Cem Ozan Sari of Calik Denim, Benjamin Talley Smith of Talley Creative, Paige Adams-Gellar of Paige and Gerald Ortiz of GQ magazine discuss variety in denim silhouettes during the Here|After panel “Fit Fatigue: Brands vs. the Infinite Scroll of Silhouettes.”
EVENTS
Authenticity, Community Lead Second Edition of Here|After
Here | After returned to NeueHouse Hollywood in Los Angeles May 8, welcoming denim insiders for an evening of cultivating meaningful community connections. The event was produced by industry veterans Erin Barajas, formerly of Kingpins, and Denim Dudes, the denim consultancy and forecasting firm founded by Amy Leverton. This recent edition of Here | After was sponsored by Calik Denim.
Attendees included executives and established artists in addition to emerging creatives and the next generation of decision-makers from the denim industry.
“Because we’re not a trade show, the stakeholders aren’t there to sell. They’re there to make connections and be part of this community,” said Barajas. “How can we serve this community but really acknowledge that we’re all a bunch of creatives? Yes, we’re trying to make money, and yes, we’re trying to build these brands, but really—at heart—we’re creatives and we want connection.”
Denim Dudes’ Shannon Reddy joined Leverton to present the Denim Dudes Fall/Winter 2026/2027 Forecast, which afforded trend direction for the upcoming season as consumers continue to value individuality and authenticity.
During “Fit Fatigue: Brands vs. the Infinite Scroll of Silhouettes,” Benjamin Talley Smith of Talley Creative, Paige Adams-Gellar of Paige, Cem Ozan Sari of Calik Denim and Gerald Ortiz of GQ magazine discussed current challenges of the fit landscape, where anything and everything goes in silhouette trends.
Leverton sat with Elisa Goodkind, who cofounded media company StyleLikeU and the video series “What’s Underneath” with her daughter Lily Mandelbaum during a session titled “Unfiltered: Elisa Goodkind and Amy Leverton.” During the session, Leverton and Goodkind discussed how people’s opinions of themselves project outward, including how these feelings connect to the need for authenticity through self-expression.
Authenticity is also a driver for Barajas while planning Here | After events as she and Leverton build a unique event brand where creatives rely on one another to share industry-shifting ideas.
“It’s not a trade show,” Barajas said. “It’s a community. We can come together and have these interesting, valid, nontraditional conversations that apply to our business and our personal creativity.”
