FASHION Magazine

See photos from the Holt Renfrew Rag & Bone party »

Toronto is so desperate for springtime, that not even last night’s biblical style storm wouldn’t stop its style inclined inhabitants from flocking to Holt Renfrew for a party in honour of Rag & Bone’s neon-heavy spring collection. Packed to the racks of the department store’s third floor, partygoers—including designers Marcus Wainwright and David Neville, who made it in the nick of time after hours of flight delays—seemed especially eager to throw down to the DJ tunes and get crafty with the makeshift graffiti board that had been installed on a nearby wall.

And now for the fashion: Spring’s graphic black and white trend was embraced by many partygoers, most notably by stylist Mariko Lauren who channeled Wednesday Adams in a peter pan collar dress and wide brimmed hat and the always-fabulous Kealan Anne Sullivan, who artfully paired a vintage policeman’s hat with a black velvet cape, a white turtleneck sweater and beat up jeans. Socialite Stacey Kimmel braved gravity in a skin-baring halter black dress with selectively geometric fabric slashes. And at the other end of the spectrum, designer/photographer Ashley Rowe went for the kaleidoscopic effect with her lime green active suit suit, turquoise-dyed hair and gal pal stylist Cara Joy Purkis who wore head-to-toe red.

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.

View the Fashion Cares performance and party photos »

The 25th annual M.A.C Fashion Cares gala set off with a bang on Sunday night, with a sequin-suited Elton John performing alongside Janelle Monae, Scissor Sisters, Chantal Kreviazuk and others in support of the the AIDS Committee of Toronto and Elton John AIDS Foundation. Co-chaired by Michael King and Elton John’s husband David Furnish, the show, aptly billed as a night of glitter and light, also featured speeches (and even a little runway work-out) by Linda Evangelista and Dean and Dan Caten of Dsquared.

View the photo gallery »

Last night, the sister duo behind one of fashion’s darling labels, Rodarte, descended upon Toronto for a fête in their honour at the Bay’s glittering designer den, The Room. As the finest champagne flowed, the city’s finest, freshly sunned partygoers crowded around Laura and Kate Mulleavy to get a look—albeit a look-but-don’t-touch. “You can’t just sidle up beside them and say, ‘I love you,’” one guest lamented. And isn’t it strange but true? The moment one of your idols is presented on a platter, the nerves tend to overcome. Such wasn’t the case, however, for Toronto’s version of the sister power duo, Chloé and Parris Gordon of Chloé Comme Parris, who got in there to articulate their crush. (I was afforded a private one-on-two with the designers earlier in the day, the gush-laden results of which are forthcoming).

Arguably Toronto’s biggest shopper, Stacey Kimel has been making her rounds at some of New York Fashion Week’s biggest shows (Prabal Gurung, Thakoon, and more!), but judging from her front row appearance at yesterday morning’s show, home-grown talent Jeremy Laing is also on her spring shopping list (lucky boy!). While I can’t picture her sporting the Yohji Yamamoto meets Marky Mark one-strap overalls, the windswept asymmetrical gowns, linen palazzo pants, and sheer flowing tunic tops in shades of pumpkin, crème, and silvery grey are a sure bet.

Last night, Prada held its first Toronto bash since the party for the opening of the Bloor Street location in 1997. It took the launch of a Prada book to warrant another celebration, and the delay only seemed to heighten the thrill. Devoted followers of fashion’s highest priestess, Miuccia, paid homage by arriving in her black lace sheaths, metal-coated wools, and this season’s studded shirts and shoes. But it wasn’t wall-to-wall Prada: Stacey Kimel, who was squiring around Marc Jacobs’ beau Lorenzo Martone, wore winged Balmain while Martone’s feet glowed in a pair of Louis Vuitton sneakers scribbled with Stephen Sprouse graffiti.