The Collective by Karolina Zmarlak

The Collective

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Nisha Kewalramani/ Yoga

Nisha Kewalramani was born in India and raised in NY. Coming from a strong Indian cultural background, she has been exposed to the science of yoga and ayurveda since childhood. She holds a B.A. in psychology from NYU and continued her studies at The Ayurvedic Institute under Dr. Vasant Lad in New Mexico. She gained practical experience in “ayur yoga”, a study to enrich the understanding of Ayurveda through the practice of yoga. Her curiosity in anatomy led her to pursue a degree at The Swedish Institute, where she earned a license in Massage Therapy. She continued her studies to deeper levels through approaching anatomy as an experiential journey at The School of Body-Mind Centering (BMC). Nisha continues to process embodying the principles of BMC under Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen. Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen’s work eventually led her to become an Infant Developmental Movement Educator (IDME) to help facilitate developmental movement patterns in children.This program encourages and supports the curiosity of a child by observing a child and providing a container for their creative process of exploring the world around them through movement. An IDME listens to the child's needs thus helping a child realize how to fulfill their own needs She currently assists both the EAY and EDMY programs taught in NYC and in Berkley, California.
I have attended several of her classes and fully suggest that if you are interested in trying yoga or are interested in child development, that you contact her for private lessons or more information.


How does Ny inspire you?
NYC is the best city in the world. I am a very complicated woman made up of layers and layers of emotions, personality roles, and intelligence. And NYC supports every layer that I peel, it feeds my curiosity, it feeds my intensity, it feeds my passions. I am able to resonate with so much so deeply because of the diversity and individuality that NY provides me.

How are your classes unique or tailored?
My classes introduce people to their bodies.
I am a huge fan of experiential anatomy, in this I mean experiencing what is in this container we call our body. I lead classes that wake up not only the muscloskeletal structure but also incorporate other body systems such as the fluid system (blood, lymph, interstitial) the glands of the endocrine system, ligaments, nervous system, organs etc. We practice moving from asana thru the support of the blood, the glands and organs. Its really a democracy of cells. My classes are progressive in the sense that our bodies are our textbooks, and our curiosity, sensitivity and playfulness are what leads us to be embodied individuals. The more we learn about ourselves the more awareness we have, the more choices we have... and that is true freedom.

Favorite neighborhoods?
I don't think i can say I have a favorite, there is a moment for all the hoods in my life. But, I must say I love Nolita, LES, Soho

How would yoga improve ones life?

I couldn't think of anything sexier than discovering our true nature. Of course the side effects are awesome too, calm mind, inner focus and presence, building your own support, just being comfortable in your body..now thats quality living.

Quote that best represents you?
I don't know yet what I am going to become but I am becoming - Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen
To be is to be in relationship.
I find I meet myself every minute

What can't you live without?
LOVE


contact Nisha at yoganiche@gmail.com

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Misela

Serra Turker was born and raised in Istanbul, and moved to the States to study Textile Design at Rhode Island School of Design. After completion at RISD, she moved to New York and worked at TOCCA, a contemporary brand for two years before launching her own unique and exquisite brand Misela.
"Istanbul in my Dreams' Holiday 2008 Limited Edition Collection was initiated to celebrate its new beginning along with the approaching Holidays and New Year when it enters the stores in US. " I dreamt a special collection that came true with unique finds that I came across in my time between New York and Istanbul", says the designer. Each bag is made from handwoven fabric with vintage metal trim applique on the front that dates back to early 1920's and also adorned with the antiquated crescent logo on the leather back.


How did you get into fashion design?

I had no intention of getting into fashion design. My initial plan was to study Interior Architecture but quickly realized I wasn't good at three dimensional design. I had a background in painting so it was a battle for me to choose between painting or fashion design but was fortunate when I discovered Textiles. It was a completely new world that I had no clue about and a great solution for what I had to offer. I began to explore all the various ways to use color and patterns from my paintings. Launching Misela was the true evolvement of using textiles,color and turning those creations into art pieces that are not meant to be on the wall but that could be carriable.


How does NY inspire you?
Even tough I find myself very much attached to Istanbul, New York very much feels like home in a very unexplainable way. It is like my heart beat. New York taught me to let go of all the things that I actually don't need and don't like. In a city of many possibilities, I learned to keep things simple. I think by achieving this, the identity of Misela was created.


Favorite shops?

I tend to be very selective of where I go, just because I like to be surrounded in places where I can forget where I really am, I like places that take me somewhere else. That's why I like little shops like Sucre that has a distinct jewelry selection, or the second hand bookshops in the Village, or ABC home on Broadway where the first floor is a world of wonders. As for clothing, Barney's is my one and only destination in New York. I have recently came across two more great stores, Midnight Express in Istanbul and D'na in Riyadh.


Favorite designers?

I admire Dries Van Noten. Each of his collections is a masterpiece in terms of the use of color, print and embroidery combinations, attention to detais, the silhouettes and of course the amazing scene at the runways. I love the look of Lanvin that is created by Alber Elbaz, he leads the way with his exceptional detaling in shapes also in using signature colors. I really liked Phoebe Philo when she was the head designer at Chloe. Her approach created a special delicate and feminine look.


What is your design philosophy?

My design philiosophy is to keep things simple and straightforward. It is actually more difficult to keep things simple because you really have think through each detail carefully. My inspirations always come from color and I think I always carry colors of Istanbul with me.

Where does one find Misela?

Scoop, Sucre, ideeli.com, D'na in Riyadh and couple of select boutiques in Istanbul.

For inquiries please contact Estefania Lacayo at estefanialacayo@gmail.com

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Laurent King-Director/Cinematographer

Laurent King grew up in Paris, and went to American University where he focused on what he had always wanted to do: film studies. One of the strong points of AU was its exchange program with the National Film School in Prague, Czech Republic. He spent a semester there in 95, ( I decided to go the year after) where he directed his first serious short film (not counting the many and somewhat shameful home video attempts of the past 6 or 7 years). When he saw all that could be done there it became his mission to go back. Once he returned he made a film which ran 1 hour 1 minute in its worst version, we don't know if that technically qualifies as a feature!  Once he settled back in Paris, he worked at a youth center in a semi "difficult" part of town, which he felt was a good way to step back into French culture after a college hiatus of 5 years. Things had changed. Then in 2000 military service ended and he ended up on his own work wise. "Nobody ever teaches you how to build a network, or what to do once you step out of school. You may know things, but what makes you different from the next guy or how do you put your foot in the door: where do you start?" So he worked on all kinds of projects, documentaries, fictions, and was director of photography for small TV Projects or re-shoots. Then in 2002 he directed a music video for Universal Music, then hopped along from project to project. Things structured,  and he began to split his work between director and DOP and is now repped as director for commercials in France (Bandits, Bollywood), UK (Upstart Films) and Belgium (Latcho Drom). I love Laurent's work. Two of my favorite being the video he directed for girlfriend Charlotte Savary of Waxtailor, To Dry Up and Hey for the group Clover she was in before( one of my favorite tunes). 


Your inspirations?

There was a time when Brian De Palma's work really touched me in its operatic grandeur, so The Untouchables and Carlito's Way are up there, I saw them many times. Then there's "Soy Cuba" a Russian black and white film which I re-discovered on a film print at the French Cinematheque. A lot of these shots are incredible, probably the best use of handheld cameras with wide angle lenses ever, to this day I am still uncertain as to how they achieved technically speaking, some of the shots. The older I get the more I appreciate Kubrick. And I like Mark Romanek.

Photography is more here and there, I like the colors of Jan Saudek, the framing of Guy Bourdin, the emotions out of Robert Franck or Leonard Freed, but my attraction to photography is more on an individual picture basis than a particular artist's body of work.

Favorite musicians?

Tough question because there are so many. Judging by the play count on my iTunes Library I guess The Album Leaf, Low, Sigur Ros, Portishead and of course... Wax Tailor. They all have in common the fact that they bring up images to my mind.


How NY has inspired your work?

I've been to NY many times and what I like about it is the spirit. It ties everybody together, even though New Yorkers come from all over the world, but once you catch that fast train that is the New York City pace, everything is possible. I've always felt that, even though I've always been there as a "tourist" and have never lived there.


Favorite websites?

I mainly use functional websites, but I often go back to Apartment Therapy because I'm obsessed with small spaces,
inhabitat for the green in me,
engadget cause I love gadgets and those usually get me bouncing around to the web sites they refer to.

Future projects you would like to pursue?

Slowly I'd like to move towards the feature film genre, but not until I have a good story. Since so far I'm working on that alone, it could take a while, but I'm in no hurry. I could live with doing one feature albeit a good one, instead of pumping out 1 average  every year.


Favorite Directors?

Brian De Palma for the grandiose
David Cronenberg for the organic,
Ridley scott for the smoke machine.
I wish I could sound smarter and whip out Abel Gance and Jean Renoir or Tati, but I have been brought up with modern classics.


I noticed architecture plays an important role in your visuals?

Architecture is more an excuse to play with lines when composing a frame. It's more about the geometry of what you put in the picture rather than a true focus on architecture.


favorite quote.

"simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" Leonardo da Vinci

www.laurentking.com

photo by Lionel Samain

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Leila Antakly is Ninu Nina

photo by Sam Bassett 2008

Since I launched Ninunina, I have received loads of emails from our audience ( we are viewed in over 81 countries) asking me questions on my personal favorites so I have compiled most of your questions to create my own profile.

Why did you start Ninunina?

I realize that I have a lot of interesting friends and contacts doing amazing things in many industries and I love connecting them together, so I thought it would be a great way of exposing who they are and what it is they do, but also to a wider audience. So far paintings, photographs, accessories and music have been exposed and sold through this blog and I only hope to continue doing exactly that. People are reading blogs more than magazine nowadays, so for those who just dont get the concept, its creating a magazine online which interviews and profiles interesting people who do cool things. Simple as that. I love being a resource of information and sharing that with such an interesting niche audience.

Favorite Music?
I have such a varied taste in music its very difficult to answer, but at least everything that I have on this ipod player.

I consider so many groups my favorite but some that come to mind without much thought:  Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky, Hooverphonic, Thievery Corporation, Radiohead, The Cure, U2, Depeche Mode, Beastie Boys, The Killers, Jamiroquai, Guns N Roses, Janes Addiction, Nirvana, Madonna ( old stuff), Spanish music from the 80's, lots of DJ's such as Format B, Matthew Dear, Bookashade, M. A.N.D.Y, Magda, Carola and Locodice. I HATE ( with a passion Neil Diamond)

Favorite Fashion Brands?
Missoni anything and everything

Bottega Veneta  Marchesa dresses
Proenza Schouler
American Apparel

and the brands that my friends have created, ( many are profiled on here already).

Favorite Stores?
Fiorucci in Milan
Top Shop Oxford Circus
Harvey Nichols in London
Urban Outfitters

American Apparel

I plan on creating an online boutique, so keep an eye out for that. coming soon.......

Favorite Restaurants in NY?
Woo Lae Oak -
Il Buco, Little Owl, Commerce

Mercadito Grove- fun place and great Mexican

Illili-super cool Lebanese

Nightspots in NY?
Sheik n Beik always rocks

Apotheke,
Rosebar, Beatrice with a particular friend on random nights,

Cielo,my friends apt parties ( you know who you are)
and I always look forward to Minimoo,

very recently the Marcy Hotel in Brooklyn

Favorite Hobbies?
Obviously keeping up with pop culture, photography, and reading a lot. But my favorite thing in the world is to walk and explore my surroundings, I always find something new or inspirational. I also really REALLY love music videos and movies.

Best Music Videos?
Closer by Nine Inch Nails
Windowlicker Aphex Twin
Bjork's All is Full of Love
All the videos by Floria Sigismondi

Favorite Film Directors?

I like so many ( Tarantino, Aronofsky and Danny Boyle to name a few), but there is only one favorite and that is Fellini

Who are the most stylish girls in New York?
I think all my friends have amazing style and unique ways of expressing themselves.  New Yorkers have amazing individual style, this city is just an endless runway.

Favorite Neighborhoods in New York?
Nolita
West Village ( by Commerce st)
the Fountain and Carousel at Bryant Park
Washington Sq Park

Fashion Icons?
Im going to be so unoriginal with my answer but I just really love Kate Moss's style
My mother in the 70's and 80's
Jane March in the film "The Lover"
Talitha Getty, Bianca Jagger, Sofia Loren always and

My friend Jose Buera

Best Websites?
There are a gazillion amazing blogs out there on every subject possible that are incredibly designed. Some of my favorite are listed on ninunina.com. Its so hard to keep up though.

Two that I just love besides facebook are urbandaddy.com and notcot.org which I check a few times a day.

Favorite Quote
I have three:

Psychedelic visions are my reality- Lennon

Be the change you want to see in the world- Gandhi
&
Love is not to look at one another but look together in the same direction-  Antoine de Saint Exupéry

pls check out my cause Casita de Belen in Cali Colombia, www.sunflowerchildren.org

if you are kind enough to donate, pls make sure you specify that its for sunflower of colombia.

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Glastonbury 2008

The oh so charming Miss Debbie Kay has been touring all summer with her boyfriend Stuart Zender, who I consider to be one of the best bassist players ever who made a name for himself as the bassist for famed band Jamiroquai. Stuart's work with the band can be heard on the first three albums, ‘Emergency on Planet Earth’, ‘The Return of the Space Cowboy’ and ‘Traveling Without Moving’. Although he left the group in 1998, his groovy style continues to capture the attention of many musicians. On tour Stuart has been performing live with Mark Ronson.
He is currently working on a solo album and a collaboration album, in which he is going  to write / produce with friends such as Sean Lennon, Alex Greenwald, Tiggers, Omar, Calvin Harris etc. He's also currently in advanced negotiations with Warwick guitars to do a Stuart Zender signature bass. They're gonna make a super high end one in Germany, then mass produce a cheaper version in Shanghai that will have all the same features as the high-end one yet will be more affordable.

Highlights of the music festivals you have been touring this summer?
The bus journeys with the band traveling from one festival to the next, the blue disinfectant in the portaloos, mud, my hunter boots, all access wrist bands (woo hoo!), and watching all the other amazing bands perform.

Tell us about your Glastonbury experience:
I'd never been and didn't want to deal with the thought of camping /slumming it out in the mud /squatting behind a soggy bush each time I wanted to pee and felt I had missed the boat by not having gone in my college days. So imagine how excited I was to not only go for my first time but go on tour. Nothing prepared me for the sheer wave of energy that hits you when you walk on stage and look out into the crowd into a never ending sea of faces! I think there must have been over 40,000 people there that day.
It was the biggest adrenaline rush ever. I can't describe the feeling. Friends who have been to Glastonbury before all said that when you're watching the gig from the ground, usually you're so far back, you can barely see anything. I was actually on stage with arguably the biggest act in the UK at the moment. It was such a privilege and a moment I will never forget for the rest of my life.

Favorite Act
We arrived at Glastonbury at 3pm, and suddenly, out of the blue, Stuart and Mark decided to join Daniel Merriweather for a short acoustic jam session in the Orange tent! It was so spontaneous, and in a cozy venue.

The influence Glastonbury has in the fashion world?

A friend of mine who works for Purple, a fashion PR agency, gave Alexa Chung a £700 Belstaff jacket to wear during Glastonbury. The next day, there was a long waiting list for the jacket! Fashionistas definitely check out Glastonbury fashion.
Hunter boots are a staple... I went shopping for them and they were literally sold out everywhere.
I also really liked Mark Ronson's striped suite and hat (he wore it to a wedding the day before and I suspect he just never took the suite off).

Musical Preferences?

I like Radiohead. Keane. Prince. George Clinton. Ella Fitzgerald. Herbie Hancock. Chopin, And obviously Stuart Zender. We were having dinner at Nobu one night and sitting in the corner was Madonna and Gwynnie. They were later joined by Chris Martin. Lily, ( Stuart's daughter with Mel Blatt) was dying to meet Gwyneth and we were encouraging her to go say hi but she was shy, so Stuart took her over and introduced himself and her to them. Madonna was a right moody cow and ignored them altogether but Chris Martin jumped out of his seat and shook his hand vigorously saying that he is the best bassist on this planet. That night, Lily and Stuart both had big smiles on their faces and as far as I'm concerned he is THE BEST BASS PLAYER ON THIS PLANET!

www.stuartzender.net

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for the paranoid

The Art of Surveillance

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check out wordle

wordle is very cool

a fun tool to create funky word clouds

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the belly of an architect

a barriga de um arquitecto

An architecture
(...) where the hardware is not the dominant preposition and is intended not to overcome but to serve.
Wendell Burnette: Maryvale Community Center, 2008-05-28.

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Image is Everything

THE IMAGIST IS A HYDRA. THE IMAGIST IS AN OMNIVORE. IT TRAVELS THE WORLD'S FASHION WEEKS AND ART FAIRS, FILM FESTIVALS AND AWARD SHOWS. IT GOES FROM HOTEL TO NIGHTCLUB TO ART GALLERY TO BOUTIQUE TO BAR TO BOOKSTORE TO BEACH TO RECORD SHOP DEVOURING: HUNTING FOR A TREMOR OR A TWITCH THAT COULD CHANGE THINGS.

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music site we love Acid Test DJ's

Acid Test DJ's

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