Sasha Rayevskiy is a Northwest Arkansas artist known for the murals and street art he has produced in the area since his arrival a few years ago. His art covers walls from Jonesboro to Springfield to Fort Smith and his work has been displayed at events like Bentonville Film Fest and NWA Fashion Week. Now the creator is collaborating with local businesses Rock City Kicks, BLK MKT ARK and Baseline Collective for an experiential event, Beyond The Streets. He will debut his new apparel collection in an immersive night of fashion and music.
"He's already established himself as a major, major player in the art community -- he's had several murals around Northwest Arkansas, he's done a few gallery showings -- so his art career is pretty established," says Mason Kesner, executive director at Baseline. "I think him stepping into this apparel arm of the industry is really the next step for him and it's another way to express his creativity. I'm also excited these brands have committed to support him in that endeavor, and it's really kind of the true collaboration and partnership that we have hoped to create in Northwest Arkansas."
FAQ
‘Beyond The Streets’
WHEN — 9:30 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday
WHERE — Block Avenue in Fayetteville
COST — Fashion presentation $5-$10; 21+ after party FREE
INFO — beyondthestreetsnwa…, tigersasha.com
FYI — Stay connected with the event through social media channels with hastags #BTSNWA and #FromSashaWithLove
Event schedule
• 9 p.m. Gates open to ticket holders
• 9:30 p.m. Fashion presentation
• 10 p.m. BTS after party at Pinpoint Fayetteville (21+)
• 2 a.m. BTS after party ends
This step has been a long time coming, though. The dream of starting his own clothing line has been on the back burner -- but ever present -- for Rayevskiy for some 10 years, he says. Following a few years owning and operating a men's streetwear boutique, Rayevskiy has more recently taken the steps to educate himself on screen-printing, wholesale, the specifications of different fabrics and more to enable himself to move forward with creating his line.
"[I've been] looking at dozens of brands and figuring out what would work in the area and what wouldn't, and then trying to create a bit more of an open mind with fashion," Rayevskiy reveals. "There's some stuff that probably I'll be one of the only people that would wear it, but I'm hoping maybe it'll change some people's minds, because the whole line is unisex -- it's just T-shirts and sweaters and stuff like that -- so there's no point in having specified designs for [genders] because it's all about comfort. Some stuff might be a little out there, but that's not a concern of mine."
"We see a lot of [young people] in Northwest Arkansas really embrace the streetwear culture -- whether they came to it by the way of art or, some come into it through the skateboarding community. But there wasn't really anyone doing that here in Arkansas," Kesner adds. "So as this community has rapidly, rapidly, rapidly grown over the past few years, I think we need to reflect that here. We've got a great art scene, we've got a vibrant creative culture, I think our fashion culture should reflect that as well."
From that perspective, Baseline -- an experience agency, Kesner explains -- has created an event that will transport visitors to 1990's Brooklyn, N.Y. with the fashion, music, art and culture all projecting that experience from the collection presentation to the after party at Northwest Arkansas' first pinball bar, Pinpoint Fayetteville.
NAN What's Up on 09/14/2018