FASHION Magazine

See the shots from Birks 135th Anniversary Gala » When you’re turning 135, it’s high time to roll out the red carpet or, in the case of Maison Birks, the blue carpet. The iconic Canadian jewellery house took over Toronto’s Shangri-La hotel Saturday evening for a celebratory birthday dinner in support of honeybee research and preservation. […]

The post On the Bee-List: Jewellery lovers gather to fete Maison Birks’ 135th Anniversary Gala appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

See the J.Crew Collection store party pics »

Toronto Fashion Week may be more than a month away, but street style trends were top of mind for the city’s fashion lovers last week. And with good reason: J. Crew held a sleek party to celebrate the opening of its first Collection store on Bloor Street, making it the brand’s fifth Toronto location and first standalone store. Unlike other locations, the J.Crew Collection store features a curated selection of limited edition women’s and menswear pieces, including accessories (hello, statement jewellery!) cashmere and more.

Despite its 6,000+ square foot size, the store was tightly packed with eager party guests, many of whom were likely hoping to catch a glimpse of the woman who makes print mixing look as natural as wearing neutrals. Alas, it was not to be: a blizzard in New York meant Jenna Lyons was stranded and we had to settle for an Instagram stand-in—which did indeed complemented the party’s Canadian-ified photo booth. (Complete with stuffed moose and a Pharrell-meets-Mountie hat.)

See all the Operanation 2013 party pics »

On Thursday night the Four Seasons Centre was decidedly catering to just one season, with the expansive performance hall transformed into a luscious garden of evil. Filled with party goers and potted plants alike, the green-tinged space was all for the Candian Opera Company’s Operanation fundraising gala, themed as “A Night of Temptation” for its tenth iteration.

While all-black ensembles were by far the most popular fashion statement, texture allowed for individuality. From mesh cut-outs and ruffled pleats to velvet and sequin add-ons, the little black dress (or gown, for that matter) certainly stood out at Operanation. Darker colours, such as navy-blue and deep jade-green—as seen on soprano Leigh Anne-Allen and The Hudson Bay Company’s Megan Loach—provided a different take the all-black trend and should make inky gowns a gala must. And on the opposite end of the colour spectrum, bright primary colours stood out in the sea of dark shades, including Tatiana Read in red, FASHION’s editor-in-chief Bernadette Morra in blue Viktor and Rolf, and a hit of yellow, courtesy Odessa Paloma Parker’s Jeremy Laing number.