Arts & Entertainment
Urban Outfitters kicks off trans-inclusive 2017 campaign
model Hari Nef appears in new ad
Urban Outfitters kicked off its “Class of 2017” campaign in the new year which features 16 influencers, including transgender model Hari Nef.
The clothing store calls the group of writers, musicians and models, “a group of fresh faces who are creating change and challenging the status quo.” The group modeled the brands Hanes and Champion and each designed their own T-shirt. The influencers also shared advice for their generation and hopes for 2017.
While the 2017 campaign is diverse and inclusive, Urban Outfitters has frequently faced criticism for selling controversial clothing.
In 2015, the chain came under fire for selling a gray and white striped tapestry embellished with pink triangles. The Anti-Defamation League called the decoration piece “eerily reminiscent” of the uniform gays were forced to wear in Nazis concentration camps.
Urban Outfitters also outraged many when it sold a “vintage Kent State T-shirt” spattered with blood, a reference many believed to be about the Kent State massacre in 1970.
In 2008, the store pulled its “I Support Same-Sex Marriage” T-shirts from shelves in light of California’s vote on Proposition 8, saying Urban Outfitters received “too much bad press.”
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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