FASHION Magazine

Since introducing you to Toronto-based Markoo last year, the cool girl label has just been getting cooler. They’ve landed on the cover of WWD, on the racks at hip emporium Assembly New York and on the bods of stars like Zoe Saldana. Now, designers Tania Martins and Mona Koochek are back with their latest collection […]

The post Markoo Fall 2015: The latest collection from a label on the rise appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

See Markoo’s Spring 2014 collection »

Those fluent in Queen Street West style would already know a thing or two about one of its strongest talents: Tania Martins. The brain behind long-loved label Pink Cobra (see: sexy LBDs, expertly cut leather) is turning her attention to a new project, Markoo, which she co-designs with Mona Koochek. Both 32, the Toronto-based designers have been picking up steam since launching last fall with re-imagined cool girl staples like airy midi skirts, leather cut-out tops and the piece de résistance: a sexy almost-backless jumpsuit with perfectly cropped cigarette pants for spring. And because those writing in a public forum can always pick favourites, I’ll just tell you that mine is this ruffled black leather crop top that may or may not be named for yours truly. If you haven’t already availed yourself of this up-and-coming label, I suggest you do so now. You won’t have much longer to say you know them when.

Next Friday, all eyes will focus on New York for the latest onslaught of fashion week shows. For those attending Fall 2014 fashion week, that means T-minus 7 days to get your sartorial sh*t together. For those designing, it’s probably high time for panic. As most creative types would find easy to empathize with, one week till takeoff is the time when everything goes wrong. Model castings, seating charts and beauty briefs—they’re all going down right about now. We reached out to a few of our favourite Canadian designers to see how they were doing and to our shock, they all seem pretty cool and collected. Meanwhile, they gave us a peek at what they’ve got on slow burn for their upcoming shows during New York Fashion Week.

View all films in the series » In today’s fashion film, director Claire Edmondson (she’s done videos for Broken Social Scene and Austra, no big deal) partners up with Toronto-based Tania Martins, the designing genius behind cult label Pink Cobra for a look into what a bored and slightly mad girl might do if she […]

The post Claire Edmondson + Tania Martins present: The Seams appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Every year, we get a new “future of fashion.” Some fifty students—the hopeful designers of next year’s womenswear, menswear, swimwear, whatever-you-can-wear—graduate from Ryerson‘s School of Fashion. It’s the best in the country they say, and we believe.

Their annual show-off, Mass Exodus, is a bigger deal every year. From the fifty, twenty final collections are selected for runway staging. The theatre fills with fellow students and parents, yes, but also people who don’t have to be there: stylists, buyers, and media peeps like us. Plus, an eternal favourite sighting: beloved alum Jeremy Laing.

This year’s titular theme was Zenith & Nadir. Glossy show notes (plus, for the first time ever, a pretty impressive magazine—should we be watching our backs?) explained that Zenith and Nadir is up for exploration, for you to define. Sorry to be all English-y here, but that’s not quite true. Zenith and Nadir are opposite celestial poles, so zenith is used to mean “the highest point,” and nadir, the lowest.

So, we present the highest points of this year’s Mass Ex. But first, claps to all those who showed.

Tania Martins, the designer behind Toronto-based cult label Pink Cobra, is one of the city’s finest yet surprisingly underrated talents. Never one to hoard the spotlight, Martins just goes about her business⎯that business being the wildly popular Queen Street West boutique, Carte Blanche, which she co-owns with Dan Augustino and designing Cobra, the store’s in-house label that celebrates its 10^th collection for fall. At 5”2, the pint-sized designer packs more natural confidence, poise, beauty and style in her tiny body than most of us could ever hope to, and translates it effortlessly into her uncomplicated collections of sexy standout LBDs and biker jackets (editors note: last fall’s version is the best jacket I’ve ever owned…)

Martins gave us the first peek at her fall 2011 collection, featuring brilliantly tailored and slashed button downs, sexy backless dresses and pleated skirts. Naturally, we NEEDED to know more…