The Globe and Mail recently reported that the Hudson’s Bay Company is currently talking with Bloomingdale’s to open a “store within a store” at its Bloor Street location. Sources suggest that this is a pre-emptive strike from HBC CEO Richard Baker, who is attempting to capture a large chunk of the high-end fashion retail market before foreign players like Nordstrom arrive (it is rumoured that Nordstrom has been scouting real estate). Sources speculate that HBC is contemplating stores in Vancouver and Calgary as well, and this move could happen as early as the fall. Read the entire store [Globe and Mail] »
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Is Bloomingdale’s coming to Toronto?
Canada’s Best Beauty Talent, episode 7: Max Abadian to the rescue
Caylee fixes her model’s hair (Image: CBBT)
Let’s be honest: this show hasn’t been great so far. Sure, makeup contestant Marcia has taught us how to make a face beautiful (see here and here), and we’ve gotten a few giggles out of Coco Rocha’s robotic delivery (see here, here and here), but the show has been short on the kind of entertainment that keeps audiences begging for more. (Sorry, but intentionally flubbing the catchphrase “ready, set, style!” by saying “ready, set, don’t style!” is just painful to watch.) We were even thinking of giving up on it—and then internationally renowned photographer Max Abadian came on for this week’s Flare cover shoot challenge, and what a difference he makes. Abadian’s presence adds something to the show that has been lacking: action. The contestants are tasked with the challenge of creating the perfect high fashion cover look, which they have 45 minutes to finish before heading straight to Abadian for the shoot. The six remaining contestants struggle to keep their models’ head still enough to work simultaneously (turns out it’s tricky to do delicate makeup application while someone else is jerking her hair around), and when it comes time for the shoot, we witness some seriously impressive eye rolls from makeup contestant Cait. (We love you Cait!) Find out what we thought and what we learned »
The List: 10 things former CIBC insider and doomsday author Jeff Rubin can’t live without
Here, a few of his favourite things
1| My ride
It’s a 12-year-old Audi A6 Turbo. I like driving, and I’ve always had a thing for European sport sedans. When they put a stick shift in a hybrid or a Chevy Volt, I’ll buy one.
2| My hockey cards
I have thousands of vintage hockey cards. My most prized are a set of ’61–’62 Maple Leafs, which I remember from when I was a kid. They’re as close as I’m going to get to seeing the Leafs win the Cup again.
3| My anti-cottage
I love going to the Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve south of Algonquin Park. A German guy bought it from a paper mill in the ’60s, and now his son leases plots for $3,000 a year. I’ve rented one on Lazure Lake for eight years. There are no motor boats, no power—just an empty campsite.
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4| My water guide
A friend gave me HTO, a book about water in Toronto, in 2009, and I refer to it all the time. People don’t realize how many waterways there are in the city because most are hidden under infrastructure.
The 2012 Met Ball red carpet will stream live for the first time ever
Karl Lagerfeld and Yoko Ono share a moment at last year’s Met Ball (Image: Dimitrios Kambouris/Film Magic)
The Met Ball, thrown by the Metropolitan Costume Institute at NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, is one of the splashiest fashion parties of the year. A-list celebrities like Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Yoko Ono, Beyonce, Rihanna, Anna Wintour and more get dressed in their best duds to fraternize with designers and the glamorously wealthy. While most people in Toronto don’t have a golden ticket to get inside, Vogue and Amazon will be livestreaming the red carpet for everyone to see, which means people on their computers will no longer have to wait until midnight to play Fab or Fug. The red carpet feed can be streamed live on May 7 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the Met’s website.
Street Style: 21 spring looks from the men and women of the Financial District
The oft-portrayed boys club of law and high finance is not without its stereotypes—from Wall Street to The Firm, the style code of urban money has typically been fairly staid, with boxy suits, dressy shoes and an occasional pocket square (if you’re lucky). Working Girl took women out of their steno pool duds and showed them as executives in power suits with big hair—but even that look quickly became ubiquitous, and since the late ’80s, the archetypes of the man and woman who push dollars for a living never really changed. Hair got smaller, sure, and Cashmere Mafia attempted to prove that businesswomen were all this classy, but the combination of a pencil skirt and blouse, or conservative power dressing continued to run rampant into the early-to-mid noughties. These people, who wake up before most people have their first coffee, have always been viewed as conservative dressers, but here’s the thing: they’re not all like that anymore. Check out 21 looks from our stakeout of the Financial District »
6 in 1: a feminine ensemble with masculine touches from Dundas West’s Lost and Found
It’s time to head westward for All In One, fashion fans. Dundas West is swiftly becoming a favourite sartorial destination , so for our next instalment, we headed to coffee-shop-cum-contemporary-clothing-haven Lost and Found. This NYC-inspired cubby stocks all the cool-girl lines like Charlotte Ronson, Libertine Libertine, Erin Kleinberg and Joomi Lim, and dudes can find items by Robert Geller, Batten Sportwear and Unis. We sought out a look that is perfect for a spring saunter down the street, a first date, or a run through the sand on the beach (we recommend kicking off an old pair of Keds for this one, ladies). Total cost: $1,420. Check out all of the pieces and a full price breakdown »
The Beckerman sisters will host a pop-up lounge for H&M in May
The Beckerman sisters (Image: Jenna Marie Wakani)
H&M announced today that sisters Caillianne and Samantha Beckerman of Beckerman Bite Plate (and label Beckerman) will be hosting a “Summer Lounge” at the corner of Yonge and Dundas on May 3 and 4 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Attendees can enjoy drinks and music, chat with the Beckermans and take a look at a curated selection of H&M’s summer collection (apparently, peplums are still popular—thanks, Hungers Games). Check out a preview of H&M’s summer 2012 collection »
The Scene: Fashion Cares 25 launches without Elton John and Jeanne Beker
Last night at Charles Khabouth’s La Société, Fashion Cares event co-chair Michael King and artistic director Philip Ing gathered Toronto’s high society, fashion media and PR professionals to launch the event’s 25th anniversary. Ing announced to the crowd that this year’s mega-AIDS fundraiser will be downsizing to an intimate 3,400 seats (previous engagements hosted over 8,000 people), and also revealed that Sir Elton John will be bringing an assortment of his performance costumes to display during the event. A mass of people like Zoomer’s Suzanne Boyd, Flare’s Lisa Tant, Men’s Fashion’s David Livingston, hairstylist Robert Gage, eTalk’s Tanya Kim, NKPR’s Natasha Koifman and more sweated it out whilst packed inside the salon-style bar, leading society columnist Shinan Govani to remark, in an “ah ha!” way, that “fashion people do care.” The setting’s old-school charms made it seem like an old Hollywood affair—flashes went off (in place of flash bulbs and smoke), capturing the likes of philanthropist David Nugent nestled in the corner of a leather bankette, taking in the sights while his wife Catherine chatted with friends. After an encounter with the laid-back Nugents, we ran into Rich Bride, Poor Bride’s rambunctious David A. Vallee, who was quite insistent that we be introduced to BMO’s corporate donations gal Nada Ristich. Vallee alleged that she’s been bankrolling Fashion Cares since the beginning, but Ristich bashfully chimed in, saying that it hasn’t quite been from the get-go. Check out photos from the launch of Fashion Cares 25 »
Kim Kardashian making a public appearance at The Bay for an hour (and only an hour)
Kim Kardashian (Image: Eva Rinaldi)
Fans of Kim Kardashian—who became famous through a certain exhibition of her, um, bedroom antics—will get the opportunity to spend money to meet her on May 10 at The Bay on Queen Street from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. (customers who spend $50 or more on items from her Belle Noel collection may get the opportunity to snap a photo and chat with her, time permitting). We really hope Kris Jenner, her “momager,” comes along—who wouldn’t want to get their copy of her literary world–shaking book signed?
Canada’s Best Beauty Talent, episode 6: we feel a bit eh. It just isn’t wow
On this episode of Canada’s Best Beauty Talent, it’s time for the judges—Flare’s Lisa Tant, Chatelaine’s Catherine Franklin, Lancome’s Lora Spiga and L’Oréal’s Anna Pacitto—to critique Sunday night’s bridal looks. Right from the start, the judges are wowed by Matt and Marcia for giving a woman with dark skin an unconventional colourful lip and shiny hair, and they take forever congratulating them for their moxie—we like Matt and Marcia’s look, too, but the praise is wasting airtime in an already short show. Later, Tant resorts to soundbites like “Overall I feel a bit eh. It just isn’t wow,” which she says to describe Jenna and Roger’s fresh-faced look (come on, if you’re going to play the role of the ambivalent judge, at least take a card from Michael Kors’ deck).
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The one thing you should see at FAT this week
Alternative Fashion Week (FAT) kicks off tonight, which means it is time for the city to take in some of the world’s experimental fashion, photography and art. We think FAT fashion can be rather hit or miss, and we’re fairly certain there’s nothing that can be done with PVC that we haven’t already seen before, but there’s often one gem in the mix that’s definitely worth a look. We’re excited to see Quebec-based label Zent, a menswear brand with an overt European bent (fits are fairly snug) that adds a touch of playfulness to contemporary menswear—its spring/summer 2011 collection “Fun and Games” used board game accoutrements as its inspiration. Zent will be part of a runway group that starts at 8:05 p.m. on April 26 at 213 Sterling Road. Check out more of Zent’s spring/summer 2011 collection »
The Find: obnoxiously colourful footwear that even Justin Bieber would love
Toronto Fashion Week made it clear that vibrant colours are back in rotation this spring—it’s already a widely embraced trend that just won’t be ignored. Couple that with the concurrent push toward casual athletic fashion, and this obnoxiously colourful pair of Asics sneakers at Champs ($179) becomes a good way to adopt the colours and the feeling of the season without succumbing to a head-to-toe neon ensemble (heck, even Justin Bieber is making his ostentatious high-top Supra kicks a signature). Of course, not everybody is as boisterous as Biebsy, so for the more demure woman, we recommend a classic heel with slightly softer hues, like the Stuart Weitzman Livia shoes at Holt Renfrew ($395). Or you could be boring and wear gladiator sandals or dock shoes.
Canada’s Best Beauty Talent, episode 5: a lack of colour
Andrea and Isabelle work on their bride-to-be (Image: CBBT)
It’s wedding week on Canada’s Best Beauty Talent, and contestants are tasked with creating the perfect look for a real bride-to-be. The premise is good—some of our favourite Project Runway episodes involved real clients or brides. Sadly, unlike that show, which is packed full of drama, this episode of CBBT runs the length of a leisurely trip to the bathroom (10 minutes, 32 seconds), so the drama is underplayed. While we do pick up some tips from Roger (who actually looks as perfect on camera as he does in his headshot—it’s weird), Marcia and Cait, and while Isabelle and Andrea do get paired with a somewhat needy bride, that’s not enough to make it a meaty episode—and no one cries. (Remember when Jeffrey Sebelia made Angela’s mom cry in season three of Project Runway? That’s the kind of entertainment we’d like to supplement our learning with.)
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Jay Manuel has been fired from America’s Next Top Model
Jay Manuel (Image: Jenna Marie Wakani)
Fans of silver fox Jay Manuel will be sad to note that the flamboyant model mentor from America’s Next Top Model has been canned, along with runway coach J. “Miss J” Alexander and noted fashion photographer Nigel Barker. Sources told Page Six on Wednesday about the decision, stating that the departures were a “production decision,” and that there are changes to come for season 19 (yes, apparently there are still enough young women who are under the impression that America’s Next Top Model is a gateway into the world of high fashion). Manuel may be out of a design gig at Sears and a cushy Top Model job, but he clearly has fans, so maybe he’ll be allowed to revive his Canada’s Next Top Model baby? It might make up for Top Model’s last trip to Canada.
Fashion Television is out, Style Bio is in?
Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen will appear on Style Bio
Last week the Internet was shaken by the news that Fashion Television had ceased production after 27 years, and now Bell Media has announced that it will be picking up 60 episodes of a show called Style Bio that will air on its E! network. Seems a touch sudden, but Scott Henderson, vice-president of communications for Bell, says the show has “been in development for E! for some time, and is not directly related to the suspension of production of Fashion Television.” The show, a documentary series about how stars (like Beyonce, Kim Cattrall and Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen) have gone, in Ricki Lake terms, from drab to fab, seems to bear no close resemblance to Jeanne Beker’s FT, but we figure Bell’s move to invest in a program with a panel of experts over Beker’s one-on-one interviews has got to sting a little.
