Kelly Cutrone, reality TV star and creator of New York City PR firm People’s Revolution, has written a second book, titled Normal Gets You Nowhere. Fans of the mogul better known by mainstream society as “that woman who was besties with Whitney Port” will get a chance to meet her in the flesh at Toronto Eaton Centre’s Indigo at 7 p.m. on May 24. We have no idea what the book is about, but we assume it is heavily anecdotal, offering another several hundred pages of straight talk (with a soupcon of swearing to keep it edgy for the aspiring PR girls and boys). From representing musicians and prima donnas to writing books and being a good mother, we wonder what could be next for the less-than-normal woman who has already gotten somewhere. Might we suggest a good night’s sleep?
Up-to-the-minute coverage of store openings and fashion gossip. Plus, daily finds for deal seekers
Fans of Kelly Cutrone can meet the People’s Revolution straight talker in Toronto this May
Nylon magazine gives shout-out to young Canadian designers
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Flip open the September issue of Nylon and you’ll find four Canadian labels featured inside: Evan Biddell, Greta Constantine, Marika Brose and newcomer to watch Amanda Lew Kee. All of them are making their mark in Toronto. The two-page shout-out, titled “Oh, Canada,” naturally, is thanks to Toronto’s 90210 starlet Shenae Grimes, who picked her favourite homegrown designers.
Yasmin Warsame photographed by Bryan Adams for Bono’s Globe and Mail
In today’s Africa-themed Globe and Mail, guest editors Bono (yes, that Bono) and Bob Geldof ran a profile of Somali-born, Toronto-based model Yasmin Warsame, who was photographed by Bryan Adams (yes, that Bryan Adams). Among articles about mining and Africa’s new economy, the woman Michael Kors once crowned “the next Iman” talks about being raised in Mogadishu as the youngest of 21 children. She talks about being lured to Toronto (from London, at the age of 15) by its cultural diversity; she remains here despite her international success because her son’s father lives here. The piece also has the requisite serving of humble pie: “I’m a multicultural woman,” says Warsame. “I can go home and eat with my hands, and I can come back and do my modelling. It’s wonderful.” Eating with your hands might be taboo in some haute couture circles, but not Toronto. Just ask the starving models backstage at fashion week.
• Yasmin Warsame: A model citizen on—and off—the runway [Globe and Mail]
On The Goods this week: SJP in Toronto, 3-D fashion show, Olympic auction
For our readers who missed them, the most popular stories from The Goods this week:
• Sarah Jessica Parker makes a cameo at The Bay
• Nada’s 3-D fashion show premieres at Scotiabank Theatre
• Just Opened: Evan Biddell’s Oz Studio Boutique
On The Goods this week: fashion week venue drama, Philip Sparks’ show, Pistachio closing at Yorkdale, Type Books moving
For our readers who missed them, the most popular stories from The Goods this week:
• Toronto fashion week gets a new venue (for the second time in a month)
• Philip Sparks show begins rogue fashion week
• Jeanne Beker wears Hudson’s Bay coat to Paris fashion week
• Roots’ unintentionally un-PC sale
• Coco Rocha appears in “diverse” Louis Vuitton show
• Tavi Gevinson’s gig on Fashion Television: less chat, more hat
• Heather Reisman not invincible: Pistachio’s Yorkdale mall location to close
Celebrities are out, Alexander McQueen label lives on, Tyra Banks tones down look
• Tabloids may need to cross fashion shows off their list of places to snap Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan throwing a hissy fit. There’s a noticeable dearth of celebrity presence at New York fashion week, in part because designers can’t afford to pay the costs (airfare, per diem, outfits) associated with having stars sit in the front row. But mainly, celebrities have become too stale in an industry that’s always on the hunt for what’s new. [New York Times]
• Alexander McQueen’s label will continue on without the designer, who committed suicide last week. McQueen had finished most of his fall collection, which will show during Paris fashion week. François-Henri Pinault, president of French luxury group PPR, said, “This would be the best tribute that we could offer to him.” [BBC]
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Lindsay Lohan as Jesus, Abercrombie store scares Japanese shoppers, Tavi talks back
Lilo's Purple cover
• Armani Exchange’s Share the Love Valentine’s Day campaign, which features steamy photos of same-sex couples, has angered the American Family Association, which expressed its displeasure on its Web site onemillionmoms.com. The organization, which aims to rid society of “filth,” calls the ads “poison” to children and urges other parents to “take a stand since A|X is one of the fashion leaders and this is becoming a popular trend.” We’re outraged—Armani Exchange is not a fashion leader. [The Cut]
• Controversial teen fashion blogger and Jeanne Beker stand-in Tavi Gevinson responded to the recent criticisms that have been levelled at her, her big hats and her parents. The gist? Bring it. “I’m going to New York on Saturday. I will be wearing some more hats. If you happen to be sitting behind me and you’d like to be able to see, just ask.” Let’s hope the Fashion Television cameras are rolling. [Style Rookie]
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Luxury goods consumers are selfish, DSquared2 designing opening ceremony costumes, Bloomingdale’s in Dubai
The same-sex marriage tee that Urban Outfitters took off shelves
• Beautiful things happen when fashion and athletics collide, and we’re not talking about Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen’s baby. Designers Dean and Dan Caten of DSquared2 have designed, in honour of the Olympics, a $350 maple leaf–logo fleece hoodie to be sold at Holt Renfrew. The twins are also designing the costumes for the Olympics opening and closing ceremonies, which means plenty of sexy lumberjacks and brooding hockey players. [WWD]
• A study from Harvard Business School says luxury goods consumers are more likely to make inconsiderate, selfish decisions that harm others. The findings are detailed in an HBS paper called “The Devil Wears Prada? Effects of Exposure to Luxury Goods on Cognition and Decision Making.” It seems money can’t buy love or a conscience. [Harvard Business School]
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Thirteen-year-old makes Flare editor cry, H&M organic line is not organic, Jimmy Choo emulates Tommy Ton
• Are Tommy Ton and Jimmy Choo starring in the sequel to Single White Female? Ton thinks so. Earlier this morning, Toronto’s famed street-style snapper pointed an accusing finger at the luxury shoe company when he tweeted, “Is it me or does the Jimmy Choo 24:7 campaign look a lot like…ahem…you know what I mean :S.” Truth be told, it doesn’t take much inspection to see the striking similarities between the images Ton shoots for his blog, Jak and Jil, and Choo’s new campaign. [Fashionista]
• Fashion editors were appalled when 13-year-old blogger Tavi Gevinson sat front row at the Dior couture show, wearing a gargantuan bow atop her head. Flare editor Lisa Tant tweeted, “Sobbing to think that a 13-year-old gets a front-row seat to cover couture. No justice in this world.” Meanwhile, Jeanne Beker took to Twitter, calling Gevinson’s bow “outrageous.” Both women later said their comments were taken out of context. Apparently “outrageous” is a good thing in the fashion world, but burning bridges is not. [Mondoville]
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Radiant Dark opens Toronto design week with Bacon Savers and felt discs
Kathryn Walter's felt installation
Under the soaring ceilings of Commerce Court West last night, Radiant Dark kicked off Toronto’s first International Design Festival, which runs until Sunday. The exhibit, with creations by over 40 contemporary Canadian designers, is curated by the owners of Made, Shaun Moore and Julie Nicholson. Only in its third year, the showcase has already gained a rep for presenting some of Toronto’s best design talent.
For the 2010 event, participants created pieces—chairs, rugs, cutlery—inspired by our relationship with money and the economy, hence the Bay Street locale. To wit, in Kathryn Walter’s Felt Studio installation, spectators can take a felt disc from a pile but are required to leave something behind—whether it’s money, an empty cigarette pack or a bobby pin. In Jill Allan’s clever Bacon Saver piggy banks, penny savers insert coins through the swine’s snout.
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Golden Globe outfits trashed, Canada Goose parkas are like SUVs, Jersey Shore clothing line
A Canada Goose parka
• Dani Reiss, CEO of Canada Goose, compares his now-ubiquitous down parkas to SUVs—just as the Land Rover was not intended to be an urban status symbol (it was supposed to be an off-road vehicle), Canada Goose outerwear is made for barren northern climes. Instead, says Reiss, it’s turned into the affluent city slicker’s winter coat of choice. It’s true. People in Toronto aren’t trudging through snowdrifts, but it seems every third person is wearing a toasty Canada Goose. [Toronto Star]
• The outfits at the Golden Globes have received some pretty harsh criticism, but Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks, who plays Joan, is the target of most of the bashing. Andre Leon Talley, the larger-than-life Vogue editor-at-large, described her Christian Siriano strapless peach number as a “roadside-diner peach melba,” saying the ruffles on her frock “thudded like industrial tarp along her body.” Talley’s sentiments were shared by the New York Times’ Cathy Horyn, who called Hendricks’ outfit an “exploding ruffle dress” and agreed with a stylist who said, “You don’t put a big girl in a big dress. That’s rule number one.” [Vogue]
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Mysterious midnight fire at Honest Ed’s
(Photo by Stewart Russell)
Earlier this week, we reported on a (not-so-surprising) fire at Korean Grill House, and just after midnight this morning, emergency crews were called to Honest Ed’s to put out a small blaze that had started in a display window. The fire didn’t spread to the rest of the store and was extinguished in about 10 minutes. Police are not sure whether anyone was in the store at the time, but no injuries were reported and a minimal amount of property was damaged. An investigation is underway to determine the cause—may we suggest looking into the red-hot prices?
Jimmy Choo Uggs, Sarah Jessica Parker designs for Halston, Tony Blair to become fashion exec
Tamara Mellon choo-choo chooses Uggs
• Jimmy Choo designer Tamara Mellon has joined the list of people who actually admit to owning Uggs (André Leon Talley and Cathy Horyn are also on it). In fact, Mellon loves the boots so much that she’s collaborating on the design of five styles of Jimmy Choo Uggs (Chuggs?) to be available in October for a whopping $595 to $795. [Fashionista]
• Tony Blair is in the final stages of negotiating a deal to join the French luxury goods powerhouse LVMH as an advisor. The group owns, among many other companies, Louis Vuitton, Celine, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs and a host of high-end alcohol brands. Blair is a close friend of LVMH head Bernard Arnault, and the pair is expected to work closely together to attract new clients. Now, if only Blair would advise his notoriously unfashionable successor on what to wear. [Huffington Post]
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The New Yorker on Rodarte: the emperor has no clothes
A look from Rodarte's Target collection (Photo from Target)
Rodarte is probably one of the most talked about fashion lines coming out of the States right now. In only five years and with no formal training, sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy have nabbed over $200,000 in industry prizes, won the endorsement of Vogue editor Anna Wintour and designed a sought-after diffusion line for Target. In this week’s issue of The New Yorker, writer Amanda Fortini documents the ascent of the avant-garde designers but isn’t as awed by the sisters Mulleavy as the rest of the fashion world.
Fortini describes Kate as “zaftig” (our favourite new euphemism for “fat”) and takes note of part-eaten boxes of mini-cheesecakes lying around the studio. She also classifies Kate’s sweater as “the sort a frumpy older lady might wear.” But sharper criticisms are aimed at the Target line.
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Canadian designer Mark Fast declines to give clothes to Lady Gaga, gives them to Topshop instead
Mark Fast at Ame in December (Photo by Karon Liu)
Just before the holidays, we predicted that Canadian designer Mark Fast would be thrust into the spotlight in 2010. Three short weeks later, we were proven right. Back then, we wondered whether the designer’s attention-grabbing show during London fashion week (it included plus-sized models) was a fluke, but since his quick trip to Toronto in December, he’s been making headlines all over the world. It seems the humble Manitoban has a knack for handling the press. Last week, he refused to lend his clothes to armoured style icon Lady Gaga (even though he loves “Bad Romance”), saying his designs are not about “fast food fashion.” That’s a head scratcher of a statement, since he launched a lower-priced diffusion line called Faster the same week and since there is talk about him designing a line for the speediest of fashion retailers, Topshop (also rumoured to be opening in Toronto in the near future).
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