Louis Vuitton X Tommy Ton

I promise this is not the Tommy Ton blog. I just could not help post this up as I do work for Louis Vuitton as well; the images are quite riveting and it shows how the luxury brand knows what they need to do when it comes to social media.

Louis Vuitton Men's Fall/Winter 2010/11: Rehearsal Jak & Jil

KIN

During menswear fashion week in Paris I was planning to ask Sydney-the owner of the eponymous Toronto menswear boutique Sydney's-what he had liked so far and was planing to buy for his Toronto boutique. I figured this would give me an excuse to feature him and talk about menswear, little did I know that this season he was also debuting his own collection Kin. I am not at liberty to tell yet but let's just say that every designer wants this one New York store to pick them up, and I was there shortly after the purchase order was signed.

Kin will be a nice representative of Canadian menswear, Sydney's tailoring skills show throughout the construction of the garments and like the selection in his store there is great attention to fabrics and detail.

The Italian Connection

Francesco Cominelli shot by Tommy Ton for GQ

I was just looking for the perfect excuse to include my friend Francesco Cominelli in this blog. I knew that as soon as fashion week arrived I would find it. Francesco is not Canadian, but he is very stylish and a definite favorite of style shooters, including Tommy. Take note, you are going to be seeing a lot more of the Vogue Hommes assistant editor via the Canadians.

Hommes Plus Style.com

Francesco Cominelli, Vogue Hommes One Sixty Notepad

Calla's Hair Inspiration

I loved this weekend's write up of Calla's collection in one of my favorite sites Refinery29. What did I like about it? The fact that they caught the intricacy of the model's hair; Calla had a very specific idea and inspiration on what she wanted for the hair, think Big Love.

Tommy Ton in Paris Vogue

Everyone who knows Tommy knows Il adore Carine, and everyone who likes fashion has heard all about Tavi, the youngest fashion blogger out there. How opportune that Tommy's very first assignment for Paris Vogue was shooting Tavi for the Une fille un style pages.

I say pity there was not a video crew to capture that shoot...T&T together would have been so cute to watch. Maybe someone can make it happen if T&T reunite in Paris...

Will I have to change the chart so soon?

A photo teaser of Coco Rocha's new collection

Coco Rocha is getting in the business of fashion. The model, TV host, blogger and now designer would like to show her collection at New York fashion week. I will not make any changes to my chart just yet but it is interesting that she mentions affordable as an important aspect of her collection: "I also believe 100% that we need affordable clothing. High fashion affordable—that is my big goal for this coming summer.”

Via: Fashionologie

A taste of Beckerman

Photos from Beckerman Bite Plate

I met the Beckerman sisters years ago when they first launched their knitwear collection. They were truly a sight to behold, perhaps it was the sudden burst of energy one felt being around them. Most memorably I remember them declaring how grateful they were to their parents for forbidding television; being creative became the source of all fun things for them ever since.

I imagine doing their style blog, Beckerman Bite Plate is then great entertainment to them, it involves a daily photo shoot; fashion cataloguing (they feature such a create range of new and past items on their credits); and thinking of the playful titles for their style inspirations.

Rainy day in Paris? No problem, take look at their blog and your day will become a touch less gloomy.

Beckerman Bite Plate Toronto Fashion Week in review. TeenVogue

It's menswear fashion time

Tommy Ton for GQ

Byron and Dexter Peart in The Sartorialist

The FW 10/11 season has officially started with menswear fashion week in Milan, Tommy Ton is on the beat of that reporting for GQ. I also just remembered that a couple of days ago talking about the Pitti Uomo trade show I heard one of the menswear buyers of Le Bon Marché refering to WANT Les Essentiels de La Vie as one of the best accessories collections in the market. I happily pointed out that the brand is Canadian; brainchild of twins Byron and Dexter Peart who are also well known for their style.

New logo for Jeremy Laing

Jeremy Laing gets a redesign and by that I mean his label has changed. The new typography was done by graphic designer Colin Bergh who is also responsible for the re-branding of the well known Toronto art gallery Clint Roenisch.

Here is what Jeremy had to say about the reason and inspiration for the change:

"I wanted something new! The previous logo was what we came up with when starting the business on a whim a few years ago and no longer seemed appropriate considering the evolution of the my collection and business. I had been wanting to change it for some time so I asked Colin Bergh, a graphic designer friend of mine to make me something clean and minimal but also classic, with an ageless quality and a lot of character. Colin created a typeface for me - Teoblad Roman - based on letters drawn by Aldus Manutius in 1499. This dovetailed nicely with the inspiration of my Spring 2010 collection, which started with me looking a renaissance perspective drawings, so it seemed like a good time to launch the new logo"

Canadian Winter Coats

Erdem

Jeremy Laing

Todd Lynn

Pink Tartan

Smythe

Lida Baday

Comrags

Harricana par Mariouche

Krane

Klaxon Howl

Fur traders dressed in the original Canadian Trapper look

No Canadian fashion story would be complete without talking about the Hudson's Bay Company, the oldest commercial company in North America and one of the oldest in the world, the Canadian department store had its roots in fur trading in the 17th century.

Last year The Bay under their HBC label was in charge of the this year's Canadian team uniforms for theWinter Olympics in Vancouver, as well as the luxurious redesign of The St Regis Room, considered one of the country's first designer destinations which carries exclusively collections like Balmain and Givenchy, as well as a great range of younger designer like Erdem and Calla. (I was of course obliged to include these names).

To celebrate the launch of their newest product range -the Hudson's Bay Company Collection- The Bay commissioned a series of Canadian designers to do one of a kind coats featuring the iconic HBC point blanket.

Todd Lynn, Jeremy Laing and Erdem were in the mix that included well established Canadian household names like Pink Tartan, Smythe, Lida Baday, Comrags, Harricana par Mariouche, Krane and Klaxon Howl.

via: Glamour and Glitter

Interview with Jak & Jil's Tommy Ton

Men's and Couture week are coming up very soon, this means Tommy Ton will be back in Paris with his camera and laptop and ready to report for style.com and his own blog Jak & Jil. It is a good opportunity to re-post an interview I did of him earlier last year before the front row appearance that sparked the social media frenzy this fall.

It it feels like so long ago when Tommy was shooting people at Toronto Fashion Week, but it isn't. Tommy's focus, hard work, and true love for fashion sets him apart; never mind that he takes a killer photo.

Read Interview Q&A WITH JAK AND JIL’S TOMMY TON

Bruce Labruce and Fashion

Gareth Pugh as seen by Bruce LaBruce for Purple Magazine, F/W 09

I saw Bruce LaBruce yesterday on his layover in Paris before heading to Berlin, he had the perfect Ray- Bans on, and by perfect I mean the couple sitting beside us were sure they had spotted a celebrity, or maybe they have seen Otto the Zombie. We had a great catch up conversation and as usual I found out many new and interesting things from him: the Canadian artist Kent Monkman, telling me about the Tony Blair and Vuitton news, and most interesting of all was that he will come back to Paris next week to interview a very big fashion figure for an American "counterculture" magazine. The designer is a fan of Bruce's work and again will show why he is indisputably one of the most progressive people in the business.

Canadian Fashion & Lady Gaga

Mark Fast recently declined a Lady Gaga wardrobe request citing he does not want to be part of "Fast-Food Fashion", he is just doing Faster; but the godfathers of Canadian fashion Dean and Dan happily had her guest star in their new show Launch My Line.

All is well with Gaga and Canada, and if the pop start or Illuminati messenger ever wants anything printed Calla will be happy to lend her clothes.

Other Canadians - Jean Pierre Braganza

Psychadelactica SS10

Another Canadian designer which at the moment is out of my chart but very much on the London fashion map is Jean Pierre Braganza. More on him later.

Mark Fast goes Faster

Canadian Mark Fast lead the plus size trend revolution last year. Now he is quickly getting in the diffusion line business with his new lower priced Faster label. Interesting and smart move. Go Mark Go!

Via: WWD

January 2010 Canadian Vogue Cover

I intended to stay away from the Canadian Hollywood celebrity aspect of things but if a cool actress like Rachel McAdams gets the American Vogue cover, one must take note.