Women can have it all – Thirty Seven East

Turning ‘C’est Beau’ into ‘C’est Bio’

December 18, 2019December 19, 2019 by JC Agid Leave a comment

Turning ‘C’est Beau’ into ‘C’est Bio:’ From Mexico’s Roma to New York’s Chelsea with Cihuah’s Franco-Mexican designer

(CIHUAH Pop up in Mexico City until December 24^th: Havre 46, Colonia Juarez, CDMX)

Jet setting from a fashion show in Punta Mita to a pop-up store in la Colonia Roma neighborhood of Mexico City, founder of the fashion brand CIHUAH, Vanessa Guckel, also flew last week to New York where ethical bags designer Ingrid Bruha had invited her as a guest of honor for a special Mexican night.

With her blond and curly hair, Guckel has lived for 10 years in Mexico, a country where women are more likely to have dark and straight hair. Born in France, Guckel is an architect turned eco-fashion designer. She recently received praise for creating a fully bio-degradable garment that can dissolve over time when plunged in water.

Ingrid Bruha and Vanessa Guckel attend A Mexican & Ethical Fashion Evening At Ingrid Bruha at Ingrid Bruha on December 11, 2019 in New York. (Photo by Sean Zanni)

(more…)

Tres Abejas for a Nectar Named Happiness

July 18, 2019July 19, 2019 by JC Agid Leave a comment

Tres Abejas for a Nectar Named Happiness: The new Café in Mexico’s Colonia Roma

Just like his brother Rafael Tovar y de Teresa, the former and first ever Mexican minister of Culture who wanted his country to shine through ideas, music, dance and visual arts, the late Guillermo Tovar de Teresa was a man of letters and knowledge.

Until his death in 2013, Guillermo spent his life in various homes of la Colonia Roma in Mexico City, chronicling from his wooden office the life of a city he was enamored with. His latest address of more than two decades was on 52 Valladolid, steps away from Parque Mexico. The writer’s two bedrooms—one for the winter; another one for the summer—have remained as they were at the end of his life, and tucked behind his office, a courtyard still hides a marbled angel. The 119-year old house, filled with Tovar’s collection of more than 10,000 books, paintings and furniture from the 19^thcentury, porcelains from France and a Victorian lush garden, is now part of the Soumaya Museum.

Somewhere inside 52 Valladolid, there are tiny purple-pale blue flowers with a yellow pistil alongside a green ivy. They could be hidden on a painting or an object.

Try to find them or venture pass the tall, heavy door, next to the villa’s entrance on Valladolid. Separating the home in two, a long narrow-path has morphed into a contemporary European-style bar: a place for people to reflect, think, exchange ideas, and perhaps even love.

Its name is Tres Abejas (three bees).

It Is Not The Bullet That Kills

July 7, 2019July 18, 2019 by JC Agid Leave a comment

It Is Not The Bullet That Kills

She has been known as Lady Liberty.

On June 28^th, 2019, dressed in white clothes, Alaa Salah stood on the stage of the 3^rdedition of the Women in Africa summit that took place in Marrakesh, Morocco. Next to her was Hafsat Abiola, the Nigerian activist, entrepreneur and President of Women in Africa – the only Panafrican summit for African women in business, entrepreneurship, science, culture, and politics.

“It is not the bullet that kills…” Alaa Salah said in Arabic in front of the 550 delegates.

Omowale

June 24, 2019June 25, 2019 by JC Agid Leave a comment

Omowale, The Child Has Come Home
Firechat with with Tope Fajingbesi Balogun, author and founder of United for Kids and of She-Eo
Member of the American Delegation to the 2019 Women in Africa Summit

The day Social Entrepreneur and Nigerian-born Tope Fajingbesi met with Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, she still thought she would end up working in the White House developing a project she calls Omowale (literally: the child has come home). The former accountant turned author, activist and serial entrepreneur is participating in the 2019 American delegation to the Women in Africa summit in Marrakech (June 27-28), along with former co-host of The View and lawyer Star Jones, Vital Voices President Alyse Nelson, media leader Ann Walker Marchant, Cartier Women’s Initiative Award North America judge and angel investor Birame Sock, Founder of Shea Radiance Funlayo Alabi, filmmaker Felicia Taylor, New York based ethical designer Ingrid Bruha and EBW founder Ingrid Vanderveldt among others (full list of delegates: check out http://www.wia-initiative.com/ and app).

A Stylish Elevator for an Ethical Bag

April 29, 2019May 14, 2019 by JC Agid Leave a comment

A Stylish Elevator for an Ethical Bag
As published in First Class Life magazine | Mexico

There is an old elevator in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, so old that there are no buttons to push, but instead, a cable to maneuver expertly once the primitive steel doors are closed. This is as vintage as it can be: breathing life into memories and ghostly stories alike while eluding a romantic New York, a far cry from the Hudson Yards that recently opened just a few blocks away to the West.

Once inside the third-floor loft, painted in dark and woody colors, a feeling of entering a special world takes the visitor even further. The furniture is a balanced mix between antique tables and lamps found in flea markets and modern sofas and tables. On the right, a small corner office is filled with leather pieces, bouts of fur, African jewelry and a dozen of handbags: clutch, shoulder, tote, crossbody and pouch styles. They are all part of the collection that Ingrid Bruha, a French woman who moved back to the United States with her American husband Sheldon and their three children in 2013, has created for her eponymous and fast-growing brand.