I started my day in a New York Way. A bagel, coffee and orange juice! I was particularly happy as I was greeted by a man, similar to the age of my Grandad. The first thing he said to me was, would you like a cup of coffee in his New York accent. And I instantly thought of my Grandad saying how much he loved listening to them talk and saying those exact words to me before I left the UK. We enjoyed a conversation, in which he said he would love to visit London, and that us Brits are terribly polite and it always rains. I think I agreed with him about our unpredictable weather. As he set off onto 34th Street, I continued to enjoy my breakfast.
In my blog today, I am inviting you to travel with me around the beautiful streets of Harlem. It’s funny, when I said I was going to visit Harlem to people before coming to New York, responses were cautious, many were saying ‘oh Harlem’s rough, why do you want to go there’.
And I can honestly say, this stereotype that exists around Harlem is wrong. People seem a little fixated on the events of the 80′s if you ask me!
Anyway, today was particularly cold, but I made my way up to The Museum of New York with friends, and we met our tour guide JD.
We started on our way to Harlem and he started to tell us about Hip – Hop, which of course was born in New York. Hip Hop’s official birthday is August 11th, 1973. The movement was created by a girl named Cindy Campbell, who held a party with massive speakers, in which the sound could be heard 4 blocks away east, west, south and north of the location of the party. EVERYONE, heard about this party, and were keen to see if there would be another one. So Cindy Campbell took the party outside, and flocks of people traveled up to Harlem to get involved. That was it, Hip Hop was born.
Now Harlem is a very cultured place, bursting with creativity. It’s beautiful. Apart of Hip Hop is graffiti. Graffiti can exist within a variety of forms, such as political or gang graffiti. Each year, just before the new academic year, this one school in Harlem hosts a day in which graffiti artists paint onto a space on the wall in the playground.
The school uses this day to raise money for charity, music is blaring away on the streets, everybody is having a good time. I started to get this chilled out feeling. I learnt that a graffiti gang called the Tax Crew owned the outside wall of the playground, and other artists would paint over their work, and the Tax Crew would return, thus provoking graffiti wars. I also learnt why there are numbers next to some names, if there was more than one person with the same name, they would write the block they lived on next to their name. Or, they would have a write off, and whoever was judged to have the best work, would get number 1 next to their name, and the other person, number 2. It’s funny because graffiti used to be illegal, but here is New York, embracing the creative talent of its people.
Along with graffiti, you have the dance with Hip Hop. Now many people believe this to be ‘break dancing’. However, this is not the correct term. The term break dancing was devised by the media, whom tried to understand the way people in hip hop moved. Infact, if you were dancing, you’d be a breaker, a breaking boy or girl, or b boys or b girls. And the best dancers are Korean.
This store used to be the biggest Hip Hop club.
Now you probably are wondering why, as a fashion student, I’m wondering around Harlem. Well, I was started to notice how brands may tap into the culture of Harlem. For example, Sephora and graffiti nails…
Now I’m not suggesting that Harlem was a direct inspiration, but whilst on the trip, I had to act as a brand researcher and find areas that culturally and visually, a brand could tap into. And all I’m saying is, in Harlem, there is plenty of scope to do this. For example, Alexander Wang and Azealia Banks, an american rapper and singer from Harlem. The singer collaborated with the brand to produce a campaign for a crop top. Again, a brand tapping into the culture and cool or Harlem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlhPf–Fgp4 And by doing this, Alexander Wang gains the equity of Harlem and all it has to other.
Another singer that has associated with Harlem is Lil Wayne, who has produced some of his music videos in the city. In particular, in front of the Carter building, and funnily enough, his last name is Carter. And by discussing rappers, you’ve guessed it, rap is very much apart of Hip Hop.
Harlem was also stimulating politically. The Theresa Hotel saw speeches of Martin Luther King and Malcom X.
After finishing the tour, I started to make my way to the subway, and witnessing the diversity in culture was amazing. People had music playing from speakers in the street, people were dressed in a variety of cool styles. I am so glad I got to experience the beauty of the place, thank you Harlem!
I spent the rest of my day at The Guggenheim Art Gallery. This motivated and inspired me in a different, but significant way. I really enjoyed the exhibition which was Picasso, Black and White.
Regular themes started form to me. Picasso’s desire for Marie-Thérèse and infidelity. The use of sculpture and elaborate forms, naturalistic portraits and greco – roman sculpture highlights natural beauty.
But he also produced work around the themes of poverty and loneliness. And it got me thinking about today, and our economic climate suffering, many out of work, subject to poverty. And I guess the world seems like a cruel hard and lonely place now, which can relate to Picasso’s era. His used subdued palettes, which could inspire designers in their collections.
Cubism was also another theme of Picasso, and I started to make links from this Gallery, to MoMa, and wondered if designers and brands may start to tap into the worlds of Abstract art and cubism. These thoughts were also supported by the fact Kandinsky was also on display at the Guggenheim.
Also, the theme of family and motherhood were prominent within his work. Finally there was a theme of the second world war, which lead to ideas of oppression and evil, contrasting against innocence and purity within his work. And the desire for liberation from those evils.
I found I took a lot from the display.
I concluded my evening eating just outside Bloomingdales and paying a visit to Dylan’s Candy store.