First of all, what it is about music that trig­gers in one’s soul, down to the deep­est core of your being? To this day I ask myself that very ques­tion and still search to find how some­thing we can’t phys­i­cally see (given we’re just lis­ten­ing through our ipods while sweat­ing our butts off run­ning down the streets of NYC for what­ever crazy rea­son) or can feel the melody stir up so many phys­i­cal emo­tions and reac­tions from a human being. Really ironic.…However, the glory of it all, as I sit and write out­side in the midst of on upcom­ing hur­ri­cane (and com­pletely obliv­i­ous due to the fact that I’m try­ing to make a point…) , I’m reminded of how very spe­cial the lit­tle things in our lives make the biggest dif­fer­ence. Cliché as it may sound, when it comes to fash­ion and music, it’s the lit­tle things we find that are spe­cial, mean­in­ful and touch a por­tion of our heart that sinks so deeply within that we cant ignore it ot deny it.

I watched Ellie Gould­ing on stage for the first time dur­ing Satru­day Night Live and fell totally and com­pletely in love. It end­lessly enam­ors me. First round, I thought, ok love this song. Sec­ond time around, I read the lyrics, Third time around, I research the effort that went­be­hind this band even get­ting it’s start.…but the big story behind how they got started is not my topic of con­ver­sa­tion at this point.…its the sim­ple fact that they were able to pro­duce a song that meant some­thing to me. A few lit­tle words, an amaz­ing voice, and all that goes with it.…transported me out of wher­ever I’ve been and puts me immiedi­ately where I need to be.

Same with small fash­ion finds that you know are com­pletely unique and yours all your own. What a won­der­ful feel­ing to add to the per­son whos per­manantly seek­ing iden­tity within them­selves and yet seems to find those snip­pets in every day life through ran­dom obsta­bles. I just love them all!!

And by “Jack of all Trades” we mean.…he does every­thing. After estab­lish­ing him­self in the mod­el­ing indus­try, he uti­lized his tal­ents, expe­ri­ence and love of art to develop his own world of fash­ion, unique inde­pen­dence, and an over­all brand to make him­self not only one of the most ver­sa­tile indi­vid­u­als in fash­ion, but one of integrity and passion.

In the midst of his busy sched­ule, Bran­don gave Emer­ald Chic’s fash­ion cor­re­spon­dent, Patrick, a few moments of his time for some insight into his career, his expan­sion, and even a few point­ers for you men out there look­ing for some fash­ion advice.

PH: What can you say is an “unfor­get­table mod­el­ing moment”?

BT: That’s a hard one for me to answer and nar­row it down, I thank God daily for what he’s given to me in this busi­ness. Most of my guy friends would say its prob­a­bly a job I’ve had play­ing Heidi Klum’s lover for Vogue over a few days work, a sexy rolling around shoot with Alessan­dra Ambro­sio on the beach, sleep­ing in Elle Macpherson’s house or hav­ing Gisele Bund­chen top­less on me for a shoot for a jeans com­pany cam­paign but that (as crazy as it sounds) became nor­mal. I would prob­a­bly say it was stay­ing in a 17 bed­room Igloo in the top of the Alps in Switzer­land for work for two weeks and get­ting paid to be in the most beau­ti­ful place I’d ever seen while snow­board­ing, snow­mo­bil­ing, and eat­ing fon­due daily!

PH: So, what’s new with you? You are quite the DJ-​​in-​​Demand. How is the dj career going?

BT: The career is amaz­ing! It’s mov­ing a lit­tle faster than I wish but how do you com­plain about that? The prob­lem with being a jack of all trades is God only made 24 hrs in a day. Recently, I’ve been spin­ning fun stuff like Sun­glass Hut Store Open­ing with the Strokes, a celebs birth­day party with The Fugees, and a one on one gig with R Kelly with me mix­ing and him per­form­ing for the club (he’s still got it).

PH: Like a num­ber of mod­els, you have branched out into another busi­ness. For me, it has been jour­nal­ism and event pro­duc­tion. And I hear rumors of you dab­bling in inte­rior design. Fill us in on this. What is the name and what are the origins?

BT: Well I grew up with a dad that taught me how to make every­thing with my own two hands. I watched him sin­gle hand­edly build our house and teach me all of this along the way. I love being a handy­man and actu­ally think­ing out­side the box for dif­fer­ent ideas. Such as my old walk­ing stick as my cur­tain rod and recy­cling old pieces and turn­ing them into my creation.

PH: What is the focus? Are you like Cindy Craw­ford Home and Kathy Ireland’s line, focused on devel­op­ing prod­ucts for the home, or are you more focused on design­ing inte­ri­ors by shop­ping for items that fit into a client’s par­tic­u­lar style philosophy.

BT: I am actu­ally try­ing to do a triple play. I want to make my own art, sell them their apart­ments or con­dos (yes I also do real estate too), and design their apart­ment with my art inside.

PH: What are your upcom­ing design projects? Any clients of note that you can mention?

BT: Well I’ve actu­ally now been asked about putting my art in a gallery here now and I’m prep­ping for a hair salon I’m design­ing in SoHo, which should be very inter­est­ing as I have full lee­way to do as I wish.

PH: CONGRATS on both counts. What were the design cues/​inspirations for your space?

BT: I have always been in love with design­ing to look like you stepped foot into another coun­try or time era. My place is now really Moroc­can style with col­ors and fur­ni­ture that I’ve made.

PH: What else is going on in Bran­don Trentham’s life? I hear a char­i­ta­ble orga­ni­za­tion is on the hori­zon, fill us in.

BT: My Favorite Sub­ject to talk about!!!!!! I have been work­ing with so many dif­fer­ent char­i­ties and groups for many years now but never had a sole pur­pose or project. The “Hope House Hon­duras” is just that, a Chris­t­ian run orphan­age that gives them hope and light at the end of the tun­nel. I am work­ing full time with it now as well and just built the web­site for it myself. Peo­ple can find out on the site how to become a part of it and see the bless­ings that I have got­ten to. www​.Hope​house​hon​duras​.org

PH: Finally, no one can deny that you are one of the most styl­ish mod­els around. While the rest of us fall back to the “Reli­able Model Uni­form” of white v-​​neck t-​​shirt, jeans, boots, and a really good watch, you are always turned out in some­thing über-​​tasteful and edgy. Be it see­ing you on the red car­pet, bump­ing into you at a restau­rant, or even train­ing with you at the gym (yes, we are train­ing partners…lifting upper body today), you always get it right. What is your per­sonal style philosophy?

BT: It’s not about being on the brink of the new trend, it’s about being dif­fer­ent from every­one else. By the time peo­ple start wear­ing the same thing as me I wanna be over it. I like to buy a nice piece and change it to my lik­ing, whether its patches and new but­tons or cut­ting off a col­lar or half the sleeves. I once cut a whole in the top back of my jeans to have a place for my ban­dana to go through and tie. Dif­fer­ent is good. Your style should match your per­son­al­ity and never con­form. That’s BORING!

PH: What is your present fash­ion obses­sion? That one piece you have/​want to get? Mine is a Pey­man Umay bespoke suit, I wore one on the red car­pet and have cov­eted one ever since?

BT: HHHMMM well in the win­ter it was my heated under­wear (lol), but now my new bowtie obses­sion for the sum­mer. The web­site is called www​.ties​for​char​ity​.com and just as it sounds when you pur­chase them money gives back! What bet­ter way!

PH: What tips would you give guys out there for “get­ting it right”?

BT: Well that’s a broad ques­tion but if it’s about fash­ion, only wear what your com­fort­able in, if your not peo­ple can tell. If it’s about women, be your­self and never use a line, a sim­ple hello goes along way. If it’s about life, I’ll have to get back to you I’m still read­ing the book now.

I am NOT a morn­ing per­son, let’s just start right there…But as lethar­gic as I felt the past two morn­ings when my alarm clock, which has never seen that early, buzzed me awake at 4am, I fun­neled large amounts of cof­fee and quickly began to antic­i­pate the excite­ment of the day ahead.

Yes­ter­day, as I made my way inside the two-​​bedroom cot­tage in Alys Beach, I joined the lovely group of ladies who have come together for a photo shoot that means more than just show­ing off cute clothes and beau­ti­ful women, it’s a state­ment. It’s a col­lab­o­ra­tion of pow­er­ful, intel­li­gent and styl­ish women who have trav­eled and worked across the coun­try, yet have found their home in the retreats of Scenic 30-​​A. With the city lifestyle still in their blood, it comes as no sur­prise that they want those else­where to see just what it is that makes this area so attrac­tive and stylish.

The idea to show­case the area’s styl­ish beach riv­iera orig­i­nated with Sheila Goode, a well-​​known and amaz­ing pho­tog­ra­pher, who part­nered with Nfo­cus Mag­a­zine, the pre­mier social lifestyle mag­a­zine out of Nashville, to cover a story about New York fash­ion at the beach. For some rea­son, it seems that “emer­ald coast” style res­onates a under­whelm­ing impres­sion in the minds of those who don’t live here. In fact, the very ladies who Sheila brought together includ­ing myself, Alli­son Craft (Alli­son Craft Designs), Hay­ley Green (Hay­ley Green Pho­tog­ra­phy), Julie Van Otten (Make-​​up Artist), Stephanie Nichols (DejaVu & Judith March Cloth­ing), & Paige Schnell (Trac­ery Inte­ri­ors) have all at some point or another worked in or with the fash­ion indus­try in some of the biggest fash­ion epi­cen­ters in the coun­try. We all want to show­case not only our arts and tal­ents, but more impor­tantly to make a state­ment about all the fash­ions and fash­ion­istas which make this area so incred­i­bly chic and memorable.

Sheila approached me to help style about eight dif­fer­ent ladies, NYC style, in cloth­ing donated by designer, Stephanie Nichols, who pro­duces a line of woman’s clothes called Judith March and Deja Vu. Alli­son Craft’s beau­ti­ful hand­made pearls were laid out all over the comfy white bed ready to be paired with the tons of fab­u­lous shoes, acces­sories, hand­bags and hats that filled the rooms with color, inspi­ra­tion and flair. We all fever­ishly pulled, plucked, paired, and per­fected out­fits, hair, makeup and acces­sories to make sure we had the per­fect looks. The finale to all of yesterday’s hard work, sweat (because it was 100 degrees out­side), and patience, was the last shoot of the day.…the Sex in the City shoot. Some­thing about see­ing every­thing put together and brought to life out­side at the mag­nif­i­cent Cal­iza Pool, made me com­pletely under­stand what we were work­ing towards and why we really do want to show off our local style, tal­ents, and designs. Every­thing has cul­mi­nated into a fab­u­lous, fun and mem­o­rable shoot.

Here are some of the shots I took dur­ing the last two days. These are only a few that I was able to squeeze in, but we lit­er­ally have hun­dreds of awe­some pics, so there’s more to come!!  S’amuser!

You never know what ran­dom celebrity sight­ings you’ll find along the quaint cor­ri­dor of scenic High­way 30A. This par­tic­u­lar evening, to my sur­prise, started with an invite to a pri­vate recep­tion held at the absolutely gor­geous Cal­iza Pool at Alys Beach, which is with­out a doubt one of my favorite spots to sim­ply sit and enjoy the scenery.  This evening, res­i­dent home own­ers wel­comed film celeb, Stephen Bald­win, who was vis­it­ing 30A while also pro­mot­ing the Torch­light Film Series which, in con­junc­tion with the FSU Film School, is a series of con­ver­sa­tions between Torch­light Direc­tor, Paul Cohen and celebrity guest (you guessed it.…) Stephen Baldwin.

Among the small group of pleas­ant 30A-​​ers, were the Alys Beach Town Founder, Jason Comer and wife, Anna; George’s restau­rant own­ers, George and Ann Hart­ley; and Alys Beach “Town Evan­ge­list” and owner of 30A​.com, Mike Ragsdale.….just to name a few. As the night rolled on, guests sipped their cock­tails and sam­pled hors d’oeuvres from Caliza’s Restau­rant when along comes Stephen Bald­win with fam­ily in tow, Paul Cohen, and a small entourage from FSU’s Film School.

Calm, col­lected, and so easy to con­verse with, Bald­win was amazed, as are every­one else that vis­its 30A, at the beau­ti­ful sur­round­ings that make this area so unique. With plans to visit again very soon, he gra­ciously gave kudos to Alys Beach for let­ting him enter the com­mu­nity of friends, fam­i­lies, and pro­fes­sion­als that keep 30A thriving.

I was def­i­nitely excited for the oppor­tu­nity to meet Mr. Bald­win and look for­ward to what his future endeav­ors may bring to our beau­ti­ful Emer­ald Coast!  Til next time!

DejaVu, home to some of the cutest woman’s resort wear, is nes­tled in pos­si­bly one of my favorite spots along the Emer­ald Coast - Sea­side, FL. If you’ve ever seen the Tru­man Show, then you know exactly where I’m talk­ing about. This once “secret hide­away” has become the sum­mer home for many a trav­eler look­ing to relax on the beau­ti­ful white beaches that already make the Emer­ald Coast so appeal­ing. Friends, fam­i­lies, food­ies, and warm weather fans flock to Sea­side every year for a trip through the famous court­yard or Ruskin Place which show­cases sev­eral local artists and bou­tiques that make Sea­side so quaint.

One such bou­tique, DejaVu, is a per­sonal favorite of mine. Stop­ping in dur­ing a round­about work ses­sion, I found sev­eral must-​​haves for this spring and sum­mer sea­son which is soon to be blis­ter­ing hot. Linens, silks, and light-​​flowy fab­rics make up the major­ity of dresses, shirts and other apparel that fill this chic, cottage-​​style boutique.

Owned by Stephanie Nichols, whom I’ve heard through the grapevine, is in LA work­ing on a new line of clothes, Dejavu, brings cus­tomers fem­i­nine, fun and flirty attire and acces­sories to make for the per­fect beach vacay. My pur­chase that day was a bright pink, silky sum­mer dress with bohemian-​​style bead­ing down the col­lar with a pull-​​string waist and a flowy skirt that comes just to the knees. Named after the famed Alys Beach (and right­fully so), this dress was per­fectly suited for my next out­ing along the Emer­ald Coast! Next time you’re on the coast, stop in and check out what chic new styles can be found at DejaVu. Not close by, never fear, you can also pur­chase their wears online at www​.shop​with​de​javu​.com.

Brows­ing through the many shops at the Rose­mary Beach, I found a great lit­tle bou­tique this week, World 6, which is soon to be renamed (pos­si­bly to “Drift” but stay tuned). The bou­tique itself is adorned with beau­ti­ful art­work by local artist, Alli­son Wickey, who does Venet­ian plas­ter on wood. But what made this bou­tique espe­cially unique is Allison’s art stu­dio which is towards the back of the store. Sit­ting on a large counter was an enor­mous piece of wood can­vas, freshly painted, with a fan blow­ing on it to dry the paint. Next to it were other pieces of art newly cre­ated that were patiently await­ing their spot on the wall.

Among the art­work hung an array clothes and jew­elry designed by res­i­dent locals such as JanieG­Cou­ture, owned by design­ers Alix O’Neil and Car­o­line Smith. There dresses are fun, flirty and the per­fect attire for day or evening. They look sophis­ti­cated, but not too stuffy.…perfect for our beachy lifestyles here on the Emer­ald Coast. If you don’t live close by, you can pur­chase online or call 334–805-4881.

Also, mark your cal­en­dars for the upcom­ing Fash­ion Show on May 7^th at the Emer­ald Coast Con­fer­ence Cen­ter. Local design­ers will debut their col­lec­tion for a night of art and phil­an­thropy. Pro­ceeds from the event will ben­e­fit the Boys & Girls Club of the Emer­ald Coast.…stay tuned for more details!

SO THERE I WAS WATCHING A FRIEND of mine pack for a job abroad and saw him unfold­ing what looked to be a clas­sic pashmina.

 “J, what’s the deal with the pash­mina? Can’t say I have seen many guys sport­ing those.”

“Patrick, first of all, when you fold it like this (he quickly wrapped it into a clas­sic “scarf knot”) no one has any idea it is as large as it is, it looks like a nor­mal scarf, and sec­ondly, you know how cold those trans-​​Atlantic flights can be and have you seen what they have found on those sup­pos­edly clean, vac­uum packed blan­kets on the planes?!?!”

 He had me with that!!!! I had read the arti­cles and was sold! It was then that I too started trav­el­ing with a pash­mina as a scarf; in fact, there is one I leave in my carry-​​on.

Well, this month’s “PATRICK’S FAVORITE THINGS” includes the ulti­mate in over-​​sized wraps, from PORTOLANO the lux­ury cash­mere and leather goods com­pany. Estab­lished in Italy in 1895, this com­pany not only pro­duces under the fam­ily name, but is also the sup­plier to such labels as Moschino, Alberta Fer­retti, and Armani, to name but a few, and is a favorite amongst many a celebrity. The “hand” of the wrap USD$90.00 defies descrip­tion, but I can say it is a bit smaller than the clas­sic pash­mina, but is a gor­geous alter­na­tive. It is a super thick, light grey-​​ribbed cash­mere that is so incred­i­bly soft to the touch. I have a flight to the Caribbean soon and know this will dou­ble as the per­fect super lux­u­ri­ous in-​​flight blan­ket. It has replaced my $10 sidewalk-​​special ver­sion as my must have for travel.

While check­ing out the wraps, I couldn’t resist a few more of this ven­er­a­ble house’s offerings.

The deer­skin gloves USD$55.00 pic­tured are beau­ti­fully hand-​​stitched and lined in the warmest rab­bit fur. The color is not quite black, not quite brown, so it goes with almost every coat and they are incred­i­bly warm. The leather is noth­ing short of sump­tu­ous and, with time, they become “like but­ter”! They are a replace­ment for a beloved pair from the com­pany that had worn in per­fectly. Unfor­tu­nately, some­one at The Rose Bar liked them more than I, and made off with them…yes, I AM still a bit bitter!!!!

The two other items were pure indul­gences. The striped sweater USD$150.00 is a beau­ti­ful light­weight cash­mere which would be wear­able for at least 8 months out of the year. And those gloves…those gloves, deer­skin palms with cro­chet back­ing USD$30.00 beau­ti­ful. And…SOOOO UNIQUE… 

PORTOLANO mer­chan­dise is avail­able at select bou­tiques, Bergdorf Good­man, Neiman Mar­cus, Saks, Lord and Tay­lor, and Bloomingdale’s, and on line at www. por​tolano​.com.

Pho­tos cour­tesy of Thomas Beaudoin!

Caught a pic at a Zink Mag­a­zine party dur­ing NY Fash­ion Week at the Juliet Sup­per Club, a fab­u­lous lounge in Chelsea. Custo Barcelona straight off the run­way from the night before. Gotta love it!

This hand­bag I came across while shop­ping at Dillard’s. I LOVE how col­or­ful the spring col­lec­tions are. A great acces­sory that stands out and brings life to your outfit.