FASHION Magazine

Shahad Mahdi, 22, was tired of seeing Muslim women misrepresented and stereotyped in the media. She wanted to shatter those cliches so she created Black Orchid, a line of hoodies, sweatshirts and accessories that bear Mahdi’s signature illustration: An adorable Matryoshka shaped doll in hijab in various poses. Mahdi who was born in Jordan was inspired […]

The post Meet Black Orchid: One Designer Redefining Modern Muslim Woman Through Fashion appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

“We’re living in a world of loud fashion right now,” says Simon Holloway, creative director at Agnona, an Italian luxury fashion house. The English-born Holloway is holding a cup of tea in his hand as sun drifts through the label’s bright, modern and massive showroom in Milan. “My vision of what’s editorial is probably a […]

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See Markoo’s Spring 2014 collection »

Those fluent in Queen Street West style would already know a thing or two about one of its strongest talents: Tania Martins. The brain behind long-loved label Pink Cobra (see: sexy LBDs, expertly cut leather) is turning her attention to a new project, Markoo, which she co-designs with Mona Koochek. Both 32, the Toronto-based designers have been picking up steam since launching last fall with re-imagined cool girl staples like airy midi skirts, leather cut-out tops and the piece de résistance: a sexy almost-backless jumpsuit with perfectly cropped cigarette pants for spring. And because those writing in a public forum can always pick favourites, I’ll just tell you that mine is this ruffled black leather crop top that may or may not be named for yours truly. If you haven’t already availed yourself of this up-and-coming label, I suggest you do so now. You won’t have much longer to say you know them when.

See Kate Middleton’s Emilia Wickstead looks »

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Photography by WPA Pool/Getty Images

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Kate Middleton Emilia Wickstead

March 17, 2012: Kate hands out shamrocks to the Irish guard on St. Patrick’s Day in a dark green coatdress by Emilia Wickstead.

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Kate Middleton Emilia Wickstead

May 29, 2012: Kate and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace hosted by Queen Elizabeth. Kate is wearing a pastel-pink pleated Emilia Wickstead dress.

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Kate Middleton Emilia Wickstead

July 5, 2012: Kate Middleton attends Prince William’s Thistle Service in Edinburgh wearing an Emilia Wickstead coatdress.

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Kate Middleton Emilia Wickstead

April 24, 2013: Kate Middleton attends a reception at the National Portrait Gallery for The Art Room in a sleeveless pale-blue dress by Emilia Wickstead

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Kate Middleton Emilia Wickstead

May 22, 2013: Kate Middleton attends the Queen’s first garden party of the season at Buckingham Palace. She’s wearing a pale-yellow silk coat by Emilia Wickstead.

Emilia Wickstead is a name you’ll start hearing often. Operating on a more feminine frequency than many of her edgy London contemporaries, she sits poised for an international takeover, partly because of her association with another ultra-feminine name: Kate Middleton. Perhaps most directly though, she’s got the chops.

A native New Zealander, 29-year-old grew up with a made-to-measure designer for a mother and ample creativity in her veins. She moved to London to study fashion marketing and spent time in New York interning for Proenza Schouler, Narcisco Rodriguez and Vogue Magazine. After a few years of working made-to-measure, Wickstead launched a ready-to-wear collection in 2011 at London Fashion Week. Fast-forward to today, and she’s gotten Emilia Wickstead creations on the Duchess of Cambridge at least five times by our count, and those five have been amongst Kate’s best and often-repeated pieces. She has also dressed Samantha Cameron, the notoriously fashion-loving wife of British PM David Cameron, and made clients of online retailers Matches and Net-a-Porter.

When we met the designer last month in Toronto, those high-profile connections were especially clear. Dressed in an exquisite low cut A-line dress of her own creation, Wickstead explained why the new brand of sophisticated modernity is all about what isn’t revealed: “I design very much how I dress at 29,” she says. “If I am [wearing] something short, I like to be quite covered on top and if I am wearing something to the knee, I like an open back or a low neck. I think there is something very sexy in the way of dressing like that doesn’t have to be show all and tell all.”

In the world of ready-to-wear fashion, Laura and Kate Mulleavy of Rodarte could almost un-exaggeratedly be referred to as gods among designers. Artists. Outsiders. The real deal. Since their label’s launch in 2004, the sisters, 32 and 33 respectively, have been quite solidly staying a cut above the rest with their wise-beyond-their-years artistic references, their ability to seamlessly merge fashion and art and their knack for creating wearable masterpiece after wearable masterpiece with not a fashion degree between them. Between their Van Gogh–inspired spring collection, their somewhat controversial Australian Outback fall outing and their current collaboration with the L.A. Philharmonic, the designers hit Toronto earlier this week for a fête in their honour at The Room at the Bay. We were lucky enough to be let into their world for a little while.

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Strategic cut-outs, thigh-high slits and body-con shapes: Sébastien Peigné and Nicola Formichetti of Mugler are bringing sexy back.

Reviving Mugler is a monster task. After designer Thierry Mugler took his final runway bow at his couture show in July 2000, this kinky house of cool (remember Demi Moore’s bondage-style dress in 1993’s Indecent Proposal?) started flatlining. Ten years later, the resuscitation began. In 2010, following months of speculation, Nicola Formichetti (Lady Gaga’s stylist) was tapped to lead the revival of the French house known for its over-the-top theatricality and sex appeal. Besides outfitting Mother Monster, this 34-year-old half-Italian, half-Japanese, techno-savvy superstar is also the fashion director for Vogue Hommes Japan and global retailer Uniqlo. His debut Mugler womenswear show during Fall 2011 Paris Fashion Week had the twitterverse buzzing about its latex-dipped leggings, body-stocking dresses and the catwalk pièce de résistance: Gaga, smoking in every sense of the word.

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When it comes to accessories, Isabelle Fish, owner of Rue Pigalle (ruepigalle.ca), swims against the current. Her charming Yorkville boutique is stocked with avant-garde international labels, many of which are exclusive to her store, including Noritamy (jewellery), Martine Boissy (scarves) and Lena Erziak (bags). Here, this lawyer–turned–fashion entrepreneur talks bright colour, the art of buying, and bold evening bags.

When did your love of accessories begin?
“I grew up in a family that revered craftsmen and craftsmanship, so I knew I wanted to be in the business of beautiful objets. My mother was extremely elegant and taught me about managing a small wardrobe of simple garments, and giving it flair with beautifully crafted accessories.”

What is the significance behind your boutique’s name?
“Rue Pigalle used to be the main street in Paris’s red-light district. I liked the contrast between the elegance of the collections I carry and the naughtiness [of this] forbidden place.”

Like Helen of Troy and those ships, model-turned-designer Brian Atwood’s (brianatwood.com) handsomeness alone could move shoe units at The Room. Yet his super-stylish stilettos sell themselves. Thankfully, there’s now more Atwood than ever to go around, with last year’s launch of a second line, B Brian Atwood, and a haute handbag collection.

Who is the Brian Atwood woman?
“Always the most beautiful, sexy woman in the room. I’m not tooting my own horn. That’s just how it happens to go. [The heels] make you feel that—the power of the shoe.”

Is your B Brian Atwood woman any different?
“The B girl is jetset, but she’s funkier, more urban, and there’s ease to it. She doesn’t have $800 for a pump, but why shouldn’t she have a sexy pump?”

Fresh off her Spring 2012 exclusive for Givenchy in Paris, jetsetting New York–based supermodel Heather Marks (a Calgary native) took a few moments to chat with us backstage at Edmonton’s Fashion with Compassion breast cancer fundraiser and fashion show. Despite insider access to fashion for nearly a decade, this 23-year-old beauty with rockstar style still has an appreciation for the simpler things in life.

Where do you shop when you’re back in Alberta?
“I always stop by Aritzia and I like going to Gravitypope on 17th Avenue [in Calgary] for shoes. Holt Renfrew is also a favourite.”

What’s your favourite accessory at the moment?
“I got a new Chanel bag that I’m currently obsessing over. It’s not your classic shape. It’s a little bit more round, a little bit more funky.”

Before completing a Master of Arts in womenswear at the prestigious Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, this Canadian-born U.K. expat cut his design chops at Montreal’s LaSalle College. Now Thomas Tait (thomastait.com) is a ready-to-wear whiz kid on the international fashion scene, churning out strong, tailored pieces in mostly soft silhouettes.

What was the most valuable thing you learned at LaSalle?
“How to make clothes. I had no idea how technical the course would be. I was literally scared of the sewing machine for quite a while.”
 
Your graduate project was a beautiful exploration of human angles: collarbones, hip bones, shoulders.
“There was definitely an elaboration on silhouette in my Fall 2011 collection. It was insanely hard to do, but I loved it in the end.”

Earlier this month, Brit master of quirk Giles Deacon popped by our fair city to take part in the first annual Lunch with Margaret and George, raising money for the Princess Margaret Foundation (the sold-out event collected a cool $200,000 for the cause). While at a trunk show the next day—and while the moneyed ladies […]

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Equal parts designer, rock star, and artist, Philip Colbert’s need to stand out is driven by anything from art inspiration (think Warhol, Duchamp, and the like), to rock royalty. His womenswear line, Rodnik, follows suit.

Rodnik started as a duo with Colbert and Richard Ascott, with their designs focused around Russian folk–inspired knit scarves, with celebs like Peaches Geldof, Sienna Miller, and Lily Cole donning their early collections. In the last few years Rodnik has become what Colbert describes as a “much more fun adventure.” Part of the adventure—are you ready for this?—is in the publicity stunts. Starting in 2009 the Rodnik Band—the label presented as an ironic fashion band, where songs are developed based on a collection concept—has recorded and toured, showing at stores and fashion weeks worldwide. We want to party with this guy.