The Journal
Behind The Lens
For our Spring 2020 issue, we feature exclusive images from photographer Seleen Saleh's new book, Street Culture.
Re-Writing History: Fabiola Jean-Louis
Interdisciplinary artist Fabiola Jean-Louis weaves a narrative that blends past and future, fact and fantasy, afro-futurism and Black girl magic in her photographs and paper sculptures. We sit down with her to discuss her Re-Writing History series.
All This Love
We asked one of our cover stars from issue 1 to craft the ultimate playlist that's all about love. Mr. Baldwin Style curates over 80 songs that speak to romance.
Black Girl Beautiful: Nikia Phoenix
We sat down with the cover girl of our second issue - model, activist and friend - Nikia Phoenix. During the recent interview on our podcast, One Story Up, we spoke with Nikia about self-love, celebrating Black women, and the Nikia Phoenix Podcast.
Yoshi Jenkins Skillet Shrimp
Chef Rashad Frazier of Yoshi Jenkins shares his skillet shrimp recipe and moments of food and fellowship.
One Story Up
Inside our podcast celebrating creatives of the African Diaspora, One Story Up.
AphroChic Magazine: Inside Issue No. 1
Welcome to the inaugural issue of AphroChic Magazine. Four years ago we had the honor of being asked to speak at Harvard’s first Black in Design Conference. It was an amazing event gathering hundreds of Black architects, designers, students, professionals and enthusiasts from all over the country.
The History of the Juju Hat
We love designing narrative-driven spaces. Part of creating the narrative is identifying beautiful pieces that have a history to them, and implementing them into the homes that we design. Pieces like the Juju Hat. We fell in love with these Cameroonian hats in the early part of the 21st century. Thick with colorful feathers, these ceremonial hats were reimagined as objet d’art in our residential designs, hanging as a colorful decorative elements on the wall. Yet, while Juju hats are a common sight on the walls of many modern interiors, for the Bamileke people of Western Cameroon they were once a rare thing reserved only for a select few.
Designing A Sensory Experience: The AphroChic Signature Candle
As designers it’s our job to create a sensory experience for our clients, through materiality, color, texture, light, sound and even scents. That’s what inspired the development of the AphroChic Signature Candle. We wanted to leave each of the spaces we designed with a scent that was immediately warm and enveloping.
New Heirlooms: The Inspiration Behind Our Latest Collection
With New Heirlooms, we have taken our unique perspective on modern design and culture in home decor and designed a collection that looks forward to a time where representation is a reflex, not a trend, and diversity is a habit rather than an act. In anticipation of that moment, New Heirlooms offers inheritable pieces that will stay with families for generations to come.
A New Attitude: A Bathroom Stuck In The 80s Gets A Total Makeover
Trends and times, these two complementary forces move just about everything in design. When they work together, everything flows beautifully - the times change, and the trends change with them. As they do, we begin to love new kinds of furniture, reinterpret old patterns and find new ways to use colors. At the same time, the trends that develop, evolve and move on over a certain number of years define an era, one that influences and shapes all the eras that come after it. It’s a great system - when it works. But sometimes things get out of sync. Sometimes a home can get stuck in an era. We’ve all seen it happen - a kitchen that’s frozen in the 60s; a living room that time forgot. When it happens, it can be a challenge to see past the way things have “always” been and envision the space with a new life in the current era. But when you do it, the results are astounding.
Recipe: A Fried Chicken Sandwich with Heat
Chef Rashad Frazier takes us on a culinary journey with his new food concept, Yoshi Jenkins, a fusion of African American and Japanese flavors. His fried chicken sandwich is an elevated take on the dish, featuring a watermelon hot sauce that is inspired by summertime.
