FASHION Magazine

Editors, creative directors, buyers are busy bees all year round. So when summer falls upon us, we take it as a cue to allocate some time to escape the city and recharge. Hello, so we come back and hit the ground running when Spring 2016 fashion month kicks off. Whether it was being one with nature via […]

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See the Massive Party dressing tips » After last week’s epic induction at Holt Renfrew, spring party season ramps up with the Art Gallery of Ontario’s annual Massive Party this Thursday. In its 10th year, the bash is a stylish, sexy night at the museum, complete with installations, performances and open bars a’plenty. And while […]

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See the street style from outside Toronto Fashion Week »

Just when the international Fashion Weeks wind down, Canada revs its engines. Last night, the unofficial pre-cursor to Toronto Fashion Week, The ShOws, kicked off with presentations from Bellevance and Steven Tai. As the city’s industry insiders rejoiced in the 24-hour teaser of warm weather, light spring jackets in mostly neutral palette of blues, beiges and greys were spotted on the street outside the shows. Not wanting to tempt fate however, others layered up, ready for whatever Mother Nature decided to dish out. (Cue today’s blizzard.)

Canadian model Liisa Winkler brought a little bit of rural chic to the city, donning a mid-length lightweight black jacket, paired with a denim ruffled midi skirt and black Chelsea boots with socks. This is how you country in the big city, folks. Holt Renfrew’s Brittany Barkwell and Blaire Borins looked perfectly chic. Barkwell opted for a matching patterned top and trousers finished with lace up heels and a wide collared camel coat, while Borins looked cozy a fuzzy knee-length coat finished with big buttons, adding a raspberry red bag for a well placed pop of colour.

See the J.Crew Collection store party pics »

Toronto Fashion Week may be more than a month away, but street style trends were top of mind for the city’s fashion lovers last week. And with good reason: J. Crew held a sleek party to celebrate the opening of its first Collection store on Bloor Street, making it the brand’s fifth Toronto location and first standalone store. Unlike other locations, the J.Crew Collection store features a curated selection of limited edition women’s and menswear pieces, including accessories (hello, statement jewellery!) cashmere and more.

Despite its 6,000+ square foot size, the store was tightly packed with eager party guests, many of whom were likely hoping to catch a glimpse of the woman who makes print mixing look as natural as wearing neutrals. Alas, it was not to be: a blizzard in New York meant Jenna Lyons was stranded and we had to settle for an Instagram stand-in—which did indeed complemented the party’s Canadian-ified photo booth. (Complete with stuffed moose and a Pharrell-meets-Mountie hat.)

See the street style shots from Toronto »

On the second day of pre-fashion week aka The Shows, Toronto’s best were out in full force to support last night’s talented twosome, Steven Tai and Jeremy Laing. October’s pleasant temps seem to be allowing for pleasant outfit pairings (read: no bulky layers or cold weather grimaces), which we obviously dig. Style Panel’s Danielle Roche pre-empted Spring 2014’s shine trend in a boxy copper animal print, which was layered, overtop a pleated black leather mini and op art print turtleneck. Caillianne Beckerman, Samantha Beckerman and all star model Liisa Winkler were feeling the current plaid penchant, weaving the old standby within matching designer-clad outfits. Meanwhile team Holt Renfrew had the sophisticated clan colours downpat, with Blaire Borins, Jennifer Daubney, Kimberly Grabel and Moira Wright posing in co-ordinating neutrals. Until next time folks, which by our count is just over a week away.

See the Drake One Fifty party photos »

The Drake Hotel can easily be credited with introducing Bay Street types to Queen West, and now, with the launch of Drake One Fifty, they’re reversing the flow. Nested between Toronto’s tallest skyscrapers and expense account-funded bars, the Drake has transplanted its signature sense of (dare we say hipster?) style into a standalone restaurant that will change the scene of the downtown core.

While the space has been on the radar of Toronto’s style set for months, doors officially opened earlier this week with a jam-packed party. From Holt Renfrew’s Moira Wright and Jennifer Daubney to artists Tommy Matejka and Niall McLelland, the guest list was a perfectly curated uptown/downtown mix. In typical Drake Hotel fashion, Drake One Fifty is as much about art and interior design as it is the food. Most of the dining room sits under a huge wooden pergola, designed by Brothers Dressler, book-ended with artwork by Douglas Coupland and Micah Lexier. (You’ll also be sure to see the extremely photogenic emerald-green leather bar stools and banquettes in the background of Instagrams for years to come.)

See the Greta Constantine summer party photos »

A half naked male model, a midtown mansion and one stellar Spring 2014 collection reveal—what else could you ask for on a late summer’s eve? Last night, Greta Constantine hosted its annual summer party at the beautiful home of Krystal Koo and Michael Cooper. Taking place around the couple’s stunning aqua blue pool, the fashion show-meets-party had lanky models parading in the duo’s latest wares—a sailor inspired wideleg and boatneck combo, a juicy orange bodysuit, a bronze figure-hugging evening gown and the piece de resistance, an itty bitty men’s speedo. (Whether or not that last one can accurately be referred to as a collection piece though is beside the point, right?) As the night progressed, Greta devouts including Anita Clarke, Natalie Lecomte and Stacey McKenzie toasted with Stoli cocktails while Chatelaine’s Tyler Franch and Redken’s Sean Godard posed for selfies by the tiled cabana. All the makings of a perfect summer sendoff, even though we really don’t want to send it off at all.

See all the photos from The Libertine launch party »

In the grand tradition of secret bars and speakeasies, The Libertine may have one of the best locations out there. Hidden behind a tarot card reader’s business, the basement entrance to Toronto’s newest restaurant is sure to prompt many double takes. However, thanks to the crowd that gathered for last night’s launch party, the secretive snack bar is destined to become quite well known in the months to come.

A mix of fashion and foodie guests mingled while hand-crafted cocktails and bites of fried chicken made the rounds. Anita Clarke, wearing a custom plaid Philip Sparks jacket, looked just as dapped as her well-suited table mates, including the designer himself and NOW’s Andrew Sardone. Holt Renfew’s Blaire Borins matched the mysterious mood of the decor in a slate-grey Greta Constantine dress while ornamental necklaces and bright lipsticks were accessory of choice for other guests.

See the Power Ball 2013 party photos »

Last night, Power Ball 2013 a.k.a. the art party of the year/social event of the season and so on and so forth went down at The Power Plant gallery on Toronto’s harbourfront. Despite the rain, the city’s finest art, fashion and social types filled the expansive space in designer gowns, costumes, and in one instance, a birthday suit. Celebrating its 15^th year under the guise of Andy Warhol’s famous line “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes,” the space was tricked out with Factory-worthy silver foil which made for some pretty fierce voguing props for designer Jeremy Laing and Frank Griggs much later in the evening. Power Ball’s famed exhibitions and installations were omnipresent as always, including a fortune-telling psychic, Chat Roulette-style wall projections, and two twisted prom queens dancing around a birthday cake and a mounted spinning motorcycle all night long. Curiouser and curiouser…

See 12 Power Ball wardrobe picks »

Power Ball is but a day away, and as you can imagine, it has Toronto’s creative crowd in an anticipatory tizzy. For the 15th year in a row, The Power Plant’s annual fundraiser has managed to maintain “art party of the year” status and this year is sure to be no different. As such, you can imagine the importance placed on wardrobing. If you’re going to this year’s event and still don’t know what to wear, we turned to 9 of the city’s most stylish (plus 3 FASHION editors!) for clues as to what they are wearing. For more, see last year’s coverage.

Tickets are still available at thepowerplant.org but by this time tomorrow they’re likely to disappear. Get ‘em while they’re hot!

Check out the photos from the Joe Fresh after-party »

Given the well-heeled ladies and gents that show up for a Joe Fresh fashion show, you’d never believe the label’s wears run as affordably as they do. Though as any Loblaws shopper in Canada knows, they do. After last night’s punky all-black Fall 2013 outing, showgoers were looking to kick off their heels (proverbially speaking) with signature orange cocktails, mini tacos and pulsing DJ beats at the private watering hole, Storys.

Fresh off the Fresh runway, models Heather Marks, Meaghan Collison and a group of studly males in tight sweaters flooded the room with just enough impossible beauty to make the ogling worth it. Creative director Joe Mimran and wife Kimberley Newport-Mimran showed up in coordinated head-to-toe black suiting, adding their own luxe touch to the non-colour of the night. As the two cozied up to Loblaws frontman Galen Weston, nightclub impresario Charles Khabouth and our favourite dandy, Bruce C. Bailey, an informal dance party broke out with queen of the moves, Andrea Bolley, at the forefront. Just an average rip roaring night in Toronto as of late, it seems.

See our street style photos from Toronto Fashion Week »

At night two of Toronto’s The Shows, three impressive collections had the fashion scene raving. Up-and-coming designers Tanya Taylor and Steven Tai both made their home-turf runway debuts, and Toronto-based designer Jeremy Laing closed the evening with a flashy collection (I’m looking at you, gold trench coat) previously shown at New York Fashion Week. As our own fashion week continues, so does the Toronto street style. The setting sun gave attendees a certain glow as they arrived at the east-end venue Andrew Richards Designs, many of them keeping warm and stylish in transitional leather jackets. Yes, it’s still cold out, but let’s just pretend it’s not!