On day three of LG Fashion Week I attended the Katrina Tuttle and Attitude Only at Sears S/S 2010 shows, both of which yielded interesting background stories. Tuttle is an up and coming fashion designer out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, who has no formal training in design and was seen as one of the most promising young designers emerging from the Toronto Alternative Arts & Fashion Week (FAT). Attitude is the new fashion line developed by Sears who is in the midst of rebranding itself to attract a more youthful clientele.

5:00 p.m.  Katrina Tuttle

Dance music. Check. Short cocktail dresses. Check. Was the S/S 2010 collection by Katrina Tuttle taken from the wardrobe pages of MTV’s The Hills – most definitely. Check.

If you’re a pretty young thing in your early to mid-twenties, who loves to show off your figure then this is the line for you. Tuttle is known for her tendency towards designing dresses and her S/S 2010 collection proved just that. Approximately 20 of her designs presented last night were dresses. Majority of her creations were short, strapless, asymmetrical sheath dresses and miniskirts usually accompanied with pleats or ruffled detailing.

Blue, fuschia and yellow were her main colours used for the collection and were found in patterns or blended hues of the same palette. Black and white was used to balance out these eye-popping colours and to provide a more sophisticated feel.

The closing garment for Tuttle’s collection was a strapless dress called Valentina that combined feathers, embroidered flowers and purple tulle giving a rich and highly textured feel.

Tuttle’s aesthetic was focused last night, but I found that her silhouettes were too similar to one another often alternating in different colours. There were moments in the collection where tailoring needed to be refined and unnecessary detailing, such as pleats needed to be removed.

Overall, Tuttle presented a very safe collection for her first showing at LG Fashion Week making garments more wearable for industry purchase and consumer appeal – this was a different stance from some of her creations seen at FAT. To really develop her talent it’s time for Tuttle to consider serious tutelage under an experienced figure within the fashion industry that can help draw out and refine her creative visions – which are already there. If this happens, she will have many successes in the Canadian fashion industry.

6:30 p.m.  Attitude Only at Sears

I read several news stories and blog posts a few months ago mentioning Sears was revolutionizing its womenswear to appeal to a younger and more style oriented audience. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this retailer who usually conjures up images of dull clothes and household appliances.

Well ladies and gentlemen, there is a style revolution taking place in Sears and I am thoroughly impressed with their S/S 2010 collection. The Attitude line prides itself with delivering wardrobe basics at affordable prices and what I saw on the runway was just that. The garments were modern, simple and sophisticated incorporating fashion’s latest trends along with a healthy dose of wearability.

The collection has a good mix of bottoms (pants, skirts and shorts) for all shapes and sizes, allowing for pieces to be mixed and matched. The S/S 2010 colour palette is based on neutrals (black, grey and white) all timeless colour staples against the ever-changing fashions season-to-season.

Cotton, polyester and sequins was just a sample of cloth carefully selected, cut, stitched and styled into dresses, tanks, t-shirts and jumpsuits.

One outfit that was a winner (in my eyes) was a cropped biker jacket paired with a black and white polka dot skirt and sequin tank. Simple, adaptable and edgy! I want all three pieces.

At one point during the show, Anita Clarke pointed out a white shirt that appeared fairly ordinary from the front, but when the model turned around on the runway the back of the top had a discreet slit in between the shoulder blades showing a little skin, it was very cool and subtly sexy.

For the finale, models reappeared on the runway wearing alternating black and white t-shirts creating a visual checker board reminding LG Fashion Week attendees of their presence on the Canadian fashion scene, and that this new kid on the block is here to stay.

N.B.: recent Twitter activity late last night has some of Toronto’s fashion bloggers tweeting that Joe Fresh Style has some mighty competition around the corner and it has a lot of attitude.

Pictures taken by Kimberly Lyn. Information from Katrina Tuttle and the Attitude Only at Sears spring/summer 2010 collection notes.

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.

Here is a short video clip from the film Summertime, the source of Meyers’s inspiration.

5:30 p.m.       Barbie Reception

I made a brief stop to check out the Barbie reception where models wore David Dixon creations to celebrate the iconic doll’s 50^th 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.

Now onto day three of LG Fashion Week.

N.B.: Read Renee’s blog, The Lifestylists for her review of day two of LG Fashion Week.

Pictures taken by Kimberly Lyn. Video from blogTO.

After reading an inspiring blog post by Danielle Meder, I felt it was time to share a more personal side of my life I briefly touched upon in My first blog entry: revealing the souls. For the past several months I’ve been going through – and continue to experience – a period of change. Adapting to change isn’t always easy but you learn a hell of a lot about yourself and accept the motions of life, whether you agree with it or not.

When I completed my postgraduate studies at Seneca College I was ready and rearing to begin a new phase of my life. I was ready to start my career, ready to work hard, ready to feel accomplished, ready to feel financially stable and ready to live life to the fullest with the perfect job. For a brief moment everything was going as planned, but as they say where you want to be isn’t necessarily where you’re supposed to be and I experienced a shift in my career.

Since then the road has been difficult, yet despite what happened I’ve had the opportunity to rediscover a part of myself which was only considered as just an interest in fashion. I can’t pinpoint the exact moment when my love for fashion was fervently reignited and culminated into starting this blog, but I can attribute it to the people I met  and conversations with family and friends (old and new) who have emerged as truly authentic people supporting me – thank you.

My search continues, career wise, but it’s comforting to know I’m not the only person who is thinking of and is going through change. Just the other day Karl Lagerfeld tweeted, “I am a fashion person, and fashion is not only about clothes – it’s about all kinds of change.”

Ever since I heard there was a documentary called The September Issue which tells the story of Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue and the development of the magazine’s 2007 September edition I’ve become a bit obsessed about when the movie will be screened in Toronto.

After months of seeing news coverage of The September Issue premiering at film festivals around the world, such as Sundance and Edinburgh, they’ve finally announced a release date for Canada… sometime in October 2009. UGH! Why do we have to wait so long. I was hoping the movie would be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year so I could repeat my luck from last year’s attendance of Valentino: The Last Emperor.

In the meantime, we’ll have to satisfy our fashion fixations by keeping up-to-date on the latest news of the film through its pages on Facebook and Twitter, and download ringtones from the movie. Double ugh!

(Video from YouTube)

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:

• Twitter @lululemon followers 9,752; following 9,204; updates 1,319
• Facebook fans 51,115