FASHION Magazine

See the photos from Holt Renfrew’s Uncrate India party »

We gave you a behind-the-scenes peek at how Alexandra Weston and Waris Ahluwalia curated the Holt Renfrew H Project Uncrate India collection. We shared 50+ artisanal items from the collection. And now it’s time to take a look at the incredible bash that Holt Renfrew threw last night in celebration of it all. The Bloor Street store was transformed into a vibrant Indian market, welcoming hundreds of guests adorned in sari-inspired attire. Rooms were tented with pink and orange fabric for an intimate feel, gilded bird cages stuffed with flowers hung from the ceilings and guests were greeted upon arrival with a shower of rose petals. But the lavish extravaganza didn’t stop there.

With a month long of Fall 2013 fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris coming to a close and Toronto Fashion Week just revving up, our mental shopping notes are already full with all the new things we want added to our closet. Heeled oxfords! Mini globes! Next level grunge! Most mere mortals will have to wait at least six months for Fall 2013’s newness to hit the ground floor, but we’ve found a few ways to get in on the trends you’re drooling over right now. The best part? You won’t be spending a dime. From Prada’s ever-clever fur and gingham combo to Chanel’s necklace-over-hair combo, our very own editors are showing you 5 chic and easy ways to get on your favourite Fall 2013 trends ASAP.

View FASHION’s 35th anniversary party photos »
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What’s better than a birthday party? Your own birthday party! On Wednesday night, the FASHION team (well, that’d be us) celebrated the magazine’s 35^th anniversary, and as you might expect, Toronto’s most stylish guys and gals were out in full force. 700 of our closest friends packed into the Distillery’s Fermenting Cellar to toast us with Skyy Vodka cocktails, mini burgers and musical performances by Divine Brown and The Parallels.

Considering the fact that toe surgery has apparently become a “thing” (cosmetic surgery to slim down obese toes, for those of you not in the know), we’re apt to believe the girls behind SPARK Movement when they say that the pressure has never been stronger when it comes to conforming to beauty ideals.

These teenage activists are pointing a finger at teen-girl targeted magazines like Seventeen and Teen Vogue, saying their continued airbrushing and underrepresentation of “real” models is contributing to unattainable, unrealistic beauty ideals. They called on the magazines to completely cut out Photoshop (even down to airbrushing out pimples or brightening up a smile) and to focus on putting real girls in their publications.

“[These magazines] bombard young women with images that have been distorted and digitally altered . . . these photoshopped images are extremely dangerous to girls like us who read them, because they keep telling us: you are not skinny enough, pretty enough or perfect enough. Well, neither are the girls in the pictures!” the SPARK girls write on their home site.

Last week, SPARK member Julia Bluhm managed to pull together over 85,000 signatures for a petition to Seventeen, and the magazine actually responded. They published a “Body Peace Treaty” in their print edition, stating that they “never have, never will” alter the shape of models’ faces or bodies (which isn’t promising any change, really), and that they will make efforts to be more transparent with what goes into their editing process.

Following their co-SPARK member’s success, Carina Cruz and Emma Stydahar tried their hand at Teen Vogue yesterday, staging a guerilla red carpet runway show in front of the Conde Nast buildings and scoring an interview with Editor-in-Chief Amy Astley. Despite having racked up about 35,000 signatures for their Teen Vogue–specific petition, the girls told New York Daily News they were disappointed with their rushed conversation with Astley.

Though Cruz and Stydahar evidently did not get the response they were looking for, Teen Vogue’s publicist Erin Kaplan issued a statement saying the magazine is already careful to not retouch models’ body shapes in their pages.

While we doubt magazines can honestly promise a full rehaul of their image editing processes, considering how entrenched they are in years-long practices, we do commend the girls for trying to encourage their peers to seek real beauty. What do you think: should glossies continue to offer aspirational if unrealistic images of beauty, or should they start featuring girls that teens can more easily relate to?

In a move that could be straight out of The Devil Wears Prada, the New York Post’s Page Six is reporting that Condé Nast is pulling out all the stops in its attempt to freeze out former Condé editor Carine Roitfeld.

A source told Page Six that Condé Nast CEO Jonathan Newhouse sent out a friendly “reminder” to contracted contributors like Mario Testino, Craig McDean, David Sims and the Mert Alas/Marcus Piggott team about their exclusive contracts with Condé, and that contributing to Roitfeld’s new biannual glossy CR Fashion Book would violate their agreements.

Even those who are not under contractual obligation with Condé Nast are being strongly “discouraged” from contributing to CR, which will be published by Fashion Media Group LLC.

After having left her post as editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris amid a flurry of rumours (most hinting at tensions between Roitfeld and Newhouse), the fashion industry was abuzz with excitement over what direction the always edgy and fascinating Roitfeld would take. So far, all her ventures have been far from disappointing.

Given Roitfeld’s popularity with the who’s-who of the fashion world, it will be interesting to see how this rumoured power struggle unfolds. We can only imagine the number of advertisers, brands, editors and photographers who are caught between a desperate desire to collaborate with Roitfeld and the fear of some serious backlash from publishing heavyweight Condé Nast.

Never a stranger to controversy, Dov Charney is in the hot seat again after having finally admitted that American Apparel’s long-held “Made in America” practices may not be as steadfast a policy as everyone had thought.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the label’s head honcho was adamant that American Apparel would keep creating its products in California… for now, at least.

What has seemed like the longest celebrity pregnancy in the history of the world is finally over. No more false alarms, Jessica Simpson has finally given birth to a…baby (and not a llama, as one Toronto boldface may have suggested). The fashion mogul and her fiancé, NFL star Eric Johnson, welcomed a baby girl and they’ve given her a somewhat normal name: Maxwell Drew Johnson (a tribute to the couple’s families: Maxwell is the maiden name of Johnson’s mother, and Drew is Simpson’s mother’s maiden name.)

Despite the long-running jokes about it being a never-ending pregnancy, Simpson proves that she is in fact human, giving birth in just under nine months to the 9 lbs., 13 ounces bundle.

Simpson, who remained in the public eye throughout (since her pregnancy announcement via Twitter last Halloween), released a statement on her website saying “This has been the greatest experience of our lives!! […] We are so grateful for all of the love, support and prayers we have received.”

The mogul reportedly has said that she wanted to start clothing lines for kids and babies, and perhaps now she has her feature model! Hmm, could little Maxwell be giving Blue Ivy a run for her money?

Miss Universe Canada has disqualified a “real girl” on the grounds of…well…not being a “real girl.” In a circular, confusing and seriously offensive series of events, Miss Universe Canada pulled transgender finalist Jenna Talackova from the competition on the basis that she didn’t meet competition rules.

CTV is reporting that though the application states contestants must be between the ages of 18-27 and Canadian, it says nothing about cosmetic surgery. Not according to Miss Universe Canada’s national director, Denis Davila, who said that the rules state each contestant must be a “naturally born female” and that Talackova lied about that on her registration form.

Though beauty pageants have never been known for their progressive thinking (or even thinking for that matter), this seems especially antiquated; we’re in an age of Andrej Pejic acting as the new Cindy Crawford and Lea T starring in Givenchy campaigns. We will say though, that it’s somewhat heartening to consider how strongly the mainstream media has rallied around Talackova and her cause.

Fashion is no stranger to political leanings, but a new fashion line out of Zimbabwe has everyone reconsidering the power of clothing. Zimbabwean fashion line House of Gushungo is celebrating all things Robert Mugabe, the controversial African president. The line, named after Mugabe’s clan, features T-shirts, caps, and berets all somewhat gaudily emblazoned with a silver-studded presidential signature. While the clothes are not the most fashion-forward items (we’re being kind), it’s the message behind them that has human-rights campaigners worried.

CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg is not going to let anything slide when it comes to health regulations for models. After last year’s fiasco—an underage 15-year-old (16 being legal age for models), Hailey Clauson, walked in Furstenberg’s Fall 2011 show without her knowledge—the designer is determined to ensure all shows follow the CFDA’s endorsed health guidelines. The guidelines were updated on Thursday.

Furstenberg, scandalized by the incident, pledged, “any model walking in the Diane von Furstenberg runway will have shown I.D. prior to the show,” and is asking other designers to do the same.

To further reinforce this regulation and promote awareness, the CFDA sent a guide to help recognize eating disorders. The lengthy guidelines suggest the industry do things like “Encourage models who may have an eating disorder to seek professional help in order to continue modeling,” and “Develop workshops for the industry on the nature of eating disorders” Extensive list? Yes, but definitely necessary.

DVF has been blazing this trail for a while now, but we fear there’s more work to be done. In the meantime, let’s hope other designers follow in her footsteps for the Fall 2012 shows.

Looks like Tyra’s gaining another female perspective. It was announced this morning that Kelly Cutrone will replace Andre Leon Talley as the fourth America’s Next Top Model judge next season. Known for her intense attitude (and that’s putting it mildly) on The Hills and The City, the founder of now-famed PR firm People’s Revolution will no doubt up the drama ante on the panel.

As for the rumours that a tiff with Banks is the reason for Talley’s departure, he dismissed them, telling Page Six “It’s all good in the neighborhood.” (Oh, okay.)  Although we’re sad to see Talley’s high-fashion credibility go, Cutrone’s blunt and quote-worthy advice is sure to bring some entertaining moments. Cue the waterworks.

This morning, news broke that Giles Deacon is no longer working as creative director and leading designer at Ungaro. The story of the reported mutual breakup is being met with surprise, coming just weeks shy of Paris fashion week, and after only two collections (and two very well received collections at that) with the Parisian fashion house. The Spring 2012 line will be the last collab between Deacon and Ungaro, and is rumoured to not even have been designed by Deacon himself, but instead “reflect the work of the design team.”

Deacon was the latest in a long list of short-lived collaborations with the likes of Giambattista Valli, Peter Dundas, Esteban Cortazar and even Lindsay Lohan. His departure begs the question: is the brand stable?

Having such a tumultuous staff does not bode well, and with no replacement named, we will wait with baited breath to see what the future holds for the Ungaro name as well as its place within the industry.