Swedish filmmaker Fredrik Gertten’s Bananas! artfully relates the true stories of a handful of these plantation workers as they battle the Dole Food Co. in court.

Represented by famed Los Angeles lawyer Juan “Accidentes” Dominguez, the workers sued Dole for using a pesticide known as Nemagon on its bananas in Nicaragua during the 1970s, even after the chemical was banned in other countries across the world.

Though the chemical has been proven to cause a wide range of health issues, Dominguez chose to focus on the cases in which exposure to the chemical caused sterility.

As the film follows Dominguez’s journey through Nicaragua to talk to some of the affected Dole workers first-hand and subsequently fight for their rights, it also provides a very intimate look at the heart-wrenching circumstances and stories of the employees that were unknowingly exposed to the harmful chemicals.

By piecing together recent interviews with Nicaraguan men, women and children and footage of what went on at the country’s banana plantations more than 30 years ago, Gertten is able to shed light on a side of the global food industry that many do not know exists.

He shows machinery fumigating the fields with the toxic chemicals, the formula dripping into puddles that the workers would then walk through barefoot, as well as men pulling hordes of bananas across fields with a cable tied around their waist.  He shows men talking about how they always wanted to have children, but weren’t able to after working on the plantations and women who miscarried or bore babies with fatal birth defects as a result of their direct contact with the chemical.

Yet, as many of the Nicaraguans attest both in their conversations with Dominguez and in court, they were never warned about the potential harmful effects of exposure to Nemagon by the Dole authorities, nor were they instructed about how to protect themselves from these effects.

It is this injustice that Gertten captures so vividly and effectively throughout the film.  He does so, however, in a very fair, well-balanced manner.

As he intersperses footage from inside the courtroom with scenes of Nicaraguan heartbreak, he makes sure to include several scenes in which some of the plantation workers on the stand give a different story than they gave in their deposition, as pointed out by the opposing attorneys.  Viewers, then, are able to decide whether or not the plaintiffs suing Dole are telling the truth, much like the jury in the film does.

Also very effective throughout the film is the inclusion of the in-court testimonies of David DeLorenzo, President and CEO of Dole Food Co., whose involvement with the case runs deep as he was actually stationed in Nicaragua during the ’70s.  Though he is confronted with the issue multiple times in his cross examination, DeLorenzo is repeatedly unable to provide a valid reason for continuing the use of Nemagon on the Nicaraguan banana plantations after it was banned elsewhere.

While the initial ruling that was made on the 12 featured court cases is included in the film, Gertten is very careful to inform viewers that the issue is by no means closed.  Rather than depicting a resolution at the film’s end, the director makes it clear that neither the thousands of Nicaraguan workers affected by the toxic pesticides nor Dominguez are done fighting to right the Dole Food Co.’s wrongful actions.

Through his intelligently crafted documentary, Gertten not only tells a powerful story about the negligence of a large corporation in protecting the health of its employees, but he brings attention to an important issue that might make people think twice before picking up their next bunch of bananas or carton of juice with the name “Dole” on it.

This article was originally published in the Daily Trojan.

Both former chefs at the critically acclaimed Pizzeria Ortica in Orange County, Steve Samson and Zach Pollack have taken over the underground space that once housed Test Kitchen, a pop-up restaurant with constantly rotating chefs, and turned it into a source of more consistent cuisine.

Dimly lit by bulbs hanging above each reclaimed-wood table, the restaurant gives off a rustic, industrial vibe.

Its vast collection of wines, displayed in a high-ceiling glass encasement, adds to the ambience.

Although much of the menu requires some explanation, the pizzas are fairly self-explanatory.

Perhaps the restaurant’s specialty, the pizzas are the perfect size to be shared by a pair, or even devoured by one very hungry eater.

Among Sotto’s pizza offerings are the more standard marinara and margherita, as well as a pie topped with pork cheek and scallions; one topped with lardo, sunchokes and fennel and another topped with the interesting but delicious combination of sausage, broccoli, mozzarella and chilies.

The crust is baked to perfection, remaining fluffy but not overly doughy, with the perfect amount of crispness.

To create the perfect pizza, Samson and Pollack enlisted third-generation oven-maker Stefano Ferrara, who hails from Naples, to construct the massive, hand-built Neapolitan pizza oven residing in the restaurant’s kitchen.

The oven, one of less than 10 Ferrara has built around the country, guarantees any of the five pizzas on the menu will be cooked to perfection.

Besides pizza, the menu contains an array of other Italian options waiting to be explored, though it lacks staples like fettucine and tortellini.

Though their names give little insight into what the dishes listed under the headings “Small,” “Medium,” “Large” and “Pasta” actually are, the waiters are extremely helpful, providing both descriptions and personal recommendations.

My waiter recommended pittule pugliese, the quality of which proved his good taste.

The fried balls of dough topped with vincotto, which translates to “cooked wine” and is a dark, dense grape juice, and ricotta cheese provide the perfect combination of savory with a hint of sweet.

These might even be enjoyed at the end of the meal, acting as a good segue into the cannoli and other Italian desserts.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves: The “Medium,” “Large” and “Pasta” offerings have yet to be explored.

Mustard green and finocchietto minestra, a soup that contains faro, Calabrian chilies, pecorino and egg, is a standout in the menu’s medium plates section, along with the grilled pork meatballs and Devil’s Gulch pig coratella.

Fennel-crusted pork chop, veal brisket á la Genovese and bone-in lamb breast in agrodolce are some of the larger options.

Much like the rest of the menu, the pasta selection is far from standard.

The maharrones de pungiu is similar in substance to gnocchi and is topped with a sugo semplice, which translates to “simple sauce” — marinara with a Sotto twist.

For those seeking something a little more adventurous in the pasta realm, there is also squid ink fusilli lunghi with pistachios, bottarga and mint and toasted grain capunti with ragu bianco, a white meat-based sauce, black trumpet mushrooms and rapini greens.

The food, which boasts surprisingly reasonable prices considering the high quality and taste infused in every bite, can be complemented by one of Sotto’s specialty cocktails or a glass of wine from its lengthy list of bottles from Southern Italy and California.

With its unique menu, Sotto seems to have no trouble attracting customers.

Even after 9 p.m. on Saturday night — granted it was the restaurant’s opening weekend — the restaurant was packed.

So grab a few friends, make a reservation and take your tastebuds on a trip to the southern tip of Italy.

Sotto is located on 9575 West Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles.

This article was originally published in the Daily Trojan.

Designer Heidi Kim is the brains behind the brand, deciding to bring it to life after she moved from New York to the West Coast. Before her move, she held top design posts at labels such as Armani Exchange and Rock and Republic.

“There’s a great entrepreneurial spirit in Los Angeles, and being here just made me feel that starting my own label was kind of inevitable,” says Kim.

While Kim’s work with other trendsetting brands has undoubtedly influenced her own line, Strong & Dickerson’s inaugural collection has an aesthetic that is all its own. Described as a bit androgynous, the collection is inspired by early 20th-century explorers and travelers, featuring equestrian and work-wear detailing.

“I think androgyny is sexy,” says Kim. “The confidence and modern sexiness of a woman is emphasized even more by masculine clothing. But that’s not to say that there is nothing soft and feminine in the collection — there is. But they have an edge.”

Some of the collection’s standout pieces include a directional, lambskin, high-waisted, pleated pant, a classic trench dress with a cut-out to reveal an open back, and a washed cotton herringbone cape with leather trim and utility pockets. “Trapunto stitching, which is parallel stitching one-quarter to one-half inch apart, appears repeatedly throughout the collection,” says Kim.

“It’s a design detail that I associate with military uniforms, martial arts uniforms and traditional oriental clothing,” she adds. “I was inspired by the combination of the ethnic with utilitarian details.”

Though Kim’s current designs bring masculinity into the mix, they are for women, but that could soon change. She said future plans for the brand include a men’s collection, as well as accessories. She would also love to open stores that sell Strong & Dickerson exclusively, but for now her designs will be sold at retailers like Intermix, Saks, Revolve and Oak.

Based in Venice, Calif., Strong & Dickerson is named after a pair of developers who built the only canals in the Southern California city that managed to avoid being filled in during the Great Depression to cut costs.

“I love the combination of old and new, antique and modern, the past and the future,” she says. “I think the name Strong & Dickerson is evocative of that sense of history, and I hope the brand always has a feeling of a favorite piece of clothing — well-worn and well-loved, yet feels new and modern.”

stronganddickerson.com

This article was originally published in 944.

The carpet wasn’t the only thing that was red at this year’s pre-Oscar procession, so were many of the dresses that were elegantly worn down it.

None was more vibrant, however, than Anne Hathaway as she made her way into Hollywood’s Kodak Theater wearing a strapless, classic red Valentino gown, with the legendary designer Valentino Garavani on her arm. Such an honor was only appropriate for the actress who was co-hosting the 83^rd Academy Awards Sunday night.

At her side onstage was James Franco, who was also up for an award: Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in 127 Hours. Together, Hathaway, 28, and Franco, 32, were the youngest duo to host the show in its 83-year history.

The move from conventional to contemporary seemed to be a common theme at this year’s awards, further exemplified by the Facebook-inspired film’s eight nominations.

Of these nominations, The Social Network was awarded Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score and Best Editing.  Interestingly enough, Aaron Sorkin, who wrote the film’s screenplay, revealed on the red carpet that he does not have a Facebook himself.

“I’m not evangelical about not joining Facebook,” Sorkin said.  “The problem is, I probably wouldn’t know how to get there.  I wouldn’t know the keys to push.”

The Social Network’s musical score, which featured electronic sounds instead of a customary orchestra, was also a rather modern choice for the Academy.

“I was very impressed we actually won this with a very nontraditional sounding score,” said Trent Reznor, who, along with Atticus Ross, wrote the music for the film.

Also an advocate for the less traditional at the awards, Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich said that the inclusion of his film in the Best Picture category this year is a step in the right direction for the Academy.

“I think the fact that two years running now we have had animated films that have made it and received Best Picture nominations shows that the walls between live action and animation are becoming a bit more permeable,” Unkrich said, after Toy Story 3 was named Best Animated Feature.

The language that made its way into the awards ceremony didn’t fail to fit the more youthful theme either, as Melissa Leo dropped the Oscars’ first ever F-bomb during her acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress.

“Those words, I apologize to anyone that they offend,” Leo said in the interview room just after her speech.

One member of the press applauded her for taking her rough character from The Fighter onstage with her, but her portrayal of Alice Ward inspired more than just her choice of words Sunday night.

“The dress I’m wearing tonight, I’d like to think that Alice would have liked it, and that was part of the choosing for it,” Leo said of her lacy off-white gown by Marc Bouwer.

Christian Bale, who was named Best Supporting Actor for his role as the boxing son of Ward in The Fighter, didn’t seem to mind Leo’s expletive, though he said he missed it because he wasn’t in the room when she received her award.

“I missed the F-bomb,” Bale said.  “But, you know, I’ve laid down many of them myself before.  So I think I know what it was all about.”

Bale entered the interview room hardly knowing what he had said during his own acceptance speech.

“I’ve got a question for you guys, actually,” he said.  “You know, you get up there and you’re giving your speech, and I hope to God that I mentioned Mark and Melissa and Amy and Jack.  Did I mention them?”

The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper, however, was primarily concerned with thanking one person during his acceptance speech: his mom. After attending a reading of a play called The King’s Speech, she came to Hooper and said she had found his next movie idea.

“Not only did she find it, she also reminded me every two weeks for about three months that I really should read it, and thank God I did because when I read it I rang her up and said sorry it’s taken me so long — yes, it is my next movie,” Hooper said in the interview room.

Colin Firth showed his gratitude after winning Best Actor for his role as Bertie in The King’s Speech by letting everyone in on a little secret: he was itching to break out in a celebratory dance.  Still, he denied one member of the press’s request that he follow his impulses in the interview room.

“No.  I was struggling with the containment in that moment and I think I need some quality time alone,” Firth said.  “I don’t think this is the particular forum to display that. Anyone having seen Mamma Mia will know what I’m talking about.”

Natalie Portman, pregnant and glowing in a violet Rodarte gown, said that winning Best Actress for her role in Black Swan was almost surreal.

“It feels very, very dreamlike right now,” Portman said.  “I don’t really know where I am.

Despite the Academy’s inclination towards the “young and hip” Sunday night, one of the more mature-themed movies managed to take home top honors.  Awarded Best Picture, producers of The King’s Speech seemed to know where they were, but weren’t sure where to go next after a night of such elation.

“The buildup of this award is I think like none of the others, and obviously it’s the final award of the season, and there’s just something about it that left us absolutely speechless,” said Gareth Unwin, one of the film’s producers.  “To have won this award, I don’t think there’s anywhere else we can go.”

This article was originally published in the Daily Trojan.

Since its humble beginnings in November 2008, when Storey taught his first class of 15 people at a friend’s house, the School of Style has grown into the premier place to learn about the business of wardrobe styling. Now held at Smashbox Studios in West Hollywood, the school’s curriculum consists of three classes that can be taken individually or in succession, each with a different focus.

Class one, taught solely by Storey, is a two-day course centered around the business aspects of styling. It provides lessons on how to deal with restocking fees and requesting samples from designers, and it gives an overview of all the different jobs available in the industry. The second class, taught by both Storey and fashion blogger Lauren Messiah the following weekend, delves further into the fashion side, teaching students how to style, forecast trends, judge different body types and follow the general rules of the trade. In the third and final class, the School of Style produces a professional photo shoot that the students get to style themselves under the guidance of Storey and Messiah.

“The whole idea is that someone can walk in knowing absolutely nothing about styling and walk away with a few images to start their website,” says Storey. “It goes from A to Z in a very short amount of time.”

Because of its versatility, the School of Style attracts students ages 16 to 60, some with absolutely no styling experience and others with a few styling jobs already under their belts. Storey, who has been a stylist for 13 years, has more than a few jobs under his belt, having worked with Marilyn Manson, Kanye West, Daughtry and Kim Kardashian, just to name a few.

“I was inspired to start the school based on my career because I realized there was nowhere to go learn what we’re teaching,” says Storey. “It’s a very esoteric, very secretive career that you can’t get a degree in.”

Rather than a degree, Storey provides firsthand knowledge and experience, both of which he hopes to share with aspiring stylists nationally, and possibly even globally. He has already taken the School of Style cross-country to New York City — where he offers class one and two only — but he hopes to expand to some of the cities in between.

“We get so many inquiries from people all over the country,” he says. “We get people from D.C. who want to style politicians, people from Atlanta who want to style for athletes, so we’re looking into making it a traveling school where we pop into different cities.”

More specialized classes for those interested in becoming a personal shopper or pursuing other styling-related careers are also in the school’s future, a future where at least one thing is certain: Storey’s styling advice and expertise will continue to inspire.

theschoolofstyle.com

This article was originally published in 944.

For many, “V-Day” is simply an abbreviation for a holiday overflowing with flowers, greeting cards and little heart-shaped candies. For the women of A Window Between Worlds, however, V-Day means so much more.

For the eighth year in a row, V-Day USC, an extension of the global movement to end abuse against women and children, will donate the proceeds from its annual production of The Vagina Monologues to A Window Between Worlds, a nonprofit organization that helps domestic violence survivors use art as a healing tool.

“The whole performance is about finding the safety to speak honestly about our bodies and about our stories in such an empowering way,” said Cathy Salser, founder and executive director of A Window Between Worlds. “And V-Day is an international movement that is transforming the world.”

The famed series of monologues was written by playwright and activist Eve Ensler after she conducted dozens of interviews with women about sexuality, rape and abuse.

When Ensler realized that performances of her play could be a catalyst in the movement to end violence against women and girls, she and a group of women established V-Day. They kicked off the movement in 1998 with a Valentine’s Day benefit performance in New York City.

“It was so heartbreaking for Eve to hear about the violence and the trauma that she felt like she needed to do something with this,” Salser said. “So she made it into a campaign so that students all over the world could take her play and bring it to life to end violence in their communities.”

Today, USC’s production of The Vagina Monologues is one of more than 5,400 V-Day events held all over the world to benefit local projects and programs each year. Since V-Day USC first gave its proceeds to A Window Between Worlds in 2004, the number of women that the organization is able to serve has nearly quadrupled.

“In 2004, we were serving 6,400 women,” Salser said. “Now it’s 25,000 per year.”

A Window Between Worlds, based in Venice, Calif., brings weekly art workshops to more than 100 domestic violence shelters in 23 states. The funds raised by V-Day USC go toward providing training and art supplies to help start new programs.

Audrey Salzburg, associate director of A Window Between Worlds, said the organization’s programs give women and children who have experienced abuse a voice they didn’t think they had.

“Typically we talk about the survivors as victims — their voices have been silenced because it’s not something you talk about,” Salzburg said. “What we do is give them the safety, the freedom and the space they need to explore and find their voice.”

According to Salser, a new art project is added to the organization’s curriculum each month. The art projects include things like the Funeral of I Cant’s and the Personal Needs Flower. Projects such as these allow survivors to look at where they were, where they are now and where they want to be, Salser said.

“I think Art doesn’t require words and sometimes words aren’t enough to have,” Salzburg said. “The art itself allows them to find an expression that taps into the heart. It meets you wherever you are in your growth and your healing.”

The women and children who participate in A Window Between Worlds’ programs also get to share their artwork with the public, both in the exhibit section of the organization’s website, www.awbw.org, as well as at live exhibitions. Artwork by 800 survivors and community members will be on display at the Korean Cultural Center starting March 5, the organization’s largest exhibit ever. Some of the survivors’ artwork might also be on display at V-Day USC’s performance of The Vagina Monologues, Salser said.

Salzburg, who has seen The Vagina Monologues performed in many different settings and by many different people, said that there is something special about USC’s production.

“I’ve seen it in New York on Broadway, where the cast was on stools and talking to the audience, which is wonderful and very effective, but I have to say the USC performance is enthralling,” she said. “It really speaks to the heart of what Eve was getting at when she wrote it.”

V-Day USC is the first of a number of organizations that holds fundraising events in which A Window Between Worlds will be participating in this year to celebrate the organization’s 20th anniversary. Both Salser and Salzburg said they are very grateful to USC and they cherish the opportunity that V-Day USC provides to spread awareness about the need to end abuse against women and children.

“You don’t have to be a survivor to end violence in the domestic community,” Salser said. “It really takes all of us.”

V-Day USC will present The Vagina Monologues on Friday and Saturday at the Village Gate Theatre.

This article was originally published in the Daily Trojan.

Consumers, however, seldom stop to think about what the branded words really mean—or the origin of the products that are unmarked by such words.

Elizabeth Suda’s curiosity was sparked while working in the merchandising department at Coach’s corporate headquarters, she said.

One of her responsibilities was managing the high-end label’s samples closet for men’s products, a job that raised a number of questions she had never previously considered.

“In being so close to the product, I really started to think about where these products were actually coming from and who’s making them,” Suda said. “There’s so much stuff coming here, but from where?”

A little over two years ago, Suda quit her job at Coach and went in search of some answers.

“I finally decided that I really needed to travel and see for myself what was happening over in Asia,” she said. “My original plans were to go to India, but for various reasons I ended up in Laos.”

A country in Southeast Asia bordered by Burma, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, Laos is home to a population that largely survives by subsistent farming.

Eighty percent of the nation’s population grows and cultivates just enough food to feed their families, which means many of them have no monetary income, Suda said.

The families that do have small sums of disposable income usually earn it through the local sale of weaving and other crafts.

“What I saw there was the difference between someone being able to send their child to school and buy the school uniform or not,” Suda said. “You would see some poorer families that weren’t able to do that.”

Suda added that she encountered countless women in Laos producing astounding handmade items. They simply did not have access to the markets that would allow them to substantially profit from their talents.

“Coming from a fashion background, I thought, let’s see what these women are producing and whether or not their skills can be developed into a product that’s appropriate for a Western market,” she said.

After spending about six months in Laos, Suda returned to the U.S. and began developing Article 22.

For more than a year, the company has been helping to financially reward women in Laos for the hard work that goes into the making of their handbags, scarves and other fashion accessories.

Named after the 22nd article of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Suda’s company has created an online retail site that serves multiple causes.

Not only does it bring traditional, handmade Laos creations to an international market, but it spreads awareness about both fairly traded fashion and producing merchandise in an environmentally sustainable way.

“While working for Coach, I also started paying more attention to issues around the environment,” Suda said. “But in Laos, it became not just about sustainable fashion, which is hand woven and naturally dyed, but also about how you can improve people’s lives by paying them to do what they already do.”

Under the Article 22 label, Suda does sell some of her own fashion accessory designs, but all of the revenue made from the sale of merchandise produced in Laos goes directly to the artisans’ families.

With similar intentions, Global Goods Partners, an online company started by two former fieldworkers for development agencies, takes a nonprofit approach to the fair trade market that Article 22 set out to enact in Laos.

Started in 2005 as a school fundraising program, Global Goods Partners now works with 20 countries all over South America, Africa and Asia.

Throughout these countries, the organization partners with 40 different groups, most of which were identified by founders Catherine Lieber Shimony and Joan Shifrin.

“What we want is to create economic stability for our groups,” said Sara Lopez-Isaacs, the organization’s operations manager. “By purchasing products for these women, we’re able to offer them income generation for the first time ever, giving them some sense of financial independence. It really empowers them.”

This female empowerment is the heart and soul of the organization, Lopez-Isaacs added.

For many women, the extra money they bring in by selling their products through Global Goods Partners means being able to feed and educate their children more substantially.

“When we actually get the crafts firsthand, it’s moving, and these women are always very thankful to us,” Lopez-Isaacs said. “It’s the ultimate bliss to actually meet them in person.”

Global Goods Partners carries primarily jewelry, handbags and small houseware items crafted by foreign artisans.

The organization purchases the items in bulk directly from the craftswomen, who are paid up front. Organization representatives work with the artisans to set a price that is fair trade for their community and for the work they are doing.

“We try to pick products that have some kind of heritage tie to our groups, and then we work with them to modernize those,” Lopez-Isaacs said. “We don’t want our group in Afghanistan to make something you can find on the streets in New York.”

It is the individuality and diversity of the items produced by these artisans that makes them so special, Lopez-Isaacs added.

“You can really see the difference in quality between our handcrafted products and the regular retail made in China,” she said. “And you’re not only getting a beautifully crafted, well made gift, but it’s also going back to a good cause.”

Lopez-Isaacs said that organization members hope Global Goods Partners will double in size throughout the next year, taking on more groups in more countries as it grows.

Ruth DeGolia, founder of nonprofit Mercado Global, also hopes to expand her organization in the coming years, but on a smaller scale.

Mercado Global works with women in the Guatemalan Highlands to give them the confidence and refined skill set needed to craft products marketable in the U.S. DeGolia started the organization in 2004 after studying in Guatemala during her time as a Yale student.

“I met these really amazing women who are very smart and talented and who make these great products, but they were literally starving because they had no market,” DeGolia said.

Mercado Global created a training program that teaches the Guatemalan women about self esteem, financial literacy, business administration and more.

“Seventy-five percent of the women we work with can’t even write because their fathers didn’t want to send them to school,” DeGolia said. “I had this very overwhelming feeling that this was not fair.”

Mercado Global works with 31 co-ops—each of which contains between eight and 20 women—in 25 different communities in rural Guatemala. The women in each co-op produce everything from scarves and jewelry to bags and pillows, as well as some ceramics.

“I think now, with the recession, people can’t buy as much,” DeGolia said. “So maybe before, people would buy a lot of jewelry in a season and a lot of it was not great stuff. Now people can only buy one necklace per season or one necklace per year, so they’re more thoughtful about that one piece. They want something that feels special, that has a story behind it.”

DeGolia added that on the tags of each of their items, Mercado Global tries to include the story of the artisans who made the piece, a story that says so much more than the “Made in China” that can be found on many manufactured products.

Similarly, Suda strives to tell stories through Article 22’s merchandise. In June, the company began selling what she calls “peace bomb bracelets.” They are made from melted scrap metal taken from bombs that have been dropped on Laos.

Suda came up with the idea for these after watching Laos artisans make spoons from the scrap metal. According to Suda, Laos is the most heavily bombed country in history. As a result of this, much of the country’s land is highly contaminated with bombs that have not yet exploded.

Suda hopes to both help fund land-clearing projects in Laos and to spread awareness about the situation there through the sale of the bracelets.

“It’s a part of history that many Americans don’t really know about. It’s not really emphasized in our history books,” Suda said. “So I like the idea that if you’re wearing a peace bomb bracelet and someone comments on it, you can explain the story.”

Also in an effort to spread awareness, Mercado Global recently partnered with Levi Strauss. Last month, Levi Strauss officially stopped sourcing accessories for the men’s brand in China and now they are going to be selling accessories made by the organization’s artisans in Guatemala, DeGolia said.

One of Mercado Global’s goals is to get more companies to do what Levi Strauss is doing.

“We want to change how the fashion industry works,” she said. “We want the norm to become sourcing socially responsible products.”

DeGolia said she wants consumers to demand more and more of these sustainable products so that companies will start using eco-friendly materials and producing their merchandise in a way that has a positive impact on the world.

According to Suda, it is this positive impact that makes companies like Article 22, Global Goods Partners and Mercado Global such desirable choices for shopping.

“You can have beautiful things,” she said. “But they’re even more beautiful if they’re made in a way that’s beautiful.”

This article was originally published on Neon Tommy.

Launched Nov. 17, Boutiques.com is Google’s first foray into fashion. The website features hundreds of virtual boutiques controlled by celebrities, designers, bloggers, retailers and most importantly, the website’s users. Each of these boutiques highlights items of clothing, shoes and accessories that fit in with the personal style of the boutique creator, who has the option to “love” or “hate” items the site suggests.

The responses that a boutique creator gives to the site’s suggested items—as well as the personal style quiz conducted upon logging in to the site for the first time—help to form and develop every visitor’s virtual storefront.

Rand Niederhoffer, co-owner of Brooklyn-based boutique Thistle and Clover, one of the retailers featured on the site, explained that Boutiques.com relies heavily on visual search technology.

First, a user identifies favorite silhouettes, patterns, colors and brands by picking and choosing items as favorites from the site’s endless selection. Those characteristics will then begin to show up more in their subsequent searches.

“Customers can potentially log on, say they like casual chic, and then based on that list it’ll give you styles or colors a customer might gravitate towards,” Niederhoffer said. “The idea is that it’s acting as a personal stylist.”

Though other sites have offered similar forums where people can express their fashion preferences—Polyvore.com, for example, allows users to create collages to reflect their personal style—Google’s new site takes virtual styling one step further.

“Google does the grabbing and pulling function for you,” Niederhoffer said. “So instead of having to manually select these images, the site precedes that thought process.”

It does this using a unique styling algorithm created through a collaboration of Google code writers and about 100 fashion-savvy assistants, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Manjul Shah, director of product management at Google and team leader for Boutiques.com, explained to the L.A. Times that they “taught” the search engine how to identify clothing and accessories as part of several basic style genres: classic, romantic, casual chic, edgy, street and boho.

“Shopping for clothes is about discovery and not just search,” Shah told the L.A. Times. “You go into a store looking for one thing and you might come out with nine other things too. We needed to find a way to create that ‘bump into’ experience.”

According to Niederhoffer, the simple fact that Boutiques.com is a product of Google accounts for much of its appeal, as well as the high expectations that people have for it.

“It seems like Google is a company that people put a lot of brand faith in, so anything they do, people want to partake,” she said. “So the power of Boutiques.com is that they have the potential to get so many different members of the fashion and design community involved.”

While many notable designers, including Diane von Furstenberg, Nicole Miller and Oscar de la Renta, have signed on to curate virtual boutiques, a number of up-and-coming designers are visible on the site as well.

“It gives lesser known boutiques and designers a chance to make a presence for themselves in the industry,” said Asha Greene, a student at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles.

With online retail and fashion blogging at an all-time high, a designer or retailer’s presence on the Internet is often a major factor in its success. Like Twitter, Facebook and other social media websites, Boutiques.com allows its boutique-holders to amass followers—site users who publicly declare that they are a fan of a fellow user’s style.

In less than a week, some of the celebrity boutiques have garnered more than 1,000 followers. Carey Mulligan, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and Olivia Palermo are among the site’s most popular celebrity trendsetters.

“I think it’s really fun that you can base your shopping off of certain icons you have,” said Beth Jones, a stylist and fashion blogger whose virtual boutique is featured under the bloggers category. “It’s a way of bringing together the social media world and the shopping world.”

Chris Rivera, a USC student and intern for the fashion blog WhoWhatWear.com, said he was unsatisfied with the choice of featured celebrities on the website.

“There were a couple of celebrities who I thought were far-off choices because I had never heard of them before or because I had never considered them style mavens in the world of fashion,” Rivera said. “The site should focus on celebrities known for being pioneers in fashion and not just feature them because they are a famous face.”

Rivera added that he would love to see the website branch out into men’s clothing as well, since it currently only features women’s clothing and accessories.

“I definitely think the site has a lot of room to grow and change and advance,” Jones said. “It’s new, which always means there are things that could be better about it.” Jones said she would like to see the clothing featured on the site tied into specific price points a little more clearly.

“A lot of it’s higher end stuff, which is awesome if you can afford it,” she said. “But I think I’d want my virtual boutique to reflect the price point that I would shop myself.”

Though Boutiques.com is meant to encourage and assist the process of online shopping, Niederhoffer said she thinks the site does a good job of not forcing its users to purchase anything.

“I think that really goes far in creating fan loyalty,” she said. “It’s like when people walk into a boutique, you don’t want to hound them with 50 different outfits.”

On Boutiques.com, users are bombarded with a seemingly endless selection of clothes and accessories when they first enter the site. But rather than pressuring users to buy these clothes, the site simply wants to know what they think of them in order to further analyze their sense of style.

“I think a lot of stores are going to start tailoring their online shops to be like that,” Jones said. “Some of them already have.”

As a stylist, Jones said that she could see herself using Boutiques.com as a resource in her own work, especially when a client asks to be tailored to a certain celebrity icon.

Rivera, who styles a lot of young women as part of his internship, also said he will likely use the site for work purposes. “It makes the task of searching options for suggestions to our readers a bit more fun and less tedious,” he said.

Though Google is new to the fashion world, there seem to be few doubts that the Internet giant will succeed in its latest venture.

“I think fashion is huge right now, so this was an obvious next step for Google to take,” Jones said.

Niederhoffer agreed, adding that she is honored to be a part of anything that Google does.

“My feeling is that it’s only going to grow from here,” she said. “We’re definitely just interested in the process and happy to be involved.”

(This article was originally published on Neon Tommy)

The headband is just one of many Cynthia Rowley accessories for sale alongside Rowley’s entire fall collection inside a revamped courier truck just a few feet wide. It is a boutique on wheels, and according to Greenstein, a beauty expert, it is even more fashion-forward than the outfits that the ladies of the ever-popular television series “Sex and the City” have been sporting for years.

Karla Cavalli, a stylist, fashion expert and personal shopper, said that she has never seen anything like it.

“This is the first, which is why I think it’s so interesting and groundbreaking,” Cavalli said. “She’s actually taken something that caught on with the food industry and moved it to high-end fashion.”

If the fashion truck is anything like the food trucks, designer Cynthia Rowley, who is based in New York, will be setting trends not only on the runways, but on the streets as well. Rowley’s style mobile has been on the road for the last year, traveling from New York through Miami, Atlanta, cities in Texas, Arizona and now California, where Paige Segal acts as truck manager.

“She liked the idea of bringing the fashion to you personally,” Segal said. “I think people are wowed by the concept first and are excited because it almost seems like it would be impossible.”

Though the truck is small, it houses Rowley’s entire fall 2010 collection, some of her spring and summer items, as well as shoes and accessories galore on a couple of shelves opposite a rack of clothing the length of the vehicle.

“She’s got sunglasses, bags, jewelry — it’s kind of like endless dress-up in there,” Cavalli said.

The truck even has a place for shoppers to try on the clothes: a small dressing room in the back corner complete with a full-length mirror, separated from the rest of the shop by a curtain.

“Shopping there is really easy,” said Lauren Custer, a downtown Los Angeles resident who bought a tank top and bracelet from the truck. “You just come in, you see the clothes, you can look through them, and it’s everything you need.”

Custer visited the truck a few weeks ago when it was stationed behind Project Angel Food on Vine Street in Hollywood. A non-profit organization that prepares and delivers free meals to people affected by HIV, AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses, Project Angel Food is just one of many charities that the Cynthia Rowley truck has collaborated with to raise funds.

“We love to do fashion events, so when Cynthia Rowley said to me, ‘We have a fashion truck,’ we just thought it was such a cool idea,” said Diana Bianchini, owner of Di Moda Public Relations, the firm that represents Project Angel Food.

Bianchini also pointed out that the truck allows Cynthia Rowley’s designs to be exposed to an entirely new demographic since the designer’s boutiques are primarily located on the East Coast.

“Maybe people in New York know all about Cynthia Rowley and people on the West Coast know about Cynthia Rowley, but people in Arizona might not be as in tune to what’s going on with her collection, so the truck goes piling through Texas and Arizona, and everybody down there gets to see it,” Cavalli said.

Though people say that Rowley’s truck — its exterior painted with large turquoise and light blue roses — is the first of its kind that they’ve seen in Los Angeles, the concept appears to have caught on in other places already. According to the L.A. Times, Alice + Olivia, a contemporary women’s fashion label, turned an Airstream mobile home into a combination boutique and makeover wagon this summer, taking it all over the southern United States.

In a world that is largely controlled by the ability to get information to the masses quickly, Cavalli pointed out, the fashion trucks fit in perfectly.

“You’ve got Twitter, you’ve got Facebook, and it’s all about how many people can be your friends, how many people can know about you or your product or your brand,” Cavalli said.

For this reason, Cavalli said she thinks many other stores will follow suit and create mobile boutiques of their own.

“I think it’s probably the next phase in fashion,” said Jacqui Farina, who is on Project Angel Food’s board of directors and serves as co-chair of Divine Design, the organization’s annual fashion fundraising event. “It’d be great to have a shoe truck, a handbag truck, a jewelry truck — cover the whole spectrum of fashion. And I think we’re going to see it.”

After about a month and a half spent cruising the Los Angeles area, parking at places like Fashion Island in Newport Beach and participating in Fashion Night Out, the Downtown Art Walk and a number of private events, the Cynthia Rowley truck is now continuing its travels up the coast, eventually putting on the brakes in San Francisco. Segal said that after watching its success in Los Angeles, she wishes she could follow the truck to San Francisco.

“It actually surprises me how much it does sell,” Segal said. “I guess it’s just so exciting when you go in there that you want to buy something because you’re also buying part of the experience. You’re buying the story that goes along with it—  you can say, ‘I got it from this boutique on wheels.’”

This article was originally published on Neon Tommy.

As we sit at our computers day in and day out, clicking through the digital realm of social interaction that has supplanted phone calls, text messages and even e-mail, most of us rarely stop to think about how it all began. But the same social networking site that serves most students as the ultimate tool for procrastination transformed one college student from a brainy misfit into a billionaire.

Director David Fincher’s new movie, The Social Network, takes us on the controversial journey Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg took throughout the creation and first few years of the website’s existence — at least according to Ben Mezrich.

Since Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay is based on The Accidental Billionaires, Mezrich’s book, for which Zuckerberg was not a source, we can’t exactly be sure how accurate the film is. We can be sure, however, that Mezrich’s “Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal” translates well onto the big screen.

The film begins as Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), a computer-savvy Harvard student, rambles with little discretion to his girlfriend Erica (Rooney Mara) about his perfect SAT score and his obsession with being invited into one of Harvard’s elite secret societies known as final clubs.

Pushed over the edge by Zuckerberg’s unbearable arrogance, Erica dumps him, making sure that he knows girls will never like him — not because he’s a nerd, but because he’s a jerk.

As Zuckerberg sprints back to his dorm room to get revenge via the Internet, the audience is told that it’s fall of 2003 at Harvard University.

Facebook has yet to be invented, but its origins take root that night as Zuckerberg spitefully blogs about Erica and takes his anger out on the entire female population at Harvard by hacking into school directories to create a website where visitors can choose which one of two female students is more attractive. The website gets so many hits that it causes the entire network to crash.

This slightly drunken stunt not only earns Zuckerberg academic probation, but also notoriety around campus and the attention of the Olympic-bound Winklevoss twins (played by Josh Pence and Armie Hammer) who recruit Zuckerberg to assist with the programming of a Harvard-exclusive dating site they’ve been developing.

It is Zuckerberg’s agreement to work with the “Winklevi,” as he calls them, that lands him in one of the two lawsuits that serve as the framework of the film — the other brought on by his former roommate and best friend, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield).

The remainder of the movie jumps back and forth between the court hearings and Zuckerberg’s neverending attempts to impress Erica with his quickly spreading online phenomenon, revealing a very human — yet oddly inhumane —  face behind the book.

Eisenberg portrays the almost mythical Zuckerberg persona to the tee, his snarky social awkwardness bringing a few laughs into the otherwise very serious conference room scenes.

“Did I adequately answer your condescending question?” he asks the Winklevoss’ lawyer at one point.

The rest of the young cast is also very strong, including Justin Timberlake as Napster co-founder Sean Parker, who gives Zuckerberg a taste of the rock star life that he too could lead if he takes Parker’s advice about what was originally called thefacebook.com. Zuckerberg does just that when Parker tells him to “drop the ‘the.’ Just Facebook — it’s cleaner.”

Fincher’s direction of the carefully selected cast complements Sorkin’s writing well, as both infuse their masterful telling of the story with the perfect mix of drama and wit, a story that serves as a commentary on an entire generation of technology-obsessed individuals.

Even the detailed computer programming depicted at the film’s start — not something easily made interesting on screen — is executed flawlessly. The programming scenes’ quickened pace as Zuckerberg punches out the indecipherable code is paired with electronic music demonstrating Zuckerberg’s mental superiority rather effectively.

Even more powerful, however, are the moments when Zuckerberg’s fingers are not tapping away on the keys that have made him the youngest billionaire in the world, but rather when he is face-to-face with his friends, rivals and ex-girlfriend. It is in these scenes that filmmakers reveal the great irony that surrounds Zuckerberg’s life: He created a site to bring people together, but in doing so pushed all those closest to him away.

Almost as brilliant as its protagonist, The Social Network provides us with an intimate glimpse into Zuckerberg’s previously well-concealed life, a glimpse not unlike the one the Facebook CEO has provided us into the lives of all those whose friend requests we have accepted, those whose pictures, posts and private thoughts anxiously await our review.

This article was originally published in the Daily Trojan.