The Souls of My Shoes - Events, fashion, shoes and shopping

Adventures at LG Fashion Week: day five roundup

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:

Photo by Tommy Ton of Jak & Jil.

Searching for the Source of Style: An Evening with David Livingstone, Fashion Journalist

I and several other fashion bloggers from Toronto will be attending Searching for the Source of Style: An Evening with David Livingstone, Fashion Journalist. There’s been much anticipation and tweeting about the event as we’re all very excited to hear Livingstone share his experiences and insights of the fashion world. Hope to see you there!

Event description: join renowned Canadian fashion journalist David Livingstone, fashion writer for Toronto Star, Elle, Fashion and Zoomer, as he discusses his experiences in the fashion industry.

Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Time:

7:00 p.m. Refreshments

7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Lecture

Cost: $14.00 per person; $6.00 for students. Free for members of the Bata Shoe Museum and the Costume Society of Ontario.

Location: Bata Shoe Museum, 327 Bloor Street West, Toronto


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An update on The September Issue

FINALLY! A date for the screening of The September Issue has been set for Toronto, as announced by veteran fashion journalist, David Livingstone who had the very fortunate opportunity to preview the movie on Tuesday. See his review of the film in the Toronto Star here.

So ladies and gentlemen mark October 23, 2009, in your fashion calendar and let the count down begin – 77 days to go.

To wet your appetite in the meantime, Anna Wintour is scheduled to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman on Monday, August 24, to promote the film. This should be very interesting to watch since she has always been selective about whom she meets with from the media. The interaction between Wintour, Letterman and the studio audience will yield some interesting answers and reactions… from the viewers of course.

Anna Wintour on 60 Minutes: this interview was taped months ago but it compliments the upcoming première of The September Issue in Toronto and this blog post. What is interesting to observe is Morley Safer’s interview of Wintour as he prods at the rumours and gossip surrounding Wintour and the work environment at Vogue, hoping to extract a juicy tidbit or two from her answers. In true Wintour style, she evades and coyly answers Safer’s gossip focused questions responding with calm clarity and truth. It is apparent Safer doesn’t understand the fashion industry and he’s equally lost when he accompanies Wintour to the prêt-a-porter (ready-to-wear) shows looking perplexed as models sashay down the runway, or it could be he’s not accustomed to seeing so much breast and bum on public display.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Anna Wintour clips and outtakes (60 Minutes): I certainly can’t forget to give you a chance to watch the outtakes that didn’t make the final cut of the interview with Safer. Below are a few of my favourite clips. Enjoy!


Anna on Fur Anna on Vogue Anna on Art and Beauty

(Videos from CBS)

Tasting the Danforth in style

                         

I spontaneously ended up at Pilaros’s Taste of the Danforth this past Friday to have dinner with my good friend Corrinne, who writes a great blog which you should check out called Changing My Tune. 

While waiting for a 45 minute dinner reservation to kick in, we decided to pass the time by checking out a new shoe store across the street called BALISI that instantly blew our minds. Corrinne and I hadn’t even taken five steps into the store when our eyes lit up and a shoe fest for the feet cometh before us.

The footwear on display were carefully chosen to appeal to hip and young crowd the Danforth is increasingly attracting to the neighbourhood. What really caught my eyes were a pair of red, peep toe, sling back Vivienne Westwood heels named Lady Dragon made out of PVC. Yes, you heard me. The shoes are made of PVC which is now becoming the latest trend taking over the world of footwear, breaking the traditional norms of shoe construction. Surprisingly the Lady Dragons were comfortable and when I inquired about breathability of the material the sales associate showed me the insoles were lined, apparently with some kind of substance (don’t ask because I have no idea what it was).

Don’t know how Corrinne and I made it out of BALISI without purchasing a pair of shoes, especially when their summer stock was discounted up to 50 per cent – I tell you it took the strength of steel. However, to satisfy your curiosity about our little adventure into the various stores on the Danforth I’ve included a few pictures with this post… PVC shoes included.

N.B.: to read more about the emergence of plastic shoes Toronto Star Stylist, Derick Chetty wrote a recent article called Pretty in Plastic.

When Valentino, The Last Emperor, came to Toronto

Last year several friends and I had the opportunity to attend the North American première of Valentino: The Last Emperor during the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). This documentary gave viewers the rare glimpse into the personal life and work of famed Italian courtier Valentino Garavani – for me it was an emotional and very moving experience. At the end of the movie the house lights went up and the crowd was utterly shocked and overwhelmed with emotion to see the icon himself, Mr. Valentino, had attended the première. The audience instantly took to their feet and gave him a standing ovation lasting for several minutes; my hands hurt from clapping and my eyes were tearing up but I didn't care since this was a once in a life time opportunity to be near, let alone in the same building as Mr. Valentino (sigh). To read a little more on the event the Toronto Star covered the movie première in an article here.

For those true fashion lovers if you haven’t had the opportunity, I highly recommend seeing this movie because it will move you and make you love Mr. Valentino even more.

Valentino: The Last Emperor opens today (July 10, 2009), in Canada at:

  • Varsity Cineplex, Toronto
  • Cinemark Tinseltown, Vancouver
  • Cinema Du Parc, Montreal

For other locations please go to the movie’s official site here.

(Video taken from www.valentinomovie.com)

Retailers going online: Lululemon’s social media movements

In Saturday’s Toronto Star, Business Reporter, Dana Flavelle examined the growing number of retail companies turning to online shopping to cater to younger customers and to potentially boost revenue (click here for the article). I’m very much in agreement with retailers adopting social media to communicate to their audiences; however, this should be done with the company’s mission and goals in mind. What are you trying to achieve? Is your target audience Internet savvy? Do you have the individuals committed to making it a long-lasting project?

From my point of view Lululemon Athletica is a good example of a retailer who uses social media, because it is proven that they can reach their target audience of women 18 years and older who readily adopt social media tools. Here are a few examples of Lululemon’s social media activities to date: