Super Majority's Ai-jen Poo, Cecile Richards + Alicia Garza Launch National Women Voters Bus Tour

Led by National Domestic Workers Alliance director Ai-jen Poo, former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, and Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza, the recently-formed Supermajority political action group will launch a 14 states and Washington, D.C. bus tour starting September 15.

Women are the majority of Americans. That's why @supermajority launched #MajorityRules—our vision, informed by tens of thousands of women, for how we can all live, work, & rise together—and it all starts with a nationwide bus tour.
Meet us along the way! https://t.co/1pkaN1N2GZ

— Ai-jen Poo (@aijenpoo)September 4, 2019

Based on answers from Super Majority’s Women's Poll, answered by 60,000 women so far, the organization will unveil a policy platform called the “Majority Rules.” Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and Latinx rights advocate Paola Ramos will intersect with the Super Majority bus, along with Democratic presidential candidates including Julian Castro, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Pete Buttigieg.

"Women have always been powerful in their own right, but too often, we have been excluded from the political decisions that shape our futures," said Richards in a statement. "This bus tour is an opportunity for our leaders—from the community level to the halls of Congress—to hear directly from women and speak to them about how they will ensure the issues we care about, our Majority Rules, are treated like the national priorities that they are."

While women make up the majority of U.S. voters, Poo added, they are too often treated as a "special interest group" by politicians and the press.

"We are the most powerful force in America," she said. "It's time our leaders acknowledge us, look like us, and represent us. This bus tour will reach women across America who are doing more than resisting; they're taking action to better their lives, their communities, and their country so we can rise together."

Pamela Hanson Captures Danielle Lashley, Nina Fresneau + Sophie Klock for Numéro France September 2019

Pamela Hanson Captures Danielle Lashley, Nina Fresneau + Sophie Klock for Numéro France September

Models Danielle Lashley, Nina Fresneau and Sophie Klock play bourgeois ladies, styled by Irina Marie in ‘Parc Monceau’. Photographer Pamela Hanson captures noble origins looks from Bottega Veneta, Celine, Chloe, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Prada and more for Numéro France September 2019. / Hair by Odile Gilbert; makeup by Marie Duhart2019

Adut Akech Has Warrior Goddess Status In Andrew Nuding Vogue Australia September Cover Story

Adut Akech Has Warrior Goddess Status In Andrew Nuding Vogue Australia September Cover Story

Top model Adut Akech (a true supermodel in AOC’s eyes, and we NEVER use the term loosely) covers the September 2019 issue of Vogue Australia. On the cover (see last image), Adut wears a Maticevski tulle overcoat, Maticevski gown, Maticevski earring, Maticevski x Heart of Bone Couture Pistol Ring, styled by Jillian Davidson. Other brands featured in the shoot include Alexander McQueen, Miu Miu, Maticevski, Valentino, Vetements and more.

One can’t deny the comments of Vogue Australia’s editor-in-chief Edwina McCann that the gowns are “whimsical” and a high-fashion “fairytale”. And it’s easy to portray Adut Akech’s rise from refugee status to model stardom as yet another “fairytale”.

AOC is the last fashion website to talk pure pc, as it’s maddening to see the slight offences that can get one in terrible trouble these days. But talking of fairytale lives for the breakout girl of color is not what the worlds’ women need — not black-skin women, brown-skin women, yellow or red skin or white-skin women.

Bibi Cornejo Borthwick Captures Marte Mei van Haaster for Purple Magazine September 2019

Bibi Cornejo Borthwick Captures Marte Mei van Haaster for Purple Magazine September 2019

Model Marte Mei van Haaster is styled by Camilla Nickerson in ‘Falling to Earth’. Photographer Bibi Cornejo Borthwick is behind the lens for Purple Magazine Fall 2019./ Hair by Adam Szabo; makeup by Romy Soleimani

Lupita Nyong'o Is Lensed by Jackie Nickerson for Vanity Fair Magazine October 2019

Lupita Nyong'o Is Lensed by Jackie Nickerson for Vanity Fair Magazine October 2019

Actor, activist and super woman Lupita Nyong’o delivers her most beautiful fashion editorial to date — and she’s had some lovelies. Samira Nasr styles Lupita’s vibrant, colorful ensembles in gorgeous images by Jackie Nickerson for Vanity Fair Magazine’s October 2019 issue. Kimberly Drew conducts the interview.

Eco-Conscious Brit Designers Vin + Omi Ready LFW with Nettle-Fabrics from Prince Charles' Garden

It all began with a cup of tea in spring 2018 with Prince Charles and members of the British design industry committed to putting the British Fashion Council’s Positive Fashion sustainability initiative into action. Attending were design duo Vin + Omi, admired by both Beyonce and Michelle Obama.

"It’s so surreal," says Omi, who talked to The Hollywood Reporter by phone from London and, like Vim, goes only by his first name. "We were invited for tea with His Royal Highness, and it was just a passing comment he made, where he suggested using nettles from his estate and turning them into clothes. It was over tea — we thought nothing of it. Then the next thing you know, we were down on his estate, collecting weeds. It went from zero to 100 very quickly!"

Prince Charles volunteered an abundance of nettles in residence at his and Camilla’s Clarence House gardens known as Highgrove Royal Gardens.

Prior to talking nettles with Prince Charles, Vin + Omi were creating clothes woven from cow parsley and discarded bottles. Their collection opened London Fashion Week’s Spring 2019 shows in September 2018. The creatives blended cow parsley with flax, creating an eco-fabric called Flaxley produced by by attendees of a Gloucestershire employment programme to create the clothes seen on the catwalk. The Guardian writes that Vin + Omi also created hybrid metal fabrics, manufactured from cans collected by homeless people on a support programme in Birmingham, and bags made from fabric derived from plastic bottles discarded from the menswear shows in July and collected, recycled and woven by London College of Fashion students.

Design duo Vin + Omi used nettles from the estate of Prince Charles to create 10 pieces of clothing, to be shown during London Fashion Week later this month.

Vin + Omi have been focused on eco fabrics since 2004 with a focus on the environment and supporting local communities. Two of their big successes have been creating an eco latex from a rubber plantation they fund in Malaysia and vegan “leather” made from the skins of chestnuts.

On the subject of longevity, Omi reminds Hollywood Reporter readers that the Prince has been committed to sustainability issues for 25 years.

"The thing we learned about working with someone with of the status of His Royal Highness is that he is really well informed," adds Omi. "You would think someone who is so high up wouldn’t necessarily have all these cares and concerns for the environment, so it's quite humbling. His team is really well informed, too, with the plants and all the properties that go with them. We widened our knowledge about what the possibilities are of working with these species of plants."

As part of the collection, Vin + Omi partnered with art supply brand Daler-Rowney. "We are reutilizing their paint plastic tubes and turning them into fabric, so we’re helping with their waste issues. Then we have our own linen, which we grow in our fields, and we’re also up-cycling denim, to stop it from going to landfills. We want to stop old garments from ending up in the incinerator,” Omi says. Biodegradable latex is part of the upcoming collection, says Omi, stressing that that Vin + Omi really aren’t fashion designers. The duo considers themselves to be sustainability-focused artists and clothes are their canvas.

."Everything has been carefully thought out," says Omi. "The amount of attention we’ve been receiving ahead of the show is quite humbling. From Nigeria, Australia, it's been really crazy. We’re expecting a really crazy, big show."

Omi says the duo plans to send pieces to Prince Charles, who has been sending them letters of encouragement, "as a gesture of thank you." A piece from the collection is also going to the Victoria and Alfred Museum. "It’s nice that they will have a piece in their archive permanently for public viewing," Omi says. "The public will be able to go and see and realize that 'Wow, this is what you can do with nature.'"

Cara Delevingne Covers ELLE UK October 2019 in Images by Liz Collins

Cara Delevingne Covers ELLE UK October 2019 in Images by Liz Collins

Talent, muse and model Cara Delevingne covers the October 2019 issue of ELLE UK, styled by Sasa Thomann. The 27-year-old face of Dior Beauty, whose godmother is Dame Joan Collins, is interviewed by long-time friend Derek Blasberg with images by Liz Collins.

Alicia Burke Looks Into the Future of Luxe, Lensed by Yulia Gorbachenko for Vogue Mexico September 2019

Alicia Burke Looks Into the Future of Luxe, Lensed by Yulia Gorbachenko for Vogue Mexico September

2019

Model Alicia Burke is styled by Sandy Armeni in ‘Energia Centrifuga’, a futuristic look at luxury lensed by Yulia Gorbachenko for Vogue Mexico September 2019./ Creative Director JP Micallef; hair by Peter Gray; makeup by Tyron Machhausen

Bregje Heinen Wears Noble Patterns Lensed by Eniko Szucs for Numero Russia September 2019

Bregje Heinen Wears Noble Patterns Lensed by Eniko Szucs for Numero Russia September 2019

Bregje Heinen suits up in noble origins patterned fabrics styled by Newheart Ohanian, Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ stylist who also includes Zendaya and Serena Williams on her clothes closet list. Photographer Eniko Szucs captures the smoldering Dutch model in ‘A Girl above the City’ for Numero Russia September 2019./ Makeup by Victor Noble; hair by KIYO Igarashi

The Role of Fashion Shoes and Trump's Trade War Soybean Fallout in Burning the Amazon

One of the larges corporate responses to the fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest has come from VF Corp. whose brands include Timberland, Vans and The North Face. The company issued a statement saying that it will discontinue using Brazilian leather until it has “the confidence and assurance that the materials used in our products do not contribute to environmental harm in the country.”

The Amazon, which spans eight countries and covers 40% of South America, is often referred to as "the planet's lungs" . Estimates show that nearly 20% of oxygen produced by the Earth's land comes from the Amazon rainforest. In addition, the Amazon puts an enormous amount of water into the atmosphere, regulating global temperatures as a result.

Environmentalists blame the policies of Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro for the 77% increase in fires in 2019, compared to one year ago. Even worse, half of the fires have been detected in the last month. A highly-controversial supporter of US president Donald Trump, Bolsonaro has encouraged farmers to burn the land in order to meet the growing demand for beef worldwide.

Overall, the demand for beef is increasing as the demand for leather shoes is decreasing, according to the LA Times, June 2018. Once a status symbol, leather shoes are often a symbol of anti-environmentalism, especially to young customers. Hides and other byproducts account for about 44% of the slaughtered animal’s weight but less than 10% of its value, according to government data.

As both corporate management and humans become more committed to sustainability issues and customers take ownership of being complicit with large corporations in environmental destruction, Vogue Business asks the provocative question: Is footware funding the burning of the Amazon?

Amazon rainforest from space, with red dots representing a fire or "thermal anomaly" NASA WORLDVIEW

In recent years, companies such as LVMH, Kering and Nike have committed to sourcing only deforestation-free leather. (LVMH said it would provide €10 million in aid to fight the Amazon fires.) Traceabilty is a problem, writes Vogue Business, quoting Nathalie Walker at National Wildlife Federation.

“Many still think that because they buy ‘Italian leather’, that means it is not from Brazil, but that is untrue,” says Walker, director of tropical forests and agriculture at NWF. In fact, the Italian leather industry sources heavily from Brazilian suppliers like Frigorífico Redentor, a company that Amazon Watch describes as a “notorious illegal deforester in Brazil” and pegs as partly responsible for the recent surge to clear land. Grupo Bihl, Frigorífico Redentor’s parent company, did not respond to emails requesting comment.

Gucci parent Kering says that it now traces 80 percent of its skins to the slaughterhouse, with the goal of 100 percent traceable by 2025.

Not mentioned in the Vogue Business article is an answer to the key question AOC just asked and answered? Is the Amazon burning so that Brazil can meet the demand for soybeans, now that China has stopped buying soybeans from American farmers due to the trade war between the two nations.

There’s a surprising amount of writing on this topic in the past week. They include:

Fires in Amazon rainforest are being fuelled by US-China trade war, experts say SCMP

How Trump’s trade wars are fueling Amazon fires The Guardian

Trump’s Trade War Could Be Fueling Amazon Fires Bloomberg

Michele Opiyo Channels Animal Spirits Lensed by Javier Lopez for Harper's Bazaar Mexico

Michele Opiyo Channels Animal Spirits Lensed by Javier Lopez for Harper's Bazaar Mexico

Rising Kenya-born model Michele Opiyo is styled by Fran Marto in animale-inspired looks from Eres, Palomo Spain, Paule Ka and more. Photographer Javier Lopez captures Michele for Harper’s Bazaar Mexico & Latin America August 2019.

Zoey Grossman Flashes Tami Williams in 'Think Big' Cotillion Dresses for ELLE US September 2019

Zoey Grossman Flashes Tami Williams in 'Think Big' Cotillion Dresses for ELLE US September 2019

Model Tami Williams is styled by Charles Varenne in exuberant evening gown abundance for ‘Think Big’. Zoey Grossman captures the red carpet looks fit for a Confederate cotillion for ELLE US September 2019./ Hair by Brent Lawler; makeup by Tyron Machhausen

Binx, Lara + Lina Front Proenza Schouler Fall 2019 Lensed by Pierre-Ange Carlotti

Binx, Lara + Lina Front Proenza Schouler Fall 2019 Lensed by Pierre-Auge Carlotti

Proenza Schouler casts Binx Walton, Lara Mullen and Lina Zhang in its smart-women rule Fall 2019 campaign. Camilla Nickerson styles the trio in sophisticated simplicity and angular but soft layers. Pierre-Ange Carlotti is behind the lens in New York. / Makeup by Dick Page; hair by Holli Smith

Mikael Jansson Eyes Rianne Van Rompaey in 'London Calling' for Vogue Paris September 2019

Mikael Jansson Eyes Rianne Van Rompaey in 'London Calling' for Vogue Paris September 2019

Top model and Emmanuelle Alt fav Rianne Van Rompaey is styled by the editor-in-chief for ‘London Calling’, an eccentric British fashion feast. Mikael Jansson is behind the lens for Vogue Paris September 2019./ Hair by James Pecis; makeup by Mark Carrasquillo

A 3.8-Million-Year-Old Skull Puts a New Face on a Little-Known Human Ancestor

A 3.8-Million-Year-Old Skull Puts a New Face on a Little-Known Human Ancestor

Spotting the intact Australopithecus skull in the Ethiopian dirt caused paleoanthropologist Yohannes Haile-Selassie to literally jump for joy. “It was something that I’ve never seen before, and I’ve seen a lot of cranial fossils,” he says.

The chance discovery by Haile-Selassie and an Ethiopian shepherd has created a captivating portrait of 3.8-million-year-old face, providing an unprecedented look at a hominin species from a key stage of human evolution. Experts say the extraordinary fossil can help redefine the branches of humans’ evolutionary tree during a time when our ancestors had just evolved efficient ways to walk upright.

“This cranium looks set to become another celebrated icon of human evolution,” Fred Spoor, a human evolution researcher at the Natural History Museum in London, writes in a News & Views article that accompanied Haile-Selassie and colleagues’ new study in the journal Nature.

Natasha Liu Bordizzo Talks Hollywood in Sylve Colless Images for ELLE Australia September 2019

Natasha Liu Bordizzo Talks Hollywood in Sylve Colless Images for ELLE Australia September 2019

Actor and model Natasha Liu Bordizzo is styled by Naomi Smith in biker chic images by Sylve Colless for ELLE Australia’s September 2019 cover story.

The Netflix Aussie actor of Chinese-Italian descent debuted as Snow Vase, playing opposite Michelle Yeoh in ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny’. Recently she played Helena in Netflix’s ‘The Society’

Elsa Hosk Sizzles In Studio Images by Emre Unal for ELLE Turkey September 2019

Elsa Hosk Sizzles In Studio Images by Emre Unal for ELLE Turkey September 2019

Victoria’s Secret Angel Elsa Hosk is a sensual, silicone Barbie, styled by Oguz Erel in high seduction, bodycon silhouettes. Photographer Emre Unal is in the studio for ELLE Turkey September 2019. / Hair by Benoit Moeyaert; makeup by Hung Vanngo