In yesterday’s blog entry for the Post, designers Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong of Greta Constantine offer a glimpse into their background as designers. Both were clearly brown-nosers from the start, scoring major internships while still in high school: Pickersgill with Toronto fashion label Comrags and Wong at Alfred Sung. Wong pursued his passion for fashion with veteran costume designer Susan Dicks; Pickersgill moved to Milan, working with fellow Canadians DSquared2 and British designer Neil Barret.
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Greta Constantine’s fashion show is next week, collection far from ready
Canadian style so hot, HBC Web site crashes
Smythe's blanket coat for The Bay (Photo by Carlo Mendoza)
With Alexander McQueen Olympic scarves and maple leaf mitts at a premium, Canada is officially, like, so hot right now. So it was no surprise when we took a look at the catwalks recently and saw a bit of home.
The boys at Dolce and Gabbana took a page out of DSquared2‘s look book for their D&G line. The fall-winter 2010 show in Milan lacked the polished Italian glam we expected; instead, snow bunny models looking ready for après ski at Cypress Mountain strutted in patterned leg warmers and tights, reindeer- and snowflake-patterned knits and fur mukluks.
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Jeanne Beker trades N.Y. fashion week for Vancouver 2010, blogs about it
Norway's clownish curling pants (Photo by Kenny Louie)
Jeanne Beker swapped her Fashion Television mic for an Olympic torch in Vancouver—a far cry from her regular rounds backstage and in the front row at international fashion weeks. Beker has been getting her bearings as Olympic fashion reporter while pint-sized blog pundit Tavi Gevinson takes the reins temporarily during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York, a gig Beker has already underlined as a one-time deal.
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HBC’s Olympic mittens are the it item at the Games
HBC's Olympic mittens went from torchbearer uniform to best-seller (Photo by Delaney Turner)
While the ubiquitous red mittens haven’t reached the status of the blue Roots berets everyone wore during the ’98 games (which, in retrospect, were kind of a fashion don’t), the Hudson’s Bay Company’s woolly mitts have become the must-have item for the Vancouver Games.
The Star interviewed a bunch of Torontonians who are praising how the mittens, which are made in China, make them proud to be Canadian. News 1130 is getting people in a frenzy by declaring that last week’s shipment of one million mittens was the last, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. The Vancouver Sun dismissed rumours that the gloves are in short supply (there’s an entire wall of them at The Bay at Fairview Mall and a pile on the second floor at the Yonge and Queen location, for those who are looking). CTV even reports that the mittens’ popularity has already led to counterfeits.
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Olympic merchandise naming rights resulting in unsportsmanlike behaviour
The sporty offerings from Aritzia (tank), The Bay (top mitts), Roots (hoodie), Lululemon (bottom mitts) and Birks (cufflinks)
The Winter Games are fast approaching, and VANOC, which oversees Olympic naming rights, isn’t happy with the slew of Olympic-themed merchandise hitting the market—nor are official sponsors, like The Bay and Birks. Such companies as Roots, Lululemon and DSquared2 are offering Canadian-themed wares by carefully avoiding using off-limits logos (like the rings) and words (like “Olympics”), and the vitriol is flying.
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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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DSquared2′s Dean and Dan school Ryerson’s fashion students
The Brothers Squared (Photo courtesy of Ryerson University)
While few of Toronto’s fashion students gathered at Ryerson University’s AMC lecture theatres on Friday are likely to achieve the fame DSquared2 designers Dean and Dan Caten have, the twins’ made-in-Canada success story is certainly an inspiration to our budding fashion talents. Interviewed in a lecture hall by Jeanne Beker, the vivacious brothers and their trendy clothing and accessories brand have been much talked-about since receiving the thrust of approval from Madonna, whom they outfitted for the Drowned World Tour in 2001 (and about the last time Madonna wore anything enviable) spoke about the path to fame from Willowdale, Ontario, where they were raised in a family of nine children. The high-end designers have also used pop sexpots Christina Aguilera and Rihanna in their shows.
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