FASHION Magazine

Last night, the stylish set filled the new TNT flagship at Toronto’s Hazelton Lanes in Yorkville to celebrate the store’s 20^th anniversary as well as to peep the brand new multileveled shopping emporium, which has expanded to 18,000 square feet. That means even more space for ultra-covetable merch from Helmut Lang, The Row, Theyskens’ Theory and more! Across the sprawling space, homegrown likes of Greta Constantine, Payne, and Camille and Laurence were all on hand to debut their newest collections and raise a glass (and a pretty penny) in honour of the Toronto Fashion Incubator.

While the soirée seemed to attract just about every designer, socialite and fashion personality around⎯even Dan Levy came home from LaLa land to make an appearance!⎯the real star of the night was deb-cum-designer Nicole Richie, who hit the town to promote her lines House of Harlow and Winter Kate. We snatched her away from legions of adoring fans to chat about all things style and asked if a Canadian collab could be in the works!

Hot on the heels of their mass-market collabs with both Danier and Aldo, Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong of Greta Constantine, bring us Primer⎯a capsule collection that aims to be just that, the accessibly priced “base coat for a woman’s wardrobe,” with price points ranging from $95 to $275.

“The makeup has a cold feeling,” said M.A.C Cosmetics Senior Artist Melissa Gibson backstage at Greta Constantine on Friday night. Fitting since, “backstage” was actually the frigid basement of the Audi dealership. With references that included Tibetan children and Tilda Swinton in Orlando, Gibson created what she called “almost a non makeup, but there’s kind of this wind burnt lower cheek.” In addition, pictures of Renaissance women that she found online as part of her research compelled her to put “some redness around the eye,” but was quick to disassociate it from the kind one develops from too much partying. “It just gives a pure look to the face.” To mimic the “really ruddy, great skin” of the Tibetan tots, Gibson mixed M.A.C Cream Colour Blush in “Premeditated” and “Movie Star Red” and deepened it with “Root”. On lids, she applied M.A.C Eye Shadow in “Coral” and “Orange”, layered it with “Sushi Flower” and softened it with M.A.C Mineralize Skin Finish to make it look more “fleshy”.  Lashes were left bare, and lips muted out with a touch of concealer.

There’s nothing like a Greta Constantine show to bring out the fashion pack (and the mystery-pack, including a veiled front-rower?) In a departure from their standard fare, designers Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong debuted a wrapped, layered and shrouded nomad-like collection that looked like it came from Japan via Russia. The blinding spotlight that followed each model’s walk illuminated exaggerated sleeves, sumptuous brocades, obi belts, luxe fur trims and velvets as sinuous as their signature jersey that decorated dresses, pants, coats and capes galore. Their louche urbanites were cocooned in shades of crimson, charcoal, cobalt and eggplant in separates ranging from fiery wide-legged pants to prairie princess tiered skirts. The jersey dresses that are Greta Constantine’s bread and butter were winterized with floor sweeping coats for a dramatic ending amid blasts of powdery white flakes coughed out by the snow machine.

View the Greta Constantine photo gallery »

See Greta Constantine backstage beauty »

By Andrea Victory

When M.A.C senior artist Melissa Gibson was given the description “Princess Voodoo Doll” for the Spring 2011 Greta Constantine collection, she looked to her copy of Haute Doll Magazine for inspiration.

Keeping the theme in mind, but also making sure the look was “not too literal, more spring, fresh and soft,” Gibson rounded out the eyes by contouring the crease and dragging the taupe-y grey tones underneath and downward, then highlighting the ball of the eyelid to attract light and reinforce the roundness.

Photographer Jonathan Loek went backstage before the Greta Constantine show to capture the preparations for the label’s Spring 2011 show.

View a gallery of behind-the-scenes images»

Read our full coverage of Toronto Fashion Week»

The scene outside 161 Spadina Ave. on Friday evening for the Greta Constantine Spring 2011 show conjured up memories of the fashion mob outside the Armoury at the Marc Jacobs show. But unlike MJ, who learned his lesson about late start times, GC designers Stephen Wong and Kirk Pickersgill kept the mass of eds, buyers and bloggers, crammed into a small room for an hour (for a somewhat impromptu pre-show cocktail party) before being seated (finally!) for the show.

Coco Rocha opened the show and word has it that she personally contacted Wong and Pickersgill about making an appearance. (Note: You know you’ve made it when…)
The collection was comprised of a few leading colour players: earthy shades like rusty red and loden green, and lighter hues such as blush and a lovely dove grey. Lots of signature twists, knots, and pleats came out to play, as did one fabulous ’70s-inspired one-shouldered one-piece. (Bianca Jagger would approve.) The slick haven’t-washed-my-hair-in-a-week tresses got lost in translation–no wonder Miss Coco opted for a sleek side-parted low knot. Stand-outs included the flowing white goddess gowns cinched with wide blush toned belts, the custom treasure chest–inspired wedges, the LBD with the sexy cape back and the line-up of blush-toned gowns that closed the show. Slipping into one of these dreamy confections would be pure heaven.

See a gallery of the Greta Constantine show»

Read our full coverage of Toronto Fashion Week»

This just in: Canadian beauty Coco Rocha is set to walk exclusively for Greta Constantine at their Spring 2011 runway show tonight! “Coco has been one of our biggest supporters from the start,” explains Stephen. “She’s always excited to wear our designs and to lend a hand when she can. Best of all, she embodies all […]

The post Coco Rocha to walk in the Greta Constantine Spring 2011 show appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Anna Wintour and co. threw a huge fashion show last night at Lincoln Centre as a lead-up to Friday’s Fashion’s Night Out. Gisele opened, Naomi closed and Coco Rocha, Karlie Kloss and Adriana Lima helped round out the cast of 150 models showing 170 looks. [Huffington Post]

Will Prabal Gurung be the next designer to collaborate with Target? [Fashionista]

A party at Holt Renfrew in honour of shoes and a fashion blogger almost sounds too cliché to be true. It probably would be if Holt Renfrew couldn’t pull that kind of thing off (which they did) and if the attendees weren’t suckers for shoes (which we are).

We spotted this week’s Lovely at last night’s Ezra Constantine launch. And while the mixed textures of her all-black outfit are anything but basic (check the little velvet bows on the shoes), it’s her necklace, which she made herself from leather and safety pins, that really makes this look sing. (Turns out she also helped craft the Ezra presentation’s mixed-media accessories.)

See the full look (with bonus necklace close-up) after the jump.

When your first sight is a quartet of male models in shiny trunks, fake tattoos and sandals paired with work socks (toes and heels excised for summer) posing by a pool spanned by Grecian columns, you know you’re at a Stephen Wong and Kirk Pickersgill production. The pair, known best for their women’s line, Greta Constantine, decided to throw a party to officially launch their menswear effort Ezra Constantine.