Inspiration

Lor-e Phillips

StylistLos Angeles, CAStory & Photos by Lauri LevenfeldStyling by Lor-e Phillips
Makeup & Hair by Irmina Martinez Loeffler

If you were a teen in the eighties, life was never the same after Jake Ryan kissed Samantha over a birthday cake in the last scene of Sixteen Candles. And when you meet Lor-e Phillips as well (yes that’s right, there is a hyphen in between the “r” and the “e”), life seems it will never be quite the same. A fun, loving stylist from LA, Phillips has created an iconic career perfecting various decade obsessions, a collection of creepy dolls and fuzzy skateboards while working for her bestie and favorite collaborator Will.i.a.m. It is her zest for life and wide open heart that make people fall in love with Lor-e, and then, her keen eye for detail, vivid imagination, and unique style that make everyone want to work with her. Today we bring to life our modern day twists on some old 80’s favorites including Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful, Can’t Buy Me Love, and of course, Sixteen Candles. 

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Julayne Virgil

Chief Executive Officer, Girls Inc of Alameda CountyOakland, CAStory & Photos by Lauri Levenfeld

There is something about the feeling of home that is like nothing else. When you have grown up and lived some of your most important moments in one place, it’s hard not to heed the calling to return. For Julayne Virgil, after forging a successful career in the private sector in NYC, she returned to her roots. Not only did she return to her hometown of Oakland, but to carry on the legacy of family women before her who dedicated themselves to bettering  the world through education and non-profit. On a stroll one day in her neighborhood Virgil stumbled upon Girls Inc., an organization she would soon to be an integral part of. Immediately she knew she had found her calling and a new place to call home, one where she would support teenage girls to be strong, smart, and bold.

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Belinda Gosbee

ActressLos Angeles, CAStory and Photos by Lauri LevenfeldStyling by Katja O’Brien

Gotta love those Aussies! Always up for a good time. And Belinda Gosbee, gives her Aussie mates a great name. I was lucky to have an up for anything partner-in-crime for our dramatic blizzard-blowing Sundance Film Festival fashion shoot. This year marked a very important year for the independents, as the festival not only combined the artistry and great minds of the industry, but took on a more universal platform and presence with a weekend share of the Presidential Inauguration and the Women’s March on Main Street for opening weekend. While heads swam in combination of the two, people like Gosbee will permanently be etched in mind as they are the storytellers, the people who put us in touch with places we’ve never been and people we do not know-giving us the opportunity to learn, to understand, and be more compassionate towards others. And it is this opportunity that Gosbee believes awakens people to a new sense of discovery and the ability to connect to a larger universal picture. A picture we all need to keep close to our hearts these days. 

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Ellie Patrikios

ActressLos Angeles, CAStory & Photos by Lauri Levenfeld

When I spoke to actress Ellie Patrikios for the first time on the phone, I felt an immediate connection upon hearing her voice and an overwhelming excitement in the words she shared. A magical storyteller, Patrikios immediately entrances you with her childhood memories, her mystical voyages, and her deepest appreciation for avocados.  Her passions correlate into curiosities for the unknown, which transcend her questions into findings, and then, into direct connections and relationships. Think a la Erin Brockovich. 

When a chance family trip happened in 2014, Patrikios was forever changed and the course for giving back became one of her deepest life purposes. Ellie transcends individuality and creativity with a playful spin on our joint favorite director Wes Anderson, here is her story. 

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Eni Buiron

Lulu et GigiKitchener, CanadaStory & Photos by Lauri LevenfeldStyling by Katja O’Brien, Paper Crowns by 2CLVR Designs
Makeup by Leyda Quintero, Hair by Jose Chavarria

Talk about a woman on a mission. Eni Buiron has made her life’s mission about celebrating inner creativity, passion, love and the need to bring otherworldly beauty and purpose to herself, her family, and others through her work as a fashion designer and as a motivator for helping others give back. 2017 TPFW opens with a bang- a beautiful story of a woman charged by life and the love of art, her daughters, and the world around her.

For anyone looking for a extra push to follow their heart, their passions, and dream big…this is a story for you and for bringing in the New Year with the notion that anything you want is possible. A valuable lesson Eni Buiron wants to pass on, so read on. This shoot is a celebration of her most recent collection Le Parisienne at NYFW16.

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Deborah Ayorinde

ActressNew York City, New YorkStory & Photos by Lauri LevenfeldStyling by Tanevery Smith

If you haven’t heard about New York’s hottest new actress Deborah Ayorinde, you are about to. Her career-changing role in Marvel’s latest project LUKE CAGE premiered in September and has everyone’s eyes on Ayorinde. And it is the influence of her mother and two sisters that has ignited a fiery and fierce passion within Deborah to be a woman committed to her art and dedicated

to her community. In the flurry of everything fabulous for NY Fashion Week this fall, my team met up with Ayorinde to photograph a true “dream shoot” at Tommy Pier (celebrating the collaboration of Tommy Hilfiger and Gigi Hadid) under the carnival’s 40 ft. Ferris wheel and runway lights. I am pretty sure, no one had as much fun as we did.

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Shinola

Shinola Broad Series X TPFWSan Francisco, CAPhotos by Andrea Posadas & ShinolaStory by Lauri Levenfeld

In today’s day and age, we as the consumer have a myriad of choices. We also have the ability to choose companies and brands that do good and do right by their mission and products. One such company Shinola has popped onto the San Francisco scene and created quite a buzz with a gorgeous flagship filled with rose gold colored bikes, stand-out chic and functional watches, and an ever rotating pop-up shop of product from partner American designers.

I was honored to host one of Shinola’s Broad Series evenings with women from our TPFW community around the topics of passion & invention and the “demyth” of life/ work balance. The evening brought out some of the most creative, passionate, and innovative women.

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Pamela Love

Jewelry DesignerBroooklyn, NYStory & Photography by Lauri LevenfeldStyling by Katja O’Brien

I have been a fan of Pamela Love’s jewelry since the beginning. There is a spiritual and personal presence to each piece, a twist of modernism in the historical with each design holding a perfect mix of luxury and rock-and-roll. It is no wonder that Pamela has inspired a celebrity and cult following.

And it is the power of her mastered craft, her attention to detail, and her desire to create jobs that has recently inspired the synergetic union of Shinola Detroit and Love with their new collection. Walking into Pamela’s Brooklyn apartment opened the storybook on this woman’s life in a very intricate and intimate way.

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2016 Holiday Gift Guide

*Sponsored

It’s that time of year again and luckily we don’t have to go too far to bring you the best of the best in gift ideas for the holidays…our TPFW and TPFG community are full of them! We’ve gathered a gorgeous array of trinkets for your mom, best friend or for yourself, a styling tee that supports a great mission and cause, fun read for the kids published by our own tpfg contributor Gabrielle Begun (and yes, she wrote it when she was 10). This guide should help you alleviate any holidays woes and give you more time to concentrate on who and what you love.

 

In case you missed them, you can find their stories here:

 

Gabrielle Begun, Freddy The Penny
Jane Chen, Little Lotus
Tara Hirshberg, Tara Hirshberg Jewelry

 

Happy Shopping!!
xo Lauri

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Dia Ates

DesignerSan Francisco, CAStory & Photography by Lauri Levenfeld

Dia Ates is in the business of making the world a better place. Through her uncanny design aesthetics and techniques and her unwavering commitment and connection to her clients, Ates creates fashion and architecture that surpass the wildest of expectations, fantasies and imagination. Her work channels the artisans of the old world and her mentality for how and what she creates, the same. But Dia’s adds a modern day twist, going deeper with her designs and  her desires to create a company that not only gives back, but will build infrastructure, encourage entrepreneurship and navigate the development of artisanal skills in communities across the developing world. With just over a week to go before her first runway show and the soft launch of her fashion line benefiting over 27 charities, Dia tells her story of sleepless nights and dyed peacock feathers.

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