FASHION Magazine

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 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.

View photos from the Interior Design Show kick-off party »

There is nothing like a blowout art party to get the who’s who of Toronto’s design scene out of the house despite frigid temps—last night’s kick-off for the Interior Design Show certainly was that. The city’s design-inclined denizens and partygoers flocked to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where they were wowed with this year’s offerings from the likes of Andrew Richard Design, international guest of honour Oki Sato and up and comers featured in the Designboom Mart, where items were up for grabs for as low as a dollar each. There was talk of an igloo too, which upon closer look, was actually the name of design duo Alain Courchesne and Anna Abbruzzo’s company: Igloodgn, who exhibited their work and play space as part of the How Do You Work? exhibit.

Gallery owners to curate art for the walls of your dream home.

1. Daniel Faria, co-owner of the Clark & Faria Gallery (55 Mill Street Building #2, 416-703-1700, monteclarkgallery.com) in the Distillery District. He’s loveable and approachable, with a keen eye for curating rock star contemporary art and photography exhibits.