FASHION Magazine

Divine. There is no other word to describe Marion Cotillard, who floated into last night’s Rust & Bone 2012 Toronto International Film Festival dinner in Look 38, straight off the Dior Haute Couture runway. The tweed strapless dress with back peplum from Raf Simons’s first collection for the house will be a tough red carpet act to follow for stars attending TIFF this year. The dinner, hosted by Moet & Chandon champagne, was held at the subterranean Michael’s on Simcoe St. Cotillard arrived with co-star Matthias Schoenarts before later zipping off to the TIFF film screening at the Elgin theatre. At the dinner, Marion Cotillard politely posed with anyone brave enough to be compared to her aqua blue eyes, rose pink lips and hair swooped up into an elegant wave. Marion Cotillard’s royal blue silk satin slingbacks with yellow tulle trim were a hopeful sign that the skyscraper heel trend is finis (as of TIFF 2012 that is). The needle-toe shoes were set on a low comma heel, an innovation designed by Roger Vivier for Christian Dior back in the ‘50s.

For those of you who thought synchronized swimming only existed at the Olympics, think again. The prettiest water sport proved to be alive and well at Greta Constantine’s annual summer bash last Thursday. Held in the grandiose backyard of Michael Cooper and Krystal Koo’s east Annex home in Toronto, guests were left spellbound when mid-soiree, a foursome of girls (IRL members of the Variety Village Synchro Club) jumped into the pool, performing to Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl.” After that, things got back to normal, and by that we mean many many Stoli cocktails held by gals in floor-length dresses (case in point: Ainsley Kerr and Shay Lowe wore matching diaphanous aquamarine gowns). Toward night’s end, as many free spirited gals kicked off their heels to dip in the pool, fifty-something artist Andrea Bolley was spotted dancing on her own to Diego Armand’s DJ set with moves that made many a youthful onlooker green with Advanced Style envy.

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If there were ever an example of dress code done well, it’d be last Thursday’s launch event for Marc Jacobs’ latest fragrance, Dot. The light and fruity fragrance came to life with its ladybug covered petal flacon inspiring a roomful of dot-wearing partygoers, dotted champagne cocktails (read: blueberries) and a dot manicure station from the team at Tips Nail Bar. With so many dotty ensembles in the mix, it was nearly impossible to pick a favourite. Nearly. In a green polka dot blouse, black polka dot shorts, and oversized bib costume necklace, Style Panel’s Danielle Roche, who sat tweeting the night away alongside her Kastor & Pollux co-conspirator Bianca Venerayan, got our vote.

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Last night, the trio behind The Coveteur (along with the industry fans who love them) descended upon the private abode of a one miss Natasha Koifman to celebrate RW&CO’s new e-commerce website (coming soon) as well as to unofficially kick off the two-week countdown to TIFF. With the site’s founders, Erin Kleinberg, Stephanie Mark and Jake Rosenberg all head-to-toed in RW&CO’s fall collection, the soiree served as a stylish farewell to summer. However, the team at NKPR was surely not ready to give it up just yet, with an ice cream truck parked outside, Tiny Tom Donuts, Food Dudes nachos and Kernel’s popcorn served inside. To boot, TIFF-ified Skyy Vodka cocktails inspired by several of this year’s A-listers (ahem, Knightley, Gosling and Paltrow) with old-fashioned paper straws. Not to mention, the entire event took place in and around Koifman’s pool and waterfall hot tub. No big deal.

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Toronto’s party circuit came full circle last night with a toast to the 60 lads and ladies who made this year’s Worthy 30. The list, curated by society scribe Shinan Govani, is part who’s-who of the city (there are also Worthy 30 lists for Montreal and Vancouver) and part singles directory, with the clause that anyone nominated cannot be married, engaged or living with a significant other. Meaning: after a few rounds of sponsored Grey Goose cocktails, the mingling almost veered into matchmaking. As for the Worthy in attendance, the men, including Simon Wilkinson, proved that cut-off shorts can look just as stylish as a three-piece suit. (Though respect to Braden Rosner for braving all those layers in the extreme heat!) Lacy details, on the other hand, proved popular with the Worthy women, with Jen Kirch, Courtne Smith, Lauren O’Nizzle and our own online editor Randi Bergman all wearing items with cut-out details. Hopeful jokes were made that perhaps Chloë Grace Moretz or Jake Gyllenhaal would make an appearance, given that both made it onto the “Side Dish” section of the list and are currently filming separate projects in Toronto. Alas, unless they were hiding inside one of the oversized Dedon nest-shaped loungers, we didn’t see them.

Wowza! M.A.C Cosmetics brought body art to the streets of old Montreal last week with an outdoor exhibit of living statues created by some of the brand’s expert artists. The exhibit entitled “Hit the Pavement” transformed actors into aged copper, tin and gold statues so realistic, you had to get up close to see that they were, in fact, breathing! Major kudos go to the artists for creating such a fantastical feat. We truly can’t get enough of these photos.

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The tutus were out in full force for the official opening of the National Ballet of Canada’s twofold exhibitions celebrating the company’s first 60 years. 60 Years of Designing the Ballet and the Tutu Project debuted with a glitzy reveal at Toronto’s Design Exchange, with everyone from the ballet’s own dancers like Greta Hodgkinson, Tina Pereira and former prima ballerina Victoria Tennant to Jeanne Beker and Vawk’s Sunny Fong raising a glass in toast. The first exhibit, a look back at some of the most notable costumes and sets curated by the company’s former costume designer Caroline O’Brien, came complete with ultra-lifelike dessert tables and a magical blue sleigh from The Nutcracker and several costumes for the wishful dancers to try on and pose with (we indulged, obviously). The second, an assembly of 60 specially designed tutus—one to celebrate each year in business—was displayed throughout the room. Guests seemed to take their toast quite literally, with Kara Alloway in a voluminous Mary Katrantzou lampshade skirt, Karolyne Ellacott in an actual tutu dress and several other attendees sporting pulled-back ballet topknots.

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By the time Style Panel‘s Mo Handahu hit her sweet sixteen in 1998, she knew two things: she couldn’t live without colour and she would grow up to be great. Last month, with the launch of her Summer 2012 Clutch Culture collection at Halifax’s chic FRED, the young designer made darn certain the packed house would agree with her.

Handahu started the evening with a collection that more than nodded to that pivotal year in the 29-year-old designer’s life. As Lauryn Hill’s “That Thing” filled the white, airy venue, models flooded the runway in printed mini dresses, neon-armed wayfarers, punchy shoulder-slung blazers and bright pumps—all second to Handahu’s bold (and beautiful) clutches. The “1998” collection, made up of oversized pieces in streamlined shapes and unapologetic patterns, aren’t for the meek: if you have to ask, “what could I wear that with?” Handahu admits her clutches just aren’t for you. Her second shown collection (because a quest for greatness might as well involve two home runs) made a different connection to the designer’s past. With “Wild Hearts,” the Zimbabwe-born designer’s heritage was pulled to centre stage with a series of elegant handbags in deep and intricate African prints.

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While the rest of the city was busy setting off Canada Day fireworks and lining the streets for the annual blowout Pride Parade, Toronto’s hippest were hanging in the beautifully shaded backyard belonging to gallerist Daniel Faria. Co-hosted by Faria and alongside Rui Amaral and Andrea Beechey, the backyard soiree (complete with drag show by Mozza Fierce, tunes by DJ Diego Armand and drinks served by topless The Earl’s Men) was a welcome respite from the frenzied pulse beating through the city’s wears. Instead, guests like Trinity Jackman, Jeremy Laing, Frank Griggs and Catherine Dean favoured easy breezy Ts, loose summer dresses, tropical prints and strapped flats. Check out our favourite shots from street shooter extraordinaire, Textstyles’ Stefania Yarhi.

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Dirt diehards came from Thunder Bay, Ottawa, London and even Montreal for Toronto’s 7th Annual Smut Soiree to hear Elaine “Lainey” Lui dish with Dan Levy as her wingman. Held at Evergreen Brickworks, and hosted by The Society and Laineygossip.com, the event was rampant with girls putting on their try, with a sea of jersey, towering heels and neon accessories as far as the eye could see. Stations offering press-on manicures by Broadway nails, lashes by Ardell, makeup applications by Stila and hair primping by John Frieda stylists were being mobbed like a Twilight premiere.

But gossip was the main event, and promptly at 8:30 p.m., the talk was flowing. Among the revelations:

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Another three months have passed and with that, a new cycle of the Art Gallery of Alberta’s late-night Refinery art parties, this time with creative director Tim Rechner at the helm.

The theme rooted itself in the latest feature exhibit running until October 14, The Automatiste Revolution: Montreal 1941-1960, which includes a collection of 60 works of art, as well as photographs, books and other ephemera documenting the history of Quebec’s Automatiste troupe, and Canada’s first truly avant-garde art movement.

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The National Ballet of Canada must be feeling quite royal this year because it’s celebrating a diamond anniversary (that being 60 years) of pliés, and toasted as such at last night’s glittering Diamond Gala. The special edition of the company’s annual Mad Hot gala featured five performance works, including premieres of two spellbinding works, Polar Night (choreographed by Robert Binet and danced by real-life couple Heather Ogden and Guillaume Côté) and Silence Screams Venom (choreographed by Côté and danced by Greta Hodgkinson alongside Giorgio Galli, Keiichi Hirano, Patrick Lavoie and Christopher Stalzer) and finishing off with the most glittering of all: an excerpt from George Balanchine’s Diamonds, complete with the entire company decked out in jewel-encrusted costumes.

After the performances, the full house, including the ballet’s artistic director Karen Kain, Rufus Wainwright and Jorn Weisbrödt and the fabulously feathered Lynda Prince (who was overheard giving Kain posing directions) mingled all around the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. The designer-clad doyennes, Victoria Webster, Trinity Jackman, Cleophee Eaton and Amy Burstyn-Fritz, made Katrantzou/Erdem/McQueen sightings seem as simple as it could be with vodka cocktails and rock candy stir sticks in hand.