FASHION Magazine

It took six years for Justine Iaboni to gain 120,000 Instagram followers on her @jetsetjustine account. But it only took three months for the Toronto-based fashion and beauty blogger to go from zero to 84,000 followers on her second account, @jetset.beauty. Her secret? Well, that’s secret, but what she will reveal is that she experiments […]

The post Behind the Secret Instagram Hacking Pods You Never Knew Existed appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Last night kicked off the reopening of H&M‘s Canadian flagship store at Toronto’s Eaton Centre, as well as the launch of H&M Home. The newly renovated store, which covers over 57,000 square feet, is now one of the ten biggest H&M stores in the world, and it shows. Full of what feels like a never-ending […]

The post Inside the H&M Eaton Centre reopening party with Alessia Cara, Taryn Manning + more appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

See the photos from Toronto Life’s 2014 Most Stylish Party» In what has become a three-year tradition, Toronto Life once again kicked off TIFF for the regular folks (albeit the very rich, glamorous and well-connected ones) last night with its annual celebration of Toronto’s Most Stylish. 2014’s list includes many of the city’s most familiar […]

The post Toronto Life’s Most Stylish 2014: 35 party photos of the city’s fashion folk at their finest appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

See the photos from Holt Renfrew’s Uncrate India party »

We gave you a behind-the-scenes peek at how Alexandra Weston and Waris Ahluwalia curated the Holt Renfrew H Project Uncrate India collection. We shared 50+ artisanal items from the collection. And now it’s time to take a look at the incredible bash that Holt Renfrew threw last night in celebration of it all. The Bloor Street store was transformed into a vibrant Indian market, welcoming hundreds of guests adorned in sari-inspired attire. Rooms were tented with pink and orange fabric for an intimate feel, gilded bird cages stuffed with flowers hung from the ceilings and guests were greeted upon arrival with a shower of rose petals. But the lavish extravaganza didn’t stop there.

See the street style from outside Toronto Fashion Week »

It can be easy when out on the streets outside of the fashion show tents to focus on the big names and habitual style stars. So it’s somewhat refreshing when we have a almost a whole batch of street style shots of relative unknowns—you can appreciate the unsponsored and unbiased looks for their uniqueness and how their personality shines through.

While there was plenty of statement outerwear, we are especially loving all of the throwback styles on the street. Going back to the athletic vibes of the ’90s and ’00s, an oversized Adidas logo tote bag caught our eye and one, very brave and probably frost bitten, fashion goer bared her tummy in a sports bra and matching track pants topped with a long fur jacket. It’s like Britney meets J.Lo—our teenage style idols in one perfect outfit mash-up. Toronto stylist Odessa Paloma Parker was a playful hodge podge of ’80s patterns, everything from blown up houndstooth to artsy paint splodges to a loud yellow and black plaid wrap. Only a true pro like Parker could work just a jumble of patterns—budding stylists take note.

Yesterday wasn’t without it’s daily dose of daytime fashion week glamour however. One head to toe plaid look kept things feminine with midnight blue velvet pumps and a lacy, and racy, bodysuit underneath. Bonus points for taking slouchy plaid pants off the golf green and making them suddenly covetable. Fancy shoes were abound outside the tents, with several dramatic metallic takes, covering everything from gold oxfords to platform black and gold medallion sandals. Doing metallics in a slightly more low key approach, were two friends dressed in similar iridescent jackets, one in cream, one in mint, both finished with a pearly sheen. This is how you do metallics for the daytime, people. Another great example of rocking high-shine during waking hours, was a stunning black belted jacket finished with gold embellishments across the front and sleeves. The simple silhouette of the jacket, matched with pared down accessories was the perfect way to take metallics from day to night, without going over the top.

See the biggest Spring 2014 fashion trends »
See all our fashion month coverage »

With the end of fashion week in Toronto marking the close of Spring 2014 show season, it’s time we looked back at all the trends that emerged. As much as the runway sets the pace for what’s to come for the top Spring 2014 trends, the streets play a major role as show-going trendsetters give us the relatable breakdown of how to wear what’s hot next season. Prints take two spots on our top Spring 2014 trends list through those with a painterly quality and those influenced by international cultures. At Hérmes, Rousseau-inspired water lily florals were printed on luxurious fabrics while at Diane Von Furstenberg, dresses and skirts depicting an African wilderness roared. As for fashionable time travel, prepare to keep reminiscing about the youthful 1990s, which haven’t ceased to get reincarnated season after season. Designers like Rodarte, Balmain and Jason Wu have reinvented the decade’s essentials yet again. To help with your daydreaming of long sunny spring days we’ve compiled the ultimate gallery of top Spring 2014 trends as dictated by the runways and our favourite street style stars in New York, London, Milan, Paris and Toronto! Feel free to let this be your guide to budgeting and creating closet space for next season’s must have pieces.

View by trend: 1. 1990s | 2. Art-Inspired | 3. Athletic | 4. Blue | 5. Crop Tops | 6. Embellishment | 7. Metallic | 8. Pleats | 9. Sheer | 10. Worldly

See street style from Toronto Fashion Week »

On day two of World MasterCard Fashion Week in Toronto, leopard prints, bubblegum pink and highlighter yellows found their way onto the stylish set outside the shows. As were furs, which if you were in the city yesterday, were quite the necessity.

Montreal-based blogger and Style Panel member, Elodie Parthenay channeled rockstar chic with a touch of girly via a vibrant 3.1 Phillip Lim pink overcoat, studded leather skirt, and scenic t-shirt. Fellow Style Panel member and current FASHION intern Mo Handahu, walked on the wild side in a roaring leopard printed sweater, soft golden skirt, and African printed jacket as her staples.

See the street style from Toronto Fashion Week »

The Spring 2014 show season has made its stop in Toronto, and while the spotlights are shining on our designers for World MasterCard Fashion Week, we’re doing a little spotlighting of our own outside the shows.

Local bloggers were out in full force on the first day of shows, with StyleBlog’s Nelia Belkova embracing the popular black and white trend in a snowy Chanel monogram jacket with black trim, race stripped leather pants and jeweled satin pumps. Kastor and Pollux’s Bianca Venerayan opted for another of this season’s It trends, grunge, with black combat boots, a pearl printed V-neck dress and grey speckled overcoat. Her look was softened with cherry hued lips, side swept hair and and oh so Canadian toque.

See the JNBY party pictures »

Amidst the homegrown talent, one very cool and far away brand will be making its Canadian runway debut next week during World MasterCard Fashion Week in Toronto. JNBY (Just Naturally Be Yourself) is big in Japan…and Thailand and Singapore and France as well as China, where it hails from. A week before its reveal at fashion week (and we’ll save the oohs and aahs till then), JNBY previewed its Spring 2014 collection to an ultra trendy crowd at a pre-fashion week party hosted by The Collections. The stellar clothes were shown alongside a large photo print by Cory VanderPloeg of a model wearing Laura Siegel‘s spring collection..

Regular scenesters like Amina Said, Sarah Magwood, Parris Gordon, Jay Strut and The Collections threesome Dwayne Kennedy, Mel Ashcroft and Brian Richards lined the walls as well as fresh faced models in Miley buns and off duty sweaters. As with any cool kid party, there were plenty of new faces to creep in true Cinderella form. We’d like to crown a new style princess, but we don’t know her name. You! Got the other glass slipper?

See the Blue Is the Warmest Colour party pictures »

We’re just one day into TIFF 2013 and it’s possible we’ve already reached a gossip fever pitch. At last night’s Blue Is the Warmest Color party, the biggest buzz was about a certain Daily Beast article that’s been making the media rounds all week. While the Thompson rooftop filled with partygoers—basically everyone from Toronto Life’s Most Stylish party plus TIFF fans fresh from The Fifth Estate red carpet premiere—the crowd was eager to see how Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos would act around director Abdellatif Kechiche. (There was also many a mention of the infamous prosthetics used in the film, but we won’t get into that.)

Each Friday, we’ll be profiling one of our favourite movers and shakers on social media. From the pop-up power of Pinterest to the beautifully crafted images on Instagram, we’re learning the tricks of the trade from the ladies that do it best (and most stylishly, of course).

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Jay Strut

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Jay Strut

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Jay Strut

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Jay Strut

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Jay Strut

For Torontonians interested in fashion, Jay Strut is a name you come across fairly often. Blogger by day, DJ by night, the jet-setting trendsetter developed his now-recognizable Jay Strut brand name in high school. Since then, Strut has been documenting his outfits, projects and adventures on Twitter, Instagram and his well-known blog JayStrut.com. A self-professed workaholic who hates weekends, Strut says that a typical day for him consists of “emails, emails [and more] emails.” So it’s no surprise that his dedication to various social media accounts (he’s been running his Twitter for 6 years) has not gone unnoticed.

A Toronto Fashion Week front row fixture, Strut’s been featured in The Globe & Mail, New York Magazine, Toronto Life and more. His projects have seen him crossing paths with Riccardo Tisci, Elie Saab and Michael Kors. The collaboration he’s enjoyed the most so far, however, was a recent two-day Google+ hangout with Donatella Versace and her team. The experience was facilitated by Strut’s rising popularity on Google+, on which he has over 627,000 followers. Some would consider an interview with Donatella slightly intimidating (cue heart palpitations from just thinking about it!) but Strut was quick to shake the “interview” label away saying, “It’s fashion talk and I love fashion!”

So how does a local blogger end up on Google+ with an international icon? We got to know the man behind the brand for our Social Media Star feature.

See all the photos from The Libertine launch party »

In the grand tradition of secret bars and speakeasies, The Libertine may have one of the best locations out there. Hidden behind a tarot card reader’s business, the basement entrance to Toronto’s newest restaurant is sure to prompt many double takes. However, thanks to the crowd that gathered for last night’s launch party, the secretive snack bar is destined to become quite well known in the months to come.

A mix of fashion and foodie guests mingled while hand-crafted cocktails and bites of fried chicken made the rounds. Anita Clarke, wearing a custom plaid Philip Sparks jacket, looked just as dapped as her well-suited table mates, including the designer himself and NOW’s Andrew Sardone. Holt Renfew’s Blaire Borins matched the mysterious mood of the decor in a slate-grey Greta Constantine dress while ornamental necklaces and bright lipsticks were accessory of choice for other guests.