Downtown CDC | Pittsburgh Fashion Week
320 Ft. Duquesne Blvd., Suite 4A
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
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New Creative Entrepreneur Grant |
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About the Grant Program
The Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator connects entrepreneurs and small business owners with business consultants ("referral partners") that will provide free guidance and business plan feedback. Partners will then pass applicants on to grant consideration for grants of up to $2,000.
Eligibility
This grant program is for creative entrepreneurs starting a business or currently operating a micro-business with gross revenue less than $200,000 in Allegheny, Beaver, Greene, or Washington counties. Eligible applicants must participate in creative fields such as marketing, architecture, visual arts, crafts, design, film and media, digital games, music, entertainment, publishing, or a similar creative field.
The first of four grant cycles will be distributed on November 15th.
The Arts Council is administering this grant on behalf of the PA Council on the Arts.
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The Hair Nerd: Nichole Carter |
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Nichole Carter, also known as the Hair Nerd on social media, has become an essential part of Pittsburgh Fashion Week.
Growing up with little interest in school or money to support said education, Carter was never really sure where she would find herself. Now as co-director of Pittsburgh Fashion Week and an established hairstylist in the city, she is amazed at where she has ended up.
“From where I started being an assistant and now being co-director of the biggest fashion week in Pittsburgh is kind of mind-blowing. Never in a million years, how I grew up or where I grew up, would I have ever thought that I could be here.”
As a hairstylist and mother, the territory is bound to have some sacrifices. To really get to where she needed to be, such as coming in on her days off and picking up extra clients, Carter found herself having to risk time with her son to focus on her career.
The Hair Nerd originally got her start as an assistant at Hair by Damian, and eventually started her work with Pittsburgh Fashion Week. She got her start 4-5 years ago as a general volunteer and wanted to do anything she could to get involved and get her name out there. “I was like I don’t care, I'll sweep the floors like I just want to get in and maybe network and show off my skills and get in there.”
Once the crew found out that she was a hairstylist, and a good one, the Hair Nerd became a stylist for Pittsburgh Fashion Week. From there, she worked her way up the ladder to her current position as co-director. This position has not stopped her from reaching her higher goals.
“I want this show to be fantastic and everything we do to be fantastic. My ultimate goal is to work so hard for Pittsburgh Fashion Week that the people who are on the committee, the models, and the clients are getting paid for their hard work.”
Carter claims it amazes her every day to be such a big part of Pittsburgh Fashion Week. With hair dye and bleach, an outfit is never safe for long. Her specialty and love for what she does at her salon is in hair extensions.
The Hair Nerd considers herself extremely lucky and thankful for where she has ended up and cannot wait to contribute her share to Pittsburgh Fashion Week and the surrounding Pittsburgh community.
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Pittsburgh Model Becoming Household Name |
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A newcomer to the Pittsburgh modeling scene, Jay Miles, has managed to quickly establish herself in a community she never saw herself being a part of.
Just starting her career in 2019, Miles originally found herself at Penn State University studying visual art, something that has always been a big part of what she wanted to do in life. When a quick photoshoot with a friend quickly revealed her hidden talent, she found a love for modeling instead. “That was my focus, that was what my goal was and modeling kind of just swept me off my feet”
This love for visual art though, is what sets Miles apart from others in the industry. With the use of color theory and lighting, she is able to determine how poses will look on her body before the image is even shot. This understanding allows her to push herself to do something different and something she can be proud of every time she steps in front of the camera.
“To me, modeling is literally art, it's truly visual art. I was a visual artist before I was ever a model so that has a much deeper meaning to me. Any time I am shooting I am making art, not just taking pictures.”
For being so new to the industry, Jay Miles already has planned out where she wants to be years from now in her career. Her biggest inspirations are models such as Naomi Cambell and Jasmine Daniels. She one day hopes to be recognized as a “household name,” as well.
“I can’t stop. Everything I am doing now, I am just going to continue it. {I am}definitely getting used to the sacrifices that I need to make, whether that be getting up and moving or making some changes. Anything I need to do, I am completely willing to do, to get there.”
Miles has worked with multiple brands such as Eco Beauty Hair Gel and local Pittsburgh small businesses, currently MetaMorph Jewelry, but she will be making her first appearance as a Pittsburgh Fashion Week model this coming Spring.
Her advice to those interested in or wanting to get started in modeling is to take that leap. No one is going to push you to do it. If you want it, you have to do it yourself. “For me I was not modeling at all one day, it was never in my mind and I went to a photoshoot and boom I was a model.”
With years of success approaching her quickly, Jay Miles does not see herself stopping. With every photoshoot and fashion show, she has the ultimate goal in mind of becoming a model everyone knows and recognizes.“I just really want to create work that will outlive me.”
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Benefit Concert For Women Who Rock
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The 2021 Women Who Rock Benefit Concert is live and in-person on Saturday, October 16 at Stage AE. featuring a 100% female-fronted music lineup to “Rock the Future of Women’s Health”! Proceeds benefit understudied women’s health research at Magee-Women's Research Institute & Foundation 501(c)(3), our nation’s largest research institute dedicated solely to women’s health and reproductive biology. |
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Christian Louboutin Unveils New Line |
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Paris’ L’Atelier des Lumière was a fittingly-named venue for the sparkling and star-studded evening organized by Christian Louboutin to celebrate the unveiling of his Spring Summer ’22 women’s collection. Showcasing what’s ahead for next season, the revered shoemaker threw a 360° immersive experience and event—Loubillusions!—which incorporated a presentation and a mini art exhibit, followed by a cocktail party, at the museum.
For the occasion, the 3,000-square-foot space became an immersive backdrop to show Monsieur Louboutin’s main points of inspiration, with animations depicting a zen Japanese garden, golden waterfalls, and more.
The Loubillusions event marked the debut of the genderless Our Angels capsule collection of combat, stacked, and platform heeled boots and embellished crossbody bags. Also, a point of focus on the day was the brand new Carasky bag. (Arm candy alert!) For those who couldn’t be in Paris, a Loubillusions webzine was launched online to coincide with the event and can be accessed here. Red soles experienced in augmented reality? Yes, please!
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Messika Hosts First High Jewelry Fashion Show |
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Guests gathered at the historic Ritz Paris for the Messika by Kate Moss Fashion Show on Sunday. Valérie Messika and Kate Moss celebrated their ongoing creative collaboration with a unique show, which welcomed the likes of Cardi B, Toni Garrn, and Tina Kunakey—all wearing glittering pieces from the haute joillerie maison, mais oui! And indeed, on the catwalk things were no less starry, with top models including Taylor Hill, Cindy Bruna, Isabeli Fontana, Constance Jablonski, and Edita Vilkevičiūtė sashaying in Messika by Kate Moss pieces. |
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Ascend Your Self-Motivation and Willpower Over Procrastination |
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Goals and the endless to-do list... we all have one. There are two opposing forces in self-motivation at war that are responsible for failing. Willpower and procrastination are the two behaviors meeting self-motivation head-on. The former provides you with the mental strength to take on tasks and achieve success. The latter distracts you from the scheduled tasks. Equal in warrior strength, willpower is the ability to resist short-term gratification while chasing long-term goals. Procrastination is willpower’s roadblock or putting off a task to be completed until the last possible moment or maybe never at all. You fail to start a work assignment until a day or two before it’s due. Or you ignore the low fuel indicator and wait until your tank is empty to fill up on gas. Your brain may use procrastination to temporarily relieve emotional stress. Some thoughts that open the door for procrastination are I’ll never have time to finish that today, I need to have someone help me with that because I won’t do it correctly, or I will get to that on the weekend. These thoughts are failure-fueled. Developing an optimistic attitude and mental strength to support your willpower will help you to endure physical challenges and power through tasks that need completion. Optimism is the power to visualize and believe in your ability to reach your goal. Willpower can make you a champion of personal achievement.
So how can you strengthen these positive qualities to prevail over failure and procrastination? Practice makes perfect. Many locals are taking advantage of Ascend Pittsburgh Rock Climbing Gym for a physical workout and some powerful mental benefits. Paul Guarino, founder, and director of Marketing Operations at Ascend attests that there are powerful mental benefits to participating in the sport of rock climbing. Physical activity (which includes climbing) has been shown to help reduce symptoms of depression, regulate emotional disorders, and help combat anxiety while increasing your self-confidence. In addition, climbing helps you overcome the fear of failure. He explains, “It enhances the problem-solving connection between the mind and body because there are different ways to climb to be successful.” In the sport of rock climbing, failure is very common, unless of course, you aren’t willing to push yourself to advance. But most people aren’t like that – human beings like a sense of progression in most of the activities they take part in. Rock climbers want to advance when it comes to the grades (level of difficulty in walls) we’re attempting to climb. This means you will have to fail many times on many different climbs before you can advance. This is normal and you’re going to have to get used to failing… often when climbing. Guarino said, “Climbing is especially helpful for kids’ confidence and parents tell me often they see a positive mood change as well. Ascend has been very helpful for kids who suffer from anxiety and depression. In fact, when Ascend was closed during the lockdown many parents let me know how difficult that was, mentally, for some of our regular climbers and how happy the kids were to come back.” If someone is struggling to advance, a more experienced climber will step in to offer advice and encouragement, and sometimes you will have 5 or 10 other climbers cheering you on. When you have friends cheering you on to the next level it is a big boost of adrenalin to push past failure and succeed.” Feelings of achievement and support are human needs.
Mr. Guarino said, “Ascend bouldering (climbing) is open to all ages and is family-friendly. We do have a robust youth and college crowd.” We see groups come in to climb and have many solo climbers as well. In addition, seeing how helpful climbing is for confidence and mood, Ascend extends their help and encouragement through Adaptive Climbing Community Events designed to empower people with all abilities, (physical or mental disabilities and vision impaired) to excel and gain confidence by challenging their comfort zone and encouraging fun through group support. “Climbing at Ascend is a very positive social experience.”
By participating in the sport of rock climbing. You are training your mind to power through tough tasks. You are teaching your mind not to fear failure but to keep trying and that will produce success. Failure is a stepping stone to success. If you’ve ever tried a climb 20 times and failed but on the 21st try you finally complete it, you’ll know that at this point you feel elated. Rock climbing encourages striving to complete and be successful to acquire that elated feeling. You understand that you had to fail 20 times before you can feel that elation. The more you’ve failed beforehand, the better it is when you finally succeed!
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*Photography and media sourced from 3rd party sites in no way implies support or affiliation with the Downtown Community Development Corp., or any partners.
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