About
From Wikipedia:
“The word pinko was coined by Time magazine in 1926 as a variant on the noun and adjective pink, which had been used along with parlor pink since the beginning of the 20th century to refer to those of leftish sympathies, usually with an implication of effeteness. In the 1920s, for example, a Wall Street Journal editorial described supporters of the progressive Robert La Follette as “visionaries, ne’er do wells, parlor pinks, reds, hyphenates [Americans with divided allegiance], soft handed agriculturalists and working men who have never seen a shovel.”
Pinko and pink were widely used during the Cold War to designate those accused of supporting the Soviet Union, including many of the supporters of Henry Wallace’s 1948 presidential campaign with the Progressive Party. The word was predominantly used in the United States, where opposition to Communism grew strong among the population, especially during the era of the McCarthy hearings. It was also in common use in South Africa during the apartheid era. One of the most infamous uses of pink is a quotation attributed to Richard Nixon, talking in 1950 about Helen Gahagan Douglas: “She’s pink down to her underwear!”, referring to the fact that at the time, pink was the main color of women’s undergarments. In his presidential campaigns, George Wallace often railed at “the left-wing pinko press” and at “pseudo-pinko-intellectuals.”
About Us
Four years ago Stirling and I first dreamed up Pinko. We had an idea that seemed groundbreaking: Cover “green” and sustainable lifestyle trends on their merits — green living, but not hippie or ugly. We didn’t know much about fashion, but we were interested in green products and ideas that were getting big because they were great — not because they were green. Organic Style, for cool kids.
Four years later, we clearly missed the boat. Green is everywhere. Green parenting. Green funerals. Arrive, the crap magazine they give you free on Amtrak, had its first green issue this summer. We were not the cool kids.
Last week I went to my first fashion show. While I’m not sure that any of what I saw counts as “socially responsible,” i did see lots of hot models wearing handmade, non-sweatshop, non-sexually-harassing-of-latina-workers (American Apparel you vex us so!) clothes that I totally wanted. I remembered the bigger idea behind Pinko: Covering — broadly — the ideas, trends, products and culture that made up what we consider a “progressive,” socially-responsible life. It was bigger than green. It was even bigger than the concept for our first photo shoot, where I was going to offer a bunch of bike messengers some pizza, then ask them to model underwear while I doused them with a hose.
Today we’re excited to launch Pinko: Our look at ideas, products and trends that are good for the world but also genuinely hot or fun. Are you voting for Barack Obama in part because he looks good in a swimsuit? Did you buy vegan sneakers because they fit better, not because they’re vegan? Are you an expert in non-toxic sex-toys? Are you gorging yourself on obscure Icelandic organic yogurt right now while you surf the internet? (its so good!) Those are Pinko stories: Responsibily decadent; joyfully cynical; conscientious
hedonism.
Write us. Read us. Write for us. Enjoy.
– Ben Wyskida, New York, September 2007
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