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We’re back to the style-spotting game with Lewis Mirrett’s first batch of shots from outside Toronto Fashion Week. Taken outside of two of last night’s biggest shows, Lucian Matis and Holt Renfrew’s Canadian showcase. As luck would have it, the skies opened for the night, leaving attendees to shield themselves from the elements in various ways. From headscarves to uncomfortable glances, see the best cover-ups (and outfits) here.

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A grand ballroom festooned with gilded details at the Fairmont Royal York is very fitting for Toronto’s king of embellishment, Lucian Matis. But this fall, the Romanian-born designer ditched his signature crystal palace pieces for a more grown-up approach (think streamlined silhouettes and gorgeous lace) to dressing.

Inspired by details found in nature–butterfly markings, volcanic shapes–Matis centered his Fall 2012 collection around intricate lacework, texture-mixing and sharp, tailored lines. Standouts included the glam lace gown with the plunging neckline and Angelina Jolie–approved slit, the sweeping maxi coat (we’re still crushing on those detailed cuffs) and the mini dress with lacey side panels. Toward the show’s end, Matis did indulge his maximalist side with a small grouping of fine, feathered frocks, including one strapless version with a plumed train fit for any bird of paradise. The one misstep of the night? The paper-white pasties used to cover up the models which shone a little too brightly from underneath the sheer lace.

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With bleached-out brows being a huge beauty story from Milan, Greta Constantine showed its support for the trend with a brow-less “army of beautiful girls.” However, instead of bleach, brow hair was blocked out with the use of Pros-Aide adhesive. M.A.C senior artist Melissa Gibson explained that by taking away the characteristics that eyebrows provide, all the models look alike—resulting in a “mechanical, almost science fiction–like” aesthetic. Eyes were blacked out with M.A.C Chromaline in “Black Black” and then given a shimmering shot of M.A.C Pigment in “Gold Metal” to prevent the look from being flat, but also to add a “hint of glamour.” Cheeks were kept bare and a salmon-pink shade of lipstick (M.A.C lipstick in “Hue”) brought a bit of beauty back to the overall look. Gibson explained: “We’re playing not on the ugly, but the sinister parts of beauty. You have to take it all away and then add specific elements back in.”

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When it comes to a Greta Constantine show, there are a couple of things an editor can expect: 1. It will be an hour late 2. Their signature draped dresses will fall somewhere in the mix. This time around, designers Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong delivered on both of these points. While we’re always perplexed as to why they are an hour behind schedule, the GC boys did manage to pull two new rabbits out of their hat last Friday at the Bay’s newly reno’d Arcadian Loft: chunky knits and black-on-black tailored separates. Big points for the colourful cozy mufflers and Rooney Mara–esque sharp-shouldered dresses and leather boleros. Judging from the abundance of strategic and oh-so-sexy cut-outs, skin is fall’s best accessory. As for colour, it’s all about those rich jewel tones, darling—ruby red, emerald green, sapphire blue and amethyst. The miss of the night? The white backless dress. Women don’t want to accentuate their hips (hello, Zumba class!) even if the volume is set on low.

It’s only fitting that the last of our snaps from Paris should include so many queens of fashion—the queen of big screen fashion, Sarah Jessica Parker, the queen of fashion media, Anna Wintour, the queen of fashion pop, Katy Perry, the queen of the current front rowers, Virginie Courtin-Clarins, and the queen of vintage inspiration, Catherine Deneuve. Enjoy today’s visual feast, and be sure to come back next week when we share our snaps from Toronto.

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See more backstage pictures from Chanel’s Fall 2012 show »

Having thoroughly fallen in love with their gemstone brows, it only took a day to find something else to obsess over from Chanel’s Fall 2012 beauty offerings. Are you ready? It’s “Frenzy,” a pale mushroom shade that’s due on counters this fall. Just when we were about to claim exhaustion over neutral nail polishes, the Chanel effect hits. Hard.

We’re just about ready to pass style snapping off to Toronto, but before we do, we’ve got two more extra special photo galleries to share! Today, we give you this glorious selection caught from outside the Chanel and Chloé shows. Tomorrow, we’ll present our last batch from outside Louis Vuitton and Miu Miu. Stay tuned, lovelies!

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Like it or not, Toronto Fashion Week is here, and it’s here for the next three weeks. From now until March 19, prepare to be inundated with all the fabulousness (and sometimes the unfabulousness) from the shows.

First up, we’re reporting from last night’s Mackage show. In celebration of the brand’s 10^th anniversary, founders Elisa Dahan and Eran Elfassy brought the circus to the Fermenting Cellar in the city’s Distillery District. Special guest stars Heather Marks and Rick Genest (a.k.a. Zombie Boy) opened and closed the show respectively. Complete with snow cones, cotton-candy cocktails, scantily clad servers, and fortune-tellers, all the hullaballoo was memorable—but perhaps unnecessary—when paired with the brand’s stellar collection of leather and wool–mix coats and jackets, tailored-to-perfection secretary dresses, and multi-zipped moto jackets.

It doesn’t matter what else happened at the opening night party for the Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs exhibit at the Musée Des Art Décoratifs. It doesn’t matter that Gwyneth Paltrow was smiling, amiable, and stunning; that Kristen Stewart was hard to recognize with dark hair; that there were more Vuitton outfits on guests than on […]

The post PFW Diary: The dispatch from last night’s rip-roaring Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs party in Paris appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

While the abundance of brightly dyed furs on almost every runway was tempting inspiration for Nail Corner, the colour blocking at Céline’s Fall 2012 presentation made for a much better manicure. Mixing horizontal and diagonal stripes, this design matches the asymmetrical pattern of an undeniably stunning Céline overcoat.

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View every look Kate has worn since her engagement »

“When the clock strikes 10, the train will pull into the station,” read the show notes for Louis Vuitton’s Fall 2012 runway show. Well, the train arrived about 8 minutes late, but pull into the station it did—a full-on locomotive chugging into a tent in a courtyard of the Louvre, pulling a passenger car full of models.

As each girl stepped off the train she was accompanied by a bellman carrying her oversized Vuitton bags tipped in goat, mink, ostrich, and croc. These weren’t the type of ladies who travel in steerage. Even the simplest A-line coat or pea jacket had enormous jewelled buttons.

The fact that we spotted Paul (that’s Sir, to you!) McCartney outside his daughter’s show should really be enough, but no. We got Alicia Keys, Salma Hayek, and every gorgeous model leaving the show with their vibrant blue lashes, too! We’re feeling pretty happy with ourselves right now…

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