Jai Mayhew

Though Jai Mayhew began her career as an art model, she soon found herself fascinated by the other side of the lens: “I just fell in love with photography and couldn’t put the camera down,” she remarks. Over the past two years, Mayhew has been cultivating an eye for female sensuality, and her work, alternately stark and decadent, has graced the pages of Austin Lifestyle as well as the Vogue Italia website. “I think it’s fascinating how a woman’s sensuality can be soft and vulnerable and yet completely overpowering,” she observes. Whether Mayhew’s photographs are set in a wonderland-inspired garden, at sea or in the dessert, each one thus offers up a striking portrait of a woman full of life and daring. “I like to portray women as sensual but strong,” Mayhew says. “That, to me, is hard to look away from.” Look for Jai Mayhew’s work in this month’s Austin Lifestyle and Glassbook. For more information, visit jaimayhew.com.

Dog & Pony’s Third Thursdays

This month marks the second anniversary of Dog & Pony, a retail store transformed into a collaborative space for the creative community. In addition to overseeing in-house projects, including a forthcoming music video for Anastasia Dimou, owner Star Lee opens Dog & Pony’s doors on the third Thursday of each month, from noon to midnight. Once the sun goes down, guests enjoy drinks and photography by local artists, as they browse the wares of online retailers like Splendor Boutique and American Icon, who, for a single evening, share a brick and mortar space with Dog & Pony’s own line of custom denim. Ultimately, Lee looks forward to expanding Third Thursdays into a neighborhood-wide event with other retailers on Guadalupe. “We want people to know that they can come here and find things they didn’t know about before,” she notes. For more information about Dog & Pony’s Third Thursdays, visit dogandpony.us.

International Afrikan Fashion Week Austin

Next month, Austin’s fashionable set welcomes the city’s first ever International-Afrikan Fashion Week Austin, produced by Runway Underground. A week of pop-up shops, trunk shows and presentations around downtown Austin and the East End, I-AFW/A aims to bring the work of local and international Black designers to the forefront. From concept to production, each show will be thoughtfully shaped by the members of the Runway Underground network, whose makeup artists, stylists, designers and models produce a variety of events throughout the year. “There are many incredible stories and great folks who work with and are members of Runway Underground,” says founder Nailah Akinyémi-Sankofa. This fall, I-AFW/A marks the network’s coup de théâtre, as members from all walks of life—East African refugees, a trained opera singer, an APD officer—gather to celebrate the burgeoning community of international artists across the city. International Afrikan Fashion Week Austin will be held October 4-11. For more information, visit runwayunderground.webs.com.