The models for Audrey’s Night Out have been cast!
Get an exclusive glimpse of the casting process (as well as a look at the swanky Exchange LA venue, where we’ll be holding Audrey’s Night Out) below:
I’m Chinese so there’s no denying it …
I love getting goody bags when I attend events.
Ooh goody!
And let’s face it, a good goody bag is hard to receive. A lot of times, they’re just stuffed with advertisements, half-broken frisbees, and lip glosses in shades I would only wear during Halloween.
Well, I can guarantee you that is not going to be the case for this year’s Audrey’s Night Out goody bag. Continue Reading »
From remembering 9/11 to an empowering musical showcase to our own Audrey’s Fashion Night Out, here are this week’s Happenings.
Barriers
When: Now to Sunday, September 18th
Where: 145 6th Ave, New York
How: Purchase tickets here.
Taking place four months after 9/11, Barriers deals with the Chinese/Pakistani Abbas family, and the loss of their oldest son Nabhil at the World Trade Center. As this multicultural family begins to disintegrate, we piece together the past each one hides, and the future they all share. Originally mounted in 2002 and then subsequently co-produced with the Asian American Theater Company in San Francisco and Los Angeles in 2003, Barriers is returning to the stage to look back on the ten-year anniversary of the World Trade Center tragedy. The play is written by Rehana Mirza and directed by Colete Robert.
In the midst of our very fabulous 2011 fashion show, Audrey’s Fashion Night Out, one of my favorite things to get all wrapped up about is the clothes.
This year, we have seven FABULOUS designers showcasing their wears. Just looking at their Fall/Winter look books got me all hot and bothered.
Here are some of my favorite picks from each line.
Look at those ruffles! And that sweet bow on the side of the gray pencil skirt? I can definitely see myself with this sexy secretary look around the office.
Audrey’s Fashion Night Out 2011 tickets on sale now!
Audrey Magazine presents the 4th annual fashion show and party at Exchange LA! Join us for a “night out” of music, live performances, fashion and entertainment including:
Fierce fashion show with some of the hottest designers — Anh Volcek, Truth and Pride, Eryn Brinie, Blue Tassel, Saja, Onanong Swimwear, and Dalia MacPhee.
Yay for community event successes! The Asian Professional Exchange (APEX) held their second charity mixer and fashion show to fundraise for the 17th Annual APEX Youth Olympics – a sporting event that brings together at-risk youth from inner cities to promote leadership through team-building exercises.
Over 500 professionals in the greater Los Angeles area came together to witness the work of trail blazing Asian American designers and entrepreneurs, Stella & Jamie, Line and Dot, Ai for Ai and Carol Chen Couture.
Fashion, Food, and Networking! The Asian Professional Exchange (APEX) is hosting a Networking Mixer & Fashion Show TONIGHT, Wednesday, April 27, at J Lounge in downtown Los Angeles, CA. Continue Reading »
Fashion is one of the sharpest, most immediate ways an individual can express him or herself to other people.
Whether it’s the length of one’s skirt or the fabric of one’s jeans, the color of one’s top or the pattern of one’s bag, what you wear speaks monumentally about who you are or what you want to come across as.
But we often forget that there are millions out there who don’t even have the freedom to utilize this form of expression. Let’s take a look at the numbers:
- There are 2.5 million people in forced labor and exploitation at any given time around the world.
- Every 30 minutes, a new slave is imported into the U.S.
- Slaves can be bought for an average of $90.
- Sex trafficking is the number 2 top crime industry in the world, making $58 billion.
Do these numbers astound you? Do they make you shudder knowing how quickly and easily your freedom can be taken away from you in an instant?
The reminder was made clear in a stylish way on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010 at the second annual Freedom and Fashion show held at Newsong Church in Irvine, Calif. More than 1,300 people were in attendance for the fashion show and trade booths.
Each of the designers and merchandises on display at the event were specially selected not only for their beauty but also for their small and large-scale function to do good for humanity.
Host Jeannie Mai
The show itself was educational and entertaining with Style host and Extra correspondent Jeannie Mai emcee-ing for the night. Mai talks about her own brush with human trafficking, recounting her discovery of her own cousin selling her body in Vietnam. Mai conversed with other women working in the brothels and discovered that, “after talking with them about their hair and their clothes … I actually realized that I had two major things in common with every single woman and child I spoke with … They all have a dream to have a future … and they all wanted to be loved. Even if it comes from a wallet, they needed to be loved.”
Esna Yoon
Human trafficking survivor and professor, Dr. E
And this love was clearly seen on stage, from stellar performances by the soulful Esna Yoon and Dr. E, a professor from Ohio and survivor of sex-trafficking to the splashy designer intro videos to the jubilant models gliding down the v-shaped catwalk.
Nancy Wei
Krochet Kids and TOMS
Anita Arze
Designs by Anita Arze, Naem Denim Co., and krochet kids matched nicely with wares from LiNK, TOMS and Kristinit and more. It was hard to imagine that all the people who put the show together were paid not a single cent for their labor and time because the quality of the show was just so good. I can never watch a fancy couture show the same way again.
Bonnie Kim
Freedom and Fashion’s life and soul, founder Bonnie Kim, had no previous with fashion or sex trafficking. She was just a concerned individual who, through prayer, found her calling in raising awareness to this near-invisible issue. Kim explains,
“I know sex sells here, but it creates a lot of pain … Sex has been totally misrepresented in today’s society. Because of it I feel like it perpetuates industries like porn and industries like human trafficking. Unless we address these issues, this problem is just going to continue and get worse—women ending up being sex slaves or them feeling the need to, in order to survive, resort to prostitution or being in the trade. And that’s more overseas than here, but many times girls here for the love of someone else they would just easily give themselves away … and it’s not supposed to be like that.”
Members of the 2nd annual Freedom and Fashion team
For the future, Freedom and Fashion has been hosting smaller fashion previews and hopes to acquire a Los Angeles office space, create a division in New York City and in five years, develop an after-school program that teaches young girls the dangers of sex trafficking and how to sew. To find out how you can help, click here.
All photos courtesy of Steven Lam.
Video recap is here!
Yes, it was all that and a bag of fried chicken wings.
‘Cause it was awesome!
Here are some of our favorite parts of the night.
The Venue
Audrey’s makeover of the Petersen Automotive Museum was a complete success. The already gorgeous showroom was enhanced with lavender gobo light strewn across the walls. Our only gripe may be going all the way to first floor just to use the restroom but if you can’t make the trek, you didn’t really need to go anyway.
Star-studded Red Carpet
Lots of celebs popped up on the red carpet, including The Bold and the Beautiful’s Ashley Jones (pictured above), C.S. Lee (Dexter), Youtube makeup guru Michelle Phan, and Amy Hill. Non-celebs also made plenty use of the bright orange Audrey backdrop, posing like the inner-divas they are throughout the night.
Justin Chon
The Twilight star stole the show not once but TWICE when he took the stage hosting the celebrity runway portion of the show. First, he gave an endearing speech honoring and celebrating the Asian American woman and then he took off his shirt to reveal some bright red nipple tassels and short jean shorts. Talk about making a fashion statement!
Fashion
You must be 5’10″ and 100 lbs. to pull this Mik Imik dress off but we still think it’s super pretty.
The outfit on the left is SO HOT. The bowler hat, the red lace rights, the fluffy scarf. Jotting it down for our Christmas wish list. And the fur vest on the right is furr-ocious. Paws off to designer Jenny Han.
Pop Up Booths
We loved being able to check out what we saw on the runway right after at the designer pop up booths. That way, fashion like Jellypop shoes (above) can go straight from the runway to…your feet!
Goody Bags
Let’s face it, we’re Asian. We love free stuff. The packed Audrey’s Night Out goodybags reciprocated our feelings quite nicely.
Friends
Meeting new people while hanging out with old friends are the key benefits to Audrey’s Night Out. Whether mingling, networking or flirting, there were plenty of people from the 1000+ guest list to chat with.
Open Bar
Hey, we had a long, hard month working on this night, okay? Thanks Ketel One and Stella Artois for making it all that much better.
Photos courtesy of Karla Ticas. What were your favorite moment from the night?
