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Holt Renfrew lays off beloved doorman, upsets Twitterati

The dying art of opening doors (Image: Garry Knight)

Holt Renfrew is about to lose one of its hospitality trademarks: its doorman. Tom Hargitai has held the same position, and many a door, at the store’s Yorkville location for the past 21 years. Hailing originally from Montreal, Hargitai is 57, knows regulars by name and has witnessed generations of customers walk through Holts’s front entrance. Hargitai’s dismissal is apparently not for performance reasons (anyone who’s seen him in action know he’s a natural), but he worries that Holts just wants him to disappear. “Maybe I’m too old,” Hargitai told the Toronto Star. “I’m saddened by it. I love my job.”

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The Hype

Prime Time

January 13, 2011 | 4:18 pm

3 Comments

So long and farewell: Dan Levy leaving MTV Canada

Jessi and Dan at 2009 MTV Movie Awards (Image: George Pimentel/WireImage/Getty Images)

MTV’s über-popular After Show wrapped up back in July after Jessi Cruickshank left Toronto for a new gig in sunny L.A. Now it’s her co-host Dan Levy’s turn to say goodbye to MTV Canada, as well. Shinan Govani announced Dan’s departure an hour ago on his Twitter feed:

He’s outta here: taking the lead of his TV wife, Jessi, Dan Levy has announced he’s leaving MTV Canada. A sad day for the eyewear industry.

No word yet on Levy’s future plans, but we hope they’ll involve more celebrity micro-analysis and nerdy-chic outfits.

The Goods

From the Print Edition

November 1, 2010 | 1:00 pm

32 Comments

The Bay vs. Holts: the Bay’s scheme to steal the fashion crown from Holts

The sensible shoes and twin–sets are gone, replaced by stilettos and crystal-encrusted gowns. There’s valet parking and personal shoppers, and they’re serving champagne up on three. It’s all part of the Bay’s scheme to win the loyalty of society shopaholics—and steal the fashion crown from Holts By Leah McLaren

(Image: George Pimentel)

One evening last March, Toronto’s stylish set put on their best frocks and headed to a retail baptism. Sarah Jessica Parker, celebrity high priestess of fashion, was in town to launch the Halston Heritage label at The Bay. The party, which reportedly cost over $200,000, was meant to establish Canada’s oldest department store as a major player in high-end womenswear. If retailers can be born again, this was The Bay’s moment to lean back and dip its head into the holy water.

Fashion media and socialites were ushered into the Queen Street flagship store and up the escalator to sip champagne on the third floor. That’s where The Room is located. The upscale designer dress salon was renovated a year ago for approximately $4.4 million in a high modernist style by the designers Yabu Pushelberg. The result is a treasure trove of conversation piece baubles, heels, flirty cocktail dresses and gowns by some of the most prestigious designers in the business. It’s the beating heart of the new Bay.

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The Informer

Gimme Shelter

October 27, 2010 | 3:40 pm

5 Comments

House of the Week: $10.8 million for a Bridle Path bungalow once graced by Ryan Phillippe

ADDRESS: 78 The Bridle Path

NEIGHBOURHOOD: Bridle Path–Sunnybrook–York Mills

AGENT: Elise Kalles, Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd. Brokerage and Ross Anicai, Home Market Realty Inc.

PRICE: $10.8 million

THE PLACE: Ray Civello, owner of the Civello chain of salons, has put his Bridle Path bungalow up for bids. The modernist monolith features five bedrooms and six bathrooms in 10,000 square feet of space. The place could be dubbed The Entertainer: there’s a retractable 15-foot movie screen, an in-ground pool, a dining room that easily seats 12 and an industrial kitchen.

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The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 13, 2010 | 1:21 pm

1 Comment

Spotted! Marion Cotillard at Holts

(Image: Karon Liu)

According to Shinan Govani, The drool-worthy Marion Cotillard (in Toronto to promote Little White Lies) is at Holt Renfrew right now. Run!

= Find this story on our Celebrity Sightings Map, where we plot the locations of stars spotted throughout Toronto

The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 10, 2010 | 1:28 pm

Comments

Absolut’s parking lot shindig was totally the party of the night

Callum Keith Rennie parties on the roof (Image: Fraser Abe)

When someone says “party in the parking lot,” it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. That’s why we were so pleasantly surprised to pull up to the thumping garage at York and Adelaide for the Absolut party last night. The minute we saw the stretch golf carts that ferried guests to the ninth-floor rooftop, we knew it was going to be a pretty good night. Live music by Scratch Scratch Scratch, Shaun Boothe and Shad, mostly of the hip-hop variety, got partiers in the right mood (especially one older gentleman who could do the running man like nobody’s business), though we also overheard complaints: “I feel like nothing kills the mood of a party faster than live music.”

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The Hype

TIFF Talk

July 19, 2010 | 1:08 pm

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This year’s TIFF controversy: Mel Gibson, yea or nay?

They get along in wax form (Image: Allison)

It seems appropriate that the grand fête of film in the land of political correctness is shrouded in some controversy every year. Last year, the big stink at TIFF was a program commemorating the centennial anniversary of Tel Aviv. Jane Fonda, Eve Ensler and Danny Glover boycotted the festival in protest. This year’s debacle (so far) is whether TIFF should admit Mel Gibson onto the red carpet; he’s the star of Jodie Foster’s flick The Beaver, which was supposed to be a huge festival draw. But after media backlash surrounding Gibson’s alleged abuse of his ex-girlfriend, his career is in more peril than ever.

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The Hype

The American Invasion

July 8, 2010 | 10:47 am

7 Comments

Pretty woman walking down the street: Julia Roberts is in Toronto

Julia Roberts doing double denim on Queen West (Image: Mr. Will-W.)

Julia Roberts is in Toronto shooting Jesus Henry Christ, a film she’s producing starring Martin Michael Sheen and Toni Collette, and of course, there have been a number of pretty woman sightings. According to Shinan Govani, Roberts was spotted Tuesday dining at Terroni, browsing the macaroon delicacies at Nadège Patisserie, foraging through the vintage sartorial selections at Preloved and picking up some how-to-knit reads at Type Books. Her outfit: pale jeans and a denim shirt. That’s right, double denim. So, then, it’s official—Julia Roberts is a Queen West hipster.

• City woman [National Post]
• More Julia Roberts in Toronto [Mr. Will-W.]

The Hype

Pretty Young Things

May 31, 2010 | 9:46 am

1 Comment

Rachel McAdams gathers human hair for oil spill relief

So fresh and so green, green

According to Shinan Govani’s column today, Toronto starlet Rachel McAdams has been doing her part to clean up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Known for her eco-crusading (she helped launch the site Green Is Sexy), R-Mac was spotted in the city’s salons, asking for leftover hair. The purpose: to make large bundles of hair called hair booms, which are placed in the ocean to sop up oil. The problem: they don’t work—the booms become so waterlogged that they sink. Nice try, Rach. Points for effort.

• The trouble with tresses [National Post]

• Read all our Rachel McAdams news

The Goods

Telling Tales

May 21, 2010 | 2:14 pm

9 Comments

Derek Blasberg comes to Toronto, stirs the pot (not that pot)

Blasberg signs copies at The Room (Image: George Pimentel)

Derek Blasberg is to New York what Shinan Govani is to Toronto: the city’s gossip king. So on his recent book promo trip to Toronto (he recently released Classy: Exceptional Advice for the Extremely Modern Lady), the city’s socialite set and PR mavens gave him an upper-classy tour of the city with parties at The Room and LAB. In his regular blog for Vogue, Blasberg shared what he learned about the city, including that Toronto is shockingly close to New York—“Canada ain’t that far away—from my apartment in New York to my hotel room, door-to-door service was two hours.” And, Toronto likes acronyms. Thank you, LAB—a.k.a. Live and Breathe. But Blasberg may have inadvertently stuck his nose down some inhospitable holes when he wrote that The Bay is “Toronto’s most famous shopping mecca.” (We can think of another mecca that might have something to say about that.) And that Suzanne Rogers, who hosted a party for the writer, is the “queen of Toronto’s fashion scene.” (Cough, cough. Stacey Kimel. Cough.)

For reader bonus points: Find the other gossip king in the photo on Blasberg’s blog post.

• O Canada! [Vogue]

The Hype

TIFF Talk

May 10, 2010 | 3:38 pm

Comments

Tease those TIFF taste buds with a Shinan Govani Q&A

Shinan Govani at the launch party for his book, Boldface Names (Photo by Jen McNeely)

Local gossip king Shinan Govani landed the cover of the premiere issue of In Toronto magazine this week (it’s like Xtra or Fab for the Yorkville crowd), and while we already know too much about the party pundit, the story revealed some tidbits that might be useful for amateur celebrity spotters. The highlights of the 1,400-word Q&A:

Govani’s picks for celebrity sightings:
Drew Barrymore was spotted at Sweaty Betty’s twice when she was in town for TIFF, Robin Williams once visited the Dora Keogh, Daniel Craig and Megan Fox have dined at Avenue Road’s L’Unità, and Toufik Sarwa’s Cinq 01 on College is the go-to place for local celebs.

His answer to the tired “will Toronto ever be like New York” question:
Up the population by one million. “Toronto is plenty engaging and glam—what we’re still lacking is scale,” he tells the magazine, adding that a Toronto party may have 10 “cool” people, but a New York or London party may have 100 “cool” people.

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The Hype

Power Couples

April 21, 2010 | 4:23 pm

Comments

Kelly Cutrone dishes about her crush on “smoking hot” Leonard Cohen

Cohen and Cutrone: ain't no cure for love (Image: HollyWata)

In one of the scheduled interviews she actually went through with, fashion PR doyenne Kelly Cutrone sits down with the Globe and Mail’s Amy Verner for some good old-fashioned girl talk. The conversation is more upbeat than Cutrone’s last dealings with Toronto media (she famously cancelled an interview with local Web site She Does the City, and Shinan Govani blasted her in a recent column). The highlight of the Q&A is Cutrone spilling her schoolgirl crush on Canada’s own Leonard Cohen, saying, “He asked me out for coffee when I was married, and it’s one of my biggest regrets ever.” Though Cutrone believes that at age 43, she’s now a “tribal elder”—one who has a colourist “not for fashion,” but to cover greys—76-year-old Cohen is “way older than me but smoking hot.” Not that it matters; Cutrone says, “He could be 100 and you’d still have sex with him.”

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The Hype

Shelf Life

April 8, 2010 | 12:01 pm

Comments

Toronto cop coming out with his own version of Bold Face Names

Clearly the Toronto Police Service has never heard of the Streisand Effect. Constable Brent Pilkey is going ahead with releasing Lethal Rage, a fictionalized account of his 15 years serving in Toronto’s 51 Division after the TPS’s human resources department dropped claims that the book is a conflict of interest and that Pilkey could be charged under the Police Services Act. The novel, the first of three in a series and scheduled to be released May 1 by ECW Press, centres around Jack Warren, a rookie cop transferred to 51 Division (the downtown zone that stretches from the lakeshore to Bloor and from Yonge to the DVP), where he has to face conflict within the ranks and high crime rates.

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The Goods

Telling Tales

April 6, 2010 | 1:32 pm

16 Comments

Conrad Black’s daughter appears in Vogue, reminds us she’s loaded

Following in the footsteps of stepmom Barbara Amiel, Alana Black is presently featured in Vogue. In the spread “willowy style aces,” she talks about her life in the fabulous lane, according to gossip king Shinan Govani, mentioning that she bought a $495 Balenciaga shirt (it’s an investment piece) and a pair of $69 PH8 pants (the athletic Bebe brand that women wear everywhere but the gym).

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The Goods

Toronto Fashion Week

April 5, 2010 | 12:45 pm

1 Comment

Jeanne Beker and Evan Biddell walk in Bustle show, but Robin Kay steals the spotlight

Robin Kay gave a strange speech before the Bustle show (Image: Jenna Marie Wakani)

By Thursday’s final Bustle show, the closer of LG Fashion Week, most of the celebutantes had left the Exhibition grounds on their way to fashion parties, like the Women X Women exhibit at Thrush Holmes Empire and Tommy Ton’s, featuring model Agyness Deyn, at Studio Gallery. But before the show began, Robin Kay stood behind a velvet rope on the runway and gave an incoherent speech, in which she announced that she had become the publisher of Flare and Elle and the host of Fashion Television. Then she sat down. April Fool?

Kay’s a hard act to follow, but Bustle—best known for putting on local celeb–filled spectacles—made a go of it. Last season, Rick Mercer and Shinan Govani walked the runway; this year, Bustle enlisted such fashion notables as Jeanne Beker, designer Evan Biddell, model Stacey McKenzie and hairstylist Jie Matar to participate. Beker held court on a couch, tweeting on her BlackBerry, while the others stomped down the catwalk. Biddell walked out to a roar of applause and grabbed his crotch for the cameras, but when Matar came out in sunglasses, perhaps unrecognizable, the cheers had died down.

See the full show in our slide show >>

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