Photography by Brendan Adam Zwelling

Jonathan + Olivia expanded its specially-selected Topshop line last week, adding another layer of accessible high street chic to the Ossington Avenue store-within-a-store by launching the label’s final Kate Moss collection, along with additional items from Topman menswear and the new Topshop Make-Up range.

Check out some scenes from the media preview below, including the panther dress made famous by Ms. Kate herself!

Read more of The It here!

Photography by Brendan Adam Zwelling.

With a flurry of audacious patterns, primary colours, and ’80s explosions, the Beckerman sisters—Caillianne, Samantha and Chloé—held one of their occasional sample sales this past weekend, bringing a stash of their own designs as well as a curated selection of vintage finds to a pop-up shop at the north end of Toronto’s Fashion District.

Also on board was handbag creator Andrea Brueckner, who supplied a selection from her line—New York-made and sweatshop-free—which typically hangs from the shoulders and arms of L.A. starlets. Check out our favourite looks and pieces from the event!

Above, designer Ashley Rowe.

Check out more looks we liked in our Well Played section!

Congratulations to Rayna Morrison of Weston, Ontario, on winning a $1,000 customized jewellery wardrobe from the incredible Anne-Marie Chagnon. Here’s to a holiday full of sparkle and shine!

The Jacopo necklace by Anne-Marie Chagnon.

Congratulations to Rayna Morrison of Weston, Ontario, on winning a $1,000 customized jewellery wardrobe from the incredible Anne-Marie Chagnon. Here’s to a holiday full of sparkle and shine!

Story by Leanne Delap. Photography by Brendan Adam Zwelling.

The other night at the Canfar Bloor Street Entertains fundraiser, I had the pleasure of being seated beside some bright young things. It was great fun—I enjoyed them and wondered at the verve and nerve.

But I was struck by the lack of history in the fashion industry of this city.

More particularly, mention of some of our classic eccentrics, I was struck by how fleeting fame and infamy is in this city. The currently current generation does not have a clear sense of what came before. Good heavens, someone must retain the grand memory of the years Bentley-driving Babs hairdresser Robert Gage wore nothing but white. Oh, except for the half-decade he wore only red.

Which brings me to Jie Matar. I first wrote about the self-professed “God of Hair” in Toronto Life when he opened his eponymous Parthenon on Avenue Road.

The new, reincarnated Jie is not on the bright young thing’s radar; then again, neither is the tale of his scandal and resurrection. Therein lies the tale: Fashion is a fleeting business. Good news is that we forget bad stuff. But bad news is we don’t celebrate the knotty stories that make larger-than-life legends like our embolden-empower American cousins.

I will take this opportunity to opine about the frustrations of working for daily publications in Canada. There is a chewy but stop-sign rule that people/businesses/trends that have been written about recently are already “covered.” That is why I take such pleasure in the vital and unruly internet medium: Dude, you are only as current as your recent tweet. The audience decides with its fingers what is relevant rather than editors judiciously parsing neatly packaged parcels of coverage. I mean, haven’t we learned from the endless explosively hit interest in the minutiae of Lilo’s parambulations that people are not mad at newspapers or magazines that cover the same subjects over and again with only fragmentary new bits of information?

Okay, that is an extreme example. And I agree print publications still exist as the documents of record and gatekeepers of context and prioritization.

But there is no way I could sell a conventional good-news story about the incremental positive rebuilding of a brand and a persona such as Jie.

The newsworthy peg was that he showily flew too close to the sun. The bigger, Schadenfreude feature was the blow-by-blow tale of his fall amid a soup of innuendo.

Heavens, let’s get some perspective: We have Conrad Black to kick around for that purpose! Jie is a hairdresser.

But he is arguably more interesting.

Jie is a writer’s dream. It is his very transparent lack of hubris that gets him into headlines. And that is the best thing about him. From his mouth pours a steady stream of clever and sassy quotes. He can sound arrogant and surreal: “I will Jie you.”

As Shinan Govani quipped: “Jie is the true Sweeney Todd. Johnny Depp was miscast.”

Jie charged New York rates here, and the experience was Vogue-worthy service and glamour. He has a patented Jie cut: wherein he takes your hair, pulls it forward into a ponytail and lops it off with electric decisiveness and scissors pulled from a Louis Vuitton pouch. Notwithstanding the chop was always perfect, people would bridle at the 400 plus tag at the time.

Jie collected a very loyal clientele of the city’s shiniest monied heads, men and women. He was the go-to guy for celebrities who came to town in the building years of the film festival. He drew fire once again for tooting his own horn.

This is a critical point: People were uncomfortable with a Canadian who was a gloriously gleeful self-promoter.

They missed the point—more on this later.

The massive salon failed and it is how Jie coped that tells the real story of his character. People thought he was too flash, and they relished his comedown.

Jie carried on. He rode out the untangling of his business affairs with a salon back where he began in this city, on Davenport. When he was free to officially start again, he put a little sign out that says Jie Privé.

He is much more himself again in the new space, and a gorgeous space it is. The guy has crazy good taste. My favourite touch is the array of vintage perfumes outside the powder rooms at the bottom of a spiral staircase.

Jie never stopped dressing the highest profile heads, celebrity and Bridle Path. He has a small, very chic staff now.

And what you can see from these pictures (taken by Brendan Adam Zwelling, another bright young thing; it was a huge pleasure watching Brendan  work with a pro personality as powerful as Jie’s and I think he got some terrific diva-deconstructed shots) is that Jie is a helluva lot of fun.

That is the point. His skill is never in question. People swipe at you when you charge movie-star prices.

What you also get from a day at Jie Privé is a full mood-altering experience. I defy anyone to not lose their crap mood and baggage after an hour at the salon.

Because Jie, for all the bluster, is completely genuine. He was born in Beirut. He trained at Alexandre in Paris. He is so crazy exuberant it can come off to a jaded eye as bragging.

Let’s instead encourage him never to change. He went through a business failure with great class and aplomb. His loyal customers grew more loyal.

I sat one morning with a lovely woman named Ophira Sone. After Jie’s ministrations she said, “Ah I feel like myself again.” She told me each of her kids were allowed to come to Jie when they turned 14. And I listened to a heartwarming story about her daughter studying in New York going to a Jie party there.

See? Jie never stopped being Jie. The stage didn’t get smaller. What we can learn from him is that we each determine how big our own stage is and how we deal with how other people see us.

So this is a note to the next generation that they’ve lost without the full stories good bad and ugly: Sticks and stones, baby.

Below, the author with the man himself.

Read more of The It here!

Allie Hughes and band at 69 Vintage Collective. Story and photography by Brendan Adam Zwelling.

The subway is packed but the crowds aren’t filtering out to this edge of the Junction Triangle, well beyond the festival zones. Still, at the Bloor West home of the 69 Vintage Collective (1207 Bloor St. W.) the banner of public art is being unfurled under the auspices of their Soiree des Hiboux event, a Nuit Blanche celebration with art, food and music.

In this case, the art is provided by the Lolita & Consuela installation, a slide projection on the joys of an inebriated kitchen party, which plays casually in an upstairs window.

The “collective” part isn’t just hyperbole: the building houses a number of independent boutiques besides its namesake which give the place a D.I.Y. shopping mall feel. Tomorrow Never Knows conjures up the bedroom of an imaginary best friend; Stacked presents a curatorial collection of bags and footwear; through the kitchen is The Make Den, a design studio and school run by the affable Irene Stickney, fresh off the streets tonight from leading a Nuit Blanche gallery tour with the Deadly Nightshades (“Heels on Wheels”) bicycle club.

Below, Tomorrow Never Knows.

Below, Stacked.

Below, Irene Stickney in The Make Den.

69 Vintage has the entire first floor to itself, which is enthusiastically stocked with layers of trending vintage styles and revivals-in-waiting. Emma Doll, the 69 Collective’s manager, has observed a definite Mad Men Effect among the clientele, and also notes a sea change in attitudes towards vintage clothing where, as she puts it, “everything’s flashing back and being combined together and it all works.”

Multiple eras increasingly meet and mingle as part of the same outfit, let loose by internet inspiration. “Right now we’re experimenting with all these different decades because we have the technology to look back and be inspired by the past,” she says. “We have so much power in our laptops and I think that’s why people are being more experimental with fashion right now, as they have all this information at their fingertips.”

In-demand vintage for 2011? Watch for cape jackets and ’70s-style maxi dresses, she advises optimistically. “I was just looking at some clothes from the ’60s and I was struck by how fun and experimental they were; the colors, the extreme fits, the silhouettes. I feel like now we’re starting to get back to that.”

It’s close to midnight when Allie Hughes and her band start their acoustic set. Her lilting, playfully determined voice fills the shop while her eyes sweep the room like searchlights and her songs drift through the open door. Contrary to appearances, this is an atypical gig for them. “We’re not a stripped-down kinda band, really,” she says afterwards. “We usually pull out all the stops. We probably overdo it most of the time.”

There’s a touch of that on the rollicking Damaged Nail, which lands somewhere between The Plasmatics and Kate Bush, while a lighthearted cover of Britney Spears’ Toxic hints at convention-busting irreverence. “I feel like in the indie scene, in Toronto, everyone basically wears the same thing,” Allie laments with a laugh. “Normally we all wear themed costumes on stage; sometimes I dress as a jockey, sometimes I dress as a showgirl, sometimes I dress as a bride. I’ve been a vampire prom queen.” Their gently charged performance is heavy on precision and aching melody, with an immediacy that reverberates—no amplification necessary—into the grit of Bloor & Lansdowne after dark.

Story by Justine Iaboni. Photography by Brendan Adam Zwelling.

Shopgirls (1342 Queen St. W., 416-534-7467)

Lately, the fashion industry has been abuzz about supporting Canadian designers and local brands. So it’s quite fitting that this edition of Style Map should feature the brilliant boutique, Shopgirls and its owner, Michelle Germain.

Located in the heart of Parkdale, Shopgirls is more than just a store where you buy things, go home content, and possibly visit again. Shopgirls is a bustling community centre for designers, artists, and fashion lovers alike. With over 80 Canadian designers on hand, a newly added Home section and a gallery hallway space showcasing original pieces by local artists, Shopgirls is quickly becoming a leading lady of Toronto’s fashion scene.

I couldn’t help gushing over the park bench made entirely out of bicycle tires and the rusted key necklaces and honeycomb hairpieces by Ashley Winnington-Ball. I could also fare gladly with Montreal-based designer Eve Gravel’s black heart lace top and “my leo” leopard print skirt in my closet.  Oh, and the Yoga Jeans! But as Michelle told me upon my arrival, “We’ll get to those later”—as if they were a trick up her sleeve! I was hooked.

During my visit, Michelle told me about her sartorial path. She started off in the business of retail marketing at Holt Renfrew, and then moved to the Hudson’s Bay Company. Michelle had already envisioned her Shopgirls long before she ever thought it possible to curate a space where art and fashion collide. Not only has her vision gradually become a charming reality, she has also helped many Canadian artists and designers gain recognition along the way. Every single piece in store is hand selected; every single piece has a story.

Shopgirls owner Michelle Germain with daughter Zara Violette.

Allow me now to tell you a story about Shopgirls’ claim to fame and what no woman should eat that extra vanilla cupcake without: Second City Denim’s Yoga Jeans. Some facts about these jeans, in no particular order: They boast a 92% shape memory (the industry standard is 64% so these won’t sag after sitting like those unforgiving jeggings you bought last year); they feature a zipper locking mechanism (no gap to mind here), and they’re 97% cotton so they fit and look like real blue jeans—when in reality they feel like the coziest pair of sweatpants.

I tried a pair on and they were so unbelievably comfortable that I felt like Ashton Kutcher was going to pop out from behind some corner and tell me I just got punk’d. That didn’t happen, so, at $110 a pair, I quickly scooped up both the charcoal rinse and the black denim styles. Now I can eat as many muffins as I want in my yoga jeans and not worry about my muffin top being exposed. Did I mention you have to go down a size or two in yoga jeans for them to fit properly? Don’t mind if I do!

I had such a fun time at Shopgirls that I visited again that evening for the store’s second annual Walk the Walk for Windfall event. Windfall is the only new clothing-drive for women in Toronto and that night’s fundraiser included a runway show featuring stylish, everyday women and famed image consultant, Wendy Woods. (Guess what—my friend who came with me also bought a pair of Yoga Jeans that night. Coincidence?)

One of the nicest things about Shopgirls is its singularly friendly environment. Every few weeks or so, when Michelle and her team throw various chic soirees—an art exhibit or a runway show—the faces are familiar, and the smiles are sincerely welcoming. No fashion snobs, please.

Below, more shots from inside Shopgirls.

Photography by Natalie Castellino.

Beauty always takes a richer turn as fall breezes turn to winter winds. Liners get darker, shadows get deeper, and gloss falls to the bottom of the makeup bag, replaced by gorgeous matte lipsticks that feel like velvet on the lips. The loveliest hues this season come from the new Pure Matte Lipstick collection from NARS ($30 each, available at The Bay, hbc.com).

Our three favourite shades are highlighted above: Vesuvio (rich red), Terre de Feu (dark cherry), and Tonkin (plummy cinnamon). Test the long-lasting formula with a cup of hot apple cider, then add the other shades to your Christmas list.

The amazing Ziomedi bracelet from Anne-Marie Chagnon’s Pial collection.

Anne-Marie Chagnon knows how to make a statement. The Montreal-based jewellery designer creates pieces that get noticed, asked about, coveted. We love her dramatic, textural bracelets (like the Ziomedi, above) and her elegant Zitta necklace, which gracefully transforms into a darker, sexier piece. Anne-Marie’s new Pial collection features her most exciting work yet.

And guess what?

We want to give it you.

The Style Notebook has teamed up with Anne-Marie Chagnon to give one lucky reader the chance to win a $1,000 customized jewellery wardrobe. The winner will choose their favourite pieces, which Anne-Marie will make to order and send off in time for holiday gift-giving.

To enter, fill out a ballot after the jump, and bring it to Anne-Marie’s booth (#H44) at the One of a Kind Show, which runs from November 25 to December 5. We’ll announce the winner right here on December 6.

Story by Caitlin Agnew. Photography by Brendan Adam Zwelling.

Last Friday, Playground Projects held the opening party for Bitch Slap, a no-nonsense art show featuring works by 28 female artists living across Canada and in New York City.

Curated by Toronto art-scene veteran Derek Mainella, the show celebrated art of all mediums—painting, photography, drawing, installation, sculpture, and film. The landmark event was sponsored by nearly every other business on the Queen West strip, from Parts & Labour at one end to Carte Blanche at the other.

Guests arrived at Thrush Holmes Empire in all sorts of looks—tartan maxi skirts, fur hats, and vintage leather, to name a few— and spent the evening sipping Russian Standard Vodka, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Vitamin Water.

Fashion trends may come and go, but art never goes out of style. Here are some of our favourite looks from the evening.

Check out more looks we liked in our Well Played section!

Magritte-inspired partygoer Maarla Veld.

Story by Sara Graham. Photography courtesy of Billy Farrell Agency.

Last Thursday, The Society NYC hosted a perfectly proper affair (in a West Village mansion, no less) to celebrate the release of Lesley M.M. Blume‘s book Let’s Bring Back.

As part of The Society’s Literary Salon Series, ladies and gents slipped into 1940s attire to pay homage to those madcap mid-century fêtes thrown by heiress and art collector Peggy Guggenheim, and attended by her wild contemporaries in the modern art movement.

The private home’s awe-inspiring modern art collection further inspired this Surrealist soiree that was set to a booming soundtrack of big band records. Zacapa Rum made sure all guests had a classic cocktail in hand as they enjoyed creative canapés inspired by Dada and Surrealist works of art…with a little Beat poetry on the side, of course.

Below, Annie Evans and author Leslie M.M. Blume.

Bethany Haines and Ken Howery.

Daniella Kamiliotis and Dora Militaru.

Cator Sparks.

Teri Levin and Nina Campbell.

Teri’s shoes.

Amanda Blakley and Ashleigh Dempster, co-founders of The Society.

Check out more looks we liked in our Well Played section!

Thakoon Panichgul at The Room at the Bay. Story by Mishal Cazmi.

Thakoon Panichgul’s ascent in the fashion industry didn’t occur overnight. The designer, who obtained a degree in business before enrolling in Parsons School of Design, debuted his collection in 2004. His garments have graced the silhouettes of starlets like Marion Cotillard and Carey Mulligan, but his ultimate coup has been to dress First Lady Michelle Obama. One of the most feted designers of New York Fashion Week every season, Thakoon’s Midas touch is his thoughtful—and artful—approach in flattering the female form.

Recently, The Room at the Bay previewed Thakoon’s Spring 2011 collection at a trunk show with the designer in attendance. The trunk show also included pieces from his Fall 2010 and Resort 2011 collections.

Thakoon embarked on a flight of fancy with his Spring collection, keeping his signature romantic and feminine aesthetic while offering a lighter, airier fare.  A sea of white, structured pieces balanced with billowy dresses, and unexpected details like exposed hook-and-eye closures and mesh. “Almost preppy but done in a feminine way,” said Thakoon.

The most pleasant surprise in the mostly-white collection was the injection of blue and apricot hues. Earlier, he compared the collection to the open sky. “I wanted to open the windows a bit and let the air in. There are a lot of chiffons that are breezy and flowy. I also wanted to let in the sunlight and the colours to feel like they’d been bleached by the sun.”

If an open sky is what Thakoon was trying to evoke, he did it with the palette of an Impressionist—soft, romantic, and lingering. And it just so happens that Thakoon is a fan of art. The designer modeled an earlier collection on a painting by Tim Hawkinson. “I love art and I like taking inspiration and ideas from art. Not in a way that is an obvious replication, but through the techniques and nuances in art.”

This was Thakoon’s first time visiting Toronto, but his sojourn won him heaps more admirers who are hoping he’ll make a swift return.

Below, Thakoon with Toronto designer Sunny Fong.

Read more of The It here!

A look from Lauren Bagliore Spring 2011, a collection that our veteran fashion writer saw through fresh eyes (with a little help from a friend). Story by Leanne Delap.

Fashion reporting has changed completely since my days on the tour. I whipped around London, Milan, Paris and New York for a half dozen years in the mid-90s as fashion reporter for the Globe and Mail before I had kids; later I cherry-picked ready-to-wear shows and five-starred the haute-couture a couple of times as editor-in-chief of FASHION. Though in the years hence I never stopped writing about fashion, I oft maintained that I’d sooner eat beetles than sit through another show. It sounds so glamorous, but humping through the full seven-week tour filing stories made me more tired than a toddler with projectile stomach flu.

That was a puerile dismissal, for I now realize I was very privileged to have witnessed some extraordinary moments: I remember now crying at the first McQueen show I saw at the Royal Horticultural Gardens when the late genius sent models out in filmy gowns shackled inside cages, wading through water. That was the show he hand-carved a leg prosthesis for model Amy Mullins. I sat behind the legendary Suzy Menkes from the International Herald Tribune, and beside Jerry Hall. Everyone was moved.

I was crammed into a gate rushing the buzzy first Theyskens show, where then-Hole bassist Melissa auf der Maur was his Goth bride in elaborate black crepe corsetry. I saw Miyake’s final show, where 30 supermodels were strapped together in an undulating green silk cocoon at the Academy des Beaux Arts. (I was lucky enough to see the real supermodels in their runway heyday, the Naomis and Kates, even the Lindas, Helenas, and Christys at the Versace tribute show after his untimely death.)

I saw Yohji’s cantilevered bride and Rei Kawakubo’s lumpy gingham dysmorphic padding for the Merce Cunningham dance company, Gaultier’s Harlem show, Galliano’s circus at the wine cellars of Berczy, Lenny Kravitz opening a Versace show at a warehouse in Milan when I was so pregnant and hungry I was mostly focussed on the Italian McDonald’s across the street. Going on further would be wanking. I had forgotten what an incredible privilege and opportunity seeing the work and the spectacle first-hand can be.

So I went to the show of a much-touted newcomer at Toronto Fashion Week, Lauren Bagliore, a New Yorker trained at FIT (who worked with Vivienne Westwood and Zac Posen), and who lives in Calgary with her husband. I took a very fashion-adept 14 year-old with me. Fresh in my mind was the New Yorker profile of Tavi Gevinson, the same-age blogging sensation.

And I was immediately rewarded when we sat down: seeing a show through fresh eyes is invaluable. Bagliore’s show was very strong—she was working through a dark year of death in her family. It was refreshing to see the work of a young artist on her first big runway.

“I really come alive draping,” she said in an interview later. And her delicious Italian jersey pieces showed off that skill. Bagliore does incredible ruched leggings and completely original cowl-neck minidresses in a metallic black jersey that hug hips.

Her gauzy layers, moody hoods, one-shouldered tops in black and white were presented as a complete idea, a movement from dark to light, echoing the movement from loss to hope the designer went through.

“I almost didn’t show,” she said. “But in the end, I was rewarded. Buyers from all the major stores came to see me, and I’m so flattered and I got great feedback.”

Bagliore’s work comes from within: “When you grow up in New York, there is so much noise, so much input. The only place to go was within,” she says.

And my fashion show companion got that before I did. At 14, she had no reference for the sharp shouldered jackets or skinny legged looks with billowing tops. She wasn’t tarnished by MC Hammer when she looked at the harem-style pants. They looked fresh to her.

And it made me realize that Lauren Bagliore’s take on them was fresh too. Her grasp on draping kept the silhouette fresh. And her eloquent use of black and white made me think long after the model parade ended.

Alessandra Ambrosio and Lily Aldridge, Victoria’s Secret Angels, touched down at the Eaton Centre last week. Story by Caitlin Agnew. Photography by Brendan Adam Zwelling.

Last Thursday marked the opening of Canada’s fourth Victoria’s Secret store and the first in downtown Toronto. Located at the Eaton Centre, the occasion brought two very special visitors to our city: Alessandra Ambrosio and Lily Aldridge.

When asked if I was interested in meeting with the Angels to chat about Victoria’s Secret, I jumped at the chance—as did my (male) photographer. Who wouldn’t want to check out these mythic creatures in person?  When we arrived for the interview, the door was flanked by two massive security guards.  I wondered if they were hired to protect the models or the $2 million bra on display.

Above, the Victoria’s Secret Fantasy Bra—admittedly a splurge at $2 million.

Alessandra, a 10 year veteran of the company, and Lily, a rookie, were just as gorgeous in person. Healthy, tan, and lean (I thought only Barbie had legs like that), they were as sweet as they were passionate about Victoria’s Secret.

According to Alessandra, the best part of being an Angel is “travelling to the most glamorous places in the world.  They treat us like angels. We’re like a big family.” Her favourite destination? “St. Bart’s. Every year we go and it’s so much fun.”

The Angels also gave me the inside scoop on what it’s like backstage at their famous runway shows: loud music, models dancing, and people yelling, “Watch the wings!  Watch the wings!” while jewellery and diamonds fly all over the place.  “Great for people-watching,” Lily adds, with a laugh.

Both have their favourite VS items. For Alessandra it’s the Miraculous Push-Up Bra which she says, “adds like two cups so you feel pretty powerful.” Lily loves the Starlet Halter Bra, one that’s perfect for hiding under a slinky cocktail dress.

At the end of the interview, the three of us pose for photos together and I try not to look like a frumpy dwarf sandwiched between the two glamazons. After giving Alessandra a quick obrigada, the girls leave, taking their bodyguards with them and confirming my hunch: You can put a $2 million value on a bra, but the angels themselves? Priceless.

Photography courtesy of JJ Thompson.

Last week, a luxe Annex home played host to a very pretty party, complete with très sweet sweets, rose petals in the bathtub, and a performance by opera singer Giorgia Fumanti. (The crowd wasn’t half-bad either.) The occasion? LOVE, an event presented by The Society and Chloé in honour of the French fashion house’s new fragrance.

Click through for some of our favourite looks of the night.

The Society’s Amanda Blakley, Ashleigh Dempster, and Martina Stritesky.

Tim Gallant and Marcello Cabezas.

Caillianne and Samantha Beckermann.

Jesse Greene and Kirk Pickersgill of Greta Constantine.

Tomorrow night is Operanation VII, Cinderella: Rock the Ball. Buy your tickets now!

Story by Marq Frerichs.

If you’ve ever had the privilege of bringing something new/different/cool to the eyes and ears of little ones, you’ll understand what I mean about seeing the lights go on—ping, click, pop, bells and whistles, crack and fireworks going off. Bringing the performing arts to kids is one of those unsung parts of working as a performing artist. Truth is, we complain about school shows just ‘cause everybody likes to complain, just a little. But the truth is that they’re wonderful experiences for both the artist and children.

You may be asking yourself: Why are you telling me this?

Because tomorrow night is Operanation VII, the Canadian Opera Company‘s hotly anticipated gala event, which is raising money for the COC’s children’s outreach programs. And with Monday’s election outcome, the arts and, more importantly, the arts and education of our future citizens have never been more pressing.

Held at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, the gala’s theme is Cinderella. And ladies, this is a ball. A real ball—on par with mice turning into horses, pumpkins into carriages etc. Word on the street is that wedding gowns will be worn. (Which makes so much sense for the young and eligible who will be attending—yes, Cindy, your Prince Charming will be there and he loves great music.)

Local troubadour Clara Venice will be singing new work. And hold onto your Louis XIV wig—Broken Social Scene will be mashing it up with the COC ensemble. This, in my humble opinion, may well be the artistic collaboration of the year.

So buy a ticket, throw on a tux, don a gown, grab an orange legume and summon your Fairy Godmother. (Or take a cab.) If you don’t find your prince or princess—meh. You’ve made a kid’s future richer, and that’s the best kind of happily ever after.

Story by Mishal Cazmi. Illustration by Ayalah Hutchins.

This is the second part of our conversation with Leith Clark, stylist and editor-in-chief of Lula Magazine. You can read the first part here.

How would you compare Canadian fashion with British fashion?

“For me Canada is an environment where I can’t not be outside. So there is an element of practicality brought in. Imagine my shoes lasting a Canadian winter! (Tabitha Simmons pale pink suede wedges.) All four seasons are so strong and vivid here. The people are so real. Fashion needs to to match it. Practicality is an issue more than it is in a city like London. The lifestyle is different. Some of the dresses that I bring here when I visit, I know I’m just going to hang them up. I know I’m not actually going to wear them.

Or maybe I do wear them, just under gigantic coats and with my motorcycle boots from when I was 14! I think you have to think about the environment you’re in. I want to be outside when I’m here, even when it’s snowing. Especially when it’s snowing. Fashion should never inhibit you or limit you.”

If you could give your 16-year-old self one piece of advice, what would it be?

“I did this thing in the ninth grade that I thought was a good idea. I probably read it in Sassy. On the first day of high school, I had to be the first person to raise my hand or volunteer, no matter what the question, in every class. It made that whole year so easy. I think that fearlessness and applying it, so that you’re never intimidated by anything and you don’t have long enough to psych yourself out, is a very nice thing and I wish I remembered it more often—especially at 16. I would tell myself to keep doing that.

And—the only person whose opinion reeeally matters, is your own.

Also, everyone, no matter what career they choose, has a point of view…. I think it’s important to encourage it in others and ourselves…. Sometimes we’re discouraged, and everyone’s creative view point is unique and important. We all had universes we created as kids that we would play inside. There’s no reason why that doesn’t have to continue when we grow up. You know, stare at paintings to figure out why certain ones make you feel something… make scrapbooks….  It’s so interesting when you get to dip into someone else’s world. People like to meet other people and have a place they can visit. Nurture yours in yourself and in others…

You’re having a tea party. You can only invite five guests, past or present. Who would they be?

“Marianne Faithfull because she’s very entertaining and lovely. My grandfather who I’ve never met. Dorothy Parker. Gloria Steinem. My poor grandfather is the only boy! I think he needs a little friend. Marianne and Gloria are totally going to argue, aren’t they? Andy Warhol? Or no, let’s have Marilyn Monroe because then, Gloria can ask her all the questions she wants to…. And my grandfather would prefer Marilyn Monroe to Andy Warhol. I’m sure of it.”

If you weren’t a stylist or an editor, what would you be doing?

“Filmmaking.”

In your own words, Lula Magazine is…

“I really try not to think about it. Sometimes, it’s quite daunting that it’s become a kind of brand because I really don’t want to think of it like that. I just want to feel free to do as it does.”

Below, a few guests at the tea party, beginning with Marianne Faithfull.

Dorothy Parker.

Gloria Steinem.

Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn looks so Lula in this next photo that we couldn’t resist…

And a few more peeks inside Lula Magazine.

The below spread is from the most recent edition of the magazine, Issue 10, which features a very special guest of honour: Strawberry Shortcake.

Check out Lula, and its lovely Scrapbook, then read more of our interviews with fascinating fashion personalities in Talk to Me.

Story by Caitlin Agnew. Photography by Brendan Adam Zwelling.

At the always fantastic Joe Fresh Style runway show on Wednesday night, attendees (Ben Mulroney among them) were given a neon-orange wristband to get into the official after-party. After the pandemonium of finding our seats in the packed venue, a drink was most certainly in order.

Held at Maision on Mercer Street, it was a full house when I arrived at 11. The location couldn’t have been better. A vaulted ceiling covered in giant chandeliers hung above a dance-floor surrounded on three sides by an upper level, perfect for people-watching.

Members of the media indulged in free drinks while Joe Mimran, the man himself, got down with his design team. I even spotted a group of representatives from Scouts Canada in full uniform. Who better to celebrate their new collaboration with the brand?

Check out more looks we liked in our Well Played section!

Story and photography by Marq Frerichs.

Monday night at LG Fashion Week and Bustle rocked the house, band and all. The collection felt like a departure for Bustle, much softer in colour and tone.

Don’t get me wrong—there was still all the hippness and bravado from previous seasons, but something about the pastel striped socks made me think that perhaps the new baby in the lives of Bustle designers Shawn Hewson and Ruth Promislow is influencing their sweeter palette.

And the mint green suit was awesome.

Die Mannequin, who performed throughout the show.

Read more of The It here!

Photography by Brendan Adam Zwelling.

Some of our favourite faces—and glasses, scarves, clogs—at Heritage Court last week.

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Check out more looks we liked in our Well Played section!

Story by Mishal Cazmi. Illustration by Ayalah Hutchins.

Only the prettiest adjectives—ethereal, whimsical, and dreamlike—can describe Lula magazine. It’s a magazine dipped in sunlight and enchantment, a world inhabited by dreamers.

Published twice a year, Lula has become more than a magazine; it’s evolved into brand and a lifestyle, made in the image of Clark herself. A Lula girl is a special kind of a girl. She’s a bit Sofia Coppola, a bit Enid Blyton. She eats cupcakes and sips champagne. She wears Moschino and Erdem.

Leith Clark, the editor-in-chief of the magazine, also happens to be Canadian. Clark’s journey is a familiar narrative in the magazine world—a small town girl who moved to New York City in pursuit of her dreams. She interned at Interview magazine before moving to London to work at British Vogue as an assistant to Kate Phelan. But Clark also made it in a big way.

She’s styled stars (Keira Knightley), campaigns (Chanel), and shoots (Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue). And of course, she created Lula, a magazine that began as a small labour of love and has since earned an international cult following. In other words, Leith Clark is the best friend you wish you had. Every suburban girl need only look to Clark, a former resident of Oakville, Ontario, to realize that dreams can come true. She’s the living embodiment of the Lula fairy tale.

Clark was recently in Toronto for the opening of her Lula pop-up shop, curated for The Room at the Bay in celebration of its God Save the Queen event. In a Chanel dress and her favourite Tabitha Simmons suede platform wedges, Clark sat down to chat with The Style Notebook.

You curated the LULA pop-up shop for The Room, which you also did earlier this summer for Harvey Nichols. What were you looking for when selecting items for the pop-up shop?

“Sometimes it’s very selfish. The Miu Miu shoes that are in there were actually shoes they did five years ago. I think I called every Miu Miu store in the whole world and they were all sold out. This May, I got engaged and I remembered those shoes again. I wrote a letter to them saying, just so you know, one of the very first thoughts I had about a wedding were those shoes. So they made them and sent them to me to my house with a card, which was amazing. And then Harvey Nichols asked me to do a pop-up shop for them last summer and one of the first things I thought to do was phone Miu Miu again about those shoes.

Everything else in the shop is by people that I love. Charles Anastase made a dress similar to this one three years ago, but it was short with much wider straps and a higher neck. The Sonia Rykiel dress is a variation of one that existed that was longer. It usually starts with something they’ve already done. With Rodarte, I was really annoying and decided I wanted to wear white dresses forever! There’s also a book called Pretty Things by Liz Goldwyn. It’s so wonderful and I think people don’t see it enough.”

Lula has a very particular aesthetic. When you’re preparing an issue, how do you decide who gets to be in the pages—who the photographer is, the writer, who to interview?

“For the content and what’s in there, it’s very self-serving again. I try to make the perfect magazine for me, which was always the idea from the beginning. When I did the very first issue, I didn’t think about the longevity of it. I just thought I’d like to make exactly what I want. I didn’t expect people to buy it and I hadn’t really thought about selling it outside of London. It was so exciting just to make it that I didn’t think about that stage. I still try to treat it like that. I try to just make what I would want to read, what makes me feel excited and what I feel into at that time.

As for who does it, I love the magazine to feel like it’s made with love. If we’re doing something that I know someone that would be excited about that, then I ask them. We have a staff, but at the same time, I would never ask our features editor to write something she wouldn’t love to write, and if we knew there was someone who would be excited to do something or who would have an interesting perspective, we will ask them.

A lot of women work for us. It’s not a coincidence. I think it was in the beginning. The way women make each other feel, especially photographers, there’s something really special about that. Working in fashion, I had a weird aversion to the hard sexuality that was so prevalent everywhere. Fashion magazines are women looking at pictures of other women for them, but somehow, there’s the invisible man in the middle which I didn’t fully feel comfortable with and tried to eliminate.”

Keira Knightley, Chanel Iman and Kristen Dunst have all been featured in Lula. I think it would be fair to assume that they are Lula girls. What drew you to them?

“With models, it’s very much during fashion shows and it’s quite often at Chanel. What’s amazing with models is that you get to create a character. They’re your silent film star.  I don’t really think about the type so much. I didn’t really know I had a style. I remember the girls at Top Shop telling me that they used Lula as an adjective in the office. I hadn’t really appreciated that or noticed the type thing. We just try to keep it really organic and honest. I suppose there is a type. I guess it’s just girls I have crushes on!”

When you first started, were you ever worried about finding an audience for the magazine?

“No, I never thought about the audience! I had so much fun doing it. I was with two of my best friends back then, Becky and Charlotte. We spent so much time sitting on the floor with my dog and wine at Becky’s house. It felt like we were making a school project.

When it came out, I went to a pub near Charlotte’s work. It was 11 in the morning. I went and sat at the very back of the pub. I ordered a very large glass of wine, and just sat there with this thing and started to have a little bit of a meltdown. It had always been this little secret for us and all of a sudden, when it was real, it was very weird. I had never thought about how personal it was or how people would see it. It was very scary. It was a big chunk of me. When it was received so well, it was great. We just ploughed through and did the same thing. We started to trust each other and have more and more fun.”

You’ve said that Toronto is your favourite city for vintage. Do you have any favourite shops?

“I don’t. Whenever I come to Toronto, I always go back to Kensington Market. We usually meet two or three of the girls who work at the stores and they tell us about the new stores we should visit (that have been different on every single trip). I always go to Cabaret on Queen Street. That’s really fun because it’s men and women. We’ll spend an hour upstairs trying on all the ties and finding hats for my boyfriend and then go downstairs for me. I only ever vintage shop here now. I’ll be honest, when I shopped at Portobello Market and saw a great stall, I’d asked them where stuff was from and it was usually from here.

There are a lot of musicians here and they’re not interested in what is fashionable. The film, art and music scene makes vintage shopping unique here rather than it being for fashion students or fashion people. I’m always amazed that no one’s bought it first.”

Below, Leith Clark in the Lula pop-up shop at The Room.

A wider look at the Lula pop-up shop.

Below, a look inside Lula.

Pretty Things by Liz Goldwyn.

Check back soon for Part II: Leith on Canadian vs British fashion, her top five tea party guests, and more! In the meantime, check out Lula, and our Talk to Me section for more interviews with fascinating fashionable personalities.

The culmination of the Holt Renfrew Spring 2011 runway presentation at LG Fashion Week. Photography courtesy of George Pimentel.

Fashion Week kicked off in high style this season with a special runway presentation organized by Holt Renfrew and featuring some of the hottest names in Canadian fashion: Jeremy Laing, Smythe, Pink Tartan, Line Runway, Denis Gagnon, Lida Baday, Wayne Clark, Wings and Horns, and Mikahel Kale. (I know, right?!)

The design talent on display was impressive enough, but equally remarkable was how smoothly it all went down. The FDCC’s Robin Kay and Coco Rocha gave brief yet warm opening remarks, then an introductory video inspired by Diana Vreeland ended by suggesting that “Magenta is the navy blue of Canada” (in homage to the legendary editor’s quip “Pink is the navy blue of India”). Then it was on with the show!

The Style Notebook talked to Jennifer Daubney, lovely girl-about-town and the communications manager at Holt Renfrew, who helmed the runway presentation.

What was the biggest challenge in organizing a show of this magnitude? What surprised you the most about the process?

“I’ve been working on our Holt Renfrew presentations for LG Fashion Week for a few seasons now but this was the first time that we hosted our kick-off event outside of the store. It was definitely a challenging project to take on but a very exciting experience. We hired a great show producer, Paola Fullerton, who along with her assistant Jenn Plommer worked on the casting and coordination. It was a huge job—nine designers and 45 models!

Our marketing, buying, fashion office and store teams at Holts all came together to pull off the whole show and John Gerhardt, our creative director commissioned an amazing Toronto artist, Eva Michon to create our opening video which was brilliant! There is a lot of work that goes into a fashion show from seating, to technical, to casting, to music. My hat goes off to the FDCC who create a great experience for the audience all week long.”

I loved the music choices for each designer. How did you go about creating the playlist?

“Thank you! Kym de la Roche, our creative production manager at Holts came up with the playlist and we worked together to choose a song for each designer. We wanted to reflect the personalities of the designers and their collections with each song.”

All of the collections were very strong, but did you have a favourite piece from the entire show?

“I loved so many but, for me for spring, some of my favourites were Jeremy’s dresses, especially with the cutouts, Smythe’s adorable jackets, Denis Gagnon’s fringed dress, and all of the colour from Pink Tartan!”

Below, more pics from the show!

Jeremy Laing, Spring 2011.

Denis Gagnon, Spring 2011.

Line Runway, Spring 2011.

Wings and Horns, Spring 2011.

Wayne Clark, Spring 2011.

Pink Tartan, Spring 2011.

Smythe, Spring 2011.

Lida Baday, Spring 2011.

Mikhael Kale, Spring 2011.

This Saturday, October 23, Holt Renfrew presents a designer meet-and-greet and Spring 2011 preview of top-tier Canadian design talent: Denis Gagnon, Jeremy Laing, Line Runway, Smythe, Mikhael Kale, Ezra Constantine and Greta Constantine. It on from 2  to 4 p.m., on the 2nd level.

Read more of The It here!

Photography by Brendan Adam Zwelling.

One of the greatest things about Fashion Week? The crowd takes the time to dress up.

Check out more Well Played here!

When the news broke that Philip Sparks, designer of the city’s best-loved menswear line, was showing womenswear for the first time, people talked about it with the kind of anticipatory fervour usually reserved for promising first dates.

It ended up being love at first sight.

A little New York cool, a little Toronto indie, the spring womenswear featured classic pieces—trench, shirt-dress, a perfect pair of high-waisted shorts—and a lovely print (repeated throughout the collection) taken from a photo of cherry trees in High Park.

Click through for a sweet selection of looks, arranged boy/girl.

Read more of The It here!

Jacquelyn West and Natasha Penzo, co-chairs of Boobyball 9. Story by Carole Park. Photography by Natalie Castellino.

Disco balls, big hair and sequins were de rigueur at Studio 54, so it was no surprise to see all of the above in abundance at Boobyball 9: FLASH in support of Rethink Breast Cancer. On Saturday night, the Kool Haus was transformed into a 54-worthy venue for an evening that would have made Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager a bit envious. A tall, tanned blonde wearing nothing but silver pasties and a thong served sparkling rosé to arriving guests, while photo-op areas framed the venue’s perimeter—one couldn’t help feeling as though the paparazzi was around at all times.

All that seemed to be missing was a crescent moon with a silver spoon and having someone ride in on a white horse.

Andy Warhol, Bianca Jagger and Diana Vreeland couldn’t make it, but there was no shortage of party-goers going all out for their 15 minutes. Spotted were co-chairs Jacquelyn West in Hervé Léger and Natasha Penzo in Joeffer Caoc. Ainsley Kerr, co-chair and event specialist for Rethink Breast Cancer, looked like a dancing queen in her  flowing pink mini-dress, while blogger-about-town Nolan Bryant channeled classically chic Halston in a grey turtleneck and jacket.

Other notable attendees included co-chair Aliya-Jasmine Sovani, honorary co-chair Sarah O’Regan, Rookie Blues actor Greg Smith, and a stylish senior Rethink group, which included Alison Gordon, MJ DeCoteau, and Lindsay Grange.

The Boobyball was founded in 2002 by Amanda Blakley and Ashleigh Dempster, (also co-founders of The Society Global), to raise funds and awareness in support of Rethink Breast Cancer. The goal of this year’s event? $140,000, which brings the total raised by Boobyball since its inception close to $1 million. We’ll toast to that.

Below, some looks we liked at Boobyball 9.

Read more of The Invitation here!