestyle, the brand image, everything. I mean they had Naomi model for them yet in 2019 they think it’s appropriate to make DJ Khaled the brand ambassador??? You really can’t write this shit. I just pray that ROCAWEAR finally wake up one day and become the brand that it was set to be back when it first launched because really and truly this is not it!
Hey! It’s me, Ivis and I am just here to remind you that athleisurewear is still very much a thing and that’s on PERIODT!
I feel like as the years go by athleisurewear just keeps getting cuter and cuter and it’s getting to the point where I’m like, “the gym doesn’t deserve this outfit, EVERYONE needs to see it.” I don’t know what it is, but when I wear cute ‘gym wear’, I really feel like I’m that BITCH. Do you know what I mean? And the thing I love most about athleisure wear is it’s versatility; I can wear it to the gym, I can wear it to my lectures, whilst running errands or even use it as loungewear at home and no matter where I choose to wear it I’ll still look cute AF.
I thought this trend had hit its peak back in 2017 with Vetements and champion fueling the entire thing but boy was I wrong! In a sense for celebrity fashion it hit its peak around that time, however, now mainstream fashion has jumped on the hype and I am seeing a lot more people sporting the look (pun intended). Never has it ever been more acceptable than it is now to wear your workout clothes outside of the gym.
Two weeks ago I spoke about the possibility of buying an entire city, so I thought why don’t we take it up a notch and go that extra mile by purchasing an island??? Naomi Campbell and Richard Branson both have one, so why can’t you? Think about it, that island could be your holiday home or even better, you could turn it into a resort for people to rent out. The possibilities are all up to you, to be honest! You could even get it as a gift for a loved one, Naomi Campbell received her island vacation home for her 41st birthday from her Russian billionaire boyfriend Vladislav Doronin shaped like the Egyptian Eye of Horus on a location known as Cleopatra Island in Turkey’s Gulf of Gökova.
“The island is always a dream: it’s not something easy, it’s not something banal. It’s something special,” says John Bracco, sales director at Immobilsarda, an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate. Bracco, whose business is mostly conducted in the waters around Italy, says that islands offer privacy and a connection with nature. In the Mediterranean, he adds, there is a scarcity value: “It’s not like in the Caribbean where you have hundreds.” Wherever you buy there are complications. Off Italy, almost all islands are state-owned and not for sale, says Bracco. Those that often have strict regulations governing development. Nonetheless, he says, “there are still people who want to buy islands they can’t build on”. Purchases in much of the Caribbean are governed by British law, making transactions relatively straightforward. The freeholds to many are owned by holding companies so transactions take the form of share sales, says de Mallet Morgan.
So how do you actually purchase an island?
Islands are on sale all over the world for less than $100,000, however, it’s, of course, common sense that islands that go for as cheap as $100,00 USD are ofc course probably the same sq metre as you current house. Just like looking for a house,there’s an island to suit everyone’s tastes – you can filter it to size, price range, location and of course the distance from the mainland. Apparently, bargains can be scooped up across the globe but central America, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden and Canada offer the best deals.
Farhad Vladi, president of brokerage Vladi Private Islands, advises buyers to hunt in areas with high supply. He has islands costing as much as $5 million on his books but says you can pay much less and still own a great destination.
“You still have a quality island, very usable and very enjoyable,” Vladi said.
Here are some tips for first-time buyers:
1) Make sure the island isn’t too far from the mainland. Vladi, whose brokerage manages over one thousand islands, doesn’t list properties that are more than a kilometre from shore for ease of access.
2) Check it’s set up with basic services. Islands usually rely on generators or submarine cables for power.
I can’t believe I’m not going on vacation at all this year, it still hasn’t quite hit me yet and I think the moment it actually does I’ll go insane. I mean who doesn’t like a holiday? Time to refresh, be at peace. This staying in the country for an entire year thing isn’t really my vibe. SOMEONE NEEDA TO PUT AN END TO THIS AND GET ME OUT OF THIS COUNTRY!!!
For some of you, online shopping has become an addiction and I’m only here to make it worse!
If you don’t go to the airport with a carry on or as we call it in the U.K. then I’d assume that you are a certified serial killer. How can you just go on holiday and not have any hand luggage?? You gotta be prepared, what if your actual luggage gets lost or something? where do we go from there? Ever since I started travelling myself, I always but the most valuable items in my carryon/ my favourite pieces to wear because lord knows if I lost an entire suitcase and ended up with nothing to wear on a holiday, I would genuinely murder somebody.
For when we are ready to travel, here are some of my favourites;
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the coronavirus pandemic has taken a huge hit on the fashion industry – especially in terms of luxury fashion. Donatella Versace herself said, “THE WORLD IS OVER AS WE KNOW IT.” And I cannot say that I disagree with her, COVID19 has put a stop on so many things; fashion weeks have been cancelled and moved to virtual runways, designers like YSL have pulled out, stores have been forced to close, orders have been cancelled, factories have shut or repurposed to make PPE. Fashion, for the first time in history, was and has been put on hold for the foreseeable future. But was this a blessing in disguise? Did the industry need this to rethink their purpose? What is the future of fashion? What will emerge? Could a more responsible sector — one less damaging to the environment be the future?
For the last few years, seasonal trends have slowly been disappearing with designers choosing more classical items for their runways and collections, items which can be worn all year round, items that we would all call staple pieces, items that stay on store shelves longer and can be sold for years rather than just a season. Think about all the trends that have made a come back in the last few years and have stayed dominating the fashion scene for not only a season but for the last 5 years – think blazers, cycling shorts, leather jackets, flared jeans – staple items that everyone needs! With the pandemic, I ‘m sure that more designers will realise the importance of this as I can imagine that they have so much excess stock that won’t even be sellable after this is all over because, they’ll essentially be out of fashion, by the time this is over, we’ll be going into a new season and what’s fashionable will be different – Burberry famously burnt £28.6m in bags, clothes and perfume in 2017 to prevent them from being stolen or sold for too little (a practice it has since halted). So what’s going to happen to unsold items that can only be found and sourced in luxury boutiques because last time I checked the likes of Chanel, Dior and Hermes don’t do online delivery?
VOGUE GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS
I recently watched an episode of vogue’s global conversations and they brought up some very important points that we need to assess when it comes to this industry;
We Still Need Catwalk Shows—But We Also Need to Invest In Digital Experiences
Fashion Needs to Slow Down, and Designers Can Lead the Way
Sustainability Is A Growing Conversation, But Action Is Needed, Too
Now’s The Time To Share Your Creativity With The World, Especially If You’re A Young Designer
The Industry Has To Change, And Much Of It Comes Down To Doing Less
To summarise for you guys; ideally, fashion weeks will be smaller mainly because many designers won’t actually be able to host them and magazines won’t be able to afford to send editors to attend them, instead most of the seats will be filled with influencers. It’s sad really, that something like this has caused such a detrimental effect on an industry I love.
In addition, unable to host showroom appointments, brands will invest in better showroom software, leaving buyers with less reason to travel in the long-term which will be good in helping to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint. And to no surprise, shopping habits will change – with less disposable income, consumers will be more conscious of what they buy, treating luxury items as investment pieces that will serve them for years — or at least hold their resale value. The shift in spending from high-end handbags to health — skincare, supplements, boutique fitness classes — already on the rise pre-pandemic, will continue. Online shopping will become more of a habit. Similar to the 2008 recession, there will be more support for buying second-hand and directly from small businesses who manufacture responsibly whilst others will turn to fast fashion for cheap thrills.
Welcome to the last part of my two weeks in Europe 🙁
Barcelona was everything that I had ever imagined it to be and so much more, I honestly cannot wait for this pandemic to be over so I can go and live my best life in this city again! Like most girls my age, Cheetah girls two introduced me to Barcelona, I remember me and my friends always used to say that when we go to Barcelona together one day we would recreate the “strut” video from the film. Sadly, I didn’t get the chance last year, we were short of another member, but rest assured I will recreate that video in the next 3 years, even if it kills me!
Barcelona was so incredible I don’t even know where to start. It was the perfect way to end our road trip! The people – 10/10, the vibe – 10/10, the weather – 10/10, the food – 10/10 and the people 10/10! We loved every single minute in Barcelona, some of much that we were willing to sleep on the beach for two more nights before going back to Luxembourg, however, we later found out that it was illegal (loool) and thank god because I’m sure that we all know from my blog that I would not last a day in a normal prison let alone foreign one!
So our air bnb was on the beach, however, it was located outside of the city but still within Arenys de mar. Which if you are going to something like this, I would highly recommend. Obviously accommodation outside the cities was a lot cheaper and the great thing about that was the fact that we really got to experience all the different cultures in a more authentic way if that makes sense. Because when you think about it, most people that go to Barcelona are tourists so the city is obviously going to cater to what tourists want to see, but with us being outside it, I just feel like everything was just a little more Spanish! Do you know what I mean?? And do you know how I know this?? Because the sangria in central Barcelona was a lot more watered down, a lot more expensive and did not taste like the one from the bars outside our apartment! And the same went for the food!
Every single day we spent in Barcelona was incredible! Days filled with sand, sun, good people and of course SANGRIA. My favourite day by far had to have been the boat ride! We met so the best people who had some amazing travel stories to tell. They even inspired me to continue doing my blog, to continue telling my story of how I see the world and that’s the reason as to why travelling will always hold such a special place in my heart, it’s so weird how strangers you meet during your travels can have such a huge impact on the way you see life.
I honestly cannot express to you how amazing this entire trip was for me, as I am writing out this last post in my series I am literally in tears. God has blessed me abundantly in the last 3 years and I cannot thank him enough for providing me with this life. I know that we’re in quarantine rn and you may be finding it hard but trust me when I say that gratitude is key to life. Although we may not always see it, we all have at least one thing to be grateful for! Practise gratitude daily and see how much of a positive impact it will have on your life! How can you expect opportunities or blessings to come your way if you cannot be already grateful for what’s in from of you?
In case you didn’t get the hint, I’d 100% recommend Barcelona!
Do you know how lucky the Kardashians are to have basically filmed every significant moment in their lives, the only difference with this experience is the fact that it’d just be for my eyes only! From the minute I started watching reality TV, I have always been obsessed with the idea of documenting everything for the special moments in my life, for example from the minute I get engaged I would love to film the whole process from my husband planning out the engagement to executing it and then us filming the whole wedding planning process to us walking down the aisle. I just think it’d just be so beautiful thing to look back on and to show our children through a film. Like this would be more than your average wedding video!
This is not even sponsored, I just adore truly experiences because they offer the impossible, before I discovered their site back in 2017, I didn’t even know that experiences like this existed. People say money cannot buy you happiness and yes that’s true but look at the experiences that money can buy you, the possibilities are endless! Even thinking about one day purchasing this entire experience for myself literally gives me shivers, I am so excited – from the minute my future husband and I begin talking about marriage I will mention this to him, how he’ll get an entire camera crew past me without ruining the surprise I didn’t know, but that’s for him to figure out!
Originally, the experience is meant to be a custom-made cinematic experience with your friends/ family, in which you get to play out your favourite film, TV series or book with the expertise of a professional and experienced film crew, including professional actors, stuntmen and scriptwriters and you even get to pick a European location for your movie, with all travel, accommodation insurance and medical support organised. However, that’s not really me hence why I’d rather make it into like a reality tv special kind of thing to commemorate the special moments in my life. I know it’s a bit extra and over the top, but that’s who I am, everyone that knows mt knows that if I am going to do something I will go all out!
Fun Fact; Akademiks is well and truly still alive and unlike the other brands that I have included in this series, I couldn’t find any sufficient information on the brand – it’s like it never existed, even the pictures I saw, they did not look good enough to put on my blog! The only information I could find on it was on Wikipedia and we all know how unreliable that is as a web source. I have spent the last week trying to ensure that this will be as informative as the rest, but I had no luck, so I thought why not give you guys the reasons why today I would not buy from Akademiks. Let’s just say that they have a lot of rebranding to do!
The label was founded by two brothers, Donwan and Emmett Harrell in 1999, along with a group of partners. They gained popularity just like any other brand, through celebrities wearing their clothes – the brand is described as the intersection of art, music and fashion. Worn by style icons including Jay-Z, Kanye West and tastemakers worldwide. The collection is always evolving and is always first to set the trend with distinctive graphics, and fabric innovation.
Akademiks, an intentional spelling of the word “academics” makes a lot of sense for a brand that rose to fame in the time that it did. This was the era that men believed it was acceptable to mix preppy styles and urban fashion together, I still can’t believe that people were pairing Ralph Lauren polo’s with dropped baggy jeans, has everyone stopped dropping their jeans or is that still a thing? I originally thought that this was the main idea behind the name because that is what makes sense to me, however, it actually turns out that the name Akademiks was based on the idea that education was essential. This was as we know it, is, of course, an American brand among the urban legends that I mentioned in the first blog post of this series, with devotees of hip hop music, art and fashion but why did the reign of Akademiks not see past 2005?
On the front page of their site, you’ll see that “Akademiks continues to add to the celebrity roster of brand enthusiasts.” However, I highly disagree, when was the last time you heard someone say I’m wearing Akademiks, me, myself being the fashion enthusiast I am, I couldn’t find anything to wearable on their and everyone knows that I am the queen of making a bad item fashionable, but that just wasn’t possible with this brand. They have not evolved correctly for the times, in all honesty, I am surprised that they are still active because really and truly who is buying from them?? As you can all see from the screenshots below they are still in the early 2000s era of fashion, they are not in 2020 like rest of us. Personally, I would love to speak to the in house designer and really ask them what is going on because this is not it, right now it’s so easy to brand as fashion label – with menswear, simplicity goes a long way and they just have not understood this.
Then we have their Instagram which has not been active in 156 weeks, which is basically 3 years. As we speak influencer and social media marketing is now part of the marketing mix so the fact that they are not utilising this is a shame really, because people of my age demographic who grew up with social media, most of the clothing brands I wear is because I have seen my favourite influencers wearing them! During the 2000s Akademiks utilised celebrities as they were the influencers back then so why are they not doing the same now. They also have to ask themselves why the same celebrities that wore their clothes back then, are not wearing them now and the answer is simply because they have lacked, they don’t wanna change – look at fubu, they have adapted to the times and are still making sales! If it’s money, why still sell if you cannot brand/ market yourself. They simply need to shut down and that’s that.
Is any outfit ever complete without the perfect bag? I don’t think so! For all of my fashionable babes on a budget, this post is for you. For all the girls who know the importance a bag adds to a fit, this is for you. And of course, for all my designer bag lovers who don’t want to break the bank this corona season, this one is also for you.
The Designer dupes you need in your life;
From the Bottega pouch dupe to the Louis Vuitton multi pochette dupe. We at PLT have got you covered …..
Louis Vuitton’s Multi-Pochette bag has been spotted draping on every ‘It’ girl across the globe and we are loving it – as it stands this is the most in-demand designer bag ATM! But I mean how can it not be? The 2019 edition of the bag is a new take on the ’90s classic and you can get your very own dupe right here!
I think we can all agree with me when I say that the Dior Saddle bag dominated 2019. If you do not have a shoulder bag in your wardrobe by now then I honestly do not know what you’re doing with your life!!!
If you don’t know about Bottega Veneta then where the hell have you been this past year? This is the brand of the moment and every dupe I see, I will get because look at this bag! It is to die for.
Is it a clutch? Is it a shoulder bag? Or is it a crossbody bag? This Bottega Cassette dupe can be anything you want it to be! Add some colour and fun into your life with this fun little piece.
I kid you not, this to me looks like an exact pouch, you literally cannot tell the difference! This is the perfect bag to add class to your outfit, because guess what, you are the 2020 Blair Waldorf ?
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