FASHION Magazine

See photos from inside the CAFA Awards »

Toronto had its first-ever dose of fashion Oscars this past weekend, as the best in Canadian talent gathered for the inaugural Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards at the Fairmont Royal York. Aiming to shine a light on often politely under-appreciated homegrown talent, awards were given out to the best in design, styling, photography, modelling and to one person who stands in a category all by herself: Jeanne Beker. The television host/journo of 30+ years was awarded the CAFAs first Vanguard Award for well, everything.

Looking around the glittering ballroom, there was a real sense of “everyone who’s anyone is here,” which is quite the feat on a blustery night in the middle of winter. Topping that A-list was be model Coco Rocha, who stunned as no one else (in the room) could in a one-shouldered white gown by Dsquared while accepting the award for Model of the Year. Also in town, designing wonder boys Dean and Dan Caten, who scored the Best International Designer award. Taking a page out of the CFDA’s book, the CAFAs partnered with Swarovski to fund the Emerging Talent Award, which gave $10,000 and a mentorship by Joe Fresh founder Joe Mimran to Sarah Stevenson, the floral-happy designer who also won TFI New Labels last spring. With so much pegged on her impending success, it seems sure that her name will rise to the rank of fellow winner Jeremy Laing, who picked up the much-deserved award for Womenswear Designer of the Year.

See the Joe Fresh Fall 2013 makeup collection »

We’ve been hit with a slew of fabulous new cosmetic lines lately (ahem, RiRi [Hearts] M.A.C and Alber Elbaz for Lancôme!) and as excited as we are, these glossy goods are sure to put a big dent in our wallets. Cue Joe Fresh’s Fall 2013 makeup collection. A new line of stylish, fresh and affordable cosmetics that are just as worthy of our excitement and much friendlier to our pockets. The fall line offers new colours, upgraded packaging, trendier shades and improved formulations.

Simone Otis, Joe Fresh beauty director, says the playful collection promises “classic essentials for any beauty kit,” while offering fun and trend-oriented options as well. Via press release, creative director Joe Mimran credits customer feedback as the collections main inspiration, citing that designs were modified to cater to customer wants. Most importantly, this includes the introduction of removable caps on Joe Fresh nail polish—the new two-piece lids will allow for easier application of nail polish and painting percision. Other things in the mix include lipstick duos (because we all love options), lip glosses with a seriously reduced “sticky” factor, statement-making metallic polishes, saturated pastel matte lipsticks and a particularly fierce new cobalt-blue mascara.

See the Joe Fresh Fall 2013 collection »

Canadian favourite Joe Fresh is going back to black with their Fall 2013 collection. The look book for fall has just arrived, and it has a pitch perfect mix of basic wardrobe staples and embellished statement items that are certain to revamp your style. The fall collection, which is based on ‘90s Parisian street chic and described by creative director Joe Mimran as “so effortless and cool,” consists mainly of black and white looks. The brand, which is mostly known for their versatile cotton pieces and clean-cut denim, played around with new textures for their fall selection, offering everything from sequined cardigans to faux-fur mini skirts, not to mention a laser-cut sweatshirt or two. Some of the pieces had punk undertones, reminiscent of this year’s Met Gala theme, convincing us that well be seeing a lot more of this edgy style in the months to come.

Taking cues from the Joe Fresh Fall 2013 runway show, which offered countless styling possibilities for the mostly monochrome pieces. Mimran was not the only one sticking to darker shades for his fall collection. From Chanel to Isabel Marant to Alexander Wang, many designers turned down the volume on the colour palettes for the Fall 2013 runway shows.

Check out the photos from the Joe Fresh after-party »

Given the well-heeled ladies and gents that show up for a Joe Fresh fashion show, you’d never believe the label’s wears run as affordably as they do. Though as any Loblaws shopper in Canada knows, they do. After last night’s punky all-black Fall 2013 outing, showgoers were looking to kick off their heels (proverbially speaking) with signature orange cocktails, mini tacos and pulsing DJ beats at the private watering hole, Storys.

Fresh off the Fresh runway, models Heather Marks, Meaghan Collison and a group of studly males in tight sweaters flooded the room with just enough impossible beauty to make the ogling worth it. Creative director Joe Mimran and wife Kimberley Newport-Mimran showed up in coordinated head-to-toe black suiting, adding their own luxe touch to the non-colour of the night. As the two cozied up to Loblaws frontman Galen Weston, nightclub impresario Charles Khabouth and our favourite dandy, Bruce C. Bailey, an informal dance party broke out with queen of the moves, Andrea Bolley, at the forefront. Just an average rip roaring night in Toronto as of late, it seems.

By Randi Bergman and Meredith Gillies

2012 has been quite the year. We’ve waited for Carly Rae Jepsen’s phone to ring since what feels like forever, we developed major girl crushes on Girls director/writer, Lena Dunham, and we felt like we’d never be as cool as Azealia Banks. Jepsen, Banks and Dunham may have rocked our worlds this year, but in the world of fashion, important things that have gone down too. There have been soaring highs, crashing lows, and shocking changes for celebrities, designers and even journalists.

Designer shifts at Balenciaga and Dior that are just a sampling of what seems like an endless list of fashion shakeups that went down over the past 12 months including Stefano Pilati and Hedi Slimane at Yves Saint Laurent, YSL becoming simple Saint Laurent Paris and more. And speaking of shakeups, Kristen Stewart’s rise from a teen queen to a heartbreaking fragrance face has been epic to say the least. So let’s look back, reflect, and count down together the events that made 2012 so real.

See our list of 2012’s top influencers »

Fresh off the heels of its Spring 2013 runway show during Toronto Fashion Week, Joe Fresh has just announced the opening of two new stores in Canada for next year.

Ottawa, Ontario and Victoria, British Columbia will be the next two cities to get stand-alone Joe Fresh stores, which will bring in women’s, men’s and kid’s apparel, beauty products, footwear and accessories to its locations.

Joe Fresh creative director Joe Mimran said via press release, “We’ve had our eye on Ottawa and Victoria for some time and are very pleased with the locations of each of these new stand-alone stores.”

See the Joe Fresh Spring 2013 collection »

Joe Fresh may have turned down the colour palette for its Spring 2013 collection but that’s not to say the collection was anything less than visually striking. Metallics, black and white prints infused with pops of yellow came together to create a sixties-inspired collection that was completely modern and ready for 2013.

Now that the rest of the collection for spring has been released, we’re excited to see these retro-inspired designs take form and be mixed in with what we’ve grown accustomed to from Joe Fresh—coloured sweaters, bright oxfords and bold pants.

See the Joe Fresh Spring 2013 collection photos »

The post Toronto Fashion Week Spring 2013 Video: Watch the Joe Fresh show in motion, plus our backstage interview with Joe himself appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

See the Joe Fresh Spring 2013 collection photos »

After a quick, swinging 1960s op-art themed projection set the tone, the tent at World MasterCard Fashion Week in Toronto erupted in genuine cheers, even hoots, as model legend Pat Cleveland minced down the runway in her sprightly half-dance, half-strut. In town to lend star power to the Canadian premiere of the documentary Versailles ’73, Cleveland stole the whole Joe Fresh shebang—it didn’t really matter what she was wearing. The army of other models (including Meghan Collison and Grace Mahary) showed off loads of things we’ll want to wear in ‘60s-mad Spring 2013: mini shift dresses, trapeze jackets, illusion dots and op-art prints in fabrics that are definitely of this century (neoprene, now a familiar Joe Fresh signature, perforated faux-leather, a fabric seemingly textured to resemble lizard skin). White, black, silver and sky blue were the only colours in the sky, with a small golden punctuation mark at the end in the form of a mixed metallic doily dress and foil painted denim—an update to fall’s waxed jeans we’re all obsessed with. Joe Fresh’s shoe designers came up with round-toed, white mesh heels, perforated pointy Mary-Janes and a chunky, pointed Céline-like pump, best in that baby blue. Pat Cleveland took her time leading and then falling behind her youthful colleagues in the finale, neither she nor we wanting her moment in the limelight to end.

See the Versailles ’73 party photos »

Though it marked a monumental shift in fashion history, November 28, 1973 has passed through history with none of the mythological treatment as 1962’s Black and White ball or even a single Met ball. Until now that is. Brought to life by director Deborah Riley Draper, Versailles ’73 tells the story of a fashion show of French and American designs which was originally meant to simply fund the palace’s much needed repairs but became the moment that brought American fashion into the forefront. With legendary fresh-makers Liza Minelli, Kay Thompson and Pat Cleveland at the forefront of the American presentation, the show of designs by Halston, Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Stephen Burrows and Anne Klein rocked a guestlist of Princess Grace of Monaco, CZ Guest, Andy Warhol, Lee Radziwell and Baroness Marie-Hélène de Rothschild and more to its feet with simplistic and impactful presentation and lively African American models (spearheaded by Pat Cleveland, who literally spun from one end of the stage to the next).

View FASHION’s 35th anniversary party photos »
Check out our archive of every FASHION cover since 1977 »

What’s better than a birthday party? Your own birthday party! On Wednesday night, the FASHION team (well, that’d be us) celebrated the magazine’s 35^th anniversary, and as you might expect, Toronto’s most stylish guys and gals were out in full force. 700 of our closest friends packed into the Distillery’s Fermenting Cellar to toast us with Skyy Vodka cocktails, mini burgers and musical performances by Divine Brown and The Parallels.

Check out the photos of the MOON Ambassadors! »

Fresh from the launch of their new e-commerce website and recent pop-up shop in Toronto, Canada’s MOON Apparel has given us a peek at their new campaign, which will feature bloggers from across the country, including some very familiar faces.

The modern fashion line, which is helmed by Jordin and Tamara Mimran (the nephew and niece of Mr. Joe Fresh himself, Joe Mimran) is celebrating individual street style and in doing so have partnered with ten stylish fashion bloggers from five cities across Canada. The bloggers that have been specially selected will be members of an ambassador program set to launch this month in conjunction with MOON’s recently launched online store.