The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, April 3, 2009 - 5
Fusing fashion and
community service
By CAROLYN KLARECKI
DailyArts Writer
While most style-conscious women
shop and read fashion magazines for
leisure, the girls who make up NOiR's
executive board approach the fash-
ion industry with a
completely different , s
conviction. NUR fashion
"Fashion's impor- show
tant because it's a
way to unite people 7 p.m. Sunday
from everywhere, At the Union
even if you like $12
different types of
fashion," NOiR Pro-
duction Director Alexandria Glispie
explained. "Everybody kind ofhas their
own style and their own fashion sense
even if they aren't aware of it."
Glispie is one of seven executive
members of NOiR, one of the Univer-
sity's many fashion-oriented student
organizations. And although the group
is devoted to showing Ann Arbor the
latest trends, that's only a small part
of what the group is about. NOiR inte-
grates fashion with community service
to propel awareness for many social
issues - past ventures have included
raising awareness for HIV/AIDS and
domestic violence. It's clear the mem-
bers see the fashion industry as a vehi-
cle for change.
"I think it's a great way to commu-
} nicate your opinion without words,"
said Ashley Lee, LSA sophomore and
NOiR's finance director. "It's a way to
give a specific message without having
to write it down to get it out."
With a fall semester geared toward
awareness campaigns, winter semester
for NOiR is a hectic effort to produce
a runway show that stays fashion-for-
ward while displaying the importance
of a chosen charity.
This year's focus is on the envi-
ronment, and the executive board
has been working all semester to put
together its 10th annual fashion show,
titled "Decadence." The show will run
inthe UnionBallroom at7p.m. on Sun-
day with an after party at 5th Quarter.
Tickets are $12 and all proceeds from
both the show and party will go to The
Nature Conservancy to help prevent
deforestation.
Perhaps just as notable as NOiR's
commitment to social awareness is
the grandiose nature of its student-run
show.
"There's around 55 or 60 models -
it's a big show this year," NOiR Creative
Director Brittany Kozerski said. All
the models are students, chosen in a
December tryout.
Not only will the NOiR show ben-
efit a great cause, but it's also a chance
for local designers and models to show
their work. The clothes are all provid-
ed by local boutiques and designers,
and students from Eastern Michigan
University and Wayne State Univer-
sity are also showing their creations.
With former NOiR participants hav-
ing moved on to professional modeling
and designing careers (including NOiR
founder and University alum Maryam
Basir), those involved with the show
are hoping it will be another small step
toward making it big.
Evette Hollins, NOiR director of
business affairs, explained the outlet
that comes with participating in a NOiR
fashion show: "NOiR is an opportunity
for students on this campus to express
a creative side that they wouldn't nor-
mally be able to because we don't have
a fashion curriculum at the University
of Michigan. So we try to give students
an opportunity to get involved in all
aspects - students as models, students
as designers."
"It's really good experience to go
into the professional world - I want to
go into fashion journalism," Kozerski
added. "Soit's really helped, just having
the leadership experience."
With such a large show, Hollins and
her colleagues hope to cater to as many
individual tastes as possible.
"This show in particular, we're try-
ing to cover different personalities,"
she said. "I want everyone to come to
the show and be able to find someone
who they aspire to look like or some
sort of style they connect with."
Social awareness
is stylish.
They promise the show will include
everything from swimwear and linge-
rie to casual and party looks.
It's NOiR's enthusiasm forboth fash-
ion and the University that has driven it
to create such a large-scale show.
"The University of Michigan is very
diverse and here we try to reflect that
in our shows," Glispie said. "This is the
number one public university in the
nation, and we try to portray that by
being the number one fashion show.
We're trying to make it as big as the
school is to reflect all the students."
Despite their desire to create an
amazing show, NOiR's members never
lose sight of their main goal. They
truly understand the power of fashion.
Whether they see clothes as a means to
unite a diverse campus or as a way of
communicating new ideas, they under-
stand the importance of social aware-
ness and love what they're doing at the
same time.
NOiR Director of Social Affairs
Danielle McDowell said it best when
explaining how she became involved
with the organization: "Being able to
come here and fuse fashion and com-
munity service together, I thought it
was just a great organization to be a
part of."
"Behind my mirrored sunglasses, I'm undressing you with my eyes."
A
The Knife
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a household name
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stopped the pai
reaching close tc
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follow the nuance
progressive hipst
scene. After the re
2006's stellar Sile
Dreijer swept the
with an "i"), earn
honors from in
embargoed any f
and threatened to
Perhaps for the be
ed to take somewh
In the meantin
felt compelled tof
Fever Ray. In mar
comes off as Thel
debut has all the a
chilling 'F
's Karin Dreijer like vocals and distinct Euro-electronic ele-
ments that made Silent Shout an enigmatic
right dourness standout. But it would be inappropriate to
think of Fever Ray as solely a continuation of
st solo effort The Knife. In keeping with the family motif
here, one could think of Fever Ray as The
FF SANFORD Knife's moody, gothic sister - the slightly
y Arts Writer creepy one who broods alone in her room for
hours and doesn't make a peep at the family
luo The Knife may not be dinner table.
outside Fever Ray doesn't so much imply dark-
Sweden ness as demand it. Opener "If I Had a
t hasn't Heart" descends like an ominous storm
ir from cloud, its blend of foreboding tones blot-
o iconic FCr y ting out all hopes of anything resembling
ose who Fever Ray The Knife's lighter, poppier moments. A
as of the Rabid hypnotic, industrial backbeat carries the
er music track, inducing a mantra-like grimness
elease of that sounds like something Rasputin would
nt Shout, Olof and Karin fall asleep to. To the album's credit, Fever
Swedish Grammis (yep, Ray maintains this bleak vibe throughout
ed best album of the year without the sense of trying too hard. It's
die godhead Pitchfork, never gloomy for the sake of gloom. Rather,
uture live performances it manipulates mood and emotion with the
break up several times. utmost restraint and artistry.
tter, The Knife has deci4- For an album that emotes so poteoy, it's
at of a hiatus. fairly astonishing how sparse the produc-
ie, Dreijer has seemingly tion is.Most of the tracks rely on only a few
go off on her own. Enter droning synths and simple, programmed
ny ways, her solo project- 'beats. Hardly inadequate-, this minimal-
Knife II. The eponymous ist approach adds to the desolation and
lien soundscapes, wraith- also brings a chilly tranquility. There's a
frightening tension between uneasiness
and relaxation throughout Fever Ray. For
instance, "Keep the Streets Empty for Me"
sounds like something that would play in
a gothic spa, striking a balance between
trippy horror-movie soundtrack and well-
written Enya track.
The success of the album, however,
hinges largely on Dreijer's haunting, digi-
tally affected vocals. Though not great in a
traditional, pitch-perfect sense, her voice
is icily evocative and fits naturally into the
mix. When electronically detuned, Dreijer
displays a duality that makes her sound like
she's battling a strange beast within (like on
the album's most sinister track, "Concrete
Walls"). When left comparativelyuntouched
by studio wizardry, her distinctly Swedish
voice conjures up a mix between Bjork and
M.t.A. sans antidepressants.
Considering the dominant mood of
Fever Ray, it's clearly not a party album. It's
more of an introspective, alone-in-your-
room-with-headphones record (or a life-
threatening-drive-through-a-snowstorm
record). Although sometimes too dark and
plodding for those with less-than-spectac-
ular attention spans, this meditative album
is perfect for canceling out the external
world for 50 minutes a pop. When it comes
to gloomy Swedish electronica, you could
do a lot worse.
'Fast & Furious' races to the junkyard
By TIMOTHY RABB
Daily Arts Writer
If the entire presentation of
"Fast & Furious" had maintained
the nail-bit-
ing tension of **
the opening
sequence, the Fast& Furious
film may very
well have gar- At Quality 16
nered a better and Showcase
reaction from Universal/One Race
its audience.
Unfortunate-
ly, the stunning display of stra-
tegic cinematography evident in
the film's introduction is quickly
forgotten, as the film digresses
from the action and unsuccess-
fully attempts to get serious.
Vin Diesel ("Pitch Black")
and Paul Walker ("Flags of Our
Fathers") return to reprise their
roles for a fourth installment in
the series that carries the con-
cept of hegemonic masculinity to
obscene extremes while inducing
laughter at inopportune times.
The plot focuses on Domi-
nic Toretto (Diesel), a playboy
con man who steals to feed his
adrenaline addiction, which he
apparently also satiates via ille-
gal street racing. In the course
of the film, a tragic occurrence
forces Toretto to salvage his
strained relationship with law
officer Brian O'Conner (Walker)
to bring a barbarous heroin deal-
er to justice. Director Justin Lin
("Better Luck Tomorrow") bor-
rows heavily from popular action
films of the 1980s to create his
own cheesy montage of melodra-
ma with forced acting and cliche
quips to boot.
In spite of the film's all-too-
apparent flaws, it seems to pos-
sess a self-awareness uncommon
amongmostimodern actionfilms.
The "alpha male" roles played by
Diesel and Walker entail
such grossly exaggerated
speech and action that one
realizes the film may not
actually be proud of how
cheeky it is. This lends a
carefree tone to the narra-
tive, but doesn't cancel out
the painful redundancy
of watching Diesel try to
deliver lines worthy of
Arnold Schwarzenegger
in "Predator." The expres-
sion on his face hints that
even he knows how contrivedthe Though "Fast & Furious" has
script is. a few good action sequences
But where "Fast & Furious" and some clever self-referential
fails the most is in its appeal to humor, the majority of the film's
hardcore racing fans. The high content is just evidence of Vin
level of action presented at the Diesel's fall from grace. That's
disappointing, considering how
scant his acting roles have been
Even Vin Diesel recently and how some of his
previous work revealed some
knows it sucks. real potential in his acting
ability. Vin Diesel fans should
remember him for the actor
he was, rather than the actor
beginning is not maintained for he has apparently become. Go
the length of the film. Justin Lin watch "Pitch Black," savor the
should have stuck to rigorous nostalgia and maybe think
pacing and given more than a about watching this film when
mere taste of action. it comes out on DVD.
NOiR members prep for this weekend's fashion show.
www.mrelay.org
Relay For Life
April 4-5,2009
Palmer Field
Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back!