Fashioning Philly: A Conversation about Philadelphia's Style
Article by Keyonna Butler
On Tuesday, February 27th I had the pleasure of attending a wonderful event at the African American Museum in Philadelphia hosted by Philadelphia Media Network. Fashioning Philly was a panel discussion that brought an enlightening conversation on Philadelphia’s influence of art, fashion, music, & beauty. Panelist include Syreeta Scott a nationally renowned hair stylist and entrepreneur, who has worked for the likes of Ava Duvernay, Janet Jackson and Jill Scott, Kemar Jewel a choreographer, director and performance artist, Shawn Theodore a visual artist whose work encompasses both photography and street art and Jamaaladeen Tacuma a critically acclaimed bassist and producer. The discussion was driven by moderator Cassie Owens who did a wonderful job of asking the right questions about Philadelphia unique style and approach to graffiti, beauty trends and fashion. It was fun to hear the panelist personal stories on how Philadelphia personally impact their career while also acknowledging that our city is on the rise in the art and fashion industry. I learn many new things about the city of brotherly love from fashion trends that was created in our very own city to the real story of the birth of graffiti thanks to a man named Cornbread. Throughout the discussion gems were left for the audience to pick up and research and learn how influential our city really is to the rest of the world even if we are not given the proper credit. Even learning about the dynamic music scene and how so many singers, songwriters and composers were born and raised here gave everyone a spark to their own creative goals.
To hear the perspectives of such accomplished artists inspired me to make my own personal journey into the art world in Philadelphia and to know that one doesn’t always have to move to California or New York to be successful. We all know that Philadelphia has definitely place an imprint onto pop culture even today with the success of fashion brands such as These Pink Lips and Jeantrix and many musical acts making their come up such as Tierra Whack, this only gives hope that Philadelphia will one day be the top city for music, fashion and art.
