Donna Karan Begins Again, Leaving DKI To Support Her Urban Zen Foundation

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Donna Karan Begins Again, Leaving DKI To Support Her Urban Zen Foundation

Donna Karan in her studio upstairs from Urban Zen, with works by her husband, Stephan Weiss, who died in 2001. She sold her company to LVMH that year, but she remains the creative director at Donna Karan and DKNY. Credit Elizabeth Lippman for The New York Times

Donna Karan, the founder and chief designer of Donna Karan Internation, a LVMH Moët HennesseyLouis Vuitton  company, announced today that she will be leaving the company. There are no plans to replace her, although Karan will have a contact as a adviser to DKI. The main Donna Karan collection is suspended indefinitely, and DKI will reorganize its teams and structure to “substantially increase its focus on the DKNY brand,” the company’s more accessible line, according to the announcement, reports The New York Times

On World Lion Day One of Cecil's Cubs Is Killed & Jericho May Be Gone As Pride's Protector

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On World Lion Day One of Cecil’s Cubs Is Killed & Jericho May Be Gone As Pride’s Protector

Breaking news reports say that one of Cecil’s eight cubs has been killed by another male lion. Reports just published in the UK say:

“Lions practice infanticide – the male looking to take over and mate with the three lionesses would have crushed the cub’s skull as he looked to stake his claim.

“The lionesses fended off his advances but it is unlikely they can continue to protect the cubs for much longer.”

“Jericho has now taken over another pride and has been seen with other females,” a source at the park confirmed.

“We don’t know if Jericho would return to help the cubs if they were attacked again

'Radical Grace' Tells Stories Of 3 Defiant American Nuns Under The Vatican Gun

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‘Radical Grace’ Tells Stories Of 3 Defiant American Nuns Under The Vatican Gun

This film comes at a major crossroads in the Catholic Church, and the nuns are everything that’s right with the institution. They stand with the marginalized, and won’t be bullied by the hierarchy. I feel a deep connection to the women featured in ‘Radical Grace’. ~ Susan Sarandon, ‘Radical Grace’ Executive Producer

Congo's Dr Denis Mukwege Calls For 100% New Recruits In Army & With No History of Sexual Violence

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Congo’s Dr Denis Mukwege Calls For 100% New Recruits In Army & With No History of Sexual Violence

Last week Dr Mukwege described the Congolese army as being mired in a culture of violence and as being ‘completely sick’, so sick that it should be disarmed and replaced with new recruits who have never committed sexual violence or fought for a violent militia, reports The Guardian.

The UN estimates that one-third of the rapes that occur in the eastern part of the country are committed by members of the army. Dr Mukwege’s questioning the wisdom of the international community spending large sums of money to support an army that is the greatest perpetrator of violence against women and sometimes men, too, is timely.

Gucci's Alessandro Michele Tells His Creative Director Story To Vogue July 2015

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Vogue magazine’s Hamish Bowles interviews Gucci’s new creative director Alessandro Michele, describing him as ‘a lot like the woman he champions: daring, curiously compelling — and with a streak of mystery and eccentricity’.

“Fashion is about creating emotion—it’s not necessarily rational,” explains new Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri, whose first scheduled hour-long meeting with Michele—at the designer’s apartment—segued into three hours discussing the future of the brand. “I thought, Why should I look for someone else when he can translate the heritage—and when the values of Gucci are in his veins?”

The Gucci design team has recently led a peripatetic life. Ford centered it in London, where he lives, while Giannini moved operations to Florence (birthplace of Guccio Gucci, who founded the company in 1921)—and much of the business side is based in Milan, where the company is in the process of relocating to a Mussolini-era aircraft hangar where Michele will stage his collections. Michele, though, prefers Rome. “There is something about the culture of the fifties and the cinema,” he says of his hometown. “But I also need to travel. I need to go to London. You have everything there—present, past, future, exhibitions, theater. And real eccentricity is still very much alive with the English—the kids in the East End, beautiful English old ladies.” He also loves contemporary Los Angeles dressing (“the way they put things together—it’s not chic, but it’s inspiring”) and New York, where he shops vintage stores and where he will present his 2016 resort collection—“a couture show in a garage,” as he explains. “I love couture, but the other side of me loves the street, and I think the mix of these two can create something new. When I go to New York and London, I love to see how very brave the young people are—they have no rules. Even the superchic ladies of the past, like Princess Irene Galitzine, had supermodern attitudes. Today they’d all be into street style.”

Tami Williams & Mica Arganaraz are styled by Camilla Nickerson in images by Jamie Hawkesworth

Angelina Jolie's Rousing Feminist Speech For Women In South Africa

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Angelina Jolie’s Rousing Feminist Speech For Women In South Africa

On June 11, Angelina Jolie spoke in her role as special envoy to UNHCR at the biannual African Union Summit in Johannesburg. The theme of this year’s summit was the ‘Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development’. Read on.

Frida Kahlo's Nature Obsession Thrives At New York Botanical Garden

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Frida Kahlo’s Nature Obsession Thrives At New York Botanical Garden

A blockbuster exhibit honoring Frida Kahlo has opened at the New York Botanical Gardens, her first solo appearance in New York in a decade. FRIDA KAHLO: Art, Garden, Life has a unique focus on Kahlo’s relationship with nature in her native country of Mexico. From her garden and home decor and the complex use of nature in the artist’s art, this New York Botanical Exhibit is the first to focus exclusively on Kahlo’s intense interest in the botanical world and will close on Nov. 1, 2015.

Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge In Botswana's Okavango Delta Is A Jewel Of Sustainability & Femininity

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Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge In Botswana’s Okavango Delta Is A Jewel Of Sustainability & Femininity

It’s been six years since AOCwrote about Botswana’s lush Okavango Delta. What a pleasure to see these female-centric, goddess-inspired images of Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge, designed by Michaelis Boyd and Nick Plewman, and set adjacent to the wildlife-rich Moremi Game Reserve.

Not only does the building blend in with the local landscape, but its 12 inner suites take on the appearance of weaverbird nests. Indeed the structures are cathedral-like, all designed to inspire and honor our inner nature goddess — for women and men alike.

Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge in part of the & Beyond community. a group of luxury ‘boutique’ safari lodges designed to be in complete harmony with the latest goals of sustainability hotel communities.

In a long list of accomplishments, Botswana has much to celebrate. Thanks to years of political stability and a farsighted conservation policy by the government, Botswana’s ecosystem is stable. More than a third of the country is protected in a luxury tourism model. Higher prices guarantee less wear and tear on the environment. The practice is elitist but working.

Frida Kahlo Photographs By Gisèle Freund

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Frida Kahlo Photographs By Gisèle Freund See images from the book. 4-2015

In 1950, photographer Gisèle Freund embarked on a two-week trip to Mexico, but she wouldn’t leave until two years later. There she met the legendary couple Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Welcomed into their home, she immersed herself in their private lives and the cultural and artistic diversity of the country, taking hundreds of photographs. These powerful photographs, among the last taken before Kahlo’s death, bear poignant witness to Frida’s beauty and talent.

Showcasing more than 100 of these rare images, many of which have never been published before, the book also includes previously unpublished commentary by Gisèle Freund about Frida Kahlo, texts by Kahlo’s biographer Gérard de Cortanze and art historian Lorraine Audric, as well as a link to a previously unreleased color film, shot by Freund, showing Diego Rivera at work.

#KodeWithKarlie Kloss | Girls Only Win 20 Scholarships To NYC Flatiron School In Summer 2015

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Flatiron School is partnering with Karlie Kloss to create the Kode with Karlie Scholarship. The scholarship will give 20 girls across the country free tuition to Flatiron Pre-College Academy’s Introduction to Software Engineering course.

Perhaps Angelina Jolie Is Just Too Caught Up In Life To Eat

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Perhaps Angelina Jolie Is Just Too Caught Up In Life To Eat

Once again people are talking about Angelina Jolie’s ‘alarmingly thin’ body, revealed in her arrival in London for a very special day in Jolie’s life. Angelina joined former British Foreign Secretary and now Leader of the House of Commons William Hague at the London School of Economics to announce the opening of the London Center For Women, Peace & Security.

No one doubts Angelina Jolie’s pursuit of perfection in all that she does, and near-perfection seems to come naturally for her. Stories abound that the actor/director forgets to eat. This February 2014 Tom Brokaw interview of Angelina and ‘Unbroken’ subject Louie Zamperini feels beautifull natural and unscripted.

Also, this brief 3 minutes with National Geographic also gives us major insights into Angelina Jolie’s personality and capacity for empathy AND ACTION!!  Read on.