My fashion favourite Complexgeometries was in New York showing off the Spring Summer 2011 collection. I’m still very excited about this and I’m glad Clayton is moving on up as they say.
The show got a lot of pre and post press from sites like Nymag.com, WWD and Fashionologie. Yay Clayton!
Put on a little black dress and a fierce pair of stilettos and join us on Friday, Oct. 15 at Nyood (1096 Queen St. West, Queen W/Dovercourt) for Sequins & Stilettos: Designers vs DJs,  the launch of the Fashion Collective!
Celebrate designers Flor Serrano, Ildiko Rostas and Erin Summer of Coco Boudoir (winner of FFW’s Cheap Is The New Chic design contest). Each designer has teamed with a DJ to create a stylish, musical collaboration based on their collections!
The FC: Fashion Collective – in partnership with Frugal Fashion Week (FFW) - celebrates local, emerging designers and works with designers to present runway events, installations and FFW’s new Trunk & Eat series. The Fashion Collective plays an active role in supporting and promoting Canada’s design talent!
Doors open at 7pm for a Cupcake & Cocktail reception. The show begins at 8pm. A Designer Reception will follow. Guests receive a gift upon arrival!
I love the clunky and armor-like boots from A.F. Vandevorst’s fall winter 2010 – 2011 collection. Â You can see them in action in the A.F. Vandevorst fall winter 2010 – 2011 runway show. It’s on their facebook page. It’s the best quality one out there but not embeddable. Â The video shows the different styles of the over the knee boots in grey and red. Â I love the red ones. Â This is a great shade of red. Â The clothing is nice too, there were a few exits I liked.
Celine is another designer line that didn’t have my undying love right from the photos. Â I had to see some video evidence first. Â The videos brought me back to the Celine reality: beautiful clothing that I want to wear.
It’s a looser fitting collection that is missing some of the Celine sleekness from previous seasons. Â There are rich colours and vibrant prints to keep the collection from being completely white or ivory. Â This season I’m loving the tunics (even the japanese denim one) and white shirts.
I’m usually all over the shoes but the ones from the collection are pretty but boring. I’ll have to wait until the website is up to see what else is out there.
I love Vogue.it. It lists the fabrics used in the show: denim, canvas, cotton poplin, silk, silk cady, parachute silk, nappa and silk crêpe.
This is the Celine bag that I will be talking about till fall 2011. Love the shape and colour.
This video features Tim Blanks from style.com talking about the collection.
This is a video that contains all the looks but edited.
Luc Kieffer, a jewellery designer from Paris, visited Toronto for the first time during TIFF. A press preview party was held in his honour and I got a closer look at some of his fall winter 2010 – 2011 and spring summer 2011 collections.
Luc has worked with many fashion houses like YSL, Balenciaga, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Sonia Rykiel. It was interesting to her Luc talk about the time he met Yves Saint Laurent in person in 1996. Luc collaborated with Yves on his final collection. The Luc Kieffer line was launched in 2006.
Luc Kieffer jewellery specializes in high-polished resin with Swarovski crystals. Luc is a chemist by trade and that totally attracted the geek in me. That’s right people chemist = swoon in my books. Chemist turned jewellery maker is off the charts. I was told that Luc was a charmer. I wished I could speak french, it would have been nice to chat in his mother tongue.
He worked with Yves Saint Laurent on his final collection in 1996, and has since worked with fashion houses like Balenciaga, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Sonia Rykiel. Now, Parisian accessories designer LUC KIEFFER, who launched his eponymous label with his first collection in 2006, is in Canada for his first visit. LUC KIEFFER has made a sole stop in Toronto to showcase his high-polished resin pieces. The line includes bracelets, cuffs, pendants, earrings, brooches and more recently, cufflinks.
“The collections are designed to reflect different individual styles and each has a distinct character,’†said Luc Kieffer, who now has 23 collections. “Some of my designs are ‘un peu avant-gardiste’ but from what I’ve seen on Toronto streets and in boutiques, Canadians seem to be more fashion adventurous that what their reputation might be.â€
From an atelier based just outside of Paris, the born-and-bred Parisian LUC KIEFER and his team of talented craftsmen create resin fashion accessories that emphasize colour, luminosity and the distinct sparkle of Swarovski crystal. They mould the resin in-house, then polish it to perfection to maximize the colour and impact of the chunky crystal-embellished pieces. Resin, like crystals and fine gemstones, sublimates light and magnifies colour like a prism with an infinite spectrum of hues. Each piece is handcrafted in France, affording a true artisan touch, and making each one slightly different.
I first came in contact with Luc Kieffer at Holt Renfrew. They carried his line for awhile and I would drool over the barbed wire bracelets. Hopefully a local retailer will pick up this fun line.
Proenza Schouler used a lot of shibori techniques in the Spring Summer 2011 collection. Shibori is several methods of dyeing cloth to create a pattern by binding, stitching, folding, twisting, compressing it, or capping the fabric.
“We wanted it to be a little more polished,” Jack McCollough said backstage, before Lazaro Hernandez jumped in: “So we took all these feminine codes—the embroideries, the flowers—and mixed them up in our own way. We wanted to do something without any obvious references.”(Source).
I was very happy to see that Proenza Schouler was using neon this spring summer 2011 season. Â The prints are beautiful.
CYDWOQ shoes always intrigue me I see them in the stores. They have a striking design style. They are a little bit clunky but exquisitely crafted. I was sent the lookbook and a press release that also gave me some background on California based CYDWOQ and founder Rafi Balouzian. Rafi comes from a long line of shoe-makers and he started CYDWOQ in 1996. He grew up hanging around the family factory in Armenia and made trips to Italy and France. All this time he was learning the shoemaking process from great handcrafted leather artists. Rafi’s son, Ari is the designer and Creative Director for CYDWOQ.
CYDWOQ design influences include nature, architecture, automobile design and old films. The shoes are handmade using the best Italian hand painted leather.
Natural choices dominate the CYDWOQ product. In shoe construction, the uppers are hand-lasted to the leather insoles using water-based biodegradable glues. Once inspected, the shoes are packed in distinctive cotton bags and recycled cardboard boxes. It is one of the world’s most ecologically responsible shoe firms, setting the bar for a greener shoe world.
CYDWOQ’s construction alone sets them apart. Their shoes are the only all leather shoes that have the insole (footbed) and the outsole contoured with the shape of the foot to facilitate the walking process. CYDWOQ is also distinguished from other shoe companies by the fact that its shoe components are manufactured at the CYDWOQ factory. Where other shoe companies only make the uppers and purchase the components from third parties, CYDWOQ manufactures the complete shoe with 90% of the components (heels, insoles, outsoles, wooden soles) constructed in-house. How is it done? On one side of the factory, the shoe-makers hand-cut the leather bottoms and shape the insoles and soles to the shape of the foot while other craftsmen hand-cut and sand the custom wooden heels. On the other side, shoe-makers sew the uppers and attach them to the lasts using water-based glues. Once completed, the soles and uppers meet in the center of the factory for final assembly, hand-painting, cleaning and quality control.
In addition to Dr. Martens Originals that have become known around the globe, seasonal merchandising will support the contemporary expansion of the brand. As Dr. Martens continues to identify creative individuals around the world, limited edition collaborations will be released and featured in the new Queen Street location.
This location has so many styles of Dr. Martens to choose from, it should satisfy most people’s needs. All the abstract colours are available like purple, yellow and the metallics.
I love that there is a Dr. Martens store in Toronto now. I could see a major addiction for 20 hole boots developing if this store was open during my high school and university days. There are a lot of great colours and distressed finishes on the tall boots. A lot of them have zippers now, so no more lacing up for hours. It’s so handy.
Dr. Martens Toronto
391 Queen Street West
416 585-9595
Philip Sparks Fall Winter 2010 – 2011 shoe collection makes me wish I had bigger feet. The tall lace up boots have my name written all over them. I’ve been pining over them since the spring. Since I can’t have them I encourage my male friends to buy them.
You can purchase Philip Sparks shoes at online at PhilipSparks.com or in person at Town Shoes.
