By Marina Rybak
The race is on! The highly anticipated Arts and Entertainment Award Season is here. The frenzy of the ceremonies is heating up and the self-proclaimed authorities of the best and the worst-dressed lists are jamming the communication channels, fighting for our attention.
Just in time I stumbled upon a “palate cleanser” at the Rizzoli Bookstore, a recently published hardcover book … Read More
When my 31 year old daughter was a teenager, she sneaked down to the East Village with her best friend to get a tattoo inscribed on her back. I, born of the age when body ink was an indulgence of the not so nice girls, remained cool, but was admittedly a bit taken aback. It was not until my young design team did a shirt pull-up in my office to … Read More
In nature, there are items so fragile and still yet so strong that they defy logic. The leaf of the Bodhi Tree is a delicate image of the earth’s power to heal. Better known in the Western Hemisphere as the Sacred Fig, it is said that that Gautama Buddha achieved enlightenment beneath its branches. Bodhi trees are planted in close proximity to every Buddhist monastery.
Every time I visit the… Read More
One of my first real product development successes was a series of cotton knit sleepshirts which I shamelessly admit were derivatives of both Benetton and Gap T-shirt styles I had mined during an NYC shopping excavation. At the time the concept was considered revolutionary. The lingerie market was a sea of pink and blue polyester. Cotton jersey knits in bright colors and bold prints were considered heresy. It was 1985. … Read More
I was riding the #4 Subway in NYC today when I took this photo of the commuters sitting side by side across from me. I was struck by the dichotomy of faces, each ensconced in their own daily business. This is the real America, a nation built on immigrant dreams. This city is a cornucopia of technical and creative talent who came here from distant shores using their unique skills … Read More
A few weeks ago I met my brother on a rainy Sunday in New Haven for a lunch meeting that went awry. We decided to make the best of it by visiting the Yale University Art Museum. I knew we would find an aesthetic gem somewhere inside. And there is was: the Murals of Bonampak, in replica, on the gallery’s walls. This Mayan artwork, discovered in 1946 in a remote … Read More
I wrote my senior thesis in college on Vincent Van Gogh. The major theme was the impact of vivid color and the intensity of his brushstroke. Was he mad as the pundits claimed? Or did he, in fact possess a confident audacity to defy the artistic traditions of his time and risk acceptance in order to make his own personal statement. My obsession with Van Gogh began in 1970 at … Read More