It’s the Victoria Day long weekend here in Canada and I’m so happy for a few days off to rest and relax. For the past few weeks it’s been non-stop crazy at work and as the weekend approaches I just want to blow off some steam and have fun; henceforth, the colourful and bright shoes from DKNY chosen to brighten up the mood.
Shoe specifications:
Outer, canvas
Colour – red, black, blue and white printed canvas
Heel height, 12.5cm with a 2.5cm platform
Why I chose this shoe: the moment I saw these wedge sandals by DKNY online Madonna’s song, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” popped into my head. The colours are splattered all over the canvas resembling an abstract painting that evokes carefree feelings of vibrancy and most importantly fun! It’s also one of the most affordable shoes chosen for today’s Shoe of the Moment entry coming in at $275 USD, compared to other similar styles by a brand name company.
Digital Scorecard | Jimmy Choo 24:7 Stylemakers (Business of Fashion) – “Jimmy Choo previewed its own community-oriented street-style site, Choo 24:7 Stylemakers... (they) hired street-style photographer Eddie Newton, as well as street-style darling Caroline Issa, who is acting as London brand ambassador.”
Smart shoes step up the wearable-computing pace (CNET) – “Computer scientists from the Telekom Innovation Laboratories, the University of Munich, and the University of Toronto published a paper on ShoeSense, a wearable computing system (sensor) for a smartphone... shoe that is able to understand customizable hand and arm gestures.”
Is Brand NBA Losing Its Lustre? More Bad News From China's Sports Footwear Industry (Forbes) – “Peak Sport Products, a Chinese athletic footwear maker that has made endorsement deals with NBA players an important part of its marketing, has joined a list of businesses from the industry to announce grim financial figures and forecasts recently.”
Manolo Blahnik Collaborates With Kurt Geiger! (Grazia) – Blahnik “has been in talks with shoe mega-brand Kurt Geiger... Under Kurt Geiger’s management, a Manolo Blahnik boutique will be opening in Harrods come July – and with it will bring the new A/W12 collections”
Italy’s Ferragamo Q1 net rises 10 pct (Reuters) – “Italian luxury shoemaker Salvatore Ferragamo said on Monday its net profit including minorities in the first quarter rose 10.2 percent to 17 million euros boosted by higher sales.”
Exhibit shines spotlight on Schiaparelli, Prada (Reuters) – “They are both women, Italian and innovative fashion designers but Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada worked in different eras and had distinctive views and approaches to their work.”
Bata’s Roger Vivier exhibit peers into mind of master shoe designer (Toronto Star) – “Bata curator Elizabeth Semmelhack said the idea for the show began when the museum acquired 63 original Vivier drawings… (his) shoes have been much loved by songstresses, royals and couturiers alike.”
Chic Speak: Tabitha Simmons on Her Rising Profile (WWD) – “Since launching in 2009 exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman, Simmons’ collection, priced from $695 to $2,295, has expanded its global retail reach to 60 locations, including Barneys, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom... Now Simmons is adding runway collaborations to the mix, working with Honor and Creatures of Wind.”
A few weeks ago I attended Toronto Fashion Incubator’s 25th anniversary gala held at the Royal Ontario Museum. This annual event celebrates Canada’s designers and also holds TFI’s national design competition, “New Labels” which gives emerging Canadian designers the chance to compete for $25,000 cash, a feature in FLARE magazine and a design studio at TFI sponsored by TNT boutique – I wrote a quick blog post during the event with a few images here.
In addition to celebrating Canada’s newest crop of designers the gala gave people an excuse to don their Sunday best all in the name of fashion. Being a celebration of Canadian talent I made sure to show my support by wearing a dress by Greta Constantine Primer, one of the newest additions to my closet.
It’s a beautifully simple green dress made out of jersey, a fabric you really can’t go wrong with, and it hangs in all the right places complimenting the body. The most interesting feature of this dress is the bottom portion which is stitched together allowing the legs to naturally slide into two slits cut out on the side adding an interesting and flattering draping effect.
In my closet: dress, Greta Constantine Primer; shoes, Camilla Skovgaard; multi-bangles, Expression at The Bay; nail polish, Lilacism by Essie, pin and clutch, mine.
Have you looked at the weather forecast for today? It’s supposed to be a high of 20 degrees Celsius people – woo hoo! Hello summer time I’ve been waiting for you! It’s times like this I want to do a happy dance and prance around in a pair of designer heels such as these pumps by Charlotte Olympia, on the streets of Toronto.
Shoe specifications:
Outer, crepe de chine and leather
Colour, navy with white polka-dots
Heel height, 14cm with a 4cm platform
Why I chose this shoe: the simplicity of the navy with white polka-dots is what first drew me to these shoes. Being handmade and fashioned with crepe de chine on the outer the pumps are delicate and should only be worn out when the weather is absolutely perfect like today. The design gives off a 1960s sense of style and sophistication; in addition, the white heel and platform elevates it to sky high heights. You can purchase these lovely heels online here.
Last week Swarovski held a preview for its fall/winter 2012 collection titled this season as the “Kingdom of Jewels” inspired by medieval times, armour and Eastern royalty. This latest collection is one of the company’s edgier and darker pieces to date with designs taken from objects like chain mail, spikes, armour and swords yet all maintaining the a glamorous feel associated with Swarovski’s jewellery.
Throughout the new assortment of Swarovski’s fashion jewellery triangles and angular edges are recurring shapes, such as in the medieval looking Style bangle made entirely from stainless steel and adorned with pavé crystals, or the Supreme necklace made from crystal mesh to give-off the chain mail effect highlighting the large blue crystal stone at its centre.
As customary with any Swarovski collection the bejewelled Hello Kitty was present, one of 88 figures in the entire world, decorated in shades of black and grey crystals, as well as the newest collaboration with Disney featuring Tinker Bell whose character inspired delicate necklaces and a wing-shape ring.
I always have my favourite grouping of jewellery and this season it’s the Spectacle with its Indian inspired designs and blue rectangular stones, and the Sumptuous set with its multi-coloured beaded necklaces.
Lately I’ve been featuring some pretty funky footwear designs in my weekly Shoe of the Moment entries and today’s heel is no exception. Check out these bad boys!
Shoe specifications:
Outer, leather and raffia
Colour, pink
Heel height, 11 cm with 2.5 cm platform
Why I chose this shoe: the moment I saw these Brian Atwood shoes I wanted to yell “Par-ty!” With the multi-colour raffia woven on the back of the heel and jutting out from its sides, the Mojito sandals are designed to look like an explosion of confetti was let loose all over your feet. The pink leather also adds to the festive and summer feel these sandals evoke; they would make the perfect heel for a garden party or Hawaiian themed luau. You can purchase the shoes online here.
It’s 10:45 p.m. on May 3rd and I’m currently at Toronto Fashion Incubator's gala celebrating its 25th anniversary. The New Labels competition was fierce with each designer showing of their creations vying for $25,000 award: Sid Neigum, Jameson Kane, [blak].i and Patrick Larrivee.
My winning pick and favourite designer collection is Patrick Larrivee. Edgy, fashion forward and stunningly beautiful (pictures included in this post).
Update: winner of TFI's New Label competition just announced, it's Sid Neigim.
I love living in Canada but there are times if given choice of another city/country to live in I would choose London, England, in a heartbeat. It’s so full of character, culture and history, and with exhibits like this retrospective on Louboutin’s career how can you not love the place!?
“About the retrospective: This exhibition celebrates Louboutin’s career showcasing twenty years of designs and inspiration, revealing the artistry and theatricality of his shoe design from stilettos to lace-up boots, studded sneakers and bejewelled pumps. Be taken on a magical journey of style, glamour, power, femininity and elegance.
At the core of the exhibition is a unique exploration of Louboutin’s design process, taking the visitor through every stage of the design journey, revealing how a shoe is constructed, from the initial drawing and first prototype through to production in the factory.”
One of the more intriguing parts of this exhibition is the section called “Fetish” where specially designed shoes for the La Gallerie Du Passage, Paris, in 2007, are displayed and feature a unique collaboration of photography between Louboutin and acclaimed artist David Lynch. The museum has also cautioned visitors about this section saying, the “Fetish room contain images of partial nudity which may be unsuitable for some” – should make for an interesting class discussion for teachers and students, no?
Last Thursday Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) broke the news online that footwear designer, Christian Louboutin will celebrate the re-release of the classic 1950s Disney movie Cinderella by creating and adding his own “magic touch” to the famous glass slipper. Louboutin’s partnership with the magical world of Disney comes as a delightful surprise to those who adore his footwear creations and the millions of fans of the fairytale Cinderella. The Christerella shoe (as I like to call it) will be unveiled this summer followed by the re-release of Cinderella on DVD and Blu-ray in the fall.
Now, if you think for a moment that this shoe will be available worldwide to the public then think again. With a big announcement like this and a shoe like Christerella I have a strong feeling it will be an exclusive limited edition heel.
This isn’t the first time Disney partnered with known fashion designers, back in 2007 it launched Disney Bridal offering a line of heroine inspired bridal wear and jewellery to capitalize on the thousands of couples and brides-to-be who get married in their resorts and in the Magic Kingdom of Florida each year. It’s estimated that since 1991, Disney's wedding planners have worked with couples from all over the world to host over 40,000 weddings.
Until Christerella is revealed below are few clips from the movie to build the anticipation. In the meantime, I’m going to pop in and watch the VHS version of Disney’s Cinderella I have at home. Enjoy!
The other day I heard C+C Music Factory’s song “Things That Make You Go Hmm” on the radio and it momentarily brought me back to the 90s, when slap bracelets were all the rage and everyone sported flannel shirts found in their dad’s closet. This song also inspired me to find a shoe to feature this week that evokes the reaction of “Huh” or “Hmm...”
Shoe specifications:
Outer, leather
Colour – black, pink and blue
Heel height, 10 cm
Why I chose this shoe: I chose this sandal by Victor & Rolf purely on its strange design, the large piece of leather used to cover the entire upper portion of the foot somewhat resembles a scrunched up doily.
If you’re feeling extra quirky then the shoe can be purchased online here. And in case you happen to be wondering how this sandal looks on an actual foot, I’ve included images of the shoe from Viktor & Rolf’s spring/summer 2012 runway show for good measure. Have a great weekend!
Image gallery #1 from Luisiaviaroma. Image gallery #2 from Vogue Italia
