Some cool stuff from around the interwebs

Lacoste Legends


Lacoste Legends brings together 12 legendary collaborators from various fields like music, media, design and retail, to create an exclusive collection comprising of 12 shoes. For the launch in Argentina, they recreated a newspaper with 12 headlines presenting the shoes and a newspaper dispenser containing the newspaper. [Via: Behance]

Listgeeks www.listgeeks.com

A social network for people who like to make lists of things, Listgeeks helps you create, share and compare lists of things.
The world's most inspiring bookstores

Places of note that will make you rethink those e-readers (which I'm not a fan of as you know from this post)

Herman Dune X April77

One of my favourite brands April77 has teamed up with Herman Dune for their latest collaboration to create the DAD chino. Details are awesome as always and the collection is available exclusively at Colette [Via: Modissimo]

Bowties: a user's guide

There's a guide for the now ubiquitous bowtie. [Via: Materialiste]

Gil Scott Heron X Jamie XX

Unfortunately, the legendary Gil Scott-Heron passed away on Friday. His last LP I'm New Here released in 2010), was recently remixed by Jamie XX from the XX. We're new here was released in Feb 2011).
[Via: Hype Means Everything]

What you're likely to hear

I meant to post this earlier in time for fashion week, but it completely slipped my mind. I've compiled a list of songs you're likely to hear at this season's LG Fashion Week in Toronto. Although LGFW started on Monday, there's still time to hear some of these jams on the runway. My predictions are usually accurate, but if I'm wrong then, sorry.

1. "Hello" - Martin Solveig and Dragonette
2. "Pharaohs & Pyramids" - Cut Copy
3. Most of the Toro Y Moi album
4. Far East Movement - "Like a G6" (Despite it being a last season and season before that runway hit, I think one designer will put it in)
   
5. Anything by Drake. Ugh.
6. "Safari Disco Club" - Yelle
7. Songs from the Twin Shadow album
8. "Snake Charmer" - Bag Raiders
9. Anything by The Black Keys
10. Songs from the TRON: Legacy Soundtrack
11. "Odessa" - Caribou (again, same thing as "G6" but it may come back)

What would be nice to hear:

1. "Lovesick" - Lindstrom and Christabelle
2. Songs from the Bonobo album
3. "Pigna Colada" (Fare Soldie Shake Your Burek Remix) - Sculo Furano
4. "Sorry" - Justus Kohncke and Alexis Taylor
5. "Holidays" - Miami Horror
6. "Boy" (RAC Remix) - Ra Ra Riot

A Runway of Nostalgia

I have a lot of articles due to be submitted which I must get to ASAP. I also have a few that, once live, I'll be sharing with you. Today, I give you my review (with anecdote) of the Ryerson School of Fashion's graduate show Mass Exodus. It's over at This is World Town, so click here to check it out.

And speaking of fashion, I make a brief cameo on Fashion Television's coverage of WomenXWomen. I do some pointing and talking in like three clips, but I think it's rad, so click here to see if you can spot the yuppie.

[FAT] April 21-25

Fashion.Art.Toronto=[FAT]

Toronto Alternative Arts and Fashion Week, 2010

Shows I'm going to see/Shows I was suggested to see:

- Romandin

- Diepo

- youth.inasia

- Heidi Ackerman

- Jasper Garvida (winner of Project Catwalk)

- Worth by David C Wrigley

- Aimee Tobolka

- Refined by Evan Biddell

Details:

April 21-25, 2010

Studio City, 1 Pardee Avenue, (Liberty Village)

Tickets: $25 at select locations, $30 at the door (per night), $70 (week pass)

Full schedule and more information here

Double Exposure

I covered the WomenXWomen show and wrote about it. Photographer Sarah Blais of Thirty9Steps took photos. It was a show about female photographers after all so it's only natural I opted for one, right? Read the article here, my second for This is World Town.

Coccolily’s Autumn/Winter 2010 Collection

Sibling #1 (because she's older) sent me an email featuring Montreal based line Coccolily's new lookbook. It's impressive, and I wanted to share with you her cute and edgy (dare I use them in the same sentence?) collection for Autumn/Winter 2010.

Beatrice

Augustine

Marie

Sophie

Séphirine

Catherine

J'aime le noir, j'aime la musique noir

With the help of my good photographer friend Renata (she snapped, I wrote, we both observed), I bring you my first article for This is World Town. Enjoy the review of the THOMAS and Cult de Laissez Faire menswear lines. Read it here

Fashion, turn to the left, fashion turn to the right

In honour of Fashion Week, and Fashion Week redux (here in Toronto, our week is stretched through a month), I'm featuring some fashion related links:

EVENT
The second edition of WomenXWomen is on Thursday. But don't worry, if you don't have an invite to the opening, you can check out the public exhibition, details are on the site. I'm looking forward to this edition, especially for Renata's Death Valley shoot (trust me it will be awesome). The video below is the outtakes, and you can take a look at the official trailer here. Also, be sure to lookout for the Yuppie's edition of WomenXWomen, called YuppieXYuppie, naturally. What will it be about? I haven't decided yet, but it may include hipster tattoos (a conversation my hairdresser knows all too well).

CAMPAIGN

16w21 is designer Zac Posen's first residential project which will be located in the Ladies' Mile High district in Manhattan. The promotion is the racy, voyeuristic but aimed at the proper target. And, in more ways than one, it evokes the truth. (via: designboom)

AYO...TECHNOLOGY
Burberry goes 3D on the runway, NADA goes 3D instead of a runway show and Cassette Playa opts for augmented reality during their runway show.

A scanner internetly

Being an old wannabe secret agent, I've limited my abilities to the internet. So I go M-16 on the internets and share with you a variety of links copped from Google Buzz feeds of friends, or things I came across via Google Reader-Twitter

LOOK/FLIP

• Gaza'rt: proving that there's art in the Arab world
• Persianissimo: contemporary Iranian posters an exhibit curated by Majid Abbas presents 50 posters of 28 contemporary Iranian graphic artists. via: Abitare
• FLAUNT...this magazine
• Publications not many people would have so they'd make good additions to your collection
• Oooohhhh look at all these magazines
• Fashion follows politics
• Animated Oscar award winner that you should watch

LEARN

• Free and high quality resources on web design and development
• Complex Magazine countsdown the 50 most racist films via: This World Town
• What hipsters would call an ideal blog. No. This isn't one of those lame links to unhappy hipsters of LATFH.
• This is what some people may call "deep"
• I hate museums, ask me why one day, but the internet tries to "culture" us regardless
• Reality of the binational solution to the Palestine/Israel question - read this

DISCOVER

• You like before and afters? If yes, then you'll like Toronto Before, a blog that features photos from yesteryear, sometimes side by side with photos from today.
• Spacing is a great publication that discusses urban life in some of Canada's largest cities. I personally read the Ottawa blog more than the Toronto blog, because I feel the nation's capital (and my former home) faces a lot of challenges when it comes to urban landscape. As an advocate of Ottawa transforming its look to accommodate its growth, I'm happy to see Spacing take the initiative and devote a magazine to Ottawa.
• GGRP sound cardboard record player
• Yes, I really do enjoy this blog
• The greatest voice of the Arab world - Umm Kulthum via: Avant Caire

Thursday to Wednesday

Last Thursday, I attended the Philip Sparks Autumn-Winter 2010 Fashion Show at the Burroughes. Packed house and below are the photos I managed to snatch.

Blonde [insert German accent here] supermodel [end German accent here] pretended he wasn't staring while I took this photo, but he was.

Video of the show can be seen on Anita's blog, and photos on Compendium Daily. More stuff on Philip Sparks' blog.

Then I dashed home to pack because I was heading to...can you guess where I was by looking at this t-shirt?

During my trip, I did some antique shopping where I got a really cool broche and some postcards (I collect postcards, and if you don't know, now you know).

This is how we our engineering training began...through toys.

Why didn't I buy this Ed Hardy edition composition book? Why???

By Sunday I was back in Toronto and on Tuesday, I went to newly opened Beit Zatoun for the first time to check out "Through Their Eyes: Art and Photography by Palestinian Youth" an exhibit presented by Project Hope (whose office is now located in Beit Zatoun on Markham and Bloor).

The art featured is basically the work of students in Nablus who participated in three creative art courses put on by Project Hope.

• Graphic novels: collection of sequential art telling the individual stories of four Palestinian students - some biographical, some abstract
• Moments in Palestine: photographs taken in Palestine by Stephanie MacIntosh and Jeremy Wildeman
• Teenage Drop-outs: Photographs taken by 15-17 year olds who had dropped out of school. Their work was led by photojournalist Valerian Mazetaud.
• Bridge to the world: Blogs from the Bridge to the World program which runs English, French, Computer and Photography classes, teaching Palestinian youth to use social media as a vehicle of international communication. Some of their photos were also featured.

Wednesday I attended the Fall 2010 NADA collection. Instead of using a runway to showcase her clothing, Nada Shepherd chose the Scotiabank theatre screen as her canvas. This was the first time in fashion history that a designer chose to show her collection within a 3D film. On my way out, a girl sitting next to me asked me where I got my broche, I replied "Winterpeg" and she was like "oh cool, where is that?" I just gave away where I was. Anyway, you can check out the 3D film online at Nada 3D. The last few films I've seen happen to have been in 3D, but then I dashed to the Bloor Cinema for the Hot Docs Soup screening of Mai Iskander's "Garbage Dreams" which was not in 3D but I wore my glasses anyway. Kidding.

Garbage Dreams' execution is great, and the documentary tackles with a heartbreaking reality: the situation of the zaballeen in Egypt. I suggest you read this short review by FEN Mag and then once your done, check out the 6 questions spot they did with the director.

From my Google Reader: Links of the week

I wanted to stick with eight links for this week, but there was just too much to share.

1. I don't have a picturesque view out of my giant window, but these people do
2. Binoculars are awesome. These are more awesome.
3. Still waiting for someone to buy me sunglasses from Ksubi
4. Disney has always been racist. Here are the most racist Disney characters [via Angry Arab]
5. Proving once again that "peace talks" is a louche term
6. Paul Smith collaborated with Evian, but I'm much more interested in his collaboration with Rhodia
7. Anyone interested in bidding for Iraq's oil?
8. More proof about The Twelves being awesome
9. Israeli settlement produce? or Occupied produce? UK food labels set to distinguish goods.
10. The face every girl thinks is "sexy" is not. So stop.
11. Happycentro creative design studio has awesome work
12. To keep track of your enemies
13. Remember music in the 90s?
14. Remember Versace in the 90s?
15. Speaking of the blogger who reminisces Versace in the 90s, she released a Paper Doll book featuring outfits from LGFW SS10
16. This is cool packaging
17. In social media news, Shimon Peres now has a YouTube channel. Don't worry, Dahlan is on Twitter.
18. LOOT's latest mix (one half is BEAR)

House of Vintage opening

A vintage shop called House of Vintage opened in Parkdale (vous êtes surpris?) and I attended the opening party last Thursday. My photographer friend Christine Lim took some killer shots while I ate sushi (courtesy of Toshi Sushi), pineapples (courtesy of the earth) and browsed the collection (courtesy of my girl Esther who invited me and the owner who stocked the place).

The space is about 1700 square feet, so the smell of old stuff doesn't fill your nostrils, and if you're quick on your feet, you can get to those items the other hipster person has been eyeing faster without tripping on a rack. The pieces are carefully chosen by famed vintage dealer Dennis, so you're left with great looking clothes, unlike many other vintage stores who pile on the racks with items no one wore then and still wouldn't wear today. I also just realized that I was supposed to go back to the store on Saturday and pick up the rad leather jacket the owner left on hold for me and now it's probably gone. It's okay, I have an array of leather jackets to start my revolution.

House of Vintage is located at 1239 Queen Street West.

Disco, disco

Dennis, looking bad ass.

From my Google Reader: an assortment

Via: SightUnseen

Via: SightUnseen

Via: MocoLoco

Via: Studio Von Birken

Via: the Emperor of Antarctica

Via: Lovely Package

Via: Coûte que Coûte

R4 Fashion

Waterloo University and fashion don't usually mix, but R4 Fashion, an upcoming fashion event in Toronto, is organized by Sustainable Technology Education Project (STEP) at the University of Waterloo. The event is looking to bring together students, young entrepreneurs, industry leaders and fashion community members for a celebration of Canadian designers who are eco-conscious. The show will feature garments that are composed of organic and sustainable materials from some great designers. There's also a couple of awesome people on the jury (The Style Box) and guests like Evan Biddell. Get your tickets here.

From my Google Reader

I'm sorry, I have no time to write. Just this stuff.

Un tour de Manège from Les Manèges on Vimeo.

Via Fubiz

Après la Pluie ©2008Gobelins from Emmanuelle Walker on Vimeo.

Via Drawn

Via Coute que Coute

Via Designboom

Via The Coolist

Via The Independent

Conversations of the week

Leaving the Holts Media cocktail:

"Next season, I'm going full out Arab at fashion week. What do you think people would say if I wore my revolutionary scarf like a chador?"

"Anything you do just looks cool, why is that?" she asks.

"It's because I'm Arab," I respond.

"That makes sense."

Moral: although no evidence proves this lately, Arabs do it better.

At whose house again?

"You boys want to put your pee pee everywhere, then when it comes to marriage, you want a girl who hasn't seen the light of day."

"Yes, one with low mileage," the tall one answers.

"But how do you count the mileage, like if she was with someone for two years or just with a lot of people?" he jumps in.

"Air Miles doesn't count how long you stay on your trip, they reward you with miles based on how many trips you take," I respond.

"Makes sense."

Moral: no matter what boys tell you, they still want low mileage.

At the store:

Coffee shop guy comes in and asks store owner,

"what are you doing?"

Store owner points at me and says,

"talking to my future wife!"

Coffee shop guy: "Keep dreaming."

Moral: Listen to coffee shop guy, he's got it right.

What Arty said:

I finally bought a pair of glasses, they're okay. Kind of look like a hipster asshole, I dunno, they're pretty standard and classic but like would actually wear them in public? I also got my sunglasses back. They're nice...I guess. They have like this real British look to them. Not so much the boppin' twiggy era London look to them, more like the teenager walking down a street in Newcastle look. They're pretty big...not sure how comfortable I am in them.

Moral: Arty is hilarious.

il s'agit d'un Adieu mais je la prends comme un au revoir

11 hours of sleep total all weekend.

My lips are hurt from wearing too much red lipstick, my feet are begging me to stop wearing shoes, my Rhodia's pages are filled, my favourite pen is lost, and I'm angry at the weather for not allowing me to wear the dress I wanted. That marks the end of Fashion Week.

Friday was spent debating tears of happiness or relief, realizing that there's not even a thought of turning back, writing articles, and engaging in hilarious conversations with new people, followed by an unexpected and [very] late set of conversations. Saturday came too soon and I indulged myself in family, good food, a happy neighbour, a wonderful visitor, a housewarming, more food, and a movie slash conversation. Sunday started with a hilarious text message and proceeded to be spent on my feet. My familiar footsteps explored the city as they tapped alongside new ones, and brief goodbyes make for quick returns. Tomorrow marks my new journey, one I await eagerly. Nervous, excited, and scared, I plunge into the unknown and I feel great.

Fashion Week diaries, Spring/Summer 2010

With LG Fashion Week in full swing right now, my agenda is filled with shows to cover, events to attend, and housekeeping items to tend to. Like any "fashion person", I have pieces I hold dear in my closet and will wear them until they no longer have shape of their former glory. My oxfords (of which two more identical pairs grace my closet) are on their death bed, the buttons on my Napoleon coat are getting stuck between bodies on the TTC and popping out (ugh rush hour), and my tights are waiting for a run to come through them. Luckily, there aren’t many off site events to attend. On day one, I attended the Holts Media Cocktail and “how to walk in heels” at Chasse Gardée. There was a memorable moment at the Holts cocktail, courtesy of Robin Kay. No, she was not drunk, or trying to sell us a dime that’s top of the line, it was this quote: “And now we have our own group of seven.” Robin, baby, the group of seven is Canadian.

Holts media cocktail

I encountered various problems so far this season. In the media room, the computers that are the size of bunnies are DEATH, almost like the one I type from right now, the internet is slow, and the room is crammed. Missing this time is the kit-kat, coffee and champagne from last season. New this year are the benches in the Fashion Environment, which are better than the seats from previous seasons, except the no coat check thing makes sitting on benches more difficult because I can’t put my coat anywhere and since the weather is unpredictable, I can’t even dress for these things anymore.

Hometown girl Jasmine walks the runway for Travis Taddeo

Travis Taddeo finale

Yesterday was my crazy busy day with tons of things to cross off the agenda. I had to run from Liberty Village to pick up an essential package for a designer showing tomorrow in the St-Lawrence market, run back home, change, get to the tents for a few shows, run out to the Annex for a meeting (which ran late), run back to the tents, got to the show that actually started on time that I had to cover but missed due to incredible amount of people, hung around for the rest of the shows to cover, ran home, gave the designer her package, wrote my articles, and went to bed. Phew. Today is all about the Mimrans and so I’ll jump into my Lungta de Fancy and head over to the tents and end the night at Shadowplay – Carte Blanche always throws a good party. Keep up with my fashion week coverage on blogTO.
photos: blogTO