Sunday, February 6, 2011

Nary Manivong is Dressed to Impress


In an effort to support up-and-coming designers in the Big Apple and the belief that if you make it here (New York City) you can make it anywhere, it was only natural to see the movie Dressed


The documentary film, which premiered in select theaters on Friday, February 4th, follows fashion designer Nary Manivong and his humble beginning as an aspiring designer in one of the most cutthroat cities in the world for fashion, New York City. In the city of dreams, one day you're hot and the next day you can, simply, be old news. 

With a rough childhood, growing up in poverty, and homeless by the age of fourteen, Nary Manivong faced adversity and rose up from the weighty hardships he experienced in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio to make something of himself. As a young teen, Nary worked multiple jobs to survive, all while attending high school. His evenings were spent in public establishments like a local donut shop, where he would reside for the night in order to gain sleep. Fortunately, Nary did not allow this low point in his life to hinder him from pursuing his found love for fashion and designing his namesake collection.

Never allowing himself to fail, even during moments of weakness, the film illustrates how Nary's past drives him to only do better and be better in life. With only about five-thousand dollars saved to create his first collection, moviegoers are taken on an inspirational ride as Nary struggles to produce and debut his line during New York's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

The film is accompanied with commentary from elite fashion insiders, such as designer Nanette Lepore, Fern Mallis formerly with IMG, Simon Doonan Creative Director of Barneys New York, Mickey Boardman of Paper magazine, Simon Collins Dean of Parsons The New School for Design,  and Lynn Yaeger formerly with the Village Voice, who all provide insight into the raw, competitive world of fashion, that so many, season after season, attempt to draw incredible success and recognition from, yet only a few triumph.  

Enjoy this trailer for Dressed:


Keep an eye out for Nary Manivong and his collaboration with Ally Hilfiger for their debut Fall 2011 collection this season of NAHM (Nary Ally Hilfiger Manivong).

(Image and Video: Courtesy of Google Images and YouTube)

SyFy is Cool Again!



It is a new year and a new approach for the SyFy channel. Back in 2009, the network changed its name after formerly being known as the "Sci-Fi" channel. In an attempt to leave their "geek" image behind and hopeful to expand on a more diverse audience, the network changed their name feeling as though it would help to gain a broader audience, particularly women viewers. In an article on TVweek.com, Jon Lafayette interviews TV Historian, Tim Brooks, who played a role in the network's humble beginnings while at USA network, with Brooks explaining:

"The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular."

Although it has been many years since the childhood days of watching shows like Tales from the Crypt and The Outer Limits as well as the broadcast syndication of Quantum Leap, the Syfy Channel has managed to spark a renewed interest in the network and its shows.

Two original shows that are helping to revive the network's credibility amongst its old and new audience are Face Off and Being Human. Having debuted only several weeks ago, the new shows display their adaptability to the current times of reality television dominating our DVRs and Tivo sets and, in recent years, the youth's fascination with vampires and werewolves with books like the Twilight saga and the CW television series, The Vampire Diaries playing on the fancy for the immortal and  the undead.

Face Off - A reality show focusing on the talents of special effects makeup artists and their magnificent imagination and fantastic creativity, put contestants to the test each week by competing in varying degrees of challenges involving special effects makeup. The grand prize of $100,000.00 and a year's worth of makeup from Alcone are at stake in this inside look of those who create the creatures and monsters we love to fear.


Being Human - A television series that revolves around three roommates, all who are not your "normal" crowd with Aidan (Sam Witwer) the vampire, Josh (Sam Huntington) the werewolf, and Sally (Meaghan Rath) the ghost. All living under one roof, the three characters battle with accepting their nature while trying to lead regular human lives out in public. 


(Images: Courtesy of SyFy.com)
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