Vashtie Kola

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Vashtie Kola

A self-portrait taken by Vashtie Kola in South Africa
Born Albany, New York, U.S.
Occupation Artist, music video director, entrepreneur
Years active 1999–present
Website
www.vashtie.com

Vashtie Kola, often stylized as Va$htie, is an American artist, director, designer, party promoter and entrepreneur.

Early life

Kola was born and raised in Albany, New York and is of Indo-Trinidadian and Afro-Trinidadian descent. Vashtie moved to New York City in to attend film school at The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, where she studied directing/cinematography. At the same time, Kola interned at RSA/Black Dog Films and HSI while working part-time at Stussy in SoHo.

Career

2005: Vashtie was signed to Box Fresh Pictures as a Director alongside Anthony Mandler. Many of her first videos were done with this company, including videos for artists such as Beans, J-Status and Tony Hussle. At the same time she was also writing music video treatments for established directors such as Anthony Mandler, Lenny Bass and Dr. Teeth. She wrote the treatment for Common's video "Testify" which starred Taraji P. Henson and Wood Harris. During the same time, Vashtie styled and modeled for the clothing line Billionaire Boys Club.

2006: She was asked to re-vamp the company of Island Def Jam as Director of Creative Services. Antonio "L.A" Reid, president of Def Jam, said she would be "the one to keep the building cool, someone in tune with downtown cool and pop mainstream." That same year, Vashtie also started an iconic monthly 90ʼs party with her friend Oscar Sanchez called “1992”. Spinning only music from the late 80's and early 90ʼs, the event brought out a mix of tastemakers and celebrities such as Dave Chappelle, Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, Jermaine Dupri, Patrick Ewing, Redman, DJ Premier, The Clipse, Maxwell, Chanel Iman, Zoe Kravitz, Grand Puba, Lord Finesse, and KiD CuDi among others. Although its residency is in New York City, the party has taken place in Miami, Paris and Amsterdam. In 2008, 1992 was nominated for Best Party at the Paper Magazine Nightlife Awards and also received a lot of press, like; The New York Post, i-D Magazine, Trace and Paper but most notably a feature in The New York Times

2008: Vashtie starts her own clothing line, VIOLETTE. With an official debut in Fall 2008, the clothing was said to be inspired by "a mix of opposite worlds: uptown and downtown, hip-hop and rock, feminine and masculine, casual and couture".

2009: Vibe listed the "31 Most Stylish People Under 31" with Vashtie coming in at the 23rd spot among names like Kanye West, Rihanna and Justin Timberlake. She was also featured in Nylon Magazine as part of their lineup of "It Girls". In this same year Vashtie interviewed Sean "Diddy" Combs for Supreme Magazine, which was photographed by Terry Richardson, and was included in the Nike Destroyer Campaign alongside notables like Dee & Ricky and Scott Campbell.

2010: Vashtie was featured in a Rachel Roy campaign. Later that year, she became the first female to collaborate with Brand Jordan on her own Jordan Sneaker. The shoe was offered at select boutiques nationally, most of which sold out in the first few days. Publications such as Women's Wear Daily, Footwear News, TeenVogue.Com, Complex Magazine, The Source Magazine and others covered the historical occasion.

2011: The New York Times does a full feature on Vashtie Kola, titled "A Role Model For Young Tastemakers/Her Cool Kids Clubhouse"

2012: Kola designs a limited pair of Beats By Dre Headphones in a Taxi themed design.

Videography

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

2005

2007

2008

2009

Forever 21

2010

2011

2012

References

  1. ↑ Behind The Scenes Kid Cudi's "Heaven @ Night"
  2. ↑ Kid Cudi Heaven at Nite Official Video

External links

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