FASHION Magazine

See our top 20 Fall 2013 fashion week moments »

Compiled by Bernadette Morra, Sarah Casselman, Patricia Gajo and Nancy Won

The blur that is fashion month can be just that… a blur. While so much incredible newness is dished out day after day, it can pretty difficult to keep the record straight and our favourites on record. From Alexander Wang’s debut collection for Balenciaga to Cara Delevingne’s signature London shinanigans, we’re counting down the top 20 moments of the Fall 2013 show season in New York, London, Milan and Paris.

See the Met Gala 2013 red carpet photos »

The build up to this year’s Met Gala has been major. Designers, celebrities and the fashion elite have been scrambling to piece together a look that fits the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s theme, PUNK: Chaos to Couture and while admittedly, the punk-inspired looks were few and far between, we were certainly thrilled with a few.

Channeling her own recent V Magazine cover, Miley Cyrus went latter day Debbie Harry with platinum blonde spikes and a long fishnet Marc Jacobs dress. Anne Hathaway debuted a similarly bleached bob alongside her date and dresser for the night, Valentino Garavani, sending the twittersphere in a tizzy.

Co-chairs of the event Riccardo Tisci and Rooney Mara went punk-light with Mara in a beautifully detailed white lace Givenchy dress and a pop of crimson on the lips.

Also wearing Givenchy was none other than Beyoncé—the honourary chairperson for this year’s event. Pairing her custom-designed strapless black and gold printed gown with blinged out boots in the same shade, Queen Bey proved for her second year in a row that last on the red carpet is always best.

After finally receiving the Anna Wintour nod of approval, Kim Kardashian made an appearance at the Met Gala 2013 in a floral-print Givenchy dress with baby-daddy, Kanye West at her side.

Someone who is more known for consistently nailing red carpet looks than Kimye, is Emma Watson and she hit a high note yet again in a skin-bearing Prabal Gurung dress with a single silver drop earring hanging from her left ear.

And while Kristen Stewart has held fast to her role as the face of Balenciaga’s Florabotanica, she strayed from the house’s new wears, opting instead, for a crimson Stella McCartney pantsuit.

So who was the best dressed at the Met Gala 2013? Vote in our poll!

See the fur at Fall 2013 fashion week »

Fur was everywhere at Paris Fashion Week for Fall 2013. The French translation, la fourrure, features a purring intervocalic R; it’s almost a meow. At one show, four editors in a row, each wearing a mammoth animal coat, resulted in an awkwardly comical seating arrangement. We also noticed that fur didn’t just mean coats; we saw it as pocket detailing, handbags, collars and evening gown trim. And the good news, if you’ve made that hair-raising investment, is that fur will be back in full swing for Fall 2013 and into winter.

Here are our fabulous fur picks:

See the Paris Fashion Week Fall 2013 photos up-close »

There’s no city that the expression “the beauty is in the details” relates to more than Paris. In the city of lights, you don’t have to look too far to find exquisite minaudière-like jewels on an evening coat, a brightly festooned cashmere sweater or tight origami pleats on a day skirt. Paris’s claim on couture and the couture-like shines bright again with the Fall 2013 shows. From the delicate additions of Andy Warhol’s early fashion sketches seen earlier today at Christian Dior to the aforementioned feathers at Dries Van Noten, Paris proves once again, Fall 2013 is a visual feast.

See the Balenciaga Fall 2013 collection photos »

I’ll be the first to admit: I did not see this coming. Alexander Wang debuted his first full collection as creative director at Balenciaga earlier today in Paris, and it’s inspiring. When the French house announced Wang as Nicolas Ghesquière’s replacement late last year, it was thought by many (myself included) that Wang did not have the chops to follow such a downright titan. While Wang is credited with elevating the importance of streetwear to virtually claiming the style of the aughts, there is almost a century of history to compete with at Balenciaga, of which, Ghesquière redefined so well, so consistently.

See what’s inside Leah Miller’s bag »

As the bubbly host of So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Leah Miller charmed audiences and viewers and even took home a Gemini award. Since her start many years ago as a MuchMusic VJ, she has interviewed countless musicians and pop stars including Coldplay, Gwen Stefani, Kanye West, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift. In 2009, she made her move into entertainment hosting, first with eTalk, Canada’s most-watched entertainment new program, and now with E! Canada. Miller shoots cute bits from her kitchen about her loves of juicing as well as other lifestyle segments and interviews major celebrities.

See Jerome LaMaar’s illustrations »

Fashion illustration has long made our hearts skip several beats and luckily the blogosphere is full of talented artists who love to take the latest runway looks and turn them into beautifully rendered imaginative hand sketches (giving our eyes a fashionable feast). But with the recent rise in this art form’s popularity, it can be difficult to find sketches that really stand out among the many. Which is why we’re loving the work of a Mr. Jerome LaMaar, whom we discovered this morning reinterprets classic cartoon characters in the coolest looks from the Spring 2013 collections.

Everyone’s favourite Sailor Moon girls don labels like Balmain, Céline, Prada, Givenchy and Dries Van Noten’s grunge couture; Betty Boop flirts it up in Alaia; Jem (of The Holograms) gets attention-grabbing Balenciaga and Daria trades her usual green jacket and brown pleated skirt for colourful Marni prints. And that’s just naming a few. Alexander Wang, Chloé and Roberto Cavalli all get mentions as well.

By Randi Bergman and Meredith Gillies

2012 has been quite the year. We’ve waited for Carly Rae Jepsen’s phone to ring since what feels like forever, we developed major girl crushes on Girls director/writer, Lena Dunham, and we felt like we’d never be as cool as Azealia Banks. Jepsen, Banks and Dunham may have rocked our worlds this year, but in the world of fashion, important things that have gone down too. There have been soaring highs, crashing lows, and shocking changes for celebrities, designers and even journalists.

Designer shifts at Balenciaga and Dior that are just a sampling of what seems like an endless list of fashion shakeups that went down over the past 12 months including Stefano Pilati and Hedi Slimane at Yves Saint Laurent, YSL becoming simple Saint Laurent Paris and more. And speaking of shakeups, Kristen Stewart’s rise from a teen queen to a heartbreaking fragrance face has been epic to say the least. So let’s look back, reflect, and count down together the events that made 2012 so real.

See our list of 2012’s top influencers »

See what’s inside Gregory Gorgeous’s purse! »

If you’re active in the online beauty world, you definitely know Gregory Gorgeous. His YouTube channel—which features everything from makeup tutorials to discussions about LGBT rights—has an impressive following (44 million video views? No big deal.) and now that the second season of his reality show, The Avenue, has started, he’s certainly on the brink of becoming a household name. Based in Toronto, The Avenue follows Gregory Gorgeous and his equally gorgeous friends as they try to make it in the city—think of it as our version of The Hills. So how does a reality TV and makeup tutorial star stay fabulous all day long? We jumped at the chance to explore Gregory’s Balenciaga Classique bag. Inside we uncovered multiple pairs of sunglasses (Gucci! Celine!), loads of M.A.C lipsticks and glosses, his favourite perfume and a host of other curious things. We don’t use this word often, but if anyone deserves the title of fierce, it’s Gregory Gorgeous.

It’s officially official. Balenciaga has issued a press release stating that Alexander Wang will take on the role of creative director of the fashion house, succeeding Nicolas Ghesquière, making last week’s rumours a reality.

“I am deeply honored to embark on this new role for a brand and house that I have such great admiration and respect for,” said Alexander Wang in the press release. His new role at Balenciaga will include designing women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, accessories and maintaining the house’s image. His first collection for the almost 100-year-old house will be for Fall 2013—which is only a few months away. Wang’s role at his eponymous label will not change.

The fate of Balenciaga has been decided. Alexander Wang has been unofficially named the new creative director, succeeding Nicolas Ghesquière—whose final day at the French fashion house is today.

What has been a month of rumours and suspicions about who will take the helm of the brand was settled with a new report from WWD early this morning. According to market insiders, PPR—owner of Balenciaga—has selected the New York-based Alexander Wang to take over although neither Balenciaga nor Alexander Wang has confirmed just yet.

The rumour mill has steadily been churning since the announcement of Nicolas Ghesquière’s departure from Balenciaga. Effective tomorrow, the seat of the creative director will officially be vacant, but as of today it seems that Alexander Wang has pulled ahead of the bunch and is the front-runner for the position.

According to the French newspaper, Nouvel Observator, Wang has emerged as the shoo-in for the job, and this statement was followed up by, New York Times writer, Cathy Horyn—who was one of the first to break the news about Ghesquiere’s departure—in an article that said the announcement of Wang’s new role at Balenciaga could come as early as next week.