Art Attack: Icons in the Making

Here in 2010, it's quite a simple matter to look back at the age of old and identify icons of style, screen and beyond. It's much muddier when you try to define what's special about now, though... don't you find? Yes of course, no one would argue the impact on mainstream culture of the likes of Lady Gaga, Facebook and so on, but do you really think of them in the same light as Marilyn Monroe, or the invention of Pop Art? It always seems so much cooler and more monumental in hindsight.

In an attempt to draw a kind of parallel between the icons (or those in the making) of yesterday and today, the New York Times just put out, 14 Actors Acting, an amazing series of actors acting out iconic silver screen stereotypes. The hit man (Jesse Eisenberg), the aging mob boss (Michael Douglas) and the emotional crack(ing) up (Tilda Swinton) are all addressed as well as some of my favourites from Noomi Rapace, James Franco, Jennifer Lawrence, Vincent Cassel and Natalie Portman below:

Even MORE Topshop in TO!

For those of y'all in the know Torontonians - aka all y'all - you're aware that Ossington flagship, Jonathan + Olivia has been the only Canadian stockist of Topshop merch for a while. Old news... I get it. Last Wednesday night though, J+O opened the floodgates to even more cheap n' cheerful coolness by launching the last Kate Moss for Topshop collab, Topman and the cuter than cute makeup line. As any aesthetically minded gal, I am a sucker for packaging, and these dotted and scribbled items are no different. Check out J+O's selection, before I buy it out. It might be real soon.
The Topshop Makeup Collection ranges from $12 - $75 at Jonathan + Olivia, 49 Ossington Ave.

It's a FASHION Party!

If you're in Canada and you feel like seeing my mug in print, pick up a copy of this month's FASHION Magazine (Winter 2011 issue, Taylor Swift is cover girl). I profiled 4 of the country's up and coming design talents. (who you've no doubt seen on this blog already): Rita Liefhebber, Thomas, Speech by Michael Mercanti and Carlie Wong.

The piece was cool on its own, but what really took it into radtown, was the portraits of three of the designers taken by Sean J. Sprague, my new FAVE photographer! Don't they all look like little angels? Or holy in cool factor?

I've scanned the piece for a bit of sneak peek but if you'd actually like to indulge (me) and read the words, you'll have to pick up a copy... yay!

Art Attack: Cecil Beaton's Other Genius

Nowness - aka the best website on earth - has turned the focus back to one of the original geniuses of fashion photography, the one and only Cecil Beaton. Beaton, who is most famous for his capturing of each and every glamazon of his day, from Marilyn to Audrey to Queen Elizabeth, has now been bestowed with the title of ‘magical diary keeper’, by having his collaged inspirations compiled into a new Assouline title, The Art of the Scrapbook, available at the end of the month. I have no doubt that the vibrancy of these frozen moments in pop culture will utterly delight the senses (and certainly at $250 a pop, the book will be a lot more reasonable than trying to score copies of a similar collectible titles from the 50's, which I have been trying to acquire for a good 3 years now... )

Talk of the upcoming book brought me back to my first discovery of Beaton’s ‘other’ work, when my ‘in-training’ eye was first assaulted with the wildly imaginative images that hovered perfectly between the worlds of fashion and art – specifically Surrealism – that were so intermingled during his earlier days of the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s.

One photo in particular stands out as my all-time Beaton fave: ‘The Soapsuds Group’ at The Living Posters Ball of 1930. Pictured at the left is the photographer’s sister and sometimes muse, Baba, along with her two friends, Wanda Baillie-Hamilton and Lady Bridget Poulett. As the title suggests, the three young debs are posing as soapsuds. Soapsuds in the most fantastical bathtub ever to be imagined, the three ephemeral beauties appear like archways which make way for the experimental future of The Factory, Exploding Plastic Inevitables et al, transforming rich girl portraiture into dreamy art. Magnifique, right?

Once More For the Cheap Seats: Lanvin x H&M

Hey guys! So there's something really special happening in the world of fashion right now, not sure of you've heard about it? Juuuuust kidding. You would have to have been living under a rock, or actually just dead, to not have heard about the MUCH anticipated Lanvin collection that Alber designed for H&M. Yes, yes... you know, I get it. What I'm glad to fill you in on then, is that after ogling the flowery party dresses, sexy skirts, furry jackets, crayola jewels and pointed heels in person last Wednesday at the AGO (thank you for the lovely parting tote/notebook/bow tie/lipstick by the by... best ever), I can honestly say that the crazy amount of buzz has not been misguided. The wham bam pieces are just amazing and you would envision. True to Lanvin sophistication, but every bit as fun as H&M always is.

The good news is that the collection will available in store in over 10 sleeps (November 20th to be exact). The bad news is that you'll actually have to spend one night not actually sleeping to get your hands on even one piece. Here's to the spiked hot cocoa!

Talent Scout: Pink Cobra Spring 2011

I guess it really doesn't count as really scooping unknown talent when one of your besties is widely known as one helluva talented babe. Not only is Tania Martins the badass designer behind Toronto-based label, Pink Cobra, but she also co-owns the Queen Street West fixture, Carte Blanche, which Pink is sold at. Major, right?

Tania’s been pretty swamped lately working on her Spring collection, of which her look book and video have just been released. Largely an ode to sexy cutouts, pastel colours and overall tightness, the collection has got a handle on what the cool kids want to wear, and what the modern women need to wear. A long time ago, Tania told me that I might have had something to with the inspiration behind one of the gals in the video, but now looking at it, I see that there is just no way I’m as cool as any of these gals. But it’s those gals who Tania designs for, and successfully at that, since she IS one of them. Oh and hey, they're who you want to be too.

Tommy Ton Says: Thom Browne's into women now...

With all of the hullabaloo of the Spring shows, I must have completely glazed over the fact that Thom Browne, aka. the world's dapper-ist gent in ultra cropped pants, has officially delved into womenswear. Like, woah! While the preview of Spring was not a super publicized dealio, Tommy Ton was lucky enough to snap some lovely preliminary shots. As you can see, Thom’s take on the ladies envelopes his signature upper crust quirk, with pops of primary colours, loads of pleating and heritage fabrics.

Here's what Tommy told me about the collection: “Those photos were taken during fashion week. He held a very private cocktail with friends wearing the clothes and then after they headed to dinner all decked out in collection. No press releases or anything were made. I was honored he asked me to come by and take a few snaps. His attention to detail is impeccable and I’m just as anxious as anybody else is to see how he'll translate his singular aesthetic to women's wear. The official launch will happen next season when he has his first women's show. This was only a teaser and he just wanted to develop it first. It’s incredibly well made and bespoke is the best word to describe it”

Well there you have it kids, from the megablogger/horse’s mouth himself! Until Fall…

The Latest Babealiciousness from Open Ocean

Oh hey remember when I told you about my friend Sarah Kuhn, and her band of multi talented fashion mega babes? Well, the Brooklyn-based Open Ocean's at it again, with their new video, Sink or Swim, directed by Sarah herself! (There's nothing she can't do. Really...) Anyways, give er a whirl. You'll thank me.

Toronto Takes Spring 2011, Part II

There’s a whole lot of coddling that goes on within the Toronto fashion scene. You know like, “well that was nice… for Toronto” or “she’s not trying to be the next Jean Paul Gaultier”. Maybe it’s actually not coddling, its just delusion. Or that good ole’ Canuck sense of scaredy-cat niceness? Either way, it basically makes me want to vom, and since I’d rather not send out some serious hate vibes on my blog after seeing The Social Network, (maybe I’m a little scaredy-cat myself?), thank god there were some killer shows to end the week on a high note.

The scene’s most notorious macabre draping non-brothers, Mikey and Drew Thomas, held their first official show, featuring quite an expanded collection of black and white (duh) separates that we were left to figure out – in the best way possible – as androgynous models seemed to glide by to creepy murder scene buildup music. The whole thing reminded me of the inner-Thomas-circle, especially one of their best gal pals, Sahar Nooraei, who kills it on asexuality, punk and sophistication all at the same time. My fave pieces were several of the long trompe l’oeil button downs which sewn together with partially hanging layers. The sleeves were in the back AND the front!

Rita Liehebber also showed for the first time during the official schedule, yet maintained a total grassroots feel by opting for a presentation on the runway, rather that parading down it. The sea swept collection of drip dyed tanks, throw-on dresses and holey knit vests were shown alongside yet another of Eva Michon’s videos, which this time featured ghostly reverses of a model’s face, which faded, into one another like a psychedelic trip.

Amanda Lew Kee was by far the biggest surprise hit of the week, who swapped her typical LBD meets Burton aesthetic for a light and airy collection of thinly layered peach and taupe dresses, leather minis and demi-suiting with metal details. Styled with a sky blue pout worn by models, the designer herself as well as friends and supporters, the whole thing had that je ne sais quoi feel that you just know is going to punctuate the season.

Holt Renfrew does Vreeland

Well, who would have thunk it. Holt Renfrew’s kickoff to official Toronto Fashion Week, touted as the week’s most patriotic, began with homage not to the maple leaf, but rather to one of America’s famed style icons, 1960’s Vogue Editor, Diana Vreeland. The show, which featured eight of the country’s hottest labels: Jeremy Laing, Pink Tartan, Mikhael Kale, Denis Gagnon, Line Runway, Smythe, Wayne Clark and Wings & Horns, began with a short film depicting the editrix in all her redredred glory, smoking a ciggie while delineating the future of fashion on her typewriter. The film, directed by Bad Day Magazine Editor, Eva Michon, was largely inspired by Vreeland’s legendary column, Why Don’t You, which featured a series of brilliant (if sometimes slightly insane) witticisms like “why don’t you have a yellow satin bed entirely quilted in butterflies?”

“The original inspiration for the video came from [Holt Renfrew Creative Director] John Gerhardt who has a profound appreciation for the amazing Diana Vreeland. It was incredibly fun to create her character with Fiona Green, who assembled an amazing wardrobe, and Claudine Baltazar, who turned my mother in-law, Francine Grainger into Mrs. Vreeland with the magic of a wig,” says Eva. Pretty wild, I’d say, but as anyone who would know from working with the ingenious (and charming, and debonair, and amazing, and blah blah blah) Gerhardt, the whimsical or bizarre is a natural starting point. “Francine was very easy to direct because she is already a very glamorous and fashionable woman. Her office was very fun to recreate too, my cinematographer, Rob Tagliaferri, and I had never shot so much red in a scene before,” she says. Go Eva! That’s what I say…

Toronto Takes Spring 2011, Part I

Fake Toronto Fashion Week, otherwise known as the week before the officially scheduled shows, kicked this season off with a series of calculated bangs, the biggest of which being The Room at The Bay’s British bonanza, celebrating eight of England’s finest designers, Giles Deacon, Erdem Moralioglu, Charlotte Olympia Dellal, Jonathan Saunders, Mark Fast, Marios Schwab, Mary Katrantzou and Nicholas Kirkwood, last Thursday night. The night, which was surely a thrill for anyone present, was especially titillating for me, considering my downright obsession with these designers! No, really!

I was covering the event for V Magazine (read up, folks!), but even if I hadn’t have been, you better bet that my creepy cornering of each designer one by one to fawn all over their collections, their talent and their general being would have happened anyways. I confessed to Erdem that I cried while style.com-ing his last collection to which he good-naturedly replied by questioning my sanity. Giles and I got to talking about squirrels, which of course, I thought, was an appropriate time to tell him that I had some living in my roof. “You better take care of those nasty buggers,” he said. “They’re vicious!” I had quite a lovely and lengthy chat with Mary Katrantzou, whom I worship like no other. I’d be convinced that we were best pals if I hadn’t been a) stepping on her bag all night and b) constantly alerting her to the fact that she was indeed, Mary Katrantzou. Oh and also! I didn't have smokes for Marios Schwab so what did he do? Found ME some!

I should add to this little blurby that I was not, contrary to the way it may seem, inebriated beyond repair. I was simply a little bubbled with a whole lot of wow wow wow stimulation! You believe me, right?

Earlier that night, I stopped by Ashley Rowe’s psychedelic themed presentation, which featured pairs of blissfully dazed models gliding around a candle lit bathtub against a dimly lit smoke-like projection. Like the most intense version of any day camp pastime, Rowe had tie dyed long and loose sweatshirts, t-shirts and dresses in a kaleidoscope of rainbow colours. Having gone through my own reappearing hippie phase earlier this year, I was shall we say, grooving off of Rowe’s overall vibe.

Not to be overshadowed, Philip Sparks made quite a few ladies smile with their eyes (get it? Tyra?) on Wednesday, when he launched his first foray into womenswear. Hip hip hooray! Appearing alongside his signature menswear, the mini collection was quite the literal translation of how the Sparks man would dress if he was a women: peppy, polished and punctuated with punches of laid back plaid. Perching vintage umbrellas at their shoulders, I couldn’t help but think that one of the models was going to break out in her rendition of Debbie Reynolds in Singin’ in the Rain. Full of well crafted and wearable pieces, Sparks’ first kick at the womenswear can gave the appearance of an already well oiled machine. Bravo!

Take Me to the Ballet Russes!

If I could pick any time period to live in, save for the sixties of course, it'd be Paris from the late 1800's to the early 1900's. To my mind, never has there been such an intermingling of creative forces all at the same time! Just think about it for a sec... within the span of 30 or so years, everyone from Schiaparelli to Cocteau, Matisse, Breton, Delaunay, Dali, Sartre and Man Ray (there are like 100 major movements to cover here) inhabited the same coffee houses, sidewalks, cinemas... the mere fantasy of it blows my mind. Just one of my favourite things going on in that span of time, was Sergei Diaghilev's famed Ballet Russes.

Completely revolutionary at the time, the vibrant, zig-zagging shots of colour and movement that encompassed everything from fauvism to cubism are still the most fascinating of any major company (that I know of at least!) Sets by Matisse and Picasso! Costumes by Chanel! Music by Stravinsky, Satie and my personal fave Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune! And let's not forget about the revolutionary dancing... Nijinsky playing both male and female leads, masturbating on stage, being ditched for Léonide Massine in Diaghilev's jealousy! Jesus, right?

The V&A just opened an exhibit on the Ballet, Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes, which if you live in London, I’m sure you know all about! There will be some of the costumes, photos and drops that you see here plus loads more. I’m MAJOR jeals… so let a girl know how it is, will ya? For a sneak peek of the exhibit, check out the video below! For those of you who won't be able to make it, like this poor soul... check out the amazing documentary done a few years back, Ballet Russes which follows the trajectory of the group's history as well as features archived footage and interview with the groups youngest members (though most were only present for the Balanchine era). It's truly a delight.

Mariacarla's High Fashion Frolick

I lied when I said I’d never lift stuff off of other sites just for the sake of it. The truth is that I want to do it every time I check Nowness, which if you don’t know is probably the strongest most varied, unique and interesting sites out there today. No really, like the only place you can go to see something that you really won’t see anything else! Well anyways, Luca Guadagino and Alessio Bolzoni shot these images of Mariacarla Boscono frolicking around the gardens of a heritage home in the English countryside in the wears of Miu Miu, Chris Kane, YSL and blah blah blah. In short, I really really dig em.

Got Cardi?

There are some things that you want and there are some things that you need. As most of us fashion-inclined gals would know best, those two variables rarely meet. Well, lookey here! Meet Cardigan, the lovelier than lovely Brooklyn-based line of cozy knit umm… cardigans, designed by former Michael Kors and Derek Lam knitwear designer, Lynne Hiriak! Totes practical, riiiiiiight? As you might as well guess from the aesthetics of the aforementioned designers as well as the cool beach vid above, Lynne’s style is all about classic Americana: clean and simple with an element of luxe.

In case I’ve whet your appetite that you need to have one of Lynne’s creations like RIGHT NOW, head on over to the brand spanking new Cardigan online store and shop away! Feel free to stare at the male model while you’re there. I sure did (I swear he is a dead ringer for a boy I used to umm… know)

Art Attack: Opening Ceremony x Richard Saja

Opening Ceremony's latest design collab is actually not with a designer at all, rather it's with the amazing Brooklyn-based artist, Richard Saja. Known for his far-from-buby-like embroideries, Saja takes 1700's French printed toile and transforms the typically rococo scenery into vibrant graffitiesque visions. Essentially, he's re-painting the picture, post-milleniall style. For the collab, OC took Saja's designs and made them into rockin limited-edition Keds. If you ask me, Saja's work deserves quite a larger canvas, but hey, as long as you ain't stepping in puddles...

Let's all live dystopian... Aesthetically speaking

I reviewed the just-released film, Never Let Me Go, for V Magazine during TIFF. As you can read for yourself, I didn't like it all that much. Even though it starred two of my absolute faves, Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley, (I actually yelped when I found out they would be working together again), I found the film to be slightly vapid. I know it was intentional, but let's just say I shed nary a tear while watching them die. Anyways, getting back to the point. If this movie didn't involve tradge, death and robotic ends, I would want to live in it forever. Doesn't it look like an amazingly warm and fuzzy Gap ad? Like a trend forecast for everything you want to wear for the rest of your life?

If I didn't already ruin the film for you, read my real review!

Katie Girl of the Month: Tziporah Salamon

Hi gals! I know it's been a while and so on and so forth, but I'm officially back avec shiny new macbook pro, pirated photoshop and my posts about amazingly fierce (sorry...) females! The first Katie Girl of the Month in loooong while is actually not even really a girl at all; she's the flawlessly golden Tziporah Salamon! You might recognize her from the great deal of press she’s been getting lately, in T Magazine, on two of my fave blogs, Advanced Style, and Stylelikeu, I’ve had my eye on this ageless beauty for a while now. And how could you not… really?

I like to think that I’m fairly schooled in the history of costume, and Tzipi’s style is straight out of the book! Or rather, straight out several books, and then pieced together with a kind of meticulous whimsy that I can only fantasize was owned by the likes of Marchesa Luisa Casati or Denise Poiret. Tzipi is a throwback to so many periods that were no doubt before her time. Can’t you just see her as a pre-Raphaelite muse? As the lively partygoer at my personal dream party, Thousand and Second Nights? As the ying to Wilde’s aesthetic yang? A gal can dream can’t she…

Well, actually a gal doesn’t have to if she lives in New York City. Tzipi’s just started sharing her knowledge with her weekly ‘The Art of Dressing with Tziporah’ classes from her apartment! If you’re down, email her at tziporahsalamon@gmail.com! Want to be profiled by Lynn Yaeger alongside Iris Apfel? Step right up!

Do you miss me? Slash... Listen to This Now!

So guys. Guess what.

1. The reason I have been the world's worst blogger this summer is because my laptop has become utterly unusable, and well, there's only so much bloggy I can sneak in at work. Good news is though, that I am picking up my brand new Macbook Pro (yeah you heard, I'm a pro... no big deal) tonight - so expect some major posting in the next little while. Hurrah!

2. My ridiculously talented friend Veronica So, whom you might remember from Talent Scout when I talked about her general amazingness or Talent Scout Pt 2, when I talked about her amazing start up magazine, L_A_N has accomplished yet another feat. Her band TEETH!!! just released their first real single! Like something you can actually buy! On iTunes! So... well, buy it! Check them out below... they've opened for Sleighbells and are kind of a big deal in London. Plus apparently Karl listens to them. Plus they hacked into Lady Gaga's Twitter account. Plus they're amazing, ok?

TEETH 'CONFUSION ' LIVE ON THE KNOCKING SHOP from the knocking shop on Vimeo.

The Divine Design of Tatty Devine!

I discovered the utterly divine design of London-based jewellery label, Tatty Devine, way back when I was interning at Teen Vogue. Brit wonder-stylist, Beth Fenton, was a major fan of theirs and was constantly bringing their tongue n’ cheek pieces into the office for shoots. Known for making anything from lollipops to 3D glasses to Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage into earrings, necklaces and whatever else they feel like, designers, Harriet Vine and Rosie Wolfenden, never cease to proverbially turn water into wine (wearable wine, that is).

Just one example of their 10-year old career of amazingness, check out the photos below, of their recent Aztecy, totally rad jewellery collaboration with audio visual artist, Crazy Girl. (Those are the amazing images below). They've even done a collab with Gilbert & George! Like, major!

Since the ladies of Tatty Devine are so quintessentially London to me (you know, bright colours and witticisms and all), I quizzed them on their fave British designers of the moment. As you'd expect, their picks are every bit as fun and risk taking as their own designs:

Mary Katrantzou: We love the perfume bottle collection, the illustration is breathtaking and we love things out of scale so her blown up prints totally rule.

Peter Jensen: Peter's slightly twisted take on the world just get so perfectly transplanted into the garments he makes. His humor and nostalgia make his work so special.

Ashish: We made some catwalk pieces for Ashish, it was great to be part of one of his shows. We love his adoration of sequins and excessiveness.

Vivienne Westwood: Vivienne is the queen. We love what she stands for as much as her clothes.

Holly Fulton: I love the graphic style and bold symmetrical prints in Holly's collection. She breaths real life into familiar iconography.

Two Little Katie Girls Take The Medium Sized Bad City

Sam came to visit me in Toronto last week and let me just say, we had quite the delicious time! Amongst our many adventures, we napped in public with custom-made masks, happened upon a Hare Krishna festival on Toronto Island, found vintage denim shorts that bared the label Dirty Dancing (like in the movie logo font and everything) at 69 Vintage and invited (gay) boys over to our 'Teen Queen' themed hotel room at the Gladstone Hotel which was decked out in pink and purple everything as well as posters of 80's teen idols lie Matt Dillion, Rob Lowe and Tom Cruise. We also took many photos for the benefit of our Facebook accounts as well as of course for you, dear readers. Hope you enjoy!

Completely Off Topic and Completely Amazing!

And now for a break from my completely irregular programming... it's the The Double Rainbow Nature Show! If you have not discovered this amazing dude (and I mean dude literally), or even if you have, I implore you to watch this video in its entirety and then laugh so sick that you start spitting from your nose. I know I did...

Katie Girl of the Month: Sahar Nooraei

Sahar is one one of those girls that I Face-stalked before I knew. I kept seeing her masculin-feminin mug pop up in all sorts of Toronto cool-kids party pics and I couldn't help but wonder, 'What's a girl like that doing in this city?' Sahar's look is part Dylan, part Cry Baby, part Beatnik and totally Parisian. She has this amazing hair that punctuates each of those looks with crystal clear personality. Sometimes it's Blonde on Blonde curly, sometimes it's neatly tucked back like a latter day English butler. Also, she's super tall, waifish and only 21 years old. Oh AND she's the EIC of newbie Menswear mag, Rostam. Go figure, right?

Can We Hang Out With You, Todd Selby?

As if I didn't have enough of a complex about moving back into my childhood room avec les parentals, Todd Selby's gorge-and-a-half photos on http://theselby.com/ of some of the coolest pads around the world make me kind of want to kill myself... either that, or aspire towards becoming filthy rich and/or marry into a titled family who own many an uninhabited castle. Oh wait, that's already my goal... Ok, back to the point! Todd Selby is great and I know that you've all been fans forever just like me, so quizzing him about the East Village, life behind the lens and his new book, The Selby is in Your Place, last week during his personal appearance at Holt Renfrew, was obviously a walk in the park!

How did you get into photographing?

I always travelled to interesting places with my family growing up, and my dad always took pictures, so I started taking pictures. We never went anywhere typical, we went to Berlin when the Berlin Wall was falling, we went to Papua New Guinea, we went to the Amazon. We always did really cool trips!

Who would you photograph if you could from the past and the present? Napoleon Bonaparte in his island prison. Present, I’d like to photograph the Obama first family in the White House, and that includes the First Dogs. I’d also really like to shoot the astronauts on the International Space Station.

In the forward of your book, Lesley Arfin insinuates that your East Village apartment sucks. Do you agree? Lesley Arfin kind of insinuated that, but she also asked me that if I moved out, she wanted first dibs on my apartment. I think she makes fun of it but at the same time she wants in.

What do you like about living in the East Village? I love all the little restaurants and I love that its still got a lot of personality and its not just giant chain stores. It’s a lot of mom and pop spots. Its an interesting place.

Cabs? Subway? Bike? I’m buying a bike but it’s hard for me to choose so I’ve been looking for months now. I’ve had seven bikes in New York and they’ve all got stolen. I like to walk, I walk to shoots as much as I can.

What's your favourite movie? Is it mostly about the scene or the visuals in a movie that would get you? Mod Fuck Explosion by Jon Moritsugu. You’ve got to go check it out. The dialogue, the acting, the visual, the soundtrack - it's my favourite movie so it's got to win on all counts, right?

Can you describe your style without using phrases like boho chic, old Hollywood glamour or anything with a twist? I wouldn’t use anything of those anyways… I guess you would describe it as colourful.