SAVAGE SENSES

Water is the fundamental inspiration for SAVAGE SENSES

[savagesenses]

The truth is out there!

 No attitude 1- Surfing for great food and drink at Rogue and Canon. 

It is about great places to hang with great food, drink and no attitude - slide into a booth and pig out! Great drinks easy atmosphere and small plates of farm-fresh food.  A no attitude place to hangout or watch a game - comfortable and killer drinks. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter.  

Raw rust 2- We Are Here Jewelry - Emilie Shapiro.

We love the rawness, the fluidity and the organic shapes of her pieces. Working in "Water - Casting" Emily creates wild and savage precious metal jewelry that is to die for. Follow her on Facebook and Tumblr.

Create Beauty - Respect the Planet 3- Great Creed - Great Company: Environment Furniture.

  We love this company and we crave everything they make! One night as we stumbled out of the Bowery Hotel we were walking across the street and saw the furniture in the window of Environment. Amazing pieces - hand-crafted! We made a note and were determined to come back down when they were open. When we returned a few days later it was sheer brilliance - not only were all of their furniture pieces incredible - the company's commitment to using recycled, re-claimed wood and materials is unparallel! You want every piece they make - rough, modern beauty! This is the way a modern savage wants to live and the kind of company we want to support - it will blow you away. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Stumbling into Paradise 4- Vista Del Valle Plantation Inn.

Coming back from Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica - we missed our plane in San Jose due to a late start. We then had to find a place to stay overnight when a local at the airport told us to check out - Vista Del Valle Plantation, in the mountains about 10 minutes from the airport. Up the winding roads through an old gate and down a bumpy dirt road - the trees opened up to Vista Del Valle. A former old coffee plantaion perched on the mountain side with the most amazing waterfall and incredible views over all the jungle. Incredible - we had just lucked out! Then we were shown the little villas - we stayed in the " Mona Lisa Suite" - perched on the mountainside - all natural wood, bamboo and stone - opening to a stone terrace with an outdoor shower, overlooking the jungle!!! This was unfucking believable - paradise on earth!    The restaurant was perched on the side of the mountain with incredible food and drink - the owners were the coolest couple from Canada. We ended up staying 3 days - horseback riding through the mountains, swimming in the waterfall and totally relaxing. I have stayed there many times since and it is a true paradise - great to book your arriving day or 2 and your returnng few days since it is so close to the airport. All of the rooms are amazing - check it out! Follow them on Facebook.

Malibu scape 5- Paradise Cove.

One of the best places to chill - you go north - past Malibu and look for the little sign on the left at the top of a hill for Paradise Cove. Make that left and there is a parking lot, small restaurant and trailer park at the beach. Park and walk around the cliff on the right - the beach breaks open to this COOL AS SHIT crescent cove beach. During the week - you may be one of the few people on it – go au naturel and walk for miles. The trailer park is THE PLACE TO LIVE - savage community at it's finest! Follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

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Surfing: One more week

Top five picks of this week (Oct.07) By Savage Surfer 

Out of the country - Get out of your head!

Heaven on Earth

1- Zen out at: Natura Cabana - Cabarete, Dominican Republic

When I was first taken to Natura Cabana - thought they were crazy! You go into a residential gated housing community and then turn down a bunch of residential roads. When you walk through the gate of Natura Cabana - you totally get it! Each totally PRIVATE AND SEPARATE little villa was hand-constructed from all natural materials and each one is amazing and completely different. The yoga studio pavillion on the beach will have you transformed, the beach is private and beautiful, get a massage at the spa and then eat a great meal in the restaurant. This is fucking heaven - when you are ready to leave the world behind for a long weekend - this is the place! Follow then on Facebook.

  Furniture and Home Stuff

 2- From The Source - 104 West 17th Street - NYC  

  Stumbled into this small space in Chelsea after seeing a very cool table in the window - all reclaimed, recycled wood that is hand crafted! I then ventured out to their warehouse in Greenpoint and it blew my mind!!!!! Building after building of AMAZING SHIT - all hand crafted from reclaimed and recycled wood!  Tables, chairs, beds, vases, room screens, lamps - pull the truck up!!!!!! This is what artisan craftsmanship is about and they let the beauty of the natural shine through - as good as it gets! Follow them on Facebook!

Surfing for the perfect spot to hang:

3- Green Acre Park - 51st Street  between 2nd Ave. and 3rd Ave. NYC 

An amazing sanctuary in the middle of Manhattan - discovered this by accident while bike-riding thru the city! Tucked away on this side street is this incredible 25 ft. cascading waterfall off huge stone boulders with tables and seats. You can also get a bite to eat or just hang and zone out. Who the hell knew - the crashing water soothes the savage beast!

  Savage Surfing - One Ocean - One Vodka

4- Ocean Vodka - USDA Organic Vodka

We discovered the best vodka - organic, made from the ocean and goes down clean and smooth! This stuff rocks - no matter what you mix it with! Our kind of company - family owned and committed to great quality while helping to take care of the oceans! Follow then on Facebook!

5- Redhead Restaurant - East 13th Street - East Village, NYC

The BEST FRIED CHICKEN IN NYC, along with farm - to -table items that will knock your socks off. It gets crowded and does not take reservations but when you want fried chicken like your Momma never made - this is the place to go. Great drinks if you just want to hang and eat at the bar. Follow then on Facebook!

See you next week, until them GIVE A SHIT!

  Tweet

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Follow @SavageSensesNYC

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[savagesenses]

Dusting off the blog

By Savage Surfer

These are our top five picks of this week (Oct.01)

1. Bottletop. We first met these guys in a restaurant in Milan - they were carrying their bags and we had to know where to get them! One of the owners is the son of the founder of Mulberry and they started this amazing project using old bottle tops collected in Africa and woven into bags! They are committed to changing the world through training and employing artisans to create beauty from discarded materials. The products are cool as shit and you will want every piece - but it is the difference they are making in the world that is the spirit we embrace! One of the companies we should all support - this is how the world shifts! Follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

2. Bell, Book and Candle Restaurant, NYC. Walking down West 10th Street in Greenwich Village I stumbled upon this cool as shit place - downstairs on 10th Street. Like a secret, warm and comfortable - waiting to be discovered- was this tasty jewel of a place, but what blew me away was meeting the chef - John Mooney. He has 60 aeroponic towers on the roof of the building where he grows all the fresh vegetables, herbs, etc. for the restaurant. John took me on a tour - 6 flights up, so worth the climb. AMAZING - a complete farming operation in the middle of the West Village where each of the aeroponic towers can grow a shit-load of fresh food almost year round! If you want to eat really fresh - and see the future of possibilities - check this out and make sure and get the roof-tour! Follow them on Facebook.

3. Stock Vintage, NYC. An amazing selection of vintage menswear, shoes and mailbags - you don't have to plow through tons of crap, the owner has selected incredible pieces. Bought vintage black leather motorcycle jacket and boots that were worn-in just right. It is all about the editing - she knows her shit!

4. Escape from NYC - Tyler Hill Country Farm and Inn - Tyler Hill, PA.  About 2 1/2 hours out of NYC - thru Sullivan County and over the Delaware River. Only 2 1/2 hours but a world away - owners Art and Maryanne at Tyler Hill Country Farm and Inn let you settle into your PRIVATE ROOM in a completely re-furbished barn. Big chairs and a fire-pit outside to roast marshmallows, chill out and breathe the crisp farm air! Bring your dogs and roam the river and fields. Huge breakfast made for you in the morning in the main house. Great little towns around for exploring like Narrowsburg, NY and plenty of great organic farms in the area to bring shit home! The welcome is warm and real!  Best time to go - fall and summer - Fourth of July fireworks in Narrowsburg are a must see –even if it means next year: DO NOT MISS IT! Floating down the Delaware is the perfect chill!

5. Recycle-A-Bicycle. You can find great-recycled bikes at really fair prices and all of the bikes here are rehabilitated bikes with donated parts! – They also teach classes for students on repairing and building bikes! Got a great bike for $175 that will last and we are not adding to landfills and are educating future bike makers - good as it gets! Follow them on Facebook.

See you next week, until them GIVE A SHIT!

Tweet

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[savagesenses]

The Aqualibrium Garden - The Future of Food

Imagine a closed-loop ecosystem that can fit anywhere… offering the freedom to grow food year round.

  I met Ben-Yam and his girlfriend, Samira down in Cabarete, Dominican Republic. Incredible, committed people who want to change the world for the better through healthy, natural living. Ben-Yam showed me the whole Aguaponic System he was developing so we can all grow healthy - chemical free food in our own homes! AMAZING! We need more people like these to change the world. SUPPORT THEIR KICKSTARTER PROJECT! You should also check out the new film - GMO - OMG!

[savagesenses]

A few words from winetowater.org

We are very happy to be involved with Savage Senses. The water crisis is a huge problem, but with more organizations like Savage Senses stepping up to the plate and saying “No More” we can make a greater difference tomorrow than we did today. They have generously pledged 10% of their proceeds to Wine To Water and we can’t thank them enough for the support! So, we want to go ahead and highlight some of our favorite Savage Senses products.

A product that really caught my eye was the Recycled Glass Beach Charm Suede Necklace. I’ve walked on the beach countless times picking up random seashells and pieces of smoothed glass while thinking this would make a great necklace.  Well, the SS crew beat me too it! I love the connection back to water too. Each piece is strung on a natural colored string of suede, so you know it’s comfortable. Very cool piece!

~Josh Elliott and the WinetoWater.org Team

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Our inspiration board!

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HAND-DIPPED NOMAD V-NECK TUNIC © 2012 Joseph Moran. All Rights Reserved.

— with Erica Lawrence and Anly Krepinevich at NYC.

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443 million school days are lost each year from water-related illness according to our friends at Water to Wine. Savage Senses donates to clean water programs to help create healthy, educated children.

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Take Five with Rachele Testa, Principal, at RTPR

1. What is your favorite sector of the Savage Senses brand? 

 My favorite part of Savage Senses is our one of a kind ready to wear pieces and accessories. The Water Raw Materials collection features silk georgette tunics and hand dyed linen scarves perfect for any look, day or night. Savage Senses uses a unique dying process that gives each piece irregularities that are truly one of a kind.

2. How has Savage Senses made a difference in clean water initiatives? 

Savage Senses donates 10 % of sales to CNN Don Henley's Wine to Water which is a  non-profit aid organization focused on providing clean water to needy people around the world.  Nearly one billion people in the world today lack access to adequate water and 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation. At Savage Senses we work to raise awareness to these issues through remaining completely eco conscience.  

3. What sets SS apart from other brands?

What sets us apart from other brands is that each piece is designed, fabricated, and branded with care by its two owners Waldo Tejada and Gary Nelson. They both are world travelers and have been entrenched in the fashion industry for many years. They're attention to detail and work ethic is flawless and it truly shows in each piece.

4. What types of events have you worked on for the brand?

For Savage Senses RT-PR helped launch the brand at The Jimmy during NYFW in February 2012. Right out of the gate, we were featured in Women's Wear Daily…which for a new brand like Savage Senses is MAJOR!  Recently, we launched our latest collection Water Raw Materials, at Environment Furniture showroom. DJ Cory Kennedy spun great music as our guests explored the new looks and accessories. 

5. Describe the ideal Savage Senses customer.

Our ideal customer is of course casual and chic but also aware of the role each of us play in creating a more conscience world.

We'd love to hear your thoughts so check Savage Senses, DJ Cory Kennedy, Wine to Water and RTPR out online and via Twitter and Facebook!

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Elegant accessories to compliment any look!

Each week we're unveiling items in our collection. Spread the word and stay tuned!

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A taste of the Savage Senses "look". Each week we are releasing items from our collection. So stay tuned and spread the word!

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Behind the Scenes at Savage Senses Showroom Set Up

in the NYC Fashion District

One of Savage Senses founders, Waldo Tejada, takes us behind the curtain to see exactly what it's like to open a fashion showroom.

1. What is it like to be in a showroom?

To have the opportunity to be in a showroom in NYC is a great moment for a fashion line and a special milestone for any fashion start-up company. Our vision is to reach as many fashion directors, buyers and editors and have them interact with the collection first hand. 

2. When a buyer comes to the showroom--what will they find?

Our "Water -Raw Materials" SS 2013 collection consists of uniquely design 100% silk, 100% Cotton Fleece and 100% linen pieces which are hand-dipped and hand-printed in New York, in addition to  our hand-printed canvas bags (all shown in our website http://savagesenses.com/). We have extended the collection with other 100% silk pieces (not show in the website) and 100% certified farmed crocodile trimmed canvas bags for an additional element of luxury.

3. How is the Savage Senses showroom unique to others?

We have been given the opportunity to be part of a great space shared with very well known brands like Chloe, Missoni, Balmain Beach Wear and Just Cavalli Beach Wear. We feel honored and humbled to be next to such recognized brands right in the heart of New York City.

4. What's been the biggest challenge to setting up the Savage Senses showroom?

Certainly the biggest challenge was editing down the collection; we have grown to loved all the pieces that we've worked so hard designing and it was kind of sad to not include some of them. At the end is all good as those pieces will make it to our website e-commerce later in the year, giving everybody a chance to fall in love with them as we did.

5.  Be honest--have you danced around the showroom yet? And if so--what music was on your iPod when you did it?

Well I did not jump up and down, but was kind of lip-synching while setting up the hangers and listening to BUIKA on my iPod.

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The Life of Linen

Production method

The quality of the finished linen product is often dependent upon growing conditions and harvesting techniques. To generate the longest possible fibers, flax is either hand-harvested by pulling up the entire plant or stalks are cut very close to the root. After harvesting, the seeds are removed through a mechanized process called “rippling” or by winnowing.

The fibers must then be loosened from the stalk. This is achieved through retting. This is a process which uses bacteria to decompose the pectin that binds the fibers together. Natural retting methods take place in tanks and pools, or directly in the fields. There are also chemical retting methods; these are faster, but are typically more harmful to the environment and to the fibers themselves.

After retting, the stalks are ready for scutching, which takes place between August and December. Scutching removes the woody portion of the stalks by crushing them between two metal rollers, so that the parts of the stalk can be separated. The fibers are removed and the other parts such as linseed, shive, and tow are set aside for other uses. Next the fibers are heckled: the short fibers are separated with heckling combs by 'combing' them away, to leave behind only the long, soft flax fibers.

After the fibers have been separated and processed, they are typically spun into yarns and woven or knit into linen textiles. These textiles can then be bleached, dyed, printed on, or finished with a number of treatments or coatings.

An alternate production method is known as “cottonizing” which is quicker and requires less equipment. The flax stalks are processed using traditional cotton machinery; however, the finished fibers often lose the characteristic linen look.

Producers

Flax is grown in many parts of the world, but top quality flax is primarily grown in Western Europe. In very recent years bulk linen production has moved to Eastern Europe and China, but high quality fabrics are still confined to niche producers in Ireland, Italy and Belgium, and also in countries including Poland, Austria, France, Germany, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Britain and Kochi in India. High quality linen fabrics are now produced in the United States for the upholstery market.

--Learn more about this topic from Wikipedia

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Washed 100% Linen Oversized Square 50"x58" "Artisan Stripes" Hand-Streaked Scarf (Olive) Photo: © 2012 Joseph Moran. All Rights Reserved.

— with Erica Lawrence at New York City.

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Next up in our series of posts introducing you to the Savage Senses team and collaborators: our amazingly talented photographer Joseph Moran! Find below a brief Q&A I did with Joseph at his studio. Can't wait to show you guys the full look book for the new collection featuring Joseph's photos soon, but you can preview a few images from it on Racked! - Farah

How did you get involved with Savage Senses?

My husband was having dinner with Gary [Nelson, Savage Senses founding partner], who he's known for a hundred years, and he hadn't seen Gary for a long time so Gary didn't know that I was taking pictures. Gary went to the website the next morning and sent me an email saying we should be working together on this project.

What were your favorite pieces to shoot from the new collection?

I think it was probably the sweatshirt dresses. I just was intrigued by the way they actually fit on the body. I was not expecting that. They looked one way when you pulled them out of the bag, but when they actually wrapped around the body, I thought they were fantastic. It jumped in a way that I wasn't expecting, and they look like you could go anywhere in them.

How does water inspire you?

The perfect place to be is the beach. Lying in the sun with the waves coming in…I can't think of a better space. Whenever I've had to do meditations or group meditations where they ask you to go to a place for quiet and serenity, I always think of myself on the beach. That's the first place I'll go to.

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We're big fans of Cory Kennedy's style over here at Savage Senses, so we're thrilled to announce that she'll be DJing the Launch of the Savage Senses June Collection: "Water: Raw Materials" next week!

You probably know this already, but just in case you're one of those rare birds who hasn't picked up a fashion magazine or read Page Six in the last few years: Cory first got noticed by photographer Mark Hunter (aka The Cobrasnake) while still in high school in L.A. and went on to create and star in NYLON TV with NYLON magazine when she met editor-in-chief Marvin Scott Jarrett in NYC. She has also starred in music videos for bands such as The Sounds and The Cribs, and was on the first episode of the CW's 90210. Cory's blog is one of the best out there for an insider look at what's hot in fashion and music, and we suggest you bookmark it ASAP if you haven't already!

What water inspired songs do you think she'll spin for us next week? I'm gonna go old school and put in a request for TLC's "Waterfalls," but I can't wait to hear Cory's picks!  - Farah

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We're so excited to be hosting our launch party and pop-up shop for the "Water: Raw Materials" collection at Environment Furniture's New York showroom next week!

We love that all of their pieces are both sophisticated and sustainable as that's what we aim to do with the clothing, accessories, beauty products, and home goods we produce at Savage Senses. Environment uses recycled and reclaimed materials such as Peroba Rosa wood from the Brazilian rainforest and vintage military canvas. Every piece in the New York showroom is gorgeous, but I chose a few of my personal favorites to share with you.

The Boya Lamp, inspired by beacon lights and marine buoys, would look just as amazing on a bedside table as it would in a living room or office. The Neo Shaker Lounge Chair is the perfect softness for curling up for a few hours with a great book, and the fabric is dyed with organic ink. I would love to eat at the Biscuit Table, made from reclaimed Brazilian wood, and I'd be just as happy to sit and blog from it. If you're in NYC, come visit us at Environment next Wednesday and Thursday (June 20th and 21st) for the Launch of the Savage Senses June Collection: "Water: Raw Materials." I'll be on the sales floor with all the Savage Senses pieces, so if you're following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or here on Tumblr, please say hi!

- Farah

[Photos courtesy of Environment]