FASHION Magazine

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Todd Lynn’s leather clad rocker is showing a softer side for spring. Pearlescent swishes of silk draped at the hip or cut into long, fluid pants gave a girlier appeal to a traditionally hard-edge collection. The pale palette also seemed fresh and new, with the only hit of true colour coming from a washed-out indigo blue that appeared on dresses, suits, and skirts. Other details came in the form of slashes of exposed skin at the hips and shoulders, some with fabric held together by neat rows of polished silver safety pins. Despite all the novelty, I can’t help but fall for the quintessential leather-sleeved jackets and neat knife-pleated skirts. Lynn classics die hard.

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Bringing a bit of math class to the runway, London-based Montreal-born designer Jean Pierre Braganza showed so many dizzying geometric variations at Friday’s Ritz Carlton show that our heads were spinning (the good way, not The Exorcist way). Opening the show with FASHION favourite Liisa Winkler, the show included metal-dotted, hexagon-printed, revealingly slashed, beaded night-time dresses, pantsuits, and blazers that were done up in so many unique ways and we could see them being worn by many interesting ladies (we’ve personally witnessed the multitude of uptown, downtown, and arty types that visit Queen Street West’s Carte Blanche specifically requesting his wears). While Carte Blanche is currently Braganza’s only Canadian stockist, we’ll bet that the list will getting longer after Friday’s strong showing.

Tune in at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. EST to watch the Jean Pierre Braganza and Todd Lynn Spring 2012 collections LIVE from the shOws at the Ritz Carlton in Toronto!

The post Livestream: Watch the Jean Pierre Braganza and Todd Lynn Spring 2012 shows LIVE! appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

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Soft and romantic, the look at Calla Haynes was a modern approach to ‘60s beauty—and if that brings to mind visions of fresh faces and at-home hot rollers, you’re on the right track. For hair, Justin German, Pantene’s consulting stylist, created two different versions of a rough half-updo, with a textured bump—“For lack of a better word,” he noted—on top and loose, brushed-out curls at the back. German pointed out that the finished look included visible bobby pins to make the hair look “almost like you did it yourself.”

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Things that Calla Haynes does well:

1. Prints, not repurposed from a fabric show, but dreamed up and developed herself.
2. Shapes, by turns shrunken and body-skimming (though less so as time goes by), voluminous and seeming to float, or floor-grazing but never heavy.
3. Prettiness, the type that manages to fall just short of saccharine. It doesn’t hurt that Haynes brings a bit of Euro-tinged glamour and refinement back with her as a Canadian expat living and working in Paris.

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Thomas Tait was the first out of the gate last night at The Shows, the four Canadian-born and Euro-based designer two-day extravaganza put on at the splashy Ritz Carlton in downtown Toronto. The show was introduced by none other than supermodel Coco Rocha, in town to host the event and show her documentary Letters to Haiti. Tait’s Spring 2012 unveiled (on this side of the pond, at least) a minty fresh departure from his signature black-on-black. Ultra-structured white cocoon jackets were shown alongside tennis-apropos looking combos of ribbed bubblegum pink sweaters and tailored pants, as well as the most amazing glistening jumper and pantsuit. The black was still there, but this time, layered with multiple pops of white.

Tune in at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. EST to watch the Thomas Tait and Calla Spring 2012 collections LIVE from the shOws at the Ritz Carlton in Toronto!

The post Livestream: Watch the Thomas Tait and Calla Spring 2012 shows LIVE! appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

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Last night’s social schedule was jam-packed. Puddle jumping from Tiffany & Co.’s Lambertson Truex leather collab fete to the new Joe Fresh store opening at Queen and Portland (sadly missing the SPiN ping-pong club opening with investor and celeb guest Susan Sarandon—so many parties, so little time), we caught up with the fashion crowd for the second night of this pre-fashion week. Last on the list was Lucian Matis. Despite the rain, 99 Gallery was packed and the standing crowd was elbowing for a prime spot. The designer stood by his signature embellished aesthetic, decorating everything from watercolour nails to over-the-top drop earrings and copper paillette–encrusted bodysuits. Matis’s skill lies in stretching his technical muscles, employing those abilities to further his creative vision, resulting in bright woven bodices, tufted tulle, and sheer panels. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it had us flashing back to last week’s episode of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. With an awe-inspired audience, however, he’s clearly garnered a devoted following on the Canadian scene.

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“I was sent a picture of Kate Lanphear for inspiration,” says M.A.C Cosmetics senior artist Melissa Gibson of Greta Constantine’s no-makeup makeup for their Spring 2012 show. She describes the look as “worn-in wholesome”—the effect of sun-blanched skin after a day of walking the streets of New York City. “It’s blown out; you want to see the natural contours of the face.” This means monochromatic with a velvety texture, and no mascara or nail lacquer. On top of a base of M.A.C. Studio Sculpt concealer Gibson used just two shades of M.A.C. cream colour base: “Root” and “Shell.” For the eye, “Root” was applied all over, with “Shell” providing frosted highlights. Gibson also applied “Shell” to the lips—but after she used concealer to leave only a hint of the lip line visible.

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Pre–Toronto Fashion Week or “Rogue Fashion Week,”as some like to call it, kicked off last night with Greta Constantine’s Spring 2012 show. Swapping their usual venue, the Don Valley–neighbouring BMW dealership, for King Street West’s Century Room, but changing little else, designers Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong sent 51 looks that mainly consisted of the draped jersey and asymmetrical edge for which the duo are best known. Beginning with juicy-hued dresses in tangerine, cranberry, violet, and teal, the collection switched gears 15 looks in, morphing into a biker gang of sorts. (Those sorts being the same sorts you’ve seen time and time again.) Done well? Of course. Redone? Well, that too.

By Randi Bergman and Jordan Porter

Toronto Fashion Week unofficially kicks off today with what is sure to be a larger-than-luxe Greta Constantine spring show. What better way to prepare than to stock up on fashionable essentials from homegrown designers as well as from our favourite boutiques? We’ve got playful prints from Jeremy Laing, chic leather from Roots, and much more. Here’s our list of must-haves to get you through the week-plus of shows.

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