FASHION Magazine

See the complete Target Holiday 2013 collection »

We’ve been dreaming of spring fashion all week but at last night’s highly-anticipated Target show, the mega retailer rolled out the white carpet, turned up the Christmas tunes and let it snow (literally) in the tents. The cheery Holiday 2013 runway presentation had even the most melancholy fashion minimalists grinning. And how could it not, with beaming models who ran the gamut from city girls and dimpled jocks to stylish parents and impossibly cute kids? Target certainly brought the charm and cheer of its holiday catalogue to life for Toronto’s style set.

The show started with a fashionably festive surprise as model, Maybelline New York spokesperson and overall cool girl Erin Wasson, who opened the runway in a pair of slouchy tuxedo track pants, a plaid blazer and black fedora.

If you’re in Toronto and heading to World MasterCard Fashion week, beware. We may just be waiting to quiz you. From a PR gal who helps runs the show to a male model to one of Redken’s stylists, we ambushed fashionable women and men outside the shows yesterday and asked them to share their outfits, fall faves and more. Head’s up!

See the party pictures from the Joe Fresh after party »

When it comes to toasting a spring collection filled with inky, porcelain-blue items and chinoiserie prints, what better an after party venue than Susur Lee’s namesake restaurant? Just minutes after the Joe Fresh Spring 2014 show ended, friends and fans of the brand dashed down the street for the official celebration. The mid-week party has become one of the most anticipated events of World MasterCard Fashion Week and this season’s iteration kept the hype going.

At the centre of the fashion frenzy was Marjorie Gubelmann, an heiress from New York who’s made her name (and things like Vanity Fair best dressed lists, nbd) as DJ Mad Marj. “Wait, what? She’s the DJ!” many a guest remarked as they wandered past the DJ booth—though the well-populated dance floor, including swinging staples Suzanne Boyd, Andrea Bolley and Stacey McKenzie, spoke for itself.

If the almost-all-blue Spring 2014 collection was a nod to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team certainly wanted to show their support. The second side of the restaurant—coincidentally where Alana Zimmer, Heather Marks and the other Joe Fresh models were gathered—quickly became “the hockey room” when Joffrey Lupul, Jonathan Bernier and Dion Phaneuf showed up. Of course, the Leafs representation was courtesy front-row fixture Elisha Cuthbert, looking extra slick in liquid leather pants and a bushy fur collar.

See the Mackage Spring 2014 collection »

Last night’s Mackage show took us through the looking glass. Co-creative directors Elisa Dahan and Eran Elfassy “found inspiration in the reflection of light off of mirrored surfaces.” The duo decked out their runway in a shiny gold coating and put models against the dramatic backdrop of a huge mirror. Within the collection, handbags, belts, sleeves and shorts were all given a polished sheen. 

The show was all about the gams, as models wore leather wrap skirts, running shorts and organza minis in poppy, black, white and sand. Every manner of biker jacket (short-sleeved, loose-fitted, colourful, et cetera) was paired perfectly with sheer tops and crops, while a sheer white mini worn over matching undies was right on trend.

See the Joe Fresh Spring 2014 collection »

Joe Fresh is feeling blue. And why not? It is the complementary colour to the brand’s signature orange after all. Blues of all shades permeated the Spring 2014 collection, in camo print, reptilian blouses, sleek suiting and, most notably, denim. “All the raw-cut denim to me is really super cool,” said creative director Joe Mimran backstage before the show. The fabric was used in everything from a tiered pencil skirt to a trench coat and floral damask trousers.

The designer also looked to classic chinoiserie prints for inspiration. “When you think of indigo, I always think of china blue. I was very interested in all of the blue-and-white vases and carpets,” said Mimran. Delicate red dresses and silk pyjama suits printed in watercolour flowers brought an antique element to the collection. This boudoir look was continued with a spaghetti-strap negligee dress in sparkling navy.

See all the backstage beauty photos from Sid Neigum Spring 2014 »

The beauty look for Sid Neigum Spring 2014 was all about simplicity. “We’re playing on creating a makeup [look] with just foundation,” explained Grace Lee, lead makeup artist for Maybelline New York. Lee matched each model’s skin tone using Maybelline Fit Me Shine-Free Foundation ($11, well.ca), which she accented by contouring beneath the cheekbones using the same product, but in the darkest shade, “Coconut.” Eyebrows were brushed upwards with Maybelline Great Lash Clear Mascara ($8, well.ca) and eyelids were left bare. The only part of the face that Lee wanted to look visibly made up were the lips, which Lee coated with Maybelline Color Elixer in “Nude Illusion” ($9, available November 2013 at drugstores). To prevent lips from appearing too glossy, Lee dabbed excess product from lips using her fingers, leaving only a subtle trace behind.

As for the hair at Sid Neigum, gone was the futuristic, structural look of last season. For Spring 2014, international Redken artist Jorge Joao created “day two, lived-in hair,” with a natural, slightly disheveled curl.

See the Mercedes-Benz Start Up Spring 2014 collections »

It was a tough decision.

So tough, in fact, that choosing a winner of the Mercedes Benz Start Up competition at World MasterCard Fashion Week proved impossible.

So last night, the judges, including myself, did the only possible thing we could think of: we declared two winners.

Edmonton’s Malorie Urbanovitch and Montreal’s Matiere Noire share the prize: mentoring from industry experts, editorial coverage in FASHION Magazine, and a runway show at the Fall 2014 collections in Toronto. Judge and Holt Renfrew’s vice president Ruth Ann Lockart lauded Urbanovitch’s strategic decision to focus her business on washed silks, a market niche. Her pale, loose-cut dresses were topped with chunky Italian-made knits that have a whiff of modern grunge.

See the Sid Neigum Spring 2014 collection »

By Ashleigh Forster

Last season, edgy designer Sid Neigum ventured outside his comfort zone by experimenting with floral prints and fresh green hues, but for Spring 2014 he’s going back to basics. For him, that means a palette of mostly black, white and grey with a few hits of deep purple, red and bronzy metallic that kept the look clean, simple and understated. The designs however, were anything but. Pulling inspiration from 18th century architecture, Neigum created a collection full of multi-layered geometric lines and silhouettes in angular cut skirts and robe style coats. Crisp white loosely draped dresses helped to break up the hard angles adding softness and a sense of spring airiness. To keep the look grounded, the designer sent models down the runway in what he described as “a fancy leather paper bag shoe,” which he designed and created himself.

See street style from Toronto Fashion Week »

On day two of World MasterCard Fashion Week in Toronto, leopard prints, bubblegum pink and highlighter yellows found their way onto the stylish set outside the shows. As were furs, which if you were in the city yesterday, were quite the necessity.

Montreal-based blogger and Style Panel member, Elodie Parthenay channeled rockstar chic with a touch of girly via a vibrant 3.1 Phillip Lim pink overcoat, studded leather skirt, and scenic t-shirt. Fellow Style Panel member and current FASHION intern Mo Handahu, walked on the wild side in a roaring leopard printed sweater, soft golden skirt, and African printed jacket as her staples.

See the JNBY Spring 2014 collection »

Last night, Chinese label JNBY made its Canadian runway debut at World MasterCard Fashion Week in Toronto for Spring 2014. The way cool contemporary brand is fondly described as China’s J.Crew, and proved itself to be just that with crinkly, wispy layers to spare. Less varsity sweater, more architectural inspiration, JNBY’s spring collection featured an earthy palette of muddy browns, sage green and beach-worthy whites in a multitude of layering pieces.

An array just ripe for the understated elegant types, we look forward to seeing a certain single-breasted crinkle coat on many a gallerina come spring. As for the sheer sexy layered dresses, we’ll take one in every colour. And there is likely one in every colour. What was shown on the runway was just a snapshot of what the label offers. Of the 374 Spring 2014 pieces, you’re seeing about 110. We saw another sample last week. Sheesh.

Holt Renfrew’s Toronto Fashion Week party photos »

Who said Monday wasn’t the time to party? Holt Renfrew’s now regular fashion week kick off started things with so many bangs last night, it was hard to keep track of the night’s best.

One of them would surely have been the Cary Tauben-led walk off that took to the store’s mezzanine a little shy of midnight. The Montreal-based stylist and part time go go dancer is known for his fierce moves (typically in six inch heels), and last night’s showcase of his talents was no exception. Ugh, fierce is too light a word.

Another might have been the wall-to-wall gab fest willed by many an eager partygoer, including Holts-stocked designers Jeremy Laing, Tanya Taylor and Smythe’s Christie Smythe and Andrea Lenczner.

Another ongoing highlight took place over the course of the night, as a New York-based phenomenon known as The Bumbys aka. a masked duo who sit at matching typewriters produced “fair and honest appraisals” of guests’ outfits. Fair, honest and quite honestly genius, case in point, mine:

See all the backstage beauty photos from Beaufille Spring 2014 »

For the Beaufille Spring 2014 show, Toronto designers Chloé and Parris Gordon wanted the models to look like “rich grunge girls” with a slight throwback to the ’90s. “I love these girls because they really stick to their branding and their image,” said Grace Lee, lead makeup artist for Maybelline New York. The chocolate shaded smoky eyes were the focus of the look: Lee lined models’ eyes on the top and bottom using Maybelline Eye Studio Master Smoky Longwearing Shadow-Pencil in “Scorching Brown” ($9, well.ca) and then smudged the colour to create a rough, undone look. For a glossy sheen on eyelids and the top of cheekbones, Lee lightly applied Maybelline Baby Lips ($4, well.ca). Meanwhile, models’ actual lips were covered with the shiny but non-sticky Maybelline Color Elixer gloss in “Caramel Infused” ($9, at drugstores November 2013)—which Lee proclaimed “the product of the season.”