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What’s better than a birthday party? Your own birthday party! On Wednesday night, the FASHION team (well, that’d be us) celebrated the magazine’s 35^th anniversary, and as you might expect, Toronto’s most stylish guys and gals were out in full force. 700 of our closest friends packed into the Distillery’s Fermenting Cellar to toast us with Skyy Vodka cocktails, mini burgers and musical performances by Divine Brown and The Parallels.

See the Hermès Swinging Silks party photos »

Hermès turned the clocks back to the days of Cry-Baby and Marty McFly last Thursday, as Toronto’s most impeccably costumed hit the Berkeley Church for a rockabilly themed dance party. Thrown for no apparent reason but to celebrate one of the things Hermès does best, the event, entitled “Swinging Silks” had the brand’s iconic silk prints indeed swinging throughout the building: on bannisters, around wrists, from ceilings and of course, from the glammed up ponytails of various attendees. And speaking of ponytails, as full rockabilly guise seemed of utmost importance, Hermès had a mini salon set up shop to transform attendees with victory rolls, red lips and cat-eyes. To boot, there was also a tattoo booth, where apropos designs were painted (I opted for a single teardrop).

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View the Louis Vuitton Maison Toronto opening party photos »

Louis Vuitton’s got a brand new bag. Or rather, a gorgeous new Maison to house all those bags. The monogrammed megabrand finally opened the doors at its new Toronto location last month, revealing a palatial space three times as big as its last at 150 Bloor Street West. We haven’t stopped ogling since. Designed by none other than leather-daddy architect Peter Marino, the shimmering two-floor glass and steel mecca houses virtually everything that Louis Vuitton is known for, including full selections of luggage, small leather goods, bags, shoes, accessories, ready-to-wear and even custom-designed fine jewellery, unique to the location (LV + TO charm bracelets?). It is also the first store in Canada to feature Louis Vuitton’s exclusive “Haute Maroquinerie” service for made to order leather goods. Sounds pretty haute to us.

See the Arthur Newman TIFF premiere photos »

It’s not often that we are stumped by what a star is wearing on the red carpet. Even the great fashion minds of the Bay were baffled by the make of Emily Blunt’s ruched tulle dress, worn to yesterday’s TIFF premiere of Arthur Newman, the film in which she stars alongside Colin Firth as a lost soul in ripped tights, black work-boots and kohl-rimmed eyes who helps concoct a new identity for a man (Colin Firth) who runs away from his family.

“Marchesa maybe?” mused The Room creative director Nicholas Mellamphy, who between Paris, London, Milan and New York, has seen pretty much every frock there is to see for Fall 2012. It turns out the pretty off-white number was made from scraps of tulle reclaimed from Tory Burch’s cutting room floor.

“Colin Firth’s wife Livia has the Project Green Runway challenge which encourages designers to use their leftover materials,” Blunt proudly declared, showing me her recycled brass necklace, and beaded FEED bag clutch. “I am very proud to be supporting her.”

See the TIFF party photos »

You better be ready for this jelly because the celebrity meet-cute heavens opened wide at last night’s Hudson Bay Company party for A Place Beyond the Pines at AME. Between myself and editor-in-chief Bernadette Morra, we had Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes and Kristen Wiig in our clutches and the world could not have felt more balanced.

But let’s get acquainted with the soiree particulars: As waiters in Hudson Bay striped T-shirts passed hors d’oeuvres and bubbly, the stars (which also included Bradley Cooper, no big deal), the Bay’s big wigs Bonnie Brooks and Suzanne Timmins and a tight-knit group of editors and gossip experts—which included National Post’s Shinan Govani and Nathalie Atkinson, eTalk’s Elaine Lui and the Toronto Star’s Derrick Chetty—held court at the back of the lavish club.

Eva Mendes sat perched, looking truly resplendent in a black and grey lace-y Dolce & Gabbana dress, chandelier earrings and pointed black heels. Complete with half-turban headpiece, the actress looked as if to be plucked straight from the duo’s Sicilian-inspired Fall 2012 collection. After ordering a cocktail/Red Bull/water with one breath, Eva Mendes and I shared our love for the collection, turbans, and Ryan Gosling (okay, that last one never happened).

When Katie Holmes first announced her divorce, we were all shocked by the move: up until a month ago, she seemed every part the dutiful wife, playing a supporting role to Tom Cruise’s megawatt presence. What we didn’t realize at the time was just how much Holmes would shatter that old image in the weeks to come.

Since that announcement, Elle’s oddly prophetic and impossibly well-timed feature on Holmes went viral across the web, Holmes’ legal team managed to pull off what must be one of the fastest settlements in celebrity divorce history (two weeks…two weeks!), Holmes snagged sole custody of Suri, taped an appearance on Project Runway and managed to make a series of almost daily public appearances around her home in New York City, looking impeccably put-together and serene each time (in other words, not acting or looking like someone who was going through a painful divorce).

What’s particularly admirable about these appearances though is the discrete marketing tactic implicit in them: with hoards of paparazzo clamoring for a picture outside her door every day post-scandal, Holmes very wisely chose to almost exclusively don none other than Holmes & Yang, her own line with former Cruise stylist Jeanna Yang, for her jaunts about town. As the New York Times puts it, the paparazzo shots have become “a stealth ad campaign,” one that’s been put into motion right before the brand’s first-ever showing at New York Fashion Week come September.

“The way she’s getting photographed today, she’s in a position to get more exposure than ever before,” Robert Burke, a former Bergdorf Goodman executive and fashion consultant, told the New York Times. “She’s not waiting for fashion editors and stylists to come and pull her clothes.”

Whether it’s a strategy or not, it’s worked: Holmes & Yang sales have skyrocketed at retailers like Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys. Whatever your feelings about the former Mrs. Cruise are now, you have to give it to her: she’s not the brainwashed sidekick we once thought she was.

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The tutus were out in full force for the official opening of the National Ballet of Canada’s twofold exhibitions celebrating the company’s first 60 years. 60 Years of Designing the Ballet and the Tutu Project debuted with a glitzy reveal at Toronto’s Design Exchange, with everyone from the ballet’s own dancers like Greta Hodgkinson, Tina Pereira and former prima ballerina Victoria Tennant to Jeanne Beker and Vawk’s Sunny Fong raising a glass in toast. The first exhibit, a look back at some of the most notable costumes and sets curated by the company’s former costume designer Caroline O’Brien, came complete with ultra-lifelike dessert tables and a magical blue sleigh from The Nutcracker and several costumes for the wishful dancers to try on and pose with (we indulged, obviously). The second, an assembly of 60 specially designed tutus—one to celebrate each year in business—was displayed throughout the room. Guests seemed to take their toast quite literally, with Kara Alloway in a voluminous Mary Katrantzou lampshade skirt, Karolyne Ellacott in an actual tutu dress and several other attendees sporting pulled-back ballet topknots.

One of fashion’s most revered yet reclusive players has finally announced a return to the retail world after more than two decades of absence: Azzedine Alaïa, whose last store shuttered in New York City in 1992, will be settling into a new home at Rue de Marignan, right off of Avenue Montaigne (otherwise known as French luxury mecca).

Also known as the “King of Cling,” Alaïa’s heyday in the ‘80s had him dressing everyone from Grace Jones to Stephanie Seymour in his figure-flattering, body-con designs. Even Cher (not that Cher—the Clueless Cher) knew the gravity of Alaïa – remember the scene when she tells the armed robber who screams at her to get on the ground “Oh, no. You don’t understand, this is an Alaïa”?

After the death of his sister though, the Tunisian-born designer retreated from the industry for most of the ‘90s, only catering to a small group of clientele and presenting his collections (on his own time, of course) in his apartment/atelier/headquarters in the heart of the Marais district. In other words, Alaïa had the fashion world come to him: he didn’t advertise, he didn’t get online and he didn’t get sucked into what he called a “stressful” system. He didn’t even bother kissing up to Anna Wintour, even daring to say “who will remember Anna Wintour in the history of fashion?” Unsurprisingly, she didn’t take well to that — the two have been engaged in a longstanding feud for years that’s seen Alaïa completely ousted from the pages of Vogue.

Even without Wintour’s backing, the past decade has been a period of revival for Alaïa’s eponymous brand, especially after partnering up with luxury goods group Richemont in 2007. For instance, last year Barneys doubled their Alaïa space, the designer showed his Fall 2011 couture collection to rave reviews (also marking his first time at Fashion Week in eight years) and as any Sofia Coppola fangirl knows, he designed her stunning lavender wedding dress.

The question now is, given the designer’s well-known skepticism of the business side of fashion, will he be able to make a return to the retail world without sacrificing his independence?

After John Galliano’s infamous anti-Semitic rant in Paris last April, many wondered how his sudden departure from Dior would affect the French fashion house.

According to the Financial Times, not only did Galliano’s departure leave the company relatively unscathed, but they actually ended up with their highest earnings per annum ever, hitting $1 billion in 2011. “I never considered that,” Sidney Toledano, the president of Dior said. “I always thought we absolutely needed an artistic director.”

It makes you wonder: how important is a charismatic designer to a fashion house? Is it worth the potential risk that sometimes accompanies a more flamboyant style of creative genius?

Toledano seems to think so. Though he admitted that Dior still fared well financially without Galliano, he did stress how important he felt designers were for shaping a label’s identity, likening designers to “a shorthand to help consumers understand the brand, and to embody it.”

Does that mean someone like the more demure Raf Simons, who is taking over Galliano’s post for Dior, might not have the same capacity to “embody” the brand? According to Toledano, it all comes down to the individual.

“If [charisma] works for the designer, then fine . . . but if not, it can be counterproductive, and it is better to avoid it. In the end, luxury is judged not by whether a designer’s face is on X number of posters, but by their work.”

Our bet is that if Simons’ tenure at Jil Sander was anything to go by, his work will more than speak for itself.

After hearing all about the counterfeit lawsuit drama that has been going on lately, it’s almost a shock to the system to have someone say anything positive about the illegal industry. Most shocking of all is that the controversial comments are coming from Patrizio Bertelli, Prada’s CEO and Miuccia Prada’s husband.

Bertelli recently concluded a Bloomberg Television interview by saying the counterfeit industry really isn’t all that bad — in fact, it actually has some positive attributes.

“I always say counterfeits, we’re happier to have them than not have them. Don’t you think it’s sad for a brand that no one wants to copy them?” he said on air.

“Something else about counterfeits is that they provide a source of labor and income for lots of other people. So, maybe they’re not totally bad. So, in other words, we have a dual function. We want to penetrate the markets, we want to become successful and sell a lot in new markets. And we end up creating a lot of jobs and counterfeit factories, so that’s very good.”

Gucci, another famed Italian fashion house, evidently does not prescribe to Bertelli’s views that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, especially after their less-than-anticipated settlement with Guess over a counterfeit lawsuit battle (which we reported on earlier this week).

Bertelli did point out that Prada engages in lawsuits to protect their products, but that the fashion industry “doesn’t lend itself very well to patent protection” like high-tech industries do.

A spokesman for the fashion house seemed to try to do some damage control by telling WWD that Bertelli’s quotes were “part of an extended conversation that underscored how the market of counterfeits is an objective reality for successful brands.”

True enough — counterfeit products seem to be an inevitable reality of having “made it” in the fashion industry. But do Bertelli’s views oversimplify an industry that has its fair share of evils, not to mention the fact that it’s downright illegal?

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 »

Paris’s longtime queen of knitwear Sonia Rykiel revealed today that she has been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for the past 15 years. The reveal comes direct from Rykiel’s just-released-in-France book N’Oubliez Pas Que Je Joue (translation: Don’t Forget It’s a Game) co-authored by French journalist Judith Perrignon. Rykiel had decided to speak out because she could no longer mask the symptoms of the degenerative disorder.

In the book, Rykiel assigns the code ”P de P” (“Putain de Parkinson” or “bitch of Parkinson’s” in English) to the disease, amidst frank writing about living with it. She reveals that for years, her colleagues at her fashion house (which her daughter Nathalie took helm of in 1995) helped keep the secret by attempting to prevent photographs from being taken of her using her walking cane. “I don’t want to show my pain. I resisted, I hesitated, I tried to be invisible, to pretend that nothing was wrong. It’s impossible; it’s not like me,” she writes.

Whether it was done to hide her pain or an attempt to protect her resilient image, the sad secret couldn’t have been easy to keep. We applaud Rykiel’s bravery and hope her story will help raise awareness to the importance of finding a cure to make Parkinson’s a thing of the past.