Stylize

In the Middle of Our Street

I recently got a chance to do some work with Shu Umera, as they took to the streets of Dundas Square with free makeovers, and a punch of elegance from their models. I got a chance to get some shots of model Marie Mei.

 
 
 

Spring Scarf Styling 2010 Part 2

Jeffery Pearson (first picture below), Makeup Artist for Dior and visual stylist: Being a stylist, I love my accessories and one accessory in my wardrobe that gets carried over from one season to the next is the scarf. Not just to keep you warm in the winter a scarf is a fabulous accessory to complete your look. My favourite is from Pucci (worn by Curtis Larad in second picture below), it's so versatile, I can wear it as a belt, head band, or neck scarf and the colors are so amazing I can wear it with anything. In this photoshoot Ash styled me in a YSL scarf bought at the vintage store Black Market on Queen Street West here in Toronto. www.jefferypearson.com

Spring 2010 Scarf Styling Part 1

Winter is the season of the scarf!...Atleast that's what they used to say. So why is it that we bind ourselves with silly rules like "don't wear white after labour day" and "knit scarves go in a box labelled winter when spring arrives". As I scoured the pretty but nevertheless gritty streets of Toronto, looking for some key trends for Spring and Summer 2010, I noticed some really alluring style, colours, and textures of scarves. One thing remains true, scarves have an appeal that is accessible to any age and lifestyle.

  

A Day with Dior

 

This weekend was busy in Toronto, like most others. Dior was having their national event at Holt Renfrew on Bloor. I took some time to stop in and see what all the buzz was about. National makeup artist Nicholas Cardi was in town from New York City along with one of Toronto's top Dior makeup artist Jeffery Pearson. I got a chance to capture these artists in action at Holt's.

Jeffery did a makeover on Farrah using Dior's spring and summer makeup collection. The pallete was inspired by John Galliano's spring/summer 2010 collection, which had a focus on lace. The soft hues rest on the skin, allowing for a natural and breezy look with the sophistication and elegance of lace.

 Dior decided to team up with Chateau D'Yquem vineyards to acquire ingredients that are precious to the regeneration of skin to be as supple and radiant as it possibly can be. L'or De Vie's unparalleled anti-oxidizing power is exceptional for environmental and cellular protection, and the results have been proven in lab tests to be absolutely extraordinary.

Gucci's Miami Vice...or Virtue?

Gucci's Spring 2010 Men's collection launches the first full year for new CEO Patrizio di Marco. This season is also marked by Frida Giannini's 4th year as creative director behind the fashion megahouse, and while she is able to create a sense of novelty for the brand she maintains a respect for it's crisp and eloquent Italian history. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Patrizio says of Giannini "I don't have to tell Frida to do anything other than to be herself. She's made beautiful products from the beginning."

The colour palette was mostly neutral, allowing the collection to revisit Gucci's fleeting interest in travel wear. Most of the suits in this collection are made for the jet setter, with a versatility for business day wear, elegant evening, and sophisticated private clubwear.

The suits being mostly Miami Vice inspired in
white were reminiscent of  a decade Gucci faced scrutiny for becoming a cheaper travel clothing brand. Giannini continues to prove her ability to tastefully revamp old trends that may or may not have sat well with critics the first time. This creative direction also reflects Gucci's new CEO Patrizio's recession plan to focus on the brand's opulent history.

The theme of neutrality in colour followed with an orchestra of ultraluxurious navy blue suit varieties. However, if any men in the room need a memoir from this collection it is the two button suit in red and indigo hypercolour. It's as much a mouthful for the eyes as it is for the ears

 

Photos: Courtesy of www.fashionising.com

You'd be nervous rubbing your elbows with Louis and Chanel, unless you were Hugo.

Bloor Street's most ritzy strip, aka.Yorkville aka.Canada's 5th ave, is no stranger to upscale glama-shops, which is why it's surprising it took so long for Hugo Boss to put one here. This new Canadian flagship store boasts 12,000 sqft. on three floors, including an entire top floor dedicated for events, both private and corporate. The event room can seat upto 150 people. HB's CEO Mark Brashear says in his recent interview with METRO," You have the store experience, which is one experience, but by offering a venue where you can attract local groups, we think that will add leverage toward creating action and energy, both for Bloor Street and Hugo Boss.”

Which begs the question, can I have my birthday party here??

Being in the most upscale shopping strip of Toronto, this new venue will have no problem attracting local M&S. Brashear also says the design of the new location aims to help their customers experience HB in a "sensual and seductive" way. Life23 viewers stay tuned for an indepth update when I will get a chance to be seduced personally on my visit to the store in February.

Mama always said wear your seatbelts..

Even when you're not in your car? Greta Constantine's latest concoctions will have you questioning your beloved mother. The personalities behind this duo are Canada's Stephen Wong and Italy's Kirk Pickursgill.

With some major Canadian flag-waivers like Coca Rocha, Martina Sorbara of Dragonette fame, and the entire cast of Canada's Next Top Model, this company has no problem making consistent tidal waves across the Canadian fashion scene.

Their most eye catching work is their architecturally structured items made out of recycled seat-belts like the dress featured in Dragonette's video for "Pick Up the Phone". Here's the alcala remix of the track:

With seat-belts as their fabric on a streamline cocktail dress, and a relatively large object used as a shoulder strap on their turmeric gown, this brand's signature is becoming more about rock'd out elegance, and less about a passing fad.

Alexander McQueen FW09-10 aka. Plato's Atlantis

Are those armadillos on your feet? If you love fashion, Alexander McQueen, and pain  the answer is yes. This is the name of the new space age shoe by the Queen. Although this shoe won't help you to launch off the ground it is the must have item for anyone hovering through the wonderful world of fashion.

Although for ages fashionistas have relied on McQueen to shock, amaze, and in some cases even abuse with his use of stage drama, critics have been hard on the Queen for a lack of "proper" use of print and texture in his fabric. This collection seems to showcase his mastery of that element that was once lacking. His use of chaotic (but nevertheless brilliant) inkblot-calleidescope prints, cold-hard beadwork, and textures that are only reminiscent of what we call furry are testaments to how well this designer creates new ideas in a seemingly deconstructed environment.

This collection is easily worn by personalities like Lady Gaga, whose song Bad Romance was featured at the end of the show, and who vice versa featured many of the pieces in her video for the song. However, these pieces are not to be worn by the everyday girl, leaving an intrigue of how they translated into a ready to wear collection. Here's a lookbook of things to come: Alexander McQueen 2010 Show Collection Lookbook
Oh! How could I forget to leave a link to the show, well the end of the show where LaGaGa's song bad romance is premiered. (Please feel free to also check out Mi Favo Vidz to see the actual vid and remix for BadRomance) Enjoy!

Jean Paul Gaultier 2010

Jean Paul Gaultier's FW2009 collection was a feast for an androgonous dominatrix that got transported to the 1920's. With plenty of geometric vortex graph prints, and invite-only midnight masquerade masks, there is a collection made just for LadyaGaga or any young Grace Jones.

This collection boasted a delicate marriage between old and new, future and past, feminine and masculine, hard and soft. The show started off with a mudfight involving Coca Rocha and a fellow unnamed model. Gaultier's love for luxury and drama is apparent in this oppulent collection that will be remembered for years, making it's debut in the Fashion Week circuit as a preview of bold and beautiful things to come.