All posts filed under: Canadian Designers

the shOws – Thomas Tait Spring Summer 2012

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Thomas Tait is one of the four designers that showcased their Spring Summer 2012 collections with the the shOws at the Ritz-Carlton. the shOws is the brainchild of Paola Fullerton. “Our aim is to put the spotlight on Canadian Designers, Hair and Makeup Artists and Models and build a property that benefits not only our designers, artists and retailers but also our supportive sponsors, by showcasing the very best of Canadian talent at home and abroad to our media, buyers and stylists. The purpose of The ShOws is to bring together our most talented and creative Canadian designers each season and allow them to present their collections here in Toronto to the fashion industry without incurring any production costs themselves. We want to support them here at home and give them every possible opportunity to continue to build their brands.” – Paola Fullerton, Founder & Creative Director Thomas Tait studied at La Salle College in Montreal and then went on to graduate with an MA from London’s Central Saint Martins. He was the youngest person …

I want – I got’s Guest Editor Picks at Dealuxe.ca

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I’m not a huge online shopper. I love the tactile nature of shopping too much. The shipping fees and import duties really keep me away from online shopping. I like that there are more Canadian options popping up these days. One of my favourites is newcomer, dealuxe.ca.  They support Canadian designers, have great sales, super fast shipping and an easy to use website. I was so excited when Erin Green of Dealuxe contacted me about participating in their Guest Editor feature. I selected 6 feature items and described how I would wear each piece. It’s winter and the list is heavy on the Smythe. I selected another 6 items to round out my selection Editor’s picks.  See all 12 of my picks.

Final Fashion x Jabberdust Fall Winter 2011 – 2012

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Leah Barrett, Jabberdust designer, emailed me to let me know that a little project she worked on with Danielle Meder of Final Fashion is available for sale. Last year, Leah approached Danielle about illustrating some design concepts for the company. Danielle explains the whole process in this snippet here from her blog. Designer, entrepreneur, professor and blog reader Leah Barrett approached me with a project. Leah’s label, Jabberdust, is a line of scarves and accessories that features incredible handwork. Leah works closely with factories in India to showcase the possibilities of embellishment. Her background is in production management, and she surprised me with a rare proposal. I’m paraphrasing here – Leah said: “I’m very comfortable with the production aspect of the business, however I find the conceptual aspect of design more challenging. Would you be interested in designing a number of concepts and illustrating them – it can be anything you wish – and I will take those ideas to the factories and handle the technical development of the samples, and if they’re successful, the …

Alex & Eli Fall Winter 2011 – 2012

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Alex & Eli is an American based brand created by two Parsons graduates, Aja Singer (who is Canadian) and Anne Zeman. Their focus is suiting for women with tailored silhouettes and unusual detailing. I knew Aja and Anne were after my heart when I started to read the style names. As an unapologetic Star Trek fan, I was delighted to see things like The Vulcan Blazer, Enterprise Pant, the Voyager Blazer, the Kirk (it’s a jacket), Transporter Skirt and the Replicator Jacket. It was doubly delightful that the clothing looked really good. Womenswear influenced by menswear with a modern twist, how could I not love this. I finally saw a few pieces of the collection at the newly opened Intermix on Bloor Street. Great quality and looks just as good in pictures as real life. images: courtesy of Alex & Eli

Greta Constantine SKIN for Danier Now Available

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Finally the Greta Constantine SKIN for Danier collection has hit the stores. Last week there was a trunk show at the Danier store in Yorkdale with a discount of 35% off. You bet I took advantage of that to get me some product. Kirk and Stephen were on hand to help shoppers choose and style their Greta Constantine SKIN for Danier pieces. I ended up purchasing the grey suede Awi Vest and the black obi belt. Check out all the photos from the Greta Constantine SKIN for Danier Trunk Show You can take a closer look at this 6 piece collection on the Danier Website. images: courtesy of Danier

Kickstarter x Juma for New York Fashion Week

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Juma is raising funds for a New York Fashion Week show through Kickstarter. JUMA is interested in raising funds with you to produce a fashion show to be shown at New York fashion week. We are presently designing our new collection and would like to have a presentation in which we can show our line. We would like to have our show listed on the official fashion week calender and invite editors, media, stylists and other industry participants in order to gain exposure and build our fanbase offline and online. We have experience with producing runways shows and have been designing clothing for 6 years so are confident in the execution of the project. We are offering you our digitally printed bags, scarves, prints as well as backstage experiences in order to raise the funds required to put on this runway show for New York Fashion Week! The project will be funded if $26,000 dollars are raised by Friday August 26, 2011 at 4pm. This dollar figure should be sobering to some designers about the …

Ask A Geek – Canadian Brands Making Winter Coats – Updated November 13, 2012

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Sometimes readers ask me questions. If they are of value to all my readers I post them online. If you have a question, please feel free to submit it using the contact form. I’ll definitely do my best to answer it. I want – I got reader @ThebergeSwim tweeted: @ThebergeSwim - @geekigirl I’m looking 4 a warm winter coat Preferably fashionable & NOT black. Would like to support local designer #ThebergemovestoToronto Me – @ThebergeSwim budget? @ThebergeSwim - @geekigirl four to six hundred. Possibly a lil more if totally awesome. Fashionable and functional are trade off that has to be made for a Canadian winter. I tend to side with function during this time of year. My recommendation is buy a long down jacket so you don’t have to layer as much. However, here’s a selection of Canadian companies with winter jackets and coats that will cover both spectrums and between.  Some of these companies might not have fall offerings online yet, but should soon. RUDSAK – Lots of leather options here. Montreal based but has a store on …

Mark Fast for Danier

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The Mark Fast Fall Winter 2011 – 2012 featured a collaboration with Danier. Mark created some amazing leather pieces in the show. Some of these runway pieces have been developed into a small capsule collection for sale at Danier this fall. I missed the Danier preview and didn’t get to see the collection in person but here are my top picks of the collection. As you can tell I love the coats and the pants. Even the cropped leather overalls has me happy. I can see myself pairing them with my platform boots from the Gap. images: courtesy of Danier

A Day at the Island with Philip Sparks

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I took a vacation day lat Monday and headed to the Toronto Island with my fashion boyfriend, Philip Sparks. I love the Island but hate going there on the weekend with the extreme crowds waiting for the ferry. I was prepared to head there alone but Philip decided to give himself a two day weekend and joined me. We walked pass Hanlan’s Point and found a nice little area on the south side. I’m not really into watching the nude frolic on my day off but more power to them. Philip braved the waters and took a swim. I don’t swim in Lake Ontario even though some of the beaches are very clean. I’m a salt water girl at heart. I did do a bit of wading up to my thighs to cool off. The most spectaular part of the day was watching thousands of Cormorants flying from the Leslie Spit westward. It lasted for about 15 minutes. I’ve never seen anything like it here. The closest was during my trip to LA last summer. …