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Last night, one of Toronto’s architectural gems was done up to the nines in celebration of 20 years at the helm of shoe history. Opened in 1995, the Bata Shoe Museum, is still the only footwear-dedicated museum worldwide, housing everything from prehistoric clogs to poisonous heels and adding glittery glam rock platforms to the mix […]

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See the photos from Holt Renfrew’s Uncrate India party »

We gave you a behind-the-scenes peek at how Alexandra Weston and Waris Ahluwalia curated the Holt Renfrew H Project Uncrate India collection. We shared 50+ artisanal items from the collection. And now it’s time to take a look at the incredible bash that Holt Renfrew threw last night in celebration of it all. The Bloor Street store was transformed into a vibrant Indian market, welcoming hundreds of guests adorned in sari-inspired attire. Rooms were tented with pink and orange fabric for an intimate feel, gilded bird cages stuffed with flowers hung from the ceilings and guests were greeted upon arrival with a shower of rose petals. But the lavish extravaganza didn’t stop there.

See the complete H Project Uncrate India collection »

A few months ago our editor-in-chief, Bernadette Morra, joined Waris Ahluwalia and Alexandra Weston, Holt Renfrew’s director of brand strategy, on a tour of India. The focus of the trip was to curate a selection of one-of-a-kind items for H Project’s Uncrate India collection and, now that it’s hit Holt Renfrew stores across Canada, we’re sharing all 50+ items with you!

The H Project Uncrate India collection includes block-print textiles, printed notebooks with playful designs, batik silk scarves and leather goods. The items come from more than 16 designers who were scouted in Delhi, Jaipur, Udaipur and Mandawa by Ahluwalia and Weston.

In the age of the selfie, Waris Ahluwalia is the world’s most reluctant subject. In Gap ads and New York social diaries, the actor/jewellery designer appears deadpan and remote. But travelling with him in his native India, I discover a cheerful, easygoing guy with a deep appreciation for handmade things. It’s a passion he shares with Alexandra Weston, Holt Renfrew’s director of brand strategy, who asked Ahluwalia to help curate an “Uncrate India” collection for H Project (available April 1), a section within Holt Renfrew stores offering “extraordinary products with extraordinary stories.” I was invited to tag along on their treasure hunt. Journeying through Rajasthan, seeing expert hands bringing jewellery, scarves and wooden boxes to life was heart-warming for us all. As Weston puts it, “Supporting craft in any way you can is the most important thing you can do, because craft is the way out of poverty.”

Read on to discover our journey through India:

See all the photos from the Upgrade book launch party »

Is there anything more enticing than a promise to make your regular old life extraordinary? It was this premise that inspired Rana Florida to write her latest book, and the reason why a very swishy crowd gathered to celebrate the launch of Upgrade on Tuesday night. Held at the home of Suzanne and Mark Cohon, the party attracted a mix of Toronto’s most stylish and most social. It was certainly a who’s who of the city’s creative set—a group more likely to be featured as an Upgrade case study than those in need of the book’s advice.

Holt Renfrew’s Moira Wright (in a sleek black pantsuit and tuxedo jacket) mingled with Greta Constantine’s Stephen Wong and Kirk Pickersgill, who were just days away from jetting off to Paris. The guest of honour was decked out in a stunning Clover Canyon dress—purchased just for the occasion—and Rana wasn’t the only one in digital prints and vibrant colours. Alexandra Weston toned down her purple, blue and grey Peter Pilotto skirt with a leather moto jacket, while Jane Apor’s fluro-orange clutch and heels added a pop of colour to her ensemble. Twitter Canada’s Kirstine Stewart was also rocking some orange, with a pair of bright pants that should probably be on everyone’s fall must-have list.

See photos from the Holt Renfrew Rag & Bone party »

Toronto is so desperate for springtime, that not even last night’s biblical style storm wouldn’t stop its style inclined inhabitants from flocking to Holt Renfrew for a party in honour of Rag & Bone’s neon-heavy spring collection. Packed to the racks of the department store’s third floor, partygoers—including designers Marcus Wainwright and David Neville, who made it in the nick of time after hours of flight delays—seemed especially eager to throw down to the DJ tunes and get crafty with the makeshift graffiti board that had been installed on a nearby wall.

And now for the fashion: Spring’s graphic black and white trend was embraced by many partygoers, most notably by stylist Mariko Lauren who channeled Wednesday Adams in a peter pan collar dress and wide brimmed hat and the always-fabulous Kealan Anne Sullivan, who artfully paired a vintage policeman’s hat with a black velvet cape, a white turtleneck sweater and beat up jeans. Socialite Stacey Kimmel braved gravity in a skin-baring halter black dress with selectively geometric fabric slashes. And at the other end of the spectrum, designer/photographer Ashley Rowe went for the kaleidoscopic effect with her lime green active suit suit, turquoise-dyed hair and gal pal stylist Cara Joy Purkis who wore head-to-toe red.

See all the party pictures from the 2012 LG Innovators’ Ball »

Last Thursday night Toronto’s most passionate science lovers descended into the ravine at Don Mills and Lawrence for the Ontario Science Centre’s annual LG Innovators’ Ball. This year’s theme was Fly Me to the Moon, a celebration of the museum’s newest exhibition Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration on loan from the American Museum of Natural History until January 1. The space-age décor was like travelling to another solar system, with planets hanging from the ceiling and walls covered in glittering stars. After a retro-glam cocktail reception, guests were treated to a performance by singer Matt Dusk who opened with a rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon.” Matt Galloway of CBC Radio’s Metro Morning stayed up way past his bedtime to provide hosting duties for the ball, even getting chided by Innovator Award recipient and former premier of Ontario the Honourable William G. Davis, who joked that his wife’s listening to the early morning radio show “delayed his breakfast.” The futuristic dinner, with a flashing salad course followed by deconstructed soup, was followed by a tour of the exhibition. Houston, we have a party.

Last night, Toronto’s Bata Shoe Museum opened its latest exhibit, a retrospective of Parisian shoe designer Roger Vivier, with a glittering fête complete with champagne flutes and many a pilgrim buckle. The exhibit follows the designer’s career from his couture-style creations for Christian Dior in the 1950s to his legendary pilgrim-buckle flats made famous by the likes of Catherine Deneuve in the swinging ‘60s and beyond. Italian-born designer Bruno Frisoni, who helms the label in the present day, was there to toast to the exhibit, alongside our editor-in-chief Bernadette Morra (donning—what else?—pilgrim-buckled silver flats), Alexandra Weston, Jeanne Beker, Marilyn Denis and the museum’s grand dame, Sonja Bata, whose star shone brighter than ever with her lively opening remarks.

View the photo gallery »

Wonderland was unleashed upon the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts (and its surrounding area) last night for The National Ballet of Canada’s annual Mad Hot fundraising gala. This year, the Ballet took its theme from the wildly popular premiere of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. After a gala performance—including selections from the work as well as Passacaglia, No. 24 and The Dying Swan, danced by principal dancer Greta Hodgkinson, who is celebrating her 20th year with the company—guests including Karen Kain, Galen Weston Jr., Alexandra Weston and actress Lisa Ray wined, hors d’œuvre’d and wandered the transformed building, which housed an extra-long mirrored dining table filled to the brim with traditional tea fare, a hookah-smoking caterpillar, and multiple bars serving “White Rabbit” cocktails in teacups. Across the street on the Osgoode lawn, six Alices played croquet with flamingos.