FASHION Magazine

Blame it on cross border Thanksgiving sluggishness, but two days have passed since a pretty major Canadian retail announcement and the buzz seems yet to hit. Saks Fifth Avenue is not only confirmed as coming to Canada, but its first location has been revealed as the current Hudson’s Bay megastore on Bloor Street in Toronto. Amidst an influx of US retail entry to Canada including Target and Nordstrom, Saks is just the latest giant to tango with the existing landscape, one that has recently seen Sears tumble and cause Holt Renfrew to ramp up store expansions by 40%. The news also comes as a natural follow to the Hudson’s Bay Co. purchase of Saks for $2.4 billion earlier this year.

According to a Globe and Mail profile published on Wednesday, the shakeup is due to Richard Baker, the 48-year old majority owner of HBC, whose private equity firm NRDC (National Realty & Development Corp) also owns US chain Lord & Taylor. The magnate was the brain behind the Zellers location selloff to Target in 2011, just one of the company’s brainiac moves which also include launching in-store partnerships with Topshop and Kleinfeld Bridal.

See the Team Canada Sochi 2014 uniforms and collection »

Remember when Roots was responsible for much of the world’s Olympic clothes? This beret? Well, it seems as if some Canadian greatness is still rubbing off on Team USA, with its just-released Sochi 2014 uniforms. Designed by Ralph Lauren (and fully produced on American soil to put an end to last year’s controversy), the closing ceremony jacket, for one, looks quite the ever-iconic Bay stripe featured similarly on this year’s Team Canada wares. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…

There’s no longer a need for Canadians to line up at the border for hours just so we can take advantage of the many great American outlet malls. This summer, Southern Ontario will have an outlet mall of its own, full of top tier brands and retailers: Toronto Premium Outlets—owned by Simon’s Premium Outlets, the company behind discount shopping destinations in Las Vegas, Palm Springs and Orlando—is set to open just outside of Toronto.

Anchored by a Hudson’s Bay outlet, Toronto Premium Outlets will include everything from fashion brands, like Michael Kors and J.Crew, to home furnishing stores, like Restoration Hardware. And we haven’t even gotten to the best part! The centre will have the first outlet stores in Canada for some cult favourites and top tier designer brands.

As a respected couture designer and a master of the art of branding, Karl Lagerfeld has an interesting place in the fashion industry. Not only is he still reigning as the creative director for Chanel and Fendi, he also has his own highly successful KARL label. Now after much anticipation, Karl Lagerfeld has launched his […]

The post Karl Lagerfeld Watch Giveaway: Enter to win one of two incredible styles! appeared first on FASHION Magazine.