Fashion In-Look Institute Scandal

Late last month, many people who are in some of SL's more well-known fashion industry groups received invitations to join a new group, called Fashion In-Look Institute. The owners of the group were listed as Nika Brentley and WESTWIND Ackland. Nika's rezday was in the first week of February 2009, and she had no payment info on file. These two facts made several people question her identity. WESTWIND has been around since 2007, and has payment info used status, but is largely unknown in the SL fashion world. The intent of this group was kept secret, with notices that were designed to pique curiosity and anticipation of something great to happen. Like most people, when I received the group invitation, I looked at who was already in it, saw some names I recognized as being upstanding SecondLife residents, assumed the group was reputable, and accepted the invitation.

Ivy Spore, the shady con man who has been receiving bad reviews from bloggers, designers, and aspiring models alike, reportedly created another account, by the name of Rock Rallier, in an attempt to avoid "the drama" surrounding the Ivy Spore character. This alternate was probably one of SL's worst kept secrets, and his membership in the Fashion In-Look Institute group is what raised flags as to the legitimacy of this organization. It was reported that not only was he a member, but he was also an officer, and allegedly soliciting money for sponsorship of this group.



Fashion In-Look Institute CEO Denies Ugly Allegations
Almost immediately after this post appeared in Shopping Cart Disco, Nika Brentley issued a statement, saying that neither she nor WESTWIND Ackland were aware of his reputation, and that he was just a regular member of the group, and not an officer. A few people had left comments to the contrary, thus fueling the controversy.



I had a brief conversation with Nika Brentley after she made the statement denying any knowledge of Rock Rallier's reputation under his Ivy Spore account. I was inclined to believe that she was a sincere, respectable person with good intentions. I also noted that she did not seem to have English as her primary language, although I could not determine what her native tongue was.

WESTWIND Ackland Left Holding The Bag


Three days after the article appeared in Shopping Cart Disco, WESTWIND Ackland sent a group notice, stating that Nika Brentley had disappeared, and absconded with the funds. WESTWIND sent a notecard in the group notice, with an explanation about what the group was for. Up until this point, nobody knew exactly what it was for, or what to expect. As it turned out, the group was formed to be yet another sort of modeling academy. Their intention was to charge either L$6,000 or L$8,000 to train people for a career in SL's modeling industry, or just to become fashionable avatars in the game.





It seemed that WESTWIND Ackland had the intention of continuing with the mission without Nika Brentley. Not knowing what her business ambitions were, outside of the training classes, there were questions as to what exactly the partnership with Andrzej Makarov was formed for.

As a professional builder with connections to the fashion world of SL, I was curious as to what Andrzej Makarov was going to be able to contribute to this venture. I had never heard of him, so the title of "master builder" made me wonder who he was. If he was going to be part of the training academy, what were he credentials to be giving people fashion advice? If he was a master builder, with over two years in SL, why had I never heard of him? I had also noted that, like Nika Brentley, he had no payment info on file, and his profile did not reflect someone with English as their primary language.

High Performance WESTWIND Goes From Congenial (Sort of) To C*nt In 60 Minutes
I decided to go directly to WESTWIND Ackland, and ask her the questions that I had. As I had been invited to be a member of this group, I did not think it was inappropriate for me to question the group's owner about the purpose of this organization. Because of the fact that people were being asked for money for this venture, I felt it was important to find out everything I could, and to publish this article.



I had tried to check out the Andrzej Makarov character, but found that every single place in his profile picks, which were supposed to be either his stores or his builds, were no longer in existence. This, coupled with the fact that he has been in SL for over two years, and still has no payment information on file, failed to give him any kind of credibility.



At this point, the only thing that WESTWIND Ackland and Andrzej Makarov seemed to be partnering for was to continue with the modeling school, which meant collecting investments from sponsors, and tuition from students. Neither of these individuals seemed able to present evidence as to their expertise in SL fashion.









Please note that I erroneously typed "rl=sl"--I had meant to type "rl=rl." To me, what ever conditions exist in someone's RL is of no importance in SL. I cannot verify if someone is lying to me in an attempt to gain my sympathy, and I am disgusted to think someone would lie about such a thing. I would also like to point out that, like most of us, I have also lost someone very close to me, but I do not expect any sort of sympathy from anybody in SL because of it. It is a fact of my RL, and it shall remain in my RL.



I had tried to check her personal reference, Indyra Siego, but the name came up "none found." I had heard of Indyra Bekkers, not Indyra Siego. Later, I found Indyra Seigo, and was able to verify the reference.



After Ackland attacked me personally for wanting to find out the truth, she decided to eject me from the group. It was OK to invite me when it suited her purpose, of having a group that had members that have made a name for themselves in some way in SL, in order to increase the respectability of the group. Once I started making waves, my membership was no longer wanted.

Personal Reference? Sure. Financial Support? Um...NO!
When I was finally able to contact her personal reference, Indyra Seigo, I was told to contact her manager, Accountant Adzebills. Accountant and I have been acquainted for some time, although I had no idea she was an exective for the Indyra Originals brand. I felt confident that perhaps WESTWIND Ackland was a decent person who just happened to get sucked in with some shady characters. I also found it rather poignant that Ackland's personal reference refused to invest in sponsorship of the Fashion In-Look Institute project.

I had told Accountant that I didn't understand why there needed to be some public, official statement about WESTWIND Ackland's association with Indyra Seigo. I really thought it would be fine if Indyra just said something like, "Yeah I know her, she's OK in my book as far as I know." Accountant chuckled about it, and basically restated that back to me with a "LOL." She had also gone on to mention some dealings between Indyra Originals and Star and Moon Moss that raised my eyebrow as to the business ethics of the Moss couple, but that is a story for another time.

"Master Builder" Exhibits Mental Retardation
On Friday, March 3, Andrzej Makarov contacted me regarding the Fashion In-Look Institute group. Hiding behind a premise of congeniality, his tone quickly became argumentative and abusive.




The reason why I hate anyone calling me a "master builder" is because there will always be someone who is better at it than I am. If someone calls themselves a master builder, then I am excited to see their work. In this case, WESTWIND Ackland said Makarov was a master builder, so I went to see what he has done. I also thought it was inappropriate for him to question my background, as I am not in a group that is asking for strangers to invest their money to finance my project.


Out of all the picks in Makarov's profile, the only building I could find that he built that even exists is the Godzilla Lounge building, and I think I actually found this by searching his name on the "all" tab, and finding him mentioned on the profile of MariaDelCarmen Bekkers. The misaligned prim is pretty obvious to just about anyone, as is the mismatched shaded texture. Textures should blend seamlessly from prim to prim, meaning they need to be properly scaled and offset. Personally, I would not have the window texture at the same offset and repeat on the edges of the window, but that is probably a matter of personal taste. As it is, I would probably neither hire nor recommend this (master?) builder.



Andrzej Makarov thought so much of me that he decided to mention me on his profile, which earned him (another) abuse report from yours truly.



Finally, another group notice was sent out--which had to be forwarded to me from a friend who is still in the group. Apparently, Ackland has left the group, and Makarov has decided to keep the group and proceed with plans to build a mall--which is just what SL needs, another sloppy mall by someone who is financially insolvent.

Who Was Nika Brentley?

As of this writing, I am unable to verify if Nancy Jie is, or was, Nika Brentley. I did search for Nancy Jie, Nika Brentley, and Lynnsha Twine on the "people" tab, and all 3 names come up as "none found." I do have it on good authority that Nancy Jie is French, with imperfect English, which would seem to be consistent with the conversation I had with Nika Brentley. I was also forwarded the final notecard, sent through a group notice, from WESTWIND Ackland. In the statement, she claims that the total embezzled by Nika Brentley was L$40k. She also stated that she had left the group.



This is the notecard from Lynnsha Twine, where she explains the situation with her alleged Nancy Jie account, and what happened between her and Kylie Gears. As of this writing, nobody has come forward to confirm whether or not Nancy Jie is Nika Brentley, but a few people have expressed disbelief that the person behind the Nancy Jie character would be capable of such underhanded business ethics.