The fruits of the Caribbean that I miss dearly…
Coconut Water – ‘Described as the ‘Tree of Heaven’, throughout the Caribbean, coconut water is a preferred thirst quencher, while the milky jelly is a tasty appetizer.
Guinep/Skinip – ‘This fruit has a rough but thin skin with thin soft jelly-like flesh which becomes addictive
Carambola/Five Fingers –The Five Fingers fruit is sweet, watery, slightly acid and pleasant to taste when blended to make juice.
On page 20 of the Island issue a island fashionista shows how inventive you can be with natural hair. Little did we know at the time that there was a collective of women celebrating their natural hair by sharing hair care information at fun events. The six Complexd founders aim to connects women internationally by providing a tangible resource of information within the natural hair movement.
At their most recent event Curl Crush – a speed dating event with a hair twist, we were inspired by the array of fashion forward women who were evidence of how much can be achieved with natural hair.
Check out more images by Raoul Brown here
To find out more about Curly Girl Collective and get advice on maintaining natural hair click the image above
Me and the team have been working on the ‘Woman of Strength’ issue and we are confident that you are going to find the features both touching and inspiring. We ask each interviewee this question: Who gives you inner strength?
My great grandmother with my mother and her great grandchild
Without a doubt I get my inner strength from my mother, but I started to think about where she got her strength from. When I asked her she promptly told me that she got it from her grandmother. I have talked about my great grandmother, who turns 103 in April on numerous occasions. Because of the tender love and care she reared my mother with, I have the most loving and supportive mother anyone could wish for.
A few days ago I came across a documentary on the Grenadian revolution produced by John Douglas. During the 1970s, Grenada’s political situation became increasingly violent. The Grenadian People’s Revolutionary Militia was created by the New Jewel Movement a New Joint Endeavour for Welfare, Education, and Liberation. In 1979, the New Jewel Movement under Maurice Bishop launched a paramilitary attack on the government resulting in its overthrow. The movement took control of the country with a successful revolution and ruled by decree until being deposed by the US military after its 1983 invasion.
At 6.36 minutes to my surprise there was my great grandmother at the age of 73 saying that she joined the militia to protect her grandchildren. There you have it, a woman of strength who put her family first so that they could fulfil their goals and aspirations and continues to be a pillar of her family and community.
My great grandmother, local residents and the previous and current prime ministers Keith Mitchell and Tilman Thomas cutting the ribbon for the official opening of Birch Grove bridge
Dear readers,
I hope you enjoyed the festive season and got a chance to read all the Complexd articles in the Island issue. We have finalised our editorial calendar for the New Year and my personal resolutions, goals and to-do list are taking up so much space in my brain I’m in desperate need of a calender. Photographer Fiona Compton sent me a preview of her 2012 Portrait of a Caribbean Flower calendar starring Alice Clarke whose delicate features graced the beauty pages of the Island issue (page 9).
Photographed by Frederique Rapier
Alice is calm and collected and a pleasure to work with. Her easy persona and comfort in front the camera can be seen throughout the calendar and in these portraits below in which Fiona Compton fuses exotic flowers with island beauty.
Buy your 2012 Portrait of a Caribbean Flower calendar here
‘Christmas can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home!’
‘The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other’
‘Christmas is not in tinsel and lights and outward show. The secret lies in an inner glow. It’s lighting a fire inside the heart. Good will and joy a vital part. It’s higher thought and a greater plan. It’s glorious dream in the soul of man’
Images by Frederique Rapier for the Celebration issue
Complexd Fashion features the style of Yendi Phillips who also featured on our Island style pages in this month issue.
Yendi Phillips made history by giving Jamaica its highest ever placing in the Miss Universe pageant when she placed 2nd in the 2010 staging of the event. She is a pro-active female figure in her community and has spoken at many positive initiatives in Jamaica, all while looking effortlessly chic.
Image via Yendi Phillips Fan Page
Complexd magazines Island issue will be live this week and we look forward to releasing another issue that explores culture, community and belonging. Complexd captures the interest of cosmopolitan women who have a strong sense of cultural identity. Over the weekend I visited an exhibition that opened my eyes to people who have no identity because they have been outcaste by their countries and culture.
Nowhere People by Greg Constantine is a series of photographs that depicts a small minority of the estimated fifteen million people worldwide who have no nationality and are stateless. The most touching image was of this 20 year old girl.
‘Without citizenship, stateless people belong to no country and are refused most social, civil and economic rights. In most cases, they cannot work legally, receive basic state health care services, obtain an education, open a bank account or benefit from even the smallest development programs. They are often deprived the freedom to travel, the right to own land or possess essential documents like an ID card, birth certificate or passport. Entire communities are denied an identity and are excluded from participating and contributing to places most have lived in for generations. Seen as outsiders and outcasts of society, stateless people are the unwanted and the unwelcome whatever the ground beneath their feet.
Nowhere People intends to give a small voice to people who for generations have had none. It aims to show the human toll the denial of citizenship has claimed on people and ethnic groups that find themselves excluded from society by forces beyond their control. More importantly, it hopes to provide tangible documentation of proof that millions of people hidden and forgotten all over the world actually exist.’
Nowhere People is exhibiting in London at the Royal Albert Hall until December 7th 2011. To find out about exhibitions in your city and more information on the project click here
Today we came across the work of Photographer Ted Sabarese. We love the different features, textures and colours represented in these images. The women in the portraits are very diverse but the fish on their plates somehow unite them. Ex English teacher, graphic designer, fiction writer and advertising creative director, Ted Sabarese shoots all kinds of people. He prefers to work with non-professional models and actors who don’t fit the traditional definition of beauty.
Portrait of Editor sporting a topknot – photographed by Frederique Rapier
Fashion is not determined by the in-crowd and the trend pages of magazines. It is conceptualized by visionaries who have taken inspiration from history, people, culture and life. Some trends have existed for cultural or religious purposes years before we discovered them. Take for example the simple topknot which has a vast cultural significance.
Aboriginal Village women and commoners wore their hair in a simple knot at the nape. Court attendants and women of the richer classes wore their hair more fashionably, either in a topknot on the right side with a loop of flowers suspended or in a plait.
If a samurai had his topknot forcibly cut off, it was considered shameful and humiliating, as it is a symbolic of their status.
In many cultures, when the topknot of a child is ceremonially cut, it marks the transition from infancy to adolescence.
We get tones of emails from models who want to be featured in Complexd, so this post is an ode to the models I have worked with.
Before launching Complexd, I dabbled in a bit of styling. Alongside a dedicated team, I organised, styled and directed photo sessions for tests, look books, commissioned editorials and personal projects. Shoots are frantic! As-well as putting together looks, I would spend my time making tea and snacks, taping shoes, holding reflectors, stabbing myself with pins nipping and tucking clothes…
spending long intervals on my knees working wind machines and doing up shoe buckles…
…all while making sure the team is working cohesively and everything is going to plan. Did I forget to mention the time I had to rock hop while on location at a waterfall!
If it weren’t for the positive and polite personalities of the models I worked with I wouldn’t have lasted a day. It brings me great joy to see how each model has progressed through their portfolios and I wish them all the best in their careers. Here’s a selection of some of the stunners I have had the pleasure of working with.
Jessica Niederberger @ IMG
Oreintha Russell @ D1 Models
Ivane Grondin @ Oxygen Model Management
Cindy Wright@ Woman Model Management
lizzy burden @ Elite London
Sylvie Crabbe @ Elite London
April Alexander @ M&P Models