FASHION Magazine

Praise the red carpet gods! The stars really pulled out all the stops this year at TIFF, which was great to see, given some years’ lackluster outings. Lace, length, and print were big trends this year, and so were megawatt designers, from Marisa Tomei‘s Proenza Schouler, to Madonna‘s Tom Ford, to Elizabeth Olsen‘s Erdem. They’re all big winners in our eyes, but if you HAD to choose, who would be your favourite? Vote after the jump!

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Word: Madgesty

Meaning: The singular world-reigning effect of the one, the only Madonna.

Usage: To quote (and slightly alter) Ovid, “Madgesty and love do not consort well together, nor do they dwell in the same place.”

The world’s biggest, and perhaps bravest, pop star stormed Roy Thomson Hall last night for the premiere of W.E., a film she directed and co-wrote. The love story of Wallis Simpson and the Prince of Wales, with a parallel tale of a Wallis-obsessed doctor’s wife, is Madonna’s first feature effort, a career move that film critics have not taken kindly to. I found W.E. to be entertaining, stylish, and fun, and I admire Madonna for holding her Garren-coiffed head high amid the barbs. After a private meeting, screening, and invitation to join her at her table for dinner, here are some other things I learned:

As usual, Madonna was looking insanely amazing on the red carpet at the TIFF premiere of her new film W.E. Though the Tom Ford sheer-topped dressed, satin Brian Atwood Mary Janes, and fishnets are far from a head-to-toe leather catsuit, we can’t help but hear “Express yourself, don’t repress yourself” on loop in our heads. It’s her “Human Nature” look all over again! Amazing, amazing, and about a million more amazings after that.

Word: Swag

Meaning: Swag has two main contemporary definitions: 1) Valuable stuff you got for free, or stole; and 2) appearance and self-presentation, usually in a rap subculture we could call “swagster rap.”

Usage: “Flow colder than February with extraordinary swag.” ― T.I., “Swagger Like Us.”

By Bianca Teixeira

When Madonna frolicked about in a hot-pink dress singing about being a “Material Girl” back in 1985, we doubt she imagined being sued for ownership of the phrase 26 years later.

L.A. Triumph, a brand that has been selling their own line of junior girls’ clothing under the name since 1997, is taking the singer to court, claiming that her use of the phrase in reference to her Material Girl collection creates confusion for buyers.

The label is demanding that Madonna’s line—for which Kelly Osbourne is the face—turn over all profits made since its launch last summer. Both sides will see the inside of a courtroom in mid-October. A judge has already denied the request by the superstar to have the case thrown out, with Madonna’s reps insisting that she is the “senior user” of the phrase.

Will the real Material Girl please stand up?

Metal princess, sometimes singer, and TV personality Kelly Osbourne’s adding a new title to her list: poster girl. The new face of Madonna and daughter Lourdes Leon’s clothing line, Material Girl, was in Toronto yesterday for the fall collection launch at the Bay to partake in a fan-filled Q&A session with eTalk’s Tanya Kim—during which she heralded the likes of Gaga for “putting bravery back into fashion.” Known for her call-it-like-it-is honesty and humour, Osbourne was in full force yesterday when we chatted before her appearance, describing her style as the drunk Marilyn Monroe and poking fun at the perfumers behind her scent for the day: “It’s by a company called Mûre et Musc, and it’s really spelled like ‘extreme,’ but they try to make it fancy by [pronouncing] it differently.”

Read our interview »
View photos from yesterday’s event! »

It’s no secret that we’re all a little fixated with the styles of the past. Each season, a reference (or many) to full skirts, bellbottoms, or drop waists pops up on the runway, and we embrace it with a fresh new take on how to dress it up. Riffing on the past without looking like you came out of a time machine though—therein lies the rub. Before you delve into your old gems, take a look at how the style icons of today have interpreted the icons of days gone by.

View our icons of then and now »

John Galliano’s court date draws closer. The ex-Dior designer will be going on trial this Wednesday. [Vogue UK]

“So pleased.” That was how Jean Paul Gaultier summed up his feelings about his retrospective Monday night at the VIP party held at Montreal’s Musée des Beaux-Arts. “The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk” opened Monday night with an intimate gathering that mixed Gaultier’s inner circle with Quebec designers and celebs. Male muse Tanel Bedrossiantz in skirt and mohawk, bald and tattooed Ève Salvail, Francisco Randez, star of Gaultier Le Male fragrance ads and doll-like French singer Arielle, in body-hugging tulle, joined musician Melissa Auf der Maur, International Herald Tribune critic Suzy Menkes, Newsweek’s Robin Givhan, and hairstylist Odile Gilbert in touring the show. An ebullient Gaultier, who initially had not been keen on the notion of a retrospective—“it can be like a funeral,” he told me back in January—was clearly enjoying himself, wandering the rooms and amiably chatting and posing for photos.

Jean Paul Gaultier isn’t crazy about career retrospectives. “I think they can be like a funeral sometimes,” winces the original bad boy of fashion, who turns 60 next year. We are sitting on the stage of Gaultier’s Rue Saint-Martin headquarters, where his punk-themed Spring 2011 couture collection has just been unveiled. Models strutted down the runway in his sailor-striped organza and leather lace bombers to a voice-over of Catherine Deneuve describing each exquisite outfit, rather than music. Almost everyone—including boy bride Andrej Pejic—was coiffed in some riff on a mohawk, and Gaultier himself came bounding out to take his bow in a spiked wig.

There’s something dangerous and sexy about Istanbul: the clash and dance between East and West, between hot new scene and ancient culture. It makes it the right place for culturati to collide and let loose in a way you’d never see at, say, a New York Fashion Week party. Hence: Istancool, which is a Liberatum Global festival (in association with Vakko, Istanbul ’74 and AnOther) in its second year, and how I spent my weekend.

Liberatum’s stated aim is “connecting Britain’s finest minds with the world”⎯in addition to Istanbul, they’ve done festivals in Rio, Moscow and Papua New Guinea. But it’s best understood as a travelling circus: the hyper-charming, 27-year-old Liberatum founder Pablo Ganguli plays ringleader, while fashion (and art, and culture) freaks tag along.