FASHION Magazine

See all 21 Topshop Festival items here »

Just in time for this summer’s music festival season, Topshop is launching an interactive campaign called Topshop Festival. Inspired by the energy of the ever-growing popularity of British music festivals and its fashion, the campaign includes music, movies and, of course, must-have products. Even better, Topshop turned to Kate Bosworth—a Coachella devotee who’s always embraced the festival fashion trend—to help create some items for the collection. It’s not a collaboration, per say, but more of a Bosworth-approved edit of the Topshop Festival collection.

Working with the Topshop design team, Bosworth created items that extend the actress’s style and work hand in hand with the Topshop brand. The special 21-piece collection consists of signature pieces ranging from neon printed shorts, fur lined vests, gladiator sandals and even feathered wings. And before you click through to our gallery of all the Topshop Festival items—you may have already seen them: Bosworth wore many of the items at this year’s Coachella festival.

Ever have one of those intimidating statement pieces that makes you feel so self-conscious about your body that it makes you want to sprint to the gym immediately? This may as well be the tale of the crop top.

Showing your midriff once seemed like a scandalous look, only to be tested by celebrities —think Britney Spears circa “Baby One More Time”—this season, the crop top has emerged as feminine, even covering our current issue on Lana Del Rey!

Lead by designers like Peter Som with his Spring 2013 bralet and high-waisted flowing skirt, we’re beginning to see how ladylike this look can be. With different styles and fits including the bustier, the cropped T-shirt and the waist-tied blouse, the crop top can be altered to your preferred degree of mid-section baring.

Still questioning how to wear a crop top? Fear not, because 11 of our Style Panel members share tips on how to easily pull off this spring trend sans butterflies in your stomach.

Opting to show a little less skin, many of our girls decided to pair their flirty crop tops with cute midi skirts like BornLippy’s Melanie Morais and Dainty Girl’s Nicole Wilson who chose to wear tie-knot crop tops that tastefully bares a sliver of their midriff. Showing off a bit more skin, Leah Says’ Leah Gust was all smiles as she takes on two spring trends, the crop top and the graphic floral print, in today’s outfit. But what’s the best way to wear your crop top this season? Taking Style Worthwhile’s Jacquelyn Son’s advice, rock your crop top with confidence.

Question 51: Can you share tips on how to wear a crop top this season? Read the answers now! »

See Hawaiian print trend picks »

Dip into summer with a brightly- coloured pencil skirt, or a bold-printed sandal. From the shades to the shoes, the tropical trend is all about botanical prints and eye-popping neons. We’re taking cues from Selena Gomez, who recently stunned in a seriously colourful Hawaiian print Dolce & Gabbana top at the SXSW premiere of Spring Breakers, and Solange Knowles, who took the take to the stage in botanical printed Pencey head-to-toe suit.

MIDDLE PART

SIDE PART

NO PART

What’s in a hair part? A whole lot, according to the Spring 2013 runways. Celia Ellenberg reports.

To part, or not to part? That was the question that many coiffing stars seemed to be asking themselves this season as deep side parts, centre parts and no parts at all gave equally convincing performances on the spring runways. Why all the deliberate differentiation? “When I choose the part for a designer at a show or on a shoot—whether it’s a side or centre part, clean or messy—I always think about the character we’re conveying, the identity of the brand and every other little detail,” says Redken creative consultant Guido Palau.

Ah, the sneaker trend. Once upon a time (and by that we mean junior high), runners felt like the only source for footwear, but while we resorted to them for efficiency, it certainly wasn’t for style. Nowadays, sneakers are the hottest shoes on the block, thanks to designers like Isabel Marant and her ultra lust-worthy sneaker heel hybrid. Who knew?

Whether colourful, embellished or super athletic, sneakers have definitely made their way in to the mainstream. Even high-end footwear designers like Christian Louboutin, Giuseppe Zanotti, and Jimmy Choo have included a pair or two into recent collections.

And while sneakers may be hotter than heels (for the time being, that is), wearing them without looking like you’ve just hit the gym proves a bit of a challenge. Naturally, we turned to our Style Panel to teach us how to tackle the trend without making it too literal.

Our two newest members, Leah Says’ Leah Gust and Velvet & Vino’s Becky Kung sure know how to start off with a bang by mixing a pair of bold colourful sneakers with bright coloured or printed pants. Getting into the summery swing, both Barbara Ann Solomon (who appears in twofold) and Inherited Jeans’ Stephanie Koch showed off in neon-accented or leopard-printed sneakers while jumping for their photos.

Question 49: How would you pull off the sneaker trend without making it too literal? Read the answers now! »

See the photo shoot »

If Canada’s latest crop of cool has taught us anything, it’s that the ultimate creativity comes from collaboration. Take the sister act behind the newly renamed label Beaufille (formerly Chloé Comme Parris) for example, or the creative team behind Toronto’s go-to nail mecca, Tips Nail Bar. The best results are often a team effort.

It’s with this pretext that Toronto-based stylist and fashion director Dwayne Kennedy operates. Along with his many collaborators, most notably his The Collections partner Brian A. Richards; he’s been responsible for much creative and young gun business around town, including the up-and-coming designer specific portion of Toronto Fashion Week, which has boasted the impressive likes of Rad Hourani and Sid Neigum.

See our shorts trend shopping picks »
See the the shorts trend on the Spring 2013 runways »

By Gabrielle Johnson

Several months before her 38th birthday, Gwyneth Paltrow took a pair for a spin on the red carpet. Forty-four-year-old Jennifer Aniston practically lives in them. And at 53, Sharon Stone was snapped wearing hers with a slouchy sweater and knee-high boots. As fashion statements go, shorts aren’t new: Sexy, sporty hot pants will forever be associated with the 1970s, while countless girls who came of age in the ’80s emulated Baby’s Dirty Dancing denim cut-offs. In the ’90s, shorts teamed with tights were a seasonless staple—a look that has since become an off-duty model classic.

On the ready-to-wear runways, shorts are also a familiar sight. Miuccia Prada opened her Spring 2000 show with a body-hugging pair, and has been experimenting with variations on the theme ever since. Marni designer Consuelo Castiglioni has been peppering her collections with them for years, in every length, fabric and pattern imaginable. This spring, tailored shorts have taken the spotlight. Chloé, Prabal Gurung and Fendi showed them in lush leathers; Carolina Herrera and Cacharel favoured light, shiny fabrics; Dolce & Gabbana, Hermès and Chalayan experimented with trippy prints; and Emporio Armani femme’d them up with sweet ruffles. Clearly, fashion’s cyclicality is what makes this trend so right, right now.

“Everything old is new again,” says Barbara Atkin, vice-president of fashion direction at Holt Renfrew. “Designers keep bringing back shorts, over and over again, in different ways. It’s the right time. We’ve had so many short miniskirts—it was time to evolve from that.” 

Canadian designer Arthur Mendonça, whose Spring 2013 collection included sequin-effect black tuxedo shorts and a raspberry-hued silk sheen version, agrees. “I’ve always liked [them] as a skirt substitute,” he says. “I like the whole sporty look of a tailored short, especially for spring and summer. It looks modern. The shorts we did were all high-waisted; they almost look like A-line skirts.”

At Cacharel, designers Ling Liu and Dawei Sun consider tailored shorts to be the new trousers. “They’ve become a basic, whether in winter or in summer,” says Sun. “They’re modern and easy to mix. Different lengths and materials allow you to create really diverse outfits.” Considering that spring’s new crop of longer shorts were trotted out on the runways paired with blazers, button-downs and (relatively) sensible heels, it seems these onetime vacation-wear must-haves have morphed into perfectly acceptable office attire. Depending on your office, that is. “What we in the fashion world see as office-appropriate is really much more of a fashion take on your office wardrobe,” says Atkin. “If you’re working for a traditional law firm on [Toronto’s] Bay Street, shorts of any kind are a no-no. It would be frowned upon, and you’d probably be asked to leave.”

See the “High Contrast” photo shoot »

Welcome a punch of black-and-white graphics to your spring wardrobe with zig zags, checkers and Op art inspiration. Like a page out of Diana Vreeland’s mid-sixties book, photographer Chris Nicholls and stylist Zeina Esmail proved that a relative absence of colour doesn’t mean you can’t make a statement, combining some of Spring 2013’s greatest standouts from Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana and Michael Kors with Twilight Zone style backdrops in this May 2013 issue photo shoot. And that hair? Eat your heart out, Vidal Sassoon.

See our sneaker shopping picks »
See sneaker style on the street »

A designer’s runway bow rarely generates buzz—that is, unless it’s Phoebe Philo’s. Since the 39-year-old British fashion phenom took the reins at French luxury house Céline in 2008, she has been popping out post-show in Paris to thunderous applause for her stunning minimalist-driven collections. But lately it seems all eyes have been focused on her feet. Adidas Stan Smith trainers, Nike Air Max 90s in pink—when it comes to game-day dressing, Philo prefers to rock a pair of runners rather than a haute pair of heels. So does Kristen Stewart. At the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012, she appeared on the red carpet in a body-skimming, floral-embellished Zuhair Murad dress paired with black stilettos, which she quickly ditched in favour of her Barbara Bui leather high-tops. First Lady Michelle Obama has slipped into metallic cap-toe Lanvin sneakers to carry out her White House duties. Even fashion’s favourite street-style star, Italian clotheshorse and editor-at-large of Vogue Japan Anna Dello Russo, who is never spotted without her five-inch spikes, was photographed wearing sky-blue New Balance trainers in Milan in January.

This spring, kicks are taking a walk on the wild side on runways, including Junya Watanabe, Moschino Cheap & Chic, Ruffian, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Ashish, and at luxury footwear labels like Christian Louboutin, Giuseppe Zanotti, Jimmy Choo and Pierre Hardy. At $500 and up, these new sartorial stars won’t be clocking any time at the gym, but they might give your wallet a workout. Surprised? Don’t be—this shift toward high-end sneakers hasn’t exactly snuck up on us. Running shoes first emerged as status symbols during the 1970s. “They were worn not just in the gym or to do athletics but for shopping and on your leisure time,” says Elizabeth Semmelhack, senior curator at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto and for its latest exhibition, Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture (April 25, 2013 to April 22, 2014). Mixed-media and graphic designer Karim Rashid, famous for colourful, eclectic designs that range from furniture to footwear, also knows a thing or two about retro sneakers. As the creative vision behind this exhibition, and an avid runner, he believes that “the running shoe [conjures up] nostalgia” and that currently, “there’s a big revival going on.”

When it comes to Spring 2013’s sunglasses trends, frames need not be boring. In fact, the louder the better because statement sunglasses are all the rage as the sun begins to come out from winter hibernation and shines bright. We’ve always loved sunglasses for their health benefits (going blind due to sun damage isn’t very cool) but recently we’ve been embracing bold frames in a big way. We DIYed our very own Prada floral pair and found 14 of the best and most affordable frames around and now we’ve asked our Style Panel to teach us a thing or two about styling the latest sunglasses trends without looking like a clown.

Karen Walker sunglasses proved to be a fan favourite with the likes of Stephanie Sterjovski and Krystin Lee of Suburban Faux-Pas with their super oversized and thick-rimmed tortoise frames. And if you’re not ready to embrace over the top shapes then perhaps a printed leopard pair will be more up your alley like Whitney Cosgrave, who kept it simple pairing leopard print with a basic black tee.

If there’s one take away from the Style Panel’s statement sunglasses tips, it’s to keep your look simple so your shades can truly shine.

See the top ’90s-inspired beauty products in Diane and Dick’s tool kit »

By Celia Ellenberg

About halfway through the spring 2013 shows in New York, one thing became clear: Contours, not colour, were set to define the season. Gone were the deep wine-stained lips and tinted lashes from fall; in their place was, well, very little to speak of.

“It is a reaction to the economic times we are in. Huge, glamorous, overdone hair and makeup don’t make sense,” says makeup artist Diane Kendal, who had a big hand in this sea change. Over the past few seasons, Kendal has made boyish, raw but beautiful faces something of a calling card as the backstage go-to for cool designers like Proenza Schouler, Alexander Wang and, more recently, Victoria Beckham. “Their point of view is what I translate,” Kendal humbly insists, pointing out that there was a ’90s-era lens on the collective perspective for spring.

“The look seems to have a modern feel,” she says, explaining why designers requested the decade’s sparse style en masse. “People like the simplicity—the pureness of design. It’s clean.” It’s also significantly less undone than it was 20 years ago. “It’s less grungy this time around.” The new minimalism is about subtly accentuating features rather than cultivating a full-on “look.” The irony, of course, is that a full-on look is actually easier to pull off than the “nothing” makeup that Kendal and fellow face-painters such as Shiseido artistic director Dick Page pioneered.

In the days of PVR it’s got to be near impossible to break the impenetrable attention span of TV watchers, but Canadian megabrand Joe Fresh seems to have done it with a slew of bouncy new commercials. Inciting Twitter buzz, Google searches and even a YouTube remake, Spring 2013’s ads have that same je ne se quoi as Gap’s mid-nineties “Khakis Swing” commercials. The song! The models! Those vibrant colours! It seems that everyone wants to know more, and we’re here to give our readers some answers.

Here’s the breakdown: