FASHION Magazine

I stumbled upon the cutest boutique ever on my way to a vegan treat at Aux Vivres (you have to try it!) last week. Lustre (4429 St-Laurent Blvd., 514-288-7661, lustreboutique.blogspot.com) has the charm of a high school crush and the look of a modern hip girl. As with many other stores I’ve mentioned in this blog, the owner, Yasmine Wasfy, is also the designer of the boutique’s eponymous house label.

You know summer is officially here when:

a) the Main is closed for the weekend and you can smell the chow mein from miles away.

b) You and your friends are trying desperately to find a new friend with a pool.

c) the Festival Mode et Design is finally taking downtown in hostage! From June 17 to 20, get ready for full fashion and music marathon. Here’s my personal to do list for the festival this year:

Eating up the East Coast love is all well and good for our Atlantic Canadian designers, but who can say no to a little national exposure? Not Kim Munson, Anna Gilkerson and the Sunsets on the Eastside trio, who will have their designs walked down the runway at Montreal’s Festival Mode & Design (June 17 to 20, festivalmodedesign.com) as part of the event’s inaugural cross-Canada showcase on Thursday, June 18.

The TransCanada Runway will bring together designers from Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Nunavut, Toronto, Montreal and our beloved Maritimes and marks the first time Atlantic Canada has been represented at the festival, a four-day event produced by Sensation Mode, who also put together Montreal Fashion Week.

If I could live in store, then I know this boutique would be my home. With a minimalist design, big wood letters spelling out the shop name, a Victorian-inspired black and beige couch hanging in the middle of the room and amazing designer clothes all around, boy oh boy have I found my fashion nest! Amélie Thellen and Mélanie Robillard’s, Unicorn (5135 St-Laurent Blvd, 514-544-2828, boutiqueunicorn.com) has found a sweet niche right on the main drag in the heart of Mile-End. Carrying local, national and international designers (such as Eve Gravel, Minimarket, WESC, Lifetime, Dace and more), the shop, which launched last year, offers also an amazing selection of vintage clothing and bags, carefully picked by the two owners. Inspired by their social conscience, Thellen and Robillard also started the monthly CollectiveUNI nights, where women meet to develop their creative side by knitting, sewing, make jewellery, food and so on. A great activity for a tourist in town who’s looking for an inside look at Montrealers! To keep my blog tradition alive, I asked Amélie if she could answer some of my questions with just a few words:

It’s spring again, and yours truly has been very socially active – in a frugalista’s wardrobe, but who cares? At the season’s hottest event, the Montreal Museum of Fine Art’s Eyes Wide Open fundraising gala (lesyeuxgrandsouverts.com), the city’s finest danced, drank champagne and sake, clad in fantastic geisha-inspired costumes. There were kimonos galore, but also live sumo wrestling and performances all over the museum. We already can’t wait to find out the theme for next year!

To me, the recession and climate change are the best excuses to convince you all to start shopping for vintage (hence recycled) clothes. Whatever your budget and however you like to shop, these are both good reasons to join in. First of all, don’t be afraid! The secret on how to wear old stuff is pretty simple: don’t wear it from head to toe. Mixing up designer labels, vintage clothes and low-cost goods not only to makes for an original outfit, but also helps you create your own fashion identity.

Hands and shoes. That’s what I’ve always looked at first in a person. I always thought hands captured the essence of someone and shoes captured their level of style. After all, shoes are what makes an outfit perfect. Some see footwear as an ordinary necessity–I see it as the final touch of elegance and creativity. Shoes should make a statement and people should look at you with a question mark in their face (Is she crazy or she’s cutting edge? Could I really wear those shoes?) or else, they’re just not worth the ride.

Every once in a while you get to meet someone genuinely good and inspiring, with sparkles in her eyes that gets you thinking that if you’d known her a little bit better you’d realize her heart is bigger than Mount Everest. To me, that person is the sweet Jennifer Glasgow, proud co-owner of one of my favourite boutiques, General 54 (54 St. Viateur W., 514-271-2129, general54.blogspot.com) and designer of her own eponymous label.

My favorite Sundays are usually the ones where I get to read a book while eating breakfast on the counter at Dusty’s, topped off by a nice walk through Mile End and up to one of my favorite little stores, General 54 (54 St. Viateur W., 514-271-2129, general54.blogspot.com). 

A great ending to Montreal Fashion Week: Denis Gagnon’s runway show and after-party at the Fullum & Holt factory last Thursday! After regaining consciousness from the hypnotic and impressive fashion show (read all about it on Shirine’s blog), people woke up slowly to tunes mixed by Thomas Von Party while greeting friends and acquaintances on the temporary catwalk that crossed the factory.

Euphoric, apocalyptic, and deliciously luxurious: Last night’s Denis Gagnon show was the highlight of Fashion Week.

Blame it on the recession or the freezing temperatures, but the mood at Montreal Fashion Week was at once festive and dark. Crowds braved the icy sidewalks in their shiny stilettos and lightweight coats to flock to the illuminated Marché Bonsecours, where there were few shows but a good dose of fun parties.