Just when you think the hype on this event can’t get bigger - it does!  My list of the huge number of online resources for this year’s Detroit Electronic Music Festival is the tip, but this is a big iceberg!  Wikipedia does the ‘Fest justice, giving the history and current stats, Paxahau is a big promoter this year, along with Synthtopia, get the details at the official DEMF BLOG and of course the DEMF site itself.  Videos and attendee info can be found on MySpace, last.fm and afterparty action at detroitluv.  One more reason the ‘D’ owns the music world!  Don’t miss this party!  $40 for a early purchase weekend pass, $25 per day, $50 weekend at the gate, $175 VIP!

Yea, when Richard Florida talks Creative Class, his presentations are on Technology, Tolerance and Talent.  But having witnessed his pre and post presentation activities, what is practiced but not preached is the big ‘P’ - Party!  While it has been a while since Maxim made the call ranking Detroit number 7 on its top 10 party cities, The Detroit Regional Chamber reminded the development community in their e-newsletter today that there are more reasons to come to Detroit than just our engineering and design brilliance - you can party like Kid Rock too!

Detroit Renaissance wants to know what you think and where you live - if you are creative.  They have asked New Economy Strategies LLC to conduct a survey to gauge obstacles to build a creative environment and Crain’s Detroit to survey the community to create a map of all the creative sector businesses in our Metro area.

For the Creative Business Climate survey (which they will email you the results of) click here.

For the asset map survey (which they won’t send you results of), you can read Mary Kramer’s intro to the survey, or jump to the survey.  If you even remotely suspect that you or someone you may work with can loosely be defined as creative - take this survey.  This survey is aimed at business, not individual, so fill it out for your company, even if you are a company of one!

There are few options (1) if you are in the music industry, and there may be others that are not completely represented.  Go ahead and pick the ‘other’ checkbox - don’t be intimidated to explain how you don’t fit into any of the pigeon holes!  What is most important is to stand up and be counted!

In case you haven’t gotten there yet and you are into the fashion and design scene in Detroit, the last few days of DFW are rapidly drawing to a close.

Go to the St. Regis Hotel, 3071 W. Grand Blvd. @ Woodward in Detroit (next to the Fisher Theater)

Starting at 7:30 Friday,

Camilo, Gretta Wallace, Jill Robertson, Samaher Mohammad - Zaynini Fashion Intl.

Starting at 7:30 Saturday,

La’Tosha Williams-Qahhaar - La’Monee’ Couture
Lasijas Miller - Nethade by Lasijas
Cynthia Lamaide - LaMaide Designs Inc.
Fotoula Lambros / Emily Thornhill - Femilia
Beulah Cooley - The “Beulah Cooley Collection”

More detail and tickets on the DFW site.

Come to FD Lofts from 7pm to 2am to experience the ‘D’s eye candy. ‘LAUNCH’, an event created by Sabra Sanzotta, Sarah Lurtz and Sarah Lapinski focusing on hot new Detroit fashion, concept cars, artwork, music - and of course food! This Creative Class Party will provide a celebration of Detroit’s fashion, music, urban loft living, and people connecting across regional boundaries. Talent not only from Detroit, but also from Toronto & Chicago will be strutting to a DJ in 10,000 sq. feet of party space.

Click the links above for additional information on the event, or click below to purchase your tickets.

Location: FD Lofts, 3434 Russell St, Detroit 48207 - in the Eastern Market.  Advance tickets $25 here

A new style of home store opens next week in the ‘D’, called Bureau of Urban Living. Located at 460 West Canfield in Midtown, they are conveniently located for many midtowners. Owners Claire Nelson and Francis Grunow are stocking with the loft dweller in mind, whether it be modern or historic. Check the website for more info, or just stroll by next week to see when they open the doors for the general public. For more info, click here.

At the Rattlesnake this evening I got to bump elbows with the rock stars of the GM auto design world, people like Wade Bryant, Design Manager for Concept vehicle interiors (and other cool interior work), Therese Tant, Lead Designer for the new Cadillac Escalade and interior design team member of the hottest concept car at the auto show this year, the GM Volt.
But the real headliner, the lead designer for the Volt is a soft spoken native of Nigeria and ‘94 alumni of CCS, Jelani Aliyu. Jelani was excited and tired at the same time, having just completed a 10 month marathon sprint to bring the Volt to the show floor in time for the auto show.

The marathon started with tough competition amongst 8 designers and their concepts that were developed in 2 short months, with 7 of the 8 scale model concepts reviewed and eliminated.  Jelani’s model was selected to develop for the show.  Then the real work began with less than 8 months until showtime.  His design incorporates many design elements to complement the electric technology driving the car as well as his love of nature and the ergonomics of a vehicle one can enjoy nature in.  In that short time the diverse team took the original scale model to the well detailed series of full scale concept units and frame cutaways that are in the GM area of the show now. (more…)

Agui Vintage Clothing is a new company based out of Ann Arbor.

Agui came out of the box in January 2006 at the Bread & Butter trade show in Berlin, Germany. In February 2006 at the Premium Contemporary Section of MAGIC Business of Fashion Trade Show in Las Vegas.

Agui offers a very tight line with limited designs and colors. Agui apparel is made in California one of a kind and one at a time. Each and every collection represents art from a different region in the world. The first collection is Mexico.

I got a chance to check out the fashion show a few weeks ago over at Mosaic in Greektown. The crowd was loving the designs (especially the Tigers shirt,.. yeah the ones in the World Series;) and I must say the quality was second to none. The next collection will be representing art from Cuba,.. can’t wait to see what Agui comes up with.

Visit Agui.

Apparently something is going on with the dress code over at the Detroit Public schools.  The students weren’t asked their opinion,.. now they’re mad,.. and they’re doing something about it. Actually Detroit Summer is doing something about it.

Detroit Summer is a multiracial, inter-generational, youth movement to rebuild, redefine and re-spirit Detroit from the ground up. Their main objective is to foster youth initiative through community beautification projects, visioning workshops, and inter-generational dialogues.

Awesome! This Thursday (tomorrow) is part of Detroit Summers’ monthly Breaking Bread community potluck series. They’re going to show students how to rock their uniforms and still keep their style with help from Detroit’s finest fashion designers. I can’t wait to see what styles these creative minds will come up with. Maybe the next big fashion trend will be walking down the halls of DPS! For more info visit Detroit Summer or check out their MySpace page.

Want to stand out at your next “bored”meeting or presentation. Then take a look at these amazing ties from CYBEROPTIX. Each tie is handmade of the finest and most unusual materials, along with stunning graphics to make sure you stand out from the crowd. Who’s the brainchild of such a creation you may ask?….

New York area native Bethany Shorb has been working out of her top floor Eastern Market studio for a little over three years now. Bethany holds an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She has dabbled and excelled in disciplines ranging from sculpture, to fashion and graphic design, to photography, to multimedia and music. Nice work Bethany,.. Keep it up!

Handcrafted is the new luxury. Check out the site here and go pick up a tie for your next meeting,.. or you’re fired!