FASHION Magazine

Sixty years on the throne certainly deserves some grand form of recognition, and in Queen Elizabeth II’s case, that means a kingdom-wide jewel-incrusted celebration. As part of the celebration—which already boasts a special-edition Butter London nail polish colour, for one—Harrods commissioned the creation of 31 elaborate, handmade crowns from renowned designers around the globe, to be on display at the store’s famed Knightsbridge location. To mark the occasion, Harrods has swapped its trademark green canopies for stately golden frames, each showcasing one of the designer-created crowns.

Alongside Lanvin, Bvlgari, and even Dom Perignon, some of Britain’s most treasured designers contributed their designs to the crown collection as well, including Paul Smith, whose crown is laden with British memorabilia, and Mulberry, whose “hundreds and thousands” explosion of colour adds a refreshing sense of whimsy.

View the crown collection »

For Alexandre Despatie, diving is all about aesthetics. “Every time I step on the boards, I’m judged by how I look,” says the two-time Olympic medallist while on set at his Men’s FASHION cover shoot in Toronto. “It’s a fact I live with. My form has to be sharp. Every angle of my body is studied—it’s what I’m marked on.”

At a solid five-foot-eight and 155 pounds, Despatie’s frame is noticeably well toned. As he approaches the camera in a brief black swimsuit, an air of confidence radiates from his diamond-cut build. “Our bodies are our machines—our Formula One race cars,” he later says, after throwing on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. “They need to be perfect to run well.”

In the midst of preparing for the London Summer Games—his fourth Olympiad to date—the Montrealer is clearly running on overdrive. Heading to the gym six days a week, he maintains a schedule that befits his title as Canada’s 36-time senior diving champion. Yet his daily routine—which includes 1,000 crunches, one hour of strength training, 20 minutes of trampoline work, an indoor cycling program called PowerWatts and 50 sets of ab exercises called “pike-ups”—is something he feels “lucky” to be able to  do at all.

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Attention Joe Fresh fanatics. Today, we bring you the woman behind your favourite spring (and summer, and winter…) visions. As the brand’s style director, Adrienne Shoom heads up all styling and imaging for all of its marketing campaigns, print ads, commercials and in‐store visual campaigns. She’s also the champ behind the brand’s much-anticipated fashion week shows. So, how does she do it all? Here’s at least a partial answer.

View the style snaps »

Good news for gentlemen everywhere—the British Fashion Council has announced the creation of a new menswear fashion week. Dubbed London’s “fashion long week(end),” the new shows will run for three days starting June 15 and also precede Milan and Paris men’s fashion weeks every January and June.

The planning committee, run by GQ editor Dylan Jones, has been under pressure to re-establish British menswear—the fashion long weekend’s previous incarnation as a one-day event lost buyers and press because it overlapped with the first day of Milan womenswear collections. This year there may still be some timing conflicts: the debut shows are expected to be a big to-do, as they’ll fall smack dab in the middle of the London 2012 Olympics hullabaloo.

Today, we’ve got a special treat by way of our beloved fashion director Susie Sheffman’s little Roots bag of curiosities. Inside? Three identical pairs of glasses, love notes from her children, styling clamps, and a plastic fork. All things that will make you go hmmm…

Lets explore! »

Best thing about LFW: all the different venues. More shows are held outside the great white tents than in them. From the Saatchi Gallery to the Science Museum, a repurposed industrial warehouse to a shabby-genteel flat, every day is a whipstitch through London’s patchwork heart. Yesterday morning was a favourite: Erdem (Montreal-born, London-adored) showcased his FW ‘09 collection in the Embankment Galleries at Somerset House. Down by the Thames and across a cobblestoned courtyard, it couldn’t have been better on a postcard.