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Tabula Rasa, the Latin term for “blank slate,” is the name of a new shop on Broadview that reminds us of the lively boutiques we frequented when travelling in Australia. There’s a mix of vintage and new clothing, like this jacket ($169) from Aussie label Something Else, which is right on trend with this season’s draped looks. It’s a casual and comfy piece to be worn on a cool spring evening.
Tabula Rasa, 745 Broadview Ave., 416-465-4450, tabularasaclothing.com.
We’re not usually fans of leggings, but we’ve been living in this knit pair from Toronto designer Jules Power, who has done time at Roots, Danier and Joe Fresh. Our excuse: they’re ultra-comfortable and versatile and are a much more stylish way to lounge around the house than a holey pair of sweats.
$130 at Chasse Gardée, 1084 Queen St. W., 416-901-9613.
As of right now, Topshop.com is shipping to Canada, which means we’ll be able to get pieces from Mark Fast’s affordable collaboration with the British retailer when it comes out later this spring.
• Topshop expands international shipping territories [Web Wire]
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Friday night, an east-end Audi dealership received a dose of glamour as hundreds poured in for one of Toronto’s must-see fashion shows, from Greta Constantine. As they did last season, Stephen Wong and Kirk Pickersgill opted to present outside of fashion week, in order to have more creative control. Slinky dresses in grey, navy and black were accessorized with Studio 54–style chunky metallic bangles and mirrored spike-heeled booties. Black fur vests and tops were paired with skin-tight leather leggings and bodysuits—if Catwoman ever needs a new getup, she should call Greta Constantine. The menswear collection, known as Ezra Constantine, was darker and edgier, with models sporting fake bruises, cut lips and head wounds. See all the looks in the gallery below >>
An image from Nada's fall look book
This season, Nada Shepherd, eponymous designer of the Toronto-based womenswear line Nada, skipped the fashion week brouhaha and instead presented a seven-minute 3-D fashion film. Shown to a packed house at the Scotiabank Theatre, the show could be described as Kill Bill meets Street Fighter in a post-apocalyptic world. With 3-D glasses (in black plastic Wayfarer style, natch), viewers watched a “Fembot” choose an outfit, background setting and weapon (claws, katanas or lead pipes), and face off against another female antagonist. The production values are of the kind typically reserved for Hollywood blockbusters—wire work, wind machines and green screens—though Shepherd did quell rumours that the film cost $2 million: “It was less than that.”
While a bit gimmicky, the 3-D film was cool and a refreshing way to see clothes, but the film gives an entirely too brief glimpse of the pieces. This season, Nada used such interesting materials as metallic python, a snake-patterned chiffon and reptilian print–embossed leather, so it would have been nice to get a closer look at the handiwork.
For viewers who saved their 3-D glasses from Avatar; the movie is available on-line at nada3d.com.
It might be March, but winter is hardly over, and these custom-order handmade wool coats from the Northwest Territories make cold snaps slightly more bearable. The jackets are available in Toronto thanks to Sandy Rubin, who 10 years ago was sent on a reporting assignment up north. A self-declared “city girl who hates the cold,” Rubin cursed her editor until she stumbled upon a group of women sewing and stitching gorgeous ladies’ parkas decorated with northern imagery, like polar bears and kayaks. She bought one immediately and was complimented whenever she wore it in Toronto.
Rubin hoped someone would start selling them here, but no one ever did. “I finally decided I was going to have to do it myself,” she says, so she launched Mush!Mush! “I think arctic fashion is going to take off. These coats are genuine arctic wear with an urban tweak.” So far, the coats are available only on her Web site and at a few Rosedale home “parka parties.”
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Crystal Renn in the Mark Fast show (Photo via Style.com)
Winnipeg-bred and Toronto-schooled designer Mark Fast got top marks for his fall collection during London fashion week over the weekend—especially when he opted to dress plus-sized models in his clingy knitwear for the second time. Fast’s stylist famously quit last season, when Fast insisted on casting larger girls in his show.
Critics praised Fast for hiring models like size 16 Crystal Renn, who recently became a household name after appearing in a spread in December’s V magazine. There was also buzz in the front row as Sarah Brown, the wife of the British prime minister, made sure that she didn’t miss one of her favourite up-and-coming designers. As AFP reports, Fast’s was one of the only shows during fashion week with a diverse model lineup.
As for the actual collection, Fast has branched out from his signature blended yarn dresses with the addition of flowing dresses, suede skirts and jackets—a wise move to show that he can do more than body-conscious knit mini-dresses.
Last season's GC show was scheduled before fashion week (Photo by Jenna Marie Wakani)
Stephen Wong and Kirk Pickersgill, the sassy Toronto design duo behind Greta Constantine, are blogging for the National Post about their New York fashion week misadventures. In their first entry, they’re making the long drive to New York, with one stop in a town named Oneida for some Burger King, after a customs experience they liken to the movie Clueless: “Friendly, quick and painless.”
The pair, in New York to showcase 33 pieces from their fall-winter 2010 womenswear collection, promise future posts will dish about fittings and model decisions, and offer a sneak peek of their show, which they say is one of their strongest to date.
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Last Friday, as some patriotic Canadians got their kicks watching the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics, Toronto designer Jeremy Laing got his by presenting a wildly well-received fall collection in New York. Laing experimented with the fur trend this season, sewing pelts (all sustainably hunted) into rows to increase movement. The pieces worked; editors at Vogue lusted after the pieces, and The Cut liked his “lightweight toppers” of beaver, raccoon and muskrat fur.
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As we reported earlier this week, barely there lingerie has been deemed passé. Maybe the trend toward covering up helps explain the rise of the abominable Hoodie-Footie Snuggle Suit, the latest incarnation of the I-still-can’t-believe-it’s-real Snuggie and its successor, the Necky.
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Leather motorcycle jackets were big on the 2010 runways, and we’ve found six affordable takes on the trend.
The holiday party season may be over, but that’s no reason not to sparkle on an evening out. This scoop-neck cotton-spandex tee has a foil coating that has been melted onto the garment and vacuum-sealed to achieve the creases and folds. As it wears, the shirt will take on its own look, with the foil finish developing an aged patina—chipping, cracking and flaking—making each top completely individual. Buyers are even encouraged to distress the foil by hand for a rough-hewn look.
On sale for $39.98 at Parasuco, Yorkdale Mall, 3401 Dufferin St., 416-782-8588.
American fashion company Liz Claiborne is selling 38 of its Canadian stores to Montreal-based Laura Canada, which operates Laura, Laura Petites, Laura Plus and Melanie Lyne. Laura is expected to turn all of the locations—17 of which are in Ontario, all of them in suburban power centres—into Melanie Lyne or Laura concept stores and hopes to expand its operations to 170 outlets by the end of the year. Laura may not be our favourite place to shop, but it’s still a smug day for Canadian retailers.
A look from Andy Thê-Anh's spring show (Photo by Jenna Marie Wakani)
Andy Thê-Anh, the luxe Canadian womenswear retailer, will close its Yorkville boutique to open two new Toronto locations by mid-March. The old shop at 83 Yorkille Avenue will be shuttered to make way for a slightly larger shop at 27 Bellair Street and a new space in Bayview Village.
The move is part of a rebranding for the company, centered around a revamped logo and typeface designed, according to the media kit, to “mirror the subtle sophistication and unassuming elegance of Andy Thê-Anh’s work.” The company says the “brand development will happen through runaway shows, media and social awareness, and through our retail operations.” We assume they mean runway shows, but with fashion’s never-ending thirst for outlandish spectacle, who knows?
A look from the Boss Black fall collection
The Mink Mile’s newest resident is Hugo Boss. The office wear outfitter recently opened a store on Bloor Street, where Bemelmans bar once stood, and fêted it last week with an A-list party catered by North 44° and attended by the likes of Atom Egoyan, Suzanne Boyd and Shinan Govani.
The hoopla is over the company’s first Canadian flagship, which has been designed in a new Hugo Boss look to be adopted by all future flagships across the world. The space is awash in greys, creams and black, which makes for an impressive, if a bit sterile, first impression. Halfway through the shop is a grand circular staircase underneath a modernist chandelier of rectangular hanging lights.
The merchandise will appeal most to high-rolling businessmen with an affinity for golf. Downstairs, there are a rainbow of polos ($95) and a flashy golf bag ($550) and umbrella ($185); upstairs is the suiting boutique, which carries younger, slim silhouettes, as well as more traditional cuts. We spotted a gorgeous slim-cut blue wool blazer, in the vein of Etro and Paul Smith, with a light blue polka-dot lining ($695). Aspiring Gordon Gekkos can pick up the Boss brand humidor, loaded with three Cohibas and sporting a leather exterior ($2,895); it’s one of only two available in Canada.
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