I’m excited about Philip Sparks’s new lines of accessories for men and women for Spring Summer 2013. Right now I have my eye on this leather and canvas mens Accordion Briefcase. I love the colour combination. It’s available for pre-order right now at philipsparks.com or at the Ossington Shop until Sunday. It retails for $395.00 and will ship on March 15, 2013s ship March 15, 2013, images: philipsparks.com
I rarely talk about celebrities here but I was super disappointed that Kayne has tried to get photos of him wearing the badass Givenchy kilt taken down. That kilt made me love Kayne and it kills me to see him backtrack. During my ranting about this, I was sent this amazing video that Kanye posted in response to his critics. It made me love him even more. And I love his stylist taking scissors to Givenchy!
Toronto based shoe designer, Abel Munoz has just launched online shopping at abelmunozshop.com. He has the Spring Summer 2013 collection in the shop now and he offers free shipping to customer in Canada and the US. Torontonians can see Abel’s shoes in person at George C. I’m pretty fond of these strappy plum suede sandals called Justice. They would be perfect day to night shoe. I’d wear these to the office all summer. Everyone is gotten used to my crazy footwear. Abel has his shoes produced in Italy and they are leather lined and soled. The heel on these are 3.75 inches. The Justice sandal retails for $575.00. image: abelmunozshop.com
The Prabal Gurung Fall Winter 2013 – 2014 fashion show was EPIC. I’m totally blown away and my minor interest in Prabal is now a full blown addiction. Every look is just perfection. The show had strong military themes which means fashion boner for Anita. I’m gaga for military influenced clothing. Prabal really created the modern woman warrior uniform here. Of course everything looks better in video Can we talk about the shoes? I thought I wasn’t interested in the gladiator stiletto boots. That was until Prabal Gurung created the ultimate versions. No words. If you really want to geek out over Prabal Gurung’s Fall Winter 2013 – 2014 collection, head over to Moda Operandi and get zooming on all the details. His trunkshow runs till February 20, 2013. images: vogue.com, style.com
Toronto based designer, Dennis Merotto’s Spring Summer 2013 collection is perfect for office dwellers like me. It’s beautiful, simple and professional but doesn’t skip out on the playful side by utilizing prints and colour blocking. The collection is combines silk, cotton, linen, leather, modal and polyester into wide legged pantsuits or easy wearing colour blocked tent dresses. Nathalie Atkinson wrote a great piece on Dennis at the National Post. He’s an industry heavyweight who worked behind the scenes for a long time whose now striving for his own spotlight. images: courtesy of Dennis Merotto
Sneaky emails and reminder tweets enter my social space once the major discounts start hitting The Room at the Hudson’s Bay. It’s a good time to be hunting for bargains. It’s during these sales periods that I get strategic about things. It’s about desirability of the brand and price. During this magical time that ownership of the brands I lust for becomes attainable. The Room blessed me with an amazing Christopher Kane skirt. The Room has a great selection of shoes and the pickings are getting pretty slim by the time it’s 60% off plus an extra 40%. This shoe shopping experience was extra fun because I coerced my friend, Natalie into coming. There were a few choices of from my watch list of designers: Kirkwood, Sanderson, Olympia, Alaia, Atwood, Margiela. I tried on a few and stared wistfully at some wishing I had the same size feet as Stefania from Textstyles.ca. I wandered the racks several times with a pair of pretty loud Erdem x Nicholas Kirkwood ankle boots. They were a thick tweed …
Miu Miu. How I love you for the latest film in your Women’s Tales series. I never expected to see a film with an all black cast by a black director associated with Miu Miu ever. As you can guess I’m pleasantly surprised to be wrong and totally in love with Miu Miu. The cast rocks Miu Miu designs and look smoking hot doing it. LOVE! The Door, by Ava DuVernay, the fifth Miu Miu Women’s Tale, is a celebration of the transformative power of feminine bonds, and a symbolic story of life change. The symbolic centre of The Door is the front entrance of the protagonist’s home. As she opens it to greet a friend in the powerfully framed opening scenes, she is shrouded in an oblique sadness. “In the film, characters arrive at the door of a friend in need, bringing something of themselves,” explains director DuVernay. “Eventually, we witness our heroine ready to walk through the door on her own. The door in the film represents a pathway to who we are.” …
London trained designer Louise Goldin is a permanent fixture on the New York Fashion Week scene after moving in 2011. This season, her second in New York was Kayne free (yay) and left Louise to bask in her own glory. Louise is a knitwear god and the winter season is all about the knitwear for me. It’s easily my favourite part of winter. The Louise Goldin collection mixed knits with leather and featured some strong prints. Here collection was inspired by fighting warriors. Trapunto quilting is used in the must have cropped sweaters and jackets giving it an amour feel. Victorian collars were blending with the knits in unique ways. ‘I wanted them to be handsome women,’ Goldin said backstage. ‘I love this sort of masculine but charming woman, that was both elegant yet cool.’ (source) A Shaded View on Fashion has some great photos where you can see the details of Louise’s knitwear. You can also see the full Louise Goldin Fall Winter 2013 – 2014 fashion show here. I learned from Cathy Horn …
We are in the middle of a snowstorm and I’m thinking about lovely Loeffler Randall spring summer 2013 sandals. The cobalt ones are very striking. Loeffler Randall is carried by Augustina Boutique and TNT in Toronto. images: loefflerrandall.com
I’m loving the Givenchy Spring Summer 2013 ad campaign. Kate, Mariacarla and Marina in one campaign, OMG. My favourite model Mariacarla Boscono is back with her baby in tow and looking amazing. Looking better than ever. Performance artist, Marina Abramovic, whose movie The Artist is Present is an absolute must see, is looking so incredible. I love this woman. The uncanny Kate Moss, she just doesn’t lose her touch. Check out the making of video. Photographers: Mert Alas & Marcus Biggott And Riccardo Tisci Models: Kate Moss, Mariacarla Boscono, Marina Abramovic, Jose Maria Manzanares, Jared Buckhiester images: thefashionspot.com
The Jeremy Laing Spring Summer 2023 runway video is now out. I love this video because it’s incorporate detail shots in addition to your typical runway video fare. And I love that damn Jaime Woon song. Photo: Melonie De Guzman for OPIQUE / Top of the Runway
Silly me mixed up my dates and I missed the launch for the newest fragrance in the Les Exclusifs de Chanel collection. I was really excited about it because it would mean playtime at the beautiful Chanel fragrance bar in the Holt Renfrew Bloor Street store. Les Exclusifs de CHANEL collection is a modern take on the fragrances created by Ernest Beaux, Chanel’s original nose and Coco Chanel in the 20s and 30s. Chanel’s current nose, Jacques Polge launched the collection 2007 and has released more fragrances over the year. These fragrances all take inspiration from the history of the house and each one explores a singular theme. 1932 is the year that Chanel launched her first designer jewellery collection in her home. The Bijoux de Diamants collection had stars, comets, crescent moons and suns; all inspiration from the lights and signs that shine at night on the Champs-Élysées. In 2012, Jacques Polge creates the Bijoux de Diamants Collection inspired fragrance. 1932 includes top notes of Aldehydes, Bergamot, Neroli, middle notes of Carnation, Jasmine, Lilac, …
Marie Saint Pierre has two beautiful jackets in the Spring Summer 2013 collection that I’m loving. Cyana is a maxi length redingote with a belt. Joshua uses mesh materials with tuxedo lapel. Both items are available online at mariesaintpierre.com. There is also a number of retailers that carry the line in Toronto. images: mariesaintpierre.com long .
A few months ago Hermès and Rei Kawakubo announced that they would collaborate. Comme des Garçons x Hermès scarves naturally got people pretty excited. I’m one of them. The collaboration resulted in two collections named “Black and White” and “Colour”. Rei incorporated house designs and manipulated them to create something new. The ‘Black and White’ collection is available only in Comme des Garçons shops (Aoyama-Tokyo, New York, Paris). The ‘Colour’ collection: collection can only be purchased at Dover Street Market stores (London, Tokyo). For people who can’t get to Tokyo, Paris or New York, you can buy the scarves online at www.doverstreetmarket.com from February 6, 2013 for the ‘Colour’ collection and from April 1, 2013 for the ‘Black and White’ collection. Prices start range from £300 – £1,500. They are rolling out the sale of the scarves in the retail shops. Here are the details From 6th February 2013 in the Comme des Garçons shop, Paris From 7th February 2013 in the Comme des Garçons shop, New York From 8th February 2013 in the Comme …
Chinedesign presents Masquerade – February 15, 2013 Chinedesign cordially invites you to “Masqueradeâ€, A multimedia fashion presentation and masked ball party celebrating the spirit of Carnival and the mystique of the African mask. Date: Friday February 15th Time: Doors/ Reception at 9pm Fashion Show at 10pm followed by the Party! Venue: Daniels Spectrum 585 Dundas Street East, Toronto Style code: Formal or African Traditional Color Theme: Black/ Gold / Red Important: Venetian-style masks must be worn at all times until midnight. Please visit chinedesign.com/masquerade to purchase your tickets and peruse our selection of suggested masks “Masquerade” is a part of the TD Then and Now Series for 2013. Daniels Spectrum 585 Dundas Street East, Toronto, Ontario M4M 2B8
Everyone has been buzzing about the new Miu Miu mini boutique that opened up in Holt Renfrew’s Bloor Street location. This is Miu Miu’s first Canadian point of sale. Architect Roberto Baciocchi designed space that is dedicated to Miu Miu handbags and accessories collections. No clothing folks and shoes are still available in shoe department. The space is very Miu Miu with damask finish covered in crystal and studs, small display windows and polished brass backlit logos. Miu Miu can be found on the first floor of Holts in the handbag section. It occupies the space where all the Balenciaga bags were hanging about. It’s like walking into a gold box. I stopped by today. It’s not very big and I didn’t see much jewellery but there were a ton of handbags though. It was super busy too. The space looks pretty slick and makes the product so desirable looking. Miu Miu Toronto, Holt Renfrew 50 Bloor Street West Toronto images: courtesy of Prada
I’m in the current issue of Worn Journal. It’s been out since November but I’m only getting around to posting about it now. In June, I got an email from Serah-Marie asking if she could feature me in Worn’s hair issue. As you can imagine, I was a little perplexed at why I would be included. She explained that the piece would be feature on people with interesting hair styles. Accompanying the photos would be an interview with questions related to hair and identity. I said yes without question because it’s Worn Journal and it’s a great topic that my (lack of) hair could contribute to. The talented Lainee Dee did my makeup before I ventured to the Worn Journal offices to meet the photographer, Brittany Lucas. I brought a few different outfits to choose from for the shoot but the final decision was the Smythe Warbler Tribute Blazer, earring by Eliza Kozurno and a leather Tshirt by Danier. It was late July when this photo was taken and it was roasting outside. With the …
I was browsing the Valery Demure online shop and noticed this Fox brooch in the Rarities section. The designer is french artist, Lea Stein. She known as “the most notable and innovative designer of plastic jewelry of the 20th century”. She started working in textiles in the late 50s but eventually grew interested in plastics in the mid 60s. She married a chemist and together they created a new layering technique for plastic. She worked with her husband, chemist Ferdinand Steinberger, to develop a process of layering very thin sheets of cellulose acetate (or rhodoid) and laminating them to form a “multi-coloured sandwich of plastic”.[3] Each ‘sandwich’ was baked for a long time, then cooled and cut into shapes. The process could take as long as six months. This technique allowed Stein to insert different fabrics (such as brocades and lace), colors and textures into the plastic.(source) images: valerydemure.com
I raved about the Chanel Paris-Édimbourg Métiers d’Art Pre Fall 2013 show. It was a giant spectacle in a Scottish Castle and full of glorious knitwear. The Chanel Spring Summer 2013 Haute Couture show doesn’t have the grand scale of the Scottish Castle but takes us through a stroll through a garden. Best of all, Karl had a black model. (Yes, I pay attention). And she’s Canadian!!!. I love some Grace Mahary!. Doesn’t she look stunning? As with all Chanel show’s you need to see the video. Here’s the full collection Chanel always does a great job of capturing close ups and beauty shots. The “Enchanted Interlude” is very pretty. I love the makeup. I tracked down this Making of a Chanel Haute Couture dress from Spring Summer 2013. The work is detailed and meticulous. The only thing I didn’t like about the collection was the shoes. I can’t deal with the shape of the open toe. If they were closed , I’d be all over them. images: style.com
There is only one word for the Valentino Haute Couture Spring Summer 2013 collection, exquisite. Everything is just beautiful. I’ve never felt this way about a Valentino haute couture show before. The video really seals the deal. images: style.com
The Charlotte Olympia Cruise 2013 is influenced by Brazil. I’m in love with the Glamazon collection lookbook more than the shoes. Check out the gallery below for the rest of the lookbook photos.
I went to the opening of the SORRY, I’M NOT SORRY, I’M NOT A JEWELLER by Dina González Mascaró show held at the Ossington Philip Sparks shop. Dina is an Argentinian, born Vancouver based artist visiting the city for the Interior Design Show and the Toronto Design Offsite Festival. She has a Master’s degree in Fine Arts with a specialization in sculpture but she is a self-taught jewellery artist. Dina’s jewellery is very much and extension of her artwork. I really love what she does as it’s so unique. She is really pushing design in a different direction. The jewellery has added dimension and structure not normally seen. Strong women wear these pieces otherwise they end up wearing you. I’m not a cyclist but her bike series is amazing. The wheels move on the mini bikes and the wheel pendant is just perfect. If you are in Vancouver you can visit Dina’s shop/studio, JewellerBau. She does custom work as well. At the opening Dina described a set of wedding bands she created for an artist …
Charlotte Olympia makes shoes and handbags I really like. I guess I can add sunglasses to that list too. The brand partnered with Linda Farrow to create the Feather Cat Eye shades. She’s got a great eye for accessories which isn’t surprising because Charlotte Olympia Dellal has amazing style. These sunglasses are around $410 and available online at luisaviaroma.com, charlotteolympia.com and lindafarrow.com. images: luisaviaroma.com
Cue the new handbag obsession, the Givenchy Antigona. Ricardo Tisci introduced the Antigona in 2010. This boston style bag comes in a variety of skins and colour combinations. Right now the above blue and black combination is my favourite. It’s $2300 at Bergdorf Goodman. The handbag is named after Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta who are all characters dreamed up by Sophocles. The orange Givenchy Antigona is $1989.22 on farfetch.com. The brown and black Givenchy Antigona is $2426.00 from shopzoeonline.com. The Antigona comes in three sizes. You can get an idea of the price range from this link.. Givenchy is available in Toronto at Holt Renfrew. images: bergdorfgoodman.com, luisaviaroma.com, lyst.com
I loved the Lucian Matis Fall 2012 ad campaign and Lucian has just released a video documenting that process. image: courtesy of Lucian Matis