FASHION Magazine

We have a bit of a crush on Zane Aburaneh, otherwise known as the Zane in A2zane (a2zane.com), the online store he started back in April. It’s also the name of a Queen Street pop-up shop (1040 Queen St. W., 416-803-7754) that opened its doors last month and that will run until March 2011. The affable and charming Aburaneh stocks a selection of chic handbags from hard-to-find French and UK, as well as Canadian, labels, along with a selection of wallets, watches and scarves. It’s no surprise that the styles he gravitates to are those that seem to be missing from other stores each season: Aburaneh spent a good portion of his decade in the fashion industry as a handbag specialist at Holt Renfrew, hearing just what customers were always looking for.

We asked Aburaneh a few questions about his shop, sourcing international finds and supporting Canadian talent.

The style sense and personal aesthetic of fashion bloggers is often limited to, well, the internet, which is why the project undertaken by Barefoot Contessa owner Eva de Viveiros and her marketing manager, Lauren Wells, is so novel. For the past few weeks, the boutique’s Main Street location (3715 Main St., Vancouver, 604-879-1137, thebarefootcontessa.com) has been featuring window displays curated by local fashion bloggers behind such blogs as The Anthology and Miss Melissa. (The Commercial Drive location windows were guest designed by students from the Visual Merchandising class at John Casablancas Institute).

Fueled by an appreciation for being tweeted about and mentioned in local blogs, de Viveiros and Wells decided to do something to meet the bloggers. “We wanted to do something to support them,” says de Viveiros. “Follow Friday is great, but we wanted to do more; to interact more.”

The coolest news in shops this month: MONTREAL: The Midas touch, one to watch, and Italian charm in Old Montreal» TORONTO: Concrete baubles, wild headgear, and cutting-edge Rac» CALGARY: Urban renewal and luxe bracelets» EDMONTON: The Sui life» VANCOUVER: Glam hatter, hidden jewels, and new names at Holts»

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It’s not a bad gig to spend the afternoon getting a behind the scenes tour of one of Toronto’s top denim destinations, Over The Rainbow (101 Yorkville Ave., rainbowjeans.com) lead by the owner himself, Joel Carman. Carman’s jean shop celebrates its 35th anniversary this weekend and is throwing a big party tomorrow and Saturday with a DJ, photo booth, pizza and BBQ, samples from DaLish cosmetics and Dermalogica’s Clean Start, and denim giveaways, naturally.

Here’s a by-the-numbers peak at jeans institution:

1975 The year Joel Carman was driving a cab and met his future Over the Rainbow business partner, one of his passengers. (The two parted ways after the first year.)

$300 The monthly rent for Over The Rainbow’s first location on Bloor Street. If the shop didn’t work out, recalls Carman, “I’ll put a bed in there and I’ll have an apartment on Bloor Street.”

One of the first designers I interviewed about five years ago was Jude Feller, the mastermind behind Lily & Jae (lilyandjae.com). A background in film and TV costuming meant superb technical skills and the brand was soon worn by the likes of intelligent, gorgeous Canadian actress Sarah Polley, who described it oh-so-many years ago as “perfect for the tomboy flirting with the idea of being girly.”

Look around at any fashionable hand, neck or wrist, and you’ll see that sunny-coloured gems are the new black of the jewellery world. Add a dose of vitamin D to your own bling box with one of Tiffany & Co.’s new fancy yellow diamond pieces, in stores this October. “Yellow diamonds have long been considered […]

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One of my trusty stops for cheap-chic trends is Off the Wall (748 Burrard St., Vancouver, 604-605-0314, offthewallclothing.com), so when the flagship downtown shop closed for renovations in late July, I had a mini-panic.

By Kristi Carignan Just launched for men and women, Vancouver jeans institution Dutil’s (303 West Cordova St., 604-688-8892, dutildenim.com) premium denim collection provides a back-to-basics, “go-to” jean. With an emphasis on fit, the first style, introduced this summer, is the Quintessential Skinny. Dubbed “the perfect jean” by creative director Eric Dickstein, all manufacturing and all […]

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In what certainly must be the most hotly-anticipated shopping event of the summer, UK chain Topshop lands at the back of Toronto’s Jonathan + Olivia boutique (49 Ossington Ave., 416-849-5956) tomorrow. Owner Jackie O’Brien-Jones added an extra 800 square feet to her ultra-contemporary shop to make room for the cheap(ish)-chic merch, which includes Topshop’s regular […]

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Like most of us in the fashion industry, Terry Jackson loves beautiful things. But unlike most of us, he decided to channel that adoration into a new store. I stumbled upon Foundlings (1812 W. First Ave., Vancouver, 604-737-7688) after brunch at The Epicurean.

U.S. retailer Target is looking to take their designer collaboration tagline to heart and Go International. (Sorry.) The company is planning to expand outside U.S. borders and is looking at Canadian locations as part of the strategy. Nothing’s confirmed yet, and if the new stores do actually happen, it won’t be for at least another […]

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Part café, part clothing store, Ottawa’s Aunt Olive’s (209 Gilmour St., 613-565-0564) allows customers to shop for eclectic and kitschy vintage finds while grabbing a bite to eat.