Dualité

I have been pondering about Investigative Journalism for some time now, especially in the fashion industry in which, well, few journalists have ever gone past the glossy pages or theatrical shows. And when they do, they write a tell all book and still get to keep their day jobs (eventhough they get banned from a few shows in the aftermath). Pioneers like those writers are few and I believe there should be more of them, at least on the Canadian side.

Newspapers should be your #1 source of an investigative piece of any story and category. So I wonder why is that nearly all of the Canadian newspapers lack this investigative approach when it comes to fashion? All of the spreads I see in newspapers are written magazine style: positive, positive, positive. The fashion police and faux-pas don’t count. I’m talking about real pieces with facts, numbers, statistics, interviews, the lot. I don’t see any of this. And if I do, they’re usually tucked away in the business section. This is why I find it so discouraging for any aspiring fashion journalist that their hopes in writing something truly meaningful in a Canadian newspaper won’t happen except on a rare blue moon.

It’s especially difficult when most of the news I get have an American slant on it, thus not entirely affecting the industry in Canada. The Globe and Mail may produce the highest quality in Canadian news writing but, to be frank, their fashion reporting sucks. How many more days, weeks, months, seasons do I have to read upon another review of the must-haves and yet another thorough description of the new summer dress, and how florals are back in style? Who cares? And at first I thought it was cool to get updates on the latest sales going on over at The Gazette, but after a while, I was craving for something more serious and less superfluous.

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I found this interesting article in The WallStreet Journal that there is a growing trend that designer handbags are just getting bigger and heavier. Women carrying big and heavy purses can experience chronic neck, shoulder and back pain from the strains of a heavy bag, but some of them are really reluctant to change their fashionable ways.

Just what in the world could they be carrying in their bag?

…a laptop, [...] a notebook, as well as her BlackBerry, wallet, sunglasses, shoes, hairbrush, makeup, a can of Diet Coke and items for her four kids.

For one woman. Personally, carrying shoes AND a laptop in one bag is just insane. I can’t imagine hefting around a 17lb bag of “necessities” all day long and not think about how much my shoulder would be suffering.

Mucho Giganto

The red croc Birkin bag can fit a 14″ laptop computer, with lots of room to spare. $55,000.

The best advice is to just use a smaller purse, bring the rest of your stuff in a seperate bag and find a secure place to store it. Or keep it in your car (if you can own a BlackBerry, I’m sure you own a car). Why pay more money for medication when this can be avoided?

Then again this comes to as no surprise as women will do anything for fashion, as history tells us. From corsets to high heeled shoes to plastic surgery, this big bag trend is yet another consequence to loving fashion beyond human comfort.

Imagine having to drive yourself at a fabulous party but always have to lug around another pair of shoes just because you need a flat pair to drive your car or take the subway. That’s always a concern of mine when I wear my nice shoes and use public transportation, I’m afraid to trip and fall on the unsteady platforms all because I wanted to wear nice heels.

Here’s a proposition that one UK Car Insurance group, Sheila’s Wheels, came up with to solve the solution: a convertible shoe that turns from flat to stiletto from whipping out the heel from the bottom of the shoe.

Convertible heels, the next step in shoe design?

Ta dah! Instant glamour.

Being a mere prototype, we’re not really sure if they’re as comfortable as both heel and flat, but they sure do look cute. I can see this working in the long run, it’s highly convenient and efficient. 2 pairs in 1, how can you go wrong?

Sheila’s Wheels are working on developing the project, but there aren’t any specific dates when these babies will be available. Here’s to another step to shoe evolution.

[via TreeHugger.com]

From January 21rst to January 24th, the Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2008 show will go on once more in Paris.

Now, people often ask “What’s the difference between Haute Couture and Pret-a-porter?”

Well, quite a lot. Namely, Haute Couture is not catered to the mass audience but rather an exclusive and very rich clientele. The very rich are very few and in between, even celebrities only cover a fraction of the truly rich people in the world. Haute Couture involves custom-made tailoring and only uses fabrics of the highest quality. More often, they are less publicized in commercial fashion as the price range of their pieces is not made for the average household income.

In the world of luxury however, the houses recognized as Haute Couture by the Federation Francaise De La Couture in Paris are very few, 11 to be exact. They would be Christian Dior, Chanel, Adeline Andre, Christian Lacroix, , Givenchy, Dominique Sirop, Emanuel Ungaro (read more about Ungaro’s newly appointed young head designer at the Business of Fashion Blog), Franck Sorbier, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Maurizio Galante, Anne Valerie Nash. This is the current list as of 2007, among the former members include Balenciaga and Lanvin. If some of those names don’t seem familiar to you, it’s because you and I are not part of the social elite and the ultra rich to have heard about them There are strict protocols to become a real Haute Couture House. But you’ll find much more information about why Haute Couture has become what it is today at Fashion-Era.com.

These houses are the only exception to their low-profile colleagues as Haute Couture shows in Paris are one of the most coveted media events next to Fashion Week.

10yrs of Dior Couture by John Galliano Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
Image from Style.com

I find these shows to be a designer’s fantastical carousel of art pieces more so than realistic wear. John Galliano in particular for his fantastical theatrical shows, especially his Spring 2007 collection. I think for Haute Couture you’d have to really see the collection with an open mind.

A.MA.ZING.

Not only reputable in bringing some pretty compelling articles on Fashion, The New York Times have acknowledged and expanded their style section into the newly baptized “T“.

On the front cover: Natalie Portman

Combining the classic New York Times design with a serif font for text, and using the bold gothic lettering as its logo, T renders the online experience a little sassier than most online fashion magazines. It doesn’t use flipping pages, nor does it compact information in several columns, but flows horizontally echoing the scrolling headline ticker (!!) of their new blog “The Moment” on the bottom .

Ads are effectively placed where they are dominant as the single ad on the page you’re reading, like a full page ad in a magazine. This allows us to keep reading the article without being overwhelmed by a barrage of ads flanked left and right, in different sizes and disruptive of the reading flow.

Editorial photoshoots are transformed into a slide show, scrolling by hovering over the arrow on the right or left of the screen.

What’s fun about T Magazine is that each article is an experience in itself. The articles aren’t just confined to horizontal scrolling, some allow vertical, some allow viewings in all directions. Instead of telling you what you should be looking at, T lets you choose. You’re in control of what you want to read, how you want to read it and how fast. My biggest (and perhaps envious) pro of this site is the scrolling news ticker. Who doesn’t want to see constant headlines about fashion? I mean come on! It’s brilliant!

“The Moment” has earned a spot in the RSS Feed section. Enjoy and do check out the site!

I stumbled upon this nifty site called “Eco-Handbags.ca” a couple of months ago and have been wanting to share this. It’s a Montreal-based online store whose aim is to bring you the cream of the crop of online handbags made of recycled materials. From carpet to truck tires, the bags are as chic as they are unique. I was actually given a snazzy record vinyl purse for Christmas 2 years ago as a gift and I’ve dragged it around all summer long and gotten many compliments on it.

The record purse is now a popular commodity featuring old records cut and punched onto wooden planks on either side, with the original cover on one side, and the vinyl record on the other. It makes for great conversation piece for one thing, and it’s durable as heck. However there are several businesses that have spawned record purses, mine came from Brokenrecorddesigns (they’re cheaper too).

And how about that candy wrapper clutch? Isn’t it cute?

Eco-Handbags spreads awareness of the importance of saving the environment as a member of 1% For The Planet, where 1% of sales are donated to non-profit organizations helping the cause.

So if you’re looking for something really unique for the holidays, I suggest giving this site a go. You can still give a sweater for Christmas, it just might look a little different.

According to today’s The Gazette, a new kind of fashion magazine has been lauched during the L’Oréal Fashion Week last month called “Eye Candy, The Volumes” or “Voyeur de la Mode” by Eye Candy Media, a UK-based advertising giant screen company . The new publication will be based in Montreal and will not feature any written articles but simply a collection of fashion editorial spreads by the world’s most talented fashion photographers.

A page from the October issue with a peek of the next page. Notice the video screen up on the right page.

Their website contains an online version of the magazine where visitors can flip through the pages like a real magazine, sometimes containing videos. The first time I’ve seen this page flipping animation done was on Clear Magazine‘s website (though it’s been under reconstruction for ages). The whole feeling is very reminiscent of Iconique‘s fashion editorials, a fashion magazine which publishes exclusively on the web, integrating Flash to interact with the user. It’s not surprising though as Montreal’s own Yanick Déry has collaborated with Iconique before and may have influenced publishers in spinning off a fashion publication with a similar chicness of a black background and editorial concept.

It’s a great breath of fresh air when it comes to Montreal fashion publications, I’m sure I’ll be picking up my copy soon. However, the concept is hardly anything new. Perhaps you can call me a cynical fashion lover, but when it comes to fashion publications, after getting a taste of Clear, Iconique, Another Magazine, and IssueOne, I’m sort of waiting for something a little more different.

If it weren’t for my friends on Facebook, I wouldn’t have known that vegan bag designers Matt&Nat was having a sample sale from Nov.15th to the 17th, nor would I have known that luxury good retailer m0851 were having their own sample sale this weekend.

For many 20-something to 30-something web users, Facebook has become the ubiquitous place to “hang out” online. With an active online membership of over 42 million users (thanks Wiki!), it is an undeniable market for fashion designers to spread their wings.

Fashion designers are taking advantage of the Facebook platform, initiating groups for their brands and creating events in ways that traditional push emails, flyers, and print ads can’t fulfill. The Montreal Fashion group boasts a growing membership of around 50 members per day to their 7300 members. Within these groups, users can post images, videos, links, and events, interact with one another on the group’s discussion boards and initiate contacts. Facebook’s main appeal is that everyone uses their real names, producing a sense of familiarity between the consumer and the brand’s owner or representative. Discounts can be given to group members during private special events, creating exclusivity, and you know how shoppers love feeling special.

This truly a cost effective practice for fashion designers. Facebook is free to join, or they can buy and create a sponsored page like Victoria’s Secret Pink group, their outreach is as wide as the network they’re in, friends can refer other friends to the group, and so on. Consumers can access the brand’s information on their own time and it doesn’t cost the designers or the consumers a dime. Now how brilliant is that? Facebook’s got it goin’ on.

It’s interesting to see that when it comes to glamour, it’s not the name of a French Canadian that fits the designer bill, it’s the name of a Vietnamese designer named Andy Thê-Anh (pictured left). When it comes to feminine, flowery designs, we turned to another emerging Vietnamese designer, Dinh Bà. A few years ago, there was the line of YSO by Siphay Southidara, originally from Laos, who currently works for Parasuco. On this year’s Project Runway Canada, another Montrealer of Chinese descent, Lincoln Cheung was among the 12 designers competing for the grand prize (unfortunately, he got voted off). Lincoln now works for Bedo, a sophisticated Montreal-based line for men and women.

This is just to say that asian designers are bursting out into the Montreal fashion scene and applications are pouring into famed fashion colleges like LaSalle and Marie-Victorin. If you look on LaSalle’s front page, there’s now a section written in Vietnamese, this is honestly the first time I’ve seen any local establishment not dominated by asians, actually acknowledging the existence of non-Chinese, non-Japanese students

Proving the successful run of the likes of Andy Thê-Anh, aspiring asian designers have hope in making it here. Finally, asians no longer have to be bogged down by stereotypes of qi pao and kimono fashions, they can truly elevate themselves above and beyond their restrictions and let their imaginations run wild.

On Nov. 8th, Roberto Cavalli’s collection will be released to the mass public in all H&M stores in and around the Montreal area. On H&M’s official website, we can really experience the full blown campaign advertisement of Cavalli’s collection, from surfing through the collection, to the 90 sec. commercial, to still ads, to reading his blog, and a 6 min. video interview splashed on full screen. Here we see Cavalli in a typical italian manner, cigar in hand, a deep Italian accent (with English subtitles in case you can’t understand him), large jewelry, and an open black collar shirt. He rattles on about his experience with H&M, how he went about creating his collection, who it is for, and who should be wearing his clothes.

Get Ready To Rumble

A word to the wise, if you even think about lining up only an hour before the doors open on Thursday, think again. In the past and around the world, shoppers experienced a shocker when they found a huge lineup outside H&M’s doors as early as 5 in the morning.

In 2005, it was Stella McCartney. Liz Jones from the Evening Standard in London covered her experience at H&M. She arrived 8am, the doors didn’t open until 9am and already there was a monstrous lineup. One nanny had arrived at 6:30am to buy a pair of trousers and a black dress. Most already knew what they were buying, some grabbed whatever they could and by 9:10am, the store was empty.

In 2006, Viktor & Rolf released their collection in New York, Kendall Herbst from New York Magazine described shoppers literally at war with one another. Women grabbing armloads of clothes and they didn’t care what they were getting. Shoppers sprinting, spinning, swapping, hell, it was chaos.

So if you have an eye on that leopard print silk dress, you better know your size and you better arrive early. Take no prisoners!

H&M stores around Montreal

All stores open between 10am and 9pm.

Rockland Centre
Galerie D’Anjou
Fairview Pointe-Claire
Mail Champlain
Carrefour Laval

**Please note that Cavalli’s collection will only be available at the Rockland Centre, sorry about that!