Lucian Matis F/W 2013

On Friday night I had the incredible pleasure to volunteer at Lucian Matis’ intimate show for Toronto’s World Mastercard Fashion Week. This was my first legit fashion show and I was so excited, and I was secretly fangirling a little bit because, you know, I’ve had a designer crush on Lucian Matis since his Project Runway days. It was an amazing experience and I had a wonderful time, I’m absolutely looking forward to more shows in the future.

Entitled “Monochromatic Fantasy,” the collection featured structural pieces in black, white and grey in heavier fabrics like wool, leather and fur. The emphasis was on clean lines and classic silhouettes with touches of modern geomoetry. It had a kind of 50′s utilitarian feel; I definitely got a Kim Novak from “Vertigo” vibe. Plus, turtlenecks have never been this sexy.

I especially loved the shoes – black pumps with chunky lucite heels –  and the hair, slicked back ponytails wrapped in leather.

In partnership with Bailey’s, Matis created a custom gown to celebrate the unveiling of their new bottle design. The skirt of the gown was actually covered in glass from crushed Bailey’s bottles, and it might have been my imagination, but it still even smelled like Bailey’s.

I know that the quality isn’t that great because they’re from my phone, but here are some pictures I took from the show.

New York Fall 2013 Live Stream

Check out the online live stream of New York Fashion Week here:

http://newyork.mbfashionweek.com/live

The remaining schedule of live streamed shows is as follows:

Monday February 11th
1:00 pm - Pamella Roland
3:00 pm - Kaufmanfranco
5:00 pm - Betsey Johnson
6:00 pm - Reem Acra
8:00 pm - Marc by Marc Jacobs

Tuesday February 12th
10:00 am - Badgley Mischka
11:00 am - Vera Wang
1:00 pm - Jenny Packham
2:00 pm - Naeem Khan
3:00 pm - Dennis Basso
7:00 pm - Vantan Tokyo

Wednesday February 13th
9:00 am - Bibu Mohapatra
10:00 am - Michael Kors
11:00 am - Nanette Lepore
1:00 pm - Rachel Zoe
2:00 pm - J. Mendel
3:00 pm - Milly by Michelle Smith
5:00 pm - Falguni and Shane Peacock
6:00 pm - Anna Sui
7:00 pm - Zang Toi
8:00 pm - B Michael America

Thursday February 14th
7:00 pm - CH by Carolina Herrera

Stay tuned for updates here, and happy viewing!

Tyler Shields Birkin Uproar

Of all the praises given towards art, there are still those who are critical of it as a whole. Plato was highly suspicious of most forms of works of art because he felt that its imitable nature and influence was harmful, and Andy Warhol dismissed his own trade in claimin that "An artist is someone who produces things that people don't need to have." When photographer Tyler Shields published a series of photographs of his girlfriend Francesca Eastwood destroying an Hermès Birkin bag, the entire internet universe went insane. Not only did they claim that Shields' work (which looks as if it has more than a touch of Terry Richardson's influence, so take from that what you will...) was not art, but that it was wasteful and irresponsible for a bag that costs more than double what most people earn in a year to be butchered in such a manner. Many twitter commenters the two for not donating the money to charity instead of buying a bag just to deface in the name of "art" which, in many peoples' opinion, doesn't even look that good (which is not really the point of the debate).

What, then, is the point? Is this piece aesthetically pleasing? That, of course, is subjective. I personally don't like looking at these pictures for the sake of looking at them, but that's just me. In any case, I don't believe that art is just about what simply looks good and what doesn't, and that certainly doesn't seem to be all that Shields is concerned about either. That's not the main issue anyway. What art strives to do, or at least one of the major functions of art, is to take something and make people look at it and think about it in ways that they never have before. Whether this shoot was Shields' battle cry against capitalism, or perhaps more likely just a couple of kids who felt an urge to destroy something beautiful, I can't say, but what Shields did achieve was to get people talking about a Birkin bag and all the tropes attached to it and the moral and pop-cultural implications of its destruction, and their reaction was incredibly strong. As for the ethical/monetary debate, whether or not Shields and Eastwood were being wasteful with their actions, is it really fair to tell an artist to donate his money to charity rather than use it towards his craft? It puzzles me that this isolated situation is catching heat when the music and film industry is rife with far more culpible individuals, but again, that's their decision. Perhaps the fact that this particular work created such an uproar is telling, afer all.

Grimes - "Visions"

Grimes' latest album "Visions" is exactly that - a vision of sugar plums, unicorns, and other such jazz. She's back at it again with her unique sound, which is equal parts Bjork, Cocorosie, Enya, and yes, influences from her self-proclaimed idols Mariah Carey and Beyonce can be found amongst such notable tracks as "Eight," "Be A Body," and "Vowels = Space and Time" (my personal favourite track).

Produced under strained conditions (Grimes had allegedly locked herself alone in a hotel room for nine days without food and felt later that she had channeled spirits), "Visions" is a meticulously crafted offering that is often sugary but always melodic and emotive.
I trust you shan't be disappointed.

The Scent of a Lady

Oh, she would.

Lady Gaga's fragrance, "Fame" debuted yesterday after the name was unceremoniously leaked by the editors of Flare. Handling the situation with characteristic grace, the Lady took to her twitter and released pictures of the bottle, which looks pretty much how you would expect it to.

Of course celebrity fragrances are nothing new, but Lady Gaga is obviously not a normal celebrity, so this fragrance is going to be something quite different (natch). The description of the scent as dictated by Mother Monster herself reads as a witches brew or a fairy's magical potion, allegedly with "tears of belladonna, crushed heart of tiger orchidea with a black veil of incense, pulverized apricot and the combinative essences of saffron and honey drops." Oh yeah, and the fluid itself is black, which makes it the first fragrance to be so.

Earlier in 2011, Gaga told an Australian radio station that she was in the process of developing a perfume that was to smell "like an expensive hooker" and further noted that "[Blood and semen] is in the perfume but it doesn't smell like it... You just get sort of the after feeling of sex from the semen and the blood is sort of primal. And the blood was taken from my own blood sample so it's like a sense of having me on your skin." I'm sure I'm not alone in my hope that the last part (and only that, please and thank you) is true.

OK, I know that celebrity fragrances are usually laaaame and kind of a sellout, (though I actually really love SJP's "Lovely") but don't tell me you're not at least curious, because if I'm pretty sure that anything Lady Gaga touches is golden (except for the song "Teeth, we tend to ignore that one). She can even make a Terry Richardson shoot tolerable! Besides, I see you rocking not one but both of her lipsticks for M.A.C Viva Glam, which is pretty much the same thing. JUST SAYING.

I haven't had the pleasure of sampling it yet, I have been looking for it in stores but I have yet to find it. I'll keep you posted.

Puttin' On The Ritz

The decadence and opulence of the Ritz Carlton in Paris proves to be an ideal backdrove from the ever gorgeous Kate Moss in this editorial for US Vogue, shot by Tim Walker and styled by Grace Coddington. The shoot plays out as a number of different feels and stories: it is at once about a beautiful princess in a ruffled red Dior gown in a palace that rivals Versailles, and a modern woman in a pink Balenciaga cocktail dress getting ready for a night on the town. There's kind of a fairytale sense here - the shot of Kate in the red Giambattista Valli gown standing by the mirror was very Alice Through The Looking Glass, but it is as much about the glamorous patrons of the hotel as well asvery real Ritz Carlton employees who are responsible for what goes on behind the scenes, including the a bellhop balancing a Roger Vivier pump on his head - relatively light cargo for him, no doubt - and a team of chefs ready to get down to business. Who knows what kinds of things they've seen and what secrets they hold? If those walls could talk...

Chalayan F/W 2012

The theme at Chalayan was much more subdued this time around than what one would usually expect from the house, but this monochromatic ensemble is fantastic.