During LG Fashion Week’s spring/summer 2012 runway shows, there’s been a campaign leading up to and during the event that was started by the team at FLARE Magazine called, “Wear Canada.”
The idea behind Wear Canada is that the publication’s team searches “for the most stylish Canucks wearing home grown labels” during fashion week and features them on their website.
FLARE’s efforts to highlight Canadian brands have created a movement among fashion week attendees, to make a more concerted effort to wear and show off home grown labels in their wardrobe with pride. Therefore, I’ve been inspired by the Wear Canada movement to feature Vancouver-based and internationally renowned footwear company, Fluevog Shoes in today’s Shoe of the Moment blog entry.
Shoe specifications:
Outer, leather
Colours, olive and black
Heel height, 12 cm heel with 2.6 cm platform
Why I chose this shoe: the olive dyed leather and gold hardware used on the Conviction boots are two features that instantly caught my attention. The dry and chalky leather finish on the boots has a refined yet rough-hewn military edge to them. Wood bolted onto the soles of the shoes also adds to the worn look and injects an earthy feeling into the overall design.
FLARE.com, Canada’s most popular fashion and beauty website, is currently featuring me along with a group of bloggers from across the country in an online article titled, “Wear Canada: Blogger Edition.” We were asked to wear our favourite Canadian pieces/brands and to show off our personal style – I’m #16, click here to view my spot!
The article heralds in the start of the s/s 2012 runways shows for Toronto Fashion Week by gathering over 20 bloggers and I’m in good company with people such as Nelia Belkova of Styleblog.ca, Sharon Ng-Hayes of Backseatstylers and Danielle Meder of Final Fashion.
When I was contacted by FLARE the first thought that came to mind was, “What am I going to wear?!” Near panic almost set in on what to choose, but at that moment I looked over to my closet and saw my OBJECT leather shirt hanging in plain view. Ever since I purchased this shirt from the collection’s trunk show I find every excuse to wear it out, so it was a no brainer to make it part of my outfit.
To balance out the black leather shirt, I paired it with a bright green tulip skirt from Zara and another colourful neutral, a handbag from Nella Bella.
Canadian designer, Jeremy Laing recently did an interview and studio tour with Liz Cabral, FLARE magazine’s Fashion Director, where he provides a brief look into his design process for spring 2012, his experiences in the business of fashion, as well as his recent nomination for an ANDAM award (Association Nationale pour le Developpément des Arts de la Mode).
The ANDAM award recognizes and assists emerging designers who work in the French and international fashion scenes. Recipients of the award are provided with a sizeable amount of money to help further their development and give large scale exposure to fashion/retail influencers.
I love cheering on home grown talent – good luck Jeremy!
A flurry of tweets passed through the Canadian fashion Twitterverse last week surrounding the latest footwear collaboration between retailer, ALDO and Flare magazine, the nation’s fashion authority.
Admittedly, I didn’t jump on the news as quickly as the rest of my counterparts and it was only when I received the May issue of Flare and read Lisa Tant’s editor’s letter did I take notice.
In the letter, Tant talks about the frustration she feels when unable to find that one (or two) “perfect item,” to fit in flawlessly with her wardrobe, and the feeling which arises because of this – the need to start designing for herself.
I can definitely relate to this frustration on many levels; most recently, I was on a massive hunt to find a pair of shoes to go with a bridesmaid dress I’ll be wearing in May. I looked high and low, online, in-store and in my closet. Being on a tight timeline the pressure to find something quick was a bit harrowing, but I eventually found a pair just yesterday.
To me, the Flare x ALDO sandal represents all of those times you wish you had a design team in your back pocket to whip out and create the perfect shoe in moments of fashion frustration and desperation.
Shoe specifications:
Outer, N/A
Colour, black with snakeskin
Heel height, 10.5 cm
Why I chose this shoe: this sandal has a lot of design elements incorporated; it’s on trend with the snakeskin wedge, adding texture to the shoe, and the bright orange insole that injects character.
For the conservative shoe buyer, the braided black strap stabilizes all of these trendy components adding a timeless factor – this is the type of shoe someone will wear countless times and carry over into multiple seasons. The Flare X ALDO shoe is reasonably priced at $135.
For more information about this shoe and where you can purchase it on April 27, visit aldoshoes.com/flare.
I didn’t make it to the tents for day five of LG Fashion Week. After four days of back-to-back travelling, writing and analyzing designers' S2010 collections my brain was full and my body was calling for rest.
Therefore, for your reading pleasure, here is a roundup of articles by fashion editors and journalists reviewing LG Fashion Week:
Day two at LG Fashion Week was much lighter in terms of covering actual shows for my blog. I was mainly onsite to review Jason Meyers’s S/S 2010 collection and afterward take the opportunity to sit and enjoy the evening’s shows by David Dixon.
Overly hot (in terms of temperature) and overly crowded is how I would characterize the night. Crudely constructed paper fans were made from the shows’ program handouts as people tried to cool themselves off. Crowd control was non-existent as attendees squeezed and pressed into the seats, aisles and everywhere else in between.
5:00 p.m. Jason Meyers
I heard 680News interview Meyers over the radio who said the inspiration from his latest collection came from the 1955 film Summertime; a love story that takes places in Italy and stars Katherine Hepburn, a unhappily married woman on vacation who engages in a love affair with a handsome Italian shopkeeper.
Upon hearing this what came to mind is chic Italian style, tailored garments, clean cuts, accessories and soft colours. Meyers said “I wanted to make this very accessible, very wearable, very versatile and very affordable” (Lauren La Rose, CP).
He stayed true to his statement by presenting a variety of colours, cuts and shapes across the board. The collection bounced back and forth between the styles of the 1950s, 1980s and today’s form fitting trends. Models were outfitted in shorts, high waist pants, exaggerated ruffled dresses and abstract prints. At one point the show got a little R-rated when a model’s nipple peaked out of her dress – remember folks this is fashion and nipples popping out do tend to happen (see picture eight).
One garment that stood out for me was a knee length, silver and cobalt blue over the shoulder dress made out of muccia taffeta. I like its geometric shape and how it encircled the model’s left shoulder and back (see image nine).
Tweets from Canada’s fashion editors and journalists provided constructive feedback for Meyers’s collection. Lisa Tant, editor-in-chief of FLARE magazine tweeted the following during the show:
“Prints are always tricky. Pick them carefully and use as an accent not an afterthought.”
“Lesson 2: hire a stylist. An experienced eye acts as a designer's compass. New talents always benefit from training wheels.”
What I appreciate about Meyers’s presentation is he has a bevy of creative ideas and he distributed pamphlets to the audience outlining the price tag and fabrics used for each piece of clothing – rarely seen at any of the shows I’ve attended thus far. This helped me to get a better understanding of his product, the fabrics used to construct each garment and the customers targeted.
I made a brief stop to check out the Barbie reception where models wore David Dixon creations to celebrate the iconic doll’s 50th anniversary. Iced cupcakes were stacked for media to munch on and models coyly smiled and posed for pictures.
6:00 p.m. Barbie by David Dixon
My friend Renee and I managed to squeeze into the stands to see the Barbie by David Dixon S/S 2010 collection. Transitioning from Dixon’s own line to the Barbie show the song “Think Pink” played from the American musical Funny Face(1957) to set the mood for the crowd, a precursor to the collection that followed. Everything was very pink, very girlie and thus extremely well focused and true to the Barbie line.
