Mary Katrantzou has moved away from crazy prints for fall winter 2013 so we better get in our love with the spring summer 2013 season. I love this shirt dress with detachable pull on tunic. I love the design of stamps and money. The dress was available on Luisaviaroma but it’s sold out. images: lyst.com
I enjoyed opening the Kania Spring Summer 2013 lookbook, the images are beautiful. Kania is the brainchild of Ottawa based Stacey Bafi-Yeboa. She is a former Broadway dancer and that experience heavily influences her designs. Kania is designed and manufactured in Canada. The Spring Summer 2013 Kania collection is called Tropical Luxuriance. Stacey brought in Tanzanian model, Herieth Paul who moved to Ottawa when she was 14. Welcome to a world where fashion meets dance and where fantasy is reality. A private island where you can escape the ordinary and be submersed in luxury. Steamy nights and hot summer days rule your world. You’ll sense the relaxed beauty of the Caribbean and be transformed into the glamour of an African queen. As you step into paradise you’re ready to let go, to let loose, to be noticed, to be free. Is it a dream? No … you’ve just entered the island of KANIA… get ready to experience…TROPICAL LUXURIANCE(source: press release) Stacey’s dance background is evident in the clothing. Everything is sexy but comfortable looking. Stacey …
This ice blue coloured One Button Shawl Collared Blazer by Smythe would be perfect in the summer paired with a spaghetti strap dress. I’d like to pair it with white skinny cropped pants and platform sandals too. The blazer is $525 at eLUXE.com. images: eluxe.com
I usually only post about my favourite collections of the fashion weeks. The Mary Katrantzou Fall Winter 2013 – 2014 collection a favourite not because I loved most of the looks. It’s a favourite because Mary did something I didn’t expect this season, she changed. I’ve anticipated this move since the Katrantzou print influence took over the fashion world. The typical Katrantzou print was out and photos by Edward Steichen, Clarence White, and Alfred Stieglitz were in. She explored new, angular shapes with some Japanese influences and toned down the colour. There was a lot of black in the collection. I appreciate the risks she took with this collection. The backstage photos posted on the Mary Katrantzou Facebook page should change anyone’s opinion of the collection, it’s just beautiful. “I wanted to step back from color and print and contemplate shapes and silhouettes. It was important for me to take that time,†she said. It was the first season we draped on the stand in a very complex way.†(source) Mary has commercial avenues with …
I finally visited a Brooks Brothers store in Toronto. I don’t know why it took me so long to visit the Brooks Brothers Flatiron Shop. It’s a beautiful store situated in an old bank building and includes the vault! While I was browsing I noticed the dresses made from Liberty London fabrics. I can’t remember the Canadian price but they are listed as $248USD on the website which also ships to Canada. Brooks Brothers Flatiron Shop 262 Bloor St W Toronto images: www.brooksbrothers.com
Hermès does an incredible job with their product videos. They are extremely well done and hit that sweet spot of cute and whimsical that wins me over every time. The Sporting Life is the theme of the 2013 for Hermès and this set of four videos does a terrific job of conveying the theme. Each video takes items from the spring summer 2013 and incorporates them into sporty vignettes. Ping Pong features the Toolbox bag and the Rallye 24 Porcelain Collection. Rallye 24 Porcelain Collection: The new Hermès porcelain collection designed by Benoît-Pierre Emery and Damian O’Sullivan will be available in Canadian boutiques in May 2013. Rallye 24 has the emblematic anchor chain caught up in and propelled along by a new story on porcelain. It is playfully reworked as a car race track with its straight lines and oval corners, all short-circuiting with their foot to the floor.(source: Hermès PR) Toolbox bag: A slight family resemblance… A cousin of the Kelly, with a vanity-case touch, this bag unites the Hermès spirit and the practicality …
The Roger Vivier exhibit at The Bata Shoe Museum is coming to a close and if you’ve been putting off going you need to stop now. April 7, 2013 is the last day you can check out the work of this master shoemaker. I finally got off my ass and took in the exhibit this week. Roger Vivier’s work is of exceptional beauty and technical design. He invented so many of the classic shoe styles some of which are as popular as ever more than 50 years later. Roger pushed shoe design to new levels with his creative and technical sides. Vivier perfected the modern stiletto in 1954. He never used the term stiletto but aiguille (needle heel). The Choc heel which looks like a concave stiletto came along in 1959. My favourite pair of the exhibit are a Choc heel and pictured above. Roger also debuted the Tibet heel in 1959. It’s shaped like a small inverted pyramid. The Polichinelle heel followed, it has a low hourglass-shaped heel. In 1962 he introduced another heel …
Sacai, Sacai. Is there many brands cooler than you? I don’t think so. Chitose Abe has created my dream moto jacket. The front of the jacket is true to motorcycle style but the back is loose and drapey. It’s the kind of coat that makes an entrance with this build in cape, superhero styles. It’s cut from the same cloth as my Moncler S Shihoko trench coat which was also designed by Chitose Abe. I hope Moncler S is coming back, I haven’t seen anything on the Moncler website for the Spring Summer 2013 collections. Sacai Embroidered Asymmetric Moto Jacket in White and Yellow is available for pre-order at Barney’s for $2130. Le sigh. images: lyst.com
Sarah Stevenson Design Spring Summer 2013 collection reminds me of the sea and Ming Dynasty porcelain. Sarah is a textile designer so she creates the prints herself and has them transferred to silk. Pattern Observer has a great interview with Sarah. All of her pieces are made in Canada. For those people who tend to skew a bit more conservative in their clothing can add a pop of colour and print with one of Sarah’s beautiful scarves. You can find Sarah Stevenson Design online at Ukamaku and sarahstevensondesign.com. images: courtesy of Sarah Stevenson Design
The sleeves and the neckline is what draws me to this complexgeometries dress. The billowy silhouette looks so comfortable and perfect to pair with leggings and boots in the early spring and fall. The complexgeometries Nomad Dress is made of light weight cotton voile. It’s available on complexgeometries.net for $240. images: complexgeometries.net
