Atelier b

On a rainy Montreal evening, designers Anne-Marie Laflamme and Catherine Métivier rolled out the new identity for their ethical women and menswear label atelier b.
Design and identity work was by Nouvelle Administration with photographs by LM Chabot.
Merriment, wine and design equals good times.

COS

H&M's sister brand COS (Collection of Style) is set to open their second Canadian outpost in our fair city of Montreal after opening in Toronto in September.  As you can glean from a couple of the images from the FW15 lookbok, the brand is less trend based favouring architectural shapes and featuring more natural fabrics.  Does that big white scarf come in black?

Men, women (and maybe your children?) can get their nordic vibe on this Friday October 9th at 1310 St-Catherine O.

First cover- ELLE QUEBEC

Really stoked to share the first magazine cover I had the pleasure of styling!  This is ELLE Québec's September 2015 issue featuring the talented singer/songwriter Coeur de Pirate.
For this shoot I was in the awesome company of prolific photographer Max Abadian (we're not worthy!) and hair/make up artist (and creative multi-talent) Andrew Ly.
For the looks I am very grateful for the collaboration with Costume National for the striped suit and to Tanya Taylor for the vintage vibe dress.  Keep reading for the complete credits (yeah, you want to know where those boots are from?!)

Unfortunately there's one little bit of major #buzzkill ... those with eagle eyes can make out that the "stylisme" credit was not made out to me.  The credit was given to a very lovely and talented stylist who was not involved with the shoot, and the unfortunate editorial oversight is now living in print on news stands across Quebec.  The awesome ELLEQC team hastened to rectify online/electronic copies and offered their apologies.  In order not to be too bummed about the whole situation (whyyyyy? in print!) I listened to Krishna Das' soothing Eddie Vedder-esque voice to decompress as I drove to an idyllic plot of land in the country.  I feel much better now thank you.

styling credits:

wool suit: Costume National
t-shirt: James Perse
shoes: Michael Kors Collection
necklace: Jennifer Meyer
rings: House of Harlow 1960 & Aldo Accessories

dress, turtleneck, belt: Tanya Taylor
boots: Filippa K
rings: House of Harlow 1960 & Aldo Accessories

Judith & Charles FW15

Many moons ago, I got to know the French label Teenflo as a fashion assistant for their look books and campaigns for the Canadian market. The founders who brought Teenflo across the Atlantic embarked onto their own design adventure transitioning to their namesake made-in-Canada contemporary brand: Judith & Charles.  Clean lines, impeccable tailoring, and a magical shift dress that somehow looks good on anybody are some of the characteristics of this refined line.

The airy and light space of Galerie Samuel Lallouz provided a crisp setting to Judith & Charles' FW15 preview that was fresh and familiar at the same time.  A wall lined with Ralph Gibson's black and white photography was a perfect backdrop for that very covetable jumpsuit which cycles through the collection in different incarnations every few seasons.

A little internet sleuthing led me to find that the gallery had been designed by Architem Architectes who were also responsible for the design of an early Teenflo locale and Judith & Charles' retail space in Vancouver.  I emailed my PR contact at the company asking her if she had known of the connection, but it was indeed a coincidence.
It was just meant to be.

charcoal

I was in the San Francisco bay area for a couple of weeks and all I have to show for it is a bunch of charcoal.
Ah, but this is not just any charcoal, behold Binchotan charcoal!  This white charcoal (even though it looks black) is of Japanese origin and boasts not only low temperature cooking heat while burning, but purifying properties which have made Binchotan a desirable material in a whole slew of products.  This brings back memories of treating food poisoning/mystery stomach bugs with charcoal tablets in Thailand-awesome!
Here's what came home with me:

1. Binchotan toothbrush by Morihata
Morihata makes a range of Binchotan based products and I picked up their toothbrush. Ok, I'm a charcoal newbie and this toothbrush is promising to refresh and revitalize my mouth-even before the toothpaste hits the charcoal blended bristles.  Very exciting.

2.  Binchotan charcoal sticks by black + blum
I'm going to use these to purify and filter my tap water into delicious, free urban nectar, but these sticks can also be used to deodorize rooms/shoes, has cooking uses, and when its lifespan is over the charcoal can be used as fertilizer.

3. Deitanseki Soap (clay and charcoal facial cleansing bar from Nippon Kodo
The woman who rang up my purchase raved about this soap transforming her skin (which was pretty awesome by the way).  The packaging lists "carbon powder" and not Binchotan as the charcoal ingredient, if there's a difference, I would not be able to identify that just yet.  Wait til I get my hands on some Binchotan soap...

Bonus SF shopping thoughts:

photo: Miansai

This bracelet: The Miansai screw cuff.  I spotted it, tried it on and fell in love the first day in SF meandering the Mission District.  I catalogued it in my brain and kept wandering.  The next day, while strolling only a handful of blocks on Hayes street in Hayes Valley, I kept seeing the identical selections of Miansai jewelry over and over in the various shops I would pop into!  To be fair, I spotted recurrences of similar selections of Giles & Brother, Erica Weiner, and Catbird but no joke-on the same side of the SAME BLOCK lo and behold THREE shops carried similar selections of Miansai.  Their sales rep had a field day in Hayes Valley!

Now that I got that off my chest, I can say that the retail experience in SF was pretty awesome. Great conceptual stores, good merchandising, and definitely more focused on "lifestyle" shopping.  Get your apparel, your personal care products, a bowl for your cereal and a book for the road.  Be done with it.

Holiday Gift Guide Cadeau

With the holidays right around the corner, there is certainly last minute gift shopping taking place in full frenzy in the shops and online.
In case you haven't sorted out all your pressies for your family and your besties may I point you towards the 2014 holiday gift guides from ELLE Canada and ELLE Québec that I had loads of fun/stress-filled pleasure to research, edit and style.

As you can see it's a bit of same/same but different-spot the differences if you feel so intrepid.
While I love all the pages, I have a soft spot for the all black/all white mood shot, with a particular jonesing for those matte black ester & erik candles...just in case you were curious.

Joyeuses fêtes!

press days - SS15

A dear friend's four-year-old child came up with the wonderful term of "goose-boobs." It's meaning is when you have goose bumps, goose flesh or cutis anserina (if you want to get all technical) on your breasts.  And as the temperature drops, I am definitely suffering of goose-boobs.

I've been doing the rounds of showrooms and reconnecting face-to-face with the lovely PR and marketing gurus around town for spring/summer15 collections and yearning already for summer-or spring! Why don't we just skip winter for one year?

The above image (right) was taken during a cozy presentation by the Michael Kors team.  Somehow the flowers are the only image that survived a hasty phone clean-up.  Fortunately that black calf Bradshaw sandal from the SS15 lookbook is giving me something to look forward to as my toes will remain bundled until at least April.

alice kass

all images courtesy of Alice Kass

I had stumbled upon Alice Kass through the magic of Instagram, discovering their feed of edgy looking women with even hotter lingerie.  The freshly launched online multibrand shop kept beckoning me with lacy, sheer and mostly black pieces.  Scrolling through Instagram one morning in bed I saw a post stating: Kayleigh Peddie's Frances bra will be discontinued.  That yanked me out of bed and I ordered the super comfy bra right away.  Ok, so I had ordered the wrong size! But an exchange was brokered with ease and speed by founder Sabrina Cassis, a former womenswear buyer at luxury retailer SSENSE.  I had a chance to chat with Sabrina about sexy lingerie and how to dress down your satin and lace bodysuit with denim shorts (#casual).

What place or gap in the market were you looking to fill?

There really is no curated lingerie website for cool, fashion girls at the moment. They're either buying their soft bras from designer labels like Alex Wang or Helmut Lang or they are substituting quality for style and opting for bras from the big name lingerie shops or chain stores. Personally, I don't identify with the women on the Victoria's Secret catwalk who wear brightly coloured push-up bras, and neither do any of the women that I know. So I wanted to create something that reflected our lifestyle and need to express ourselves via clothing right down to our underwear.

What kind of product do you seek out?

I'm not a girly-girl when it comes to clothes, so I want my underwear to have an edge. I'm not into the frilly stuff but I'm not going to go into extreme bondage wear either. After doing a lot of research, I discovered all these amazing independent labels online and wanted to give them a place to come together where they could be featured in awesome editorials as opposed to just a boudoir setting. My goal is to offer my customer the best, most fashion-forward pieces that are still affordable and wearable on a daily basis, not just for special occasions. 

So what's the best piece of lingerie you own and why?

Best piece of lingerie? I'm obsessed with the Kayleigh Peddie high-waisted Rina thong. It's just such an obvious shape yet I haven't seen this cut anywhere else! Perfect for high-waisted jeans and under tight dresses. Also, I'm super into bodysuits these days. The L'Agent Marisela is super versatile and can be dressed up under a blazer or dressed down with denim shorts.

Thanks Sabrina! I'll be back for more...

pumpkin soup

It's rainy and cold outside so I'm starting my winter hibernation with a hearty and filling pumpkin soup.  I never used to make soups, but then with all the squashes coming in from our veggie baskets, it was time to put them to work.  Then I discovered that making soups was pretty much a no-brainer.  Roast some veg, make or buy a good stock, season how you like, blend that shit up and voila.  Meals for days.

This particular deliciousness above was a combination of a pumpkin and what looked like a pumpkin on the outside but its innards looked like spaghetti squash.  Whatevs, all squash leads to the same road of goodness.  Here's the "recipe" (aka, throw whatever you have in your fridge), it yields A LOT of soup, watch out!

-roasted pumpkin and squash, probably equivalent to 3-4lbs worth
-two big leeks
-onion
-lots of garlic
-a can of black beans
-3-4 big tomatoes
-4 cups or so of veg stock
-2 cups of water
-a bunch of coriander
-a teaspoon of smoked paprika (maybe more?)
-jalepenos
-cumin
-season at will
-blend it real good

I cozied up to my soup with Hijacking the Runway by the very smart and funny Teri Agins, a writer at the Wall Street Journal.  Agins' "beat" is fashion, but not the trends or who is wearing what, but the stories behind the business, a beat she was onto before Business of Fashion gave a wider audience the bigger picture.  The book is proving to be a fun read with some surprising info, read this great interview with Agins for more tidbits.

fall '14 cultural preview

The October issue of ELLE Québec featured a fall cultural preview of the local scene.  I was invited to style the men in this project, who were three easy-going dudes who didn't mind wearing sweaters and jackets in July.  At the top: thespian Benoît McGinnis opened the portfolio wearing pieces from Diesel and John Varvatos (from Holt Renfrew).  Next we had musician Pierre Kwenders, looking regal in a smattering of patterns.  I layered him in pieces from Diesel, Matinique, G-Star Raw, DJAB from Simons, Breed Knitting, kicks from Aldo and specs from Céline.   Finally, the very charming screen actor Victor Andrés Trelles-Turgeon closed the portfolio layered in Diesel, Steven Alan and Michael Kors.

The photography was achieved with the wizardry of Marc Montplaisir and was definitely #nofilter.  Montplaisir has been perfecting his ambrotype photography for more than a decade, finding the balance between the exposure (controlled by the removal of a lens cap) and the chemicals at work in the darkroom.  Above, the exposed glass plates of Trelles-Turgeon and McGinnis sit in a rack to dry and reveal the ghostly images.  This was not a shoot of hundreds of clicks a day from a DSLR, more accurately, each photograph took about three to five plates, and we patiently waited while Montplaisir went to the darkroom to develop the image.

Our three subjects behind the camera

#slowphotography

swimwear syndrome

It is not this blog's M.O. to feature images of me so this post feels very narcissistic right now. I was asked to participate in a project featured in the August's issue of ELLE Quebec, regarding women's complexities towards swimwear.  The kicker? Find several non-model women who were willing to pose in front of the camera lens in a bathing suit.  While the idea made me extremely uncomfortable, I thought it was important to feature bodies on the printed page other than the VS Angels of the world.  Although, I would be lying if I didn't admit my brain is definitely conditioned to perceive willowy model bodies as being one form of "perfection."  This perception is a concept I play with in my art work with the use of store mannequins and a tongue firmly planted in cheek!

For the ELLE QC shoot we were asked to self-style, so I am wearing with great pleasure a bathing suit from Eres and all jewelry by Pearls Before Swine.  Enjoy some quotes from myself and two fellow non-models in the story Gaëlle Leroyer and Simone Fortin.

Mathieu Quesnel

The July issue of ELLE Québec's culture section features a portrait I styled with actor Mathieu Quesnel.  This charming man (of vague Chris Martin resemblance) has a Denys Arcand feature in the can and an Émile Gaudreault film hitting screens right about now.  Gaudreault's Le vrai du faux centers around a soldier dealing with post traumatic stress disorder, inspiring an army feel with the styling.  Photographed by Daniel Cianfarra, Quesnel wears a marbled print shirt by DUBUC, khaki trousers by Dolce & Gabbana, and a belt from Denim & Supply by Ralph Lauren.

Oak Street

The gentlemanly crew of Frank & Oak celebrated the launch of their lifestyle magazine Oak Street in their newly renovated atelier space.   This well crafted publication was a labour of love by the Frank and Oak team to bring to us, the dear reader, a worldly view that reflects upon the brand.  Now this ain't no thinly veiled advertorial: an intriguing interview with Terrance Koh, a capsule on Detroit and a travel accessory editorial make up only a slice of this magazine's pie.  So check it out.

belles au naturel

For the June issue of ELLE Québec, I was asked to participate in the styling of a portfolio of Québecoises personalities to highlight the fifth year of Canal Vie/ELLE Québec's Journée sans maquillage (No makeup day).

This cultural phenomena that has also taken place in schools and the workplace has been recently propelled by the advent of social media.   I'm not sure if I'm surprised to learn that many a young teenage girl does not go to school without makeup as her armour.  Or that showing one's "real face" is something noteworthy.  But I get it. Culturally we have become attuned to seeing women with a "full face," imperfections begone, makeup/Photoshop rule, and reality is perceived through a screen or a printed page. If only Marshall McLuhan were alive today!

Which brings us back to our photo shoot where I had the pleasure of styling makeup free television personality Rebecca Makonnen and actress Marina Orsini.  Photographer Marc Montplaisir captured these two awesome women in simple striking monochromatic portraits.  Makonnen pulled off a structured asymmetrical Halston Heritage dress with ease while Orsini gravitated towards a silk top from BCBGMAXAZRIA paired with a summery pant from Icône by Simons.

hashtags of note:
#NoMakeupSelfie raises £8M for Cancer Research UK, read two different takes here and here
#WokeUpLikeThis : empowering self affirmation or not so #humblebrag?

#ALEXANDERWANGxHM

source: h&m

Whoa.
It was just announced today that Alexander Wang (that we all affectionately call A Wang, like we were bffs or something) will be the newest collaborator with the mega brand giant H&M.  The Balenciaga creative director will be the first American designer to partner with H&M and Wang will likely deliver a collection peppered with desirable accessories that we can't get enough of.

Past collab launches of Maison Martin Margiela and Isabel Marant  have caused fashion frenzies; and true to form Wang's contribution is sure to get everyone hot and bothered when the collection drops November 6th.

The Stowe

Recently I stopped in to visit the brand spanking new studio space of The Stowe and designer Molly Spittal.  I had seen the Denny backpack on jewelry designer Agathe Bodineau and fell in love.  I sent the Vancouver transplant an email introducing myself and then I totally invited myself over.  Get ready.

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sample styles

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Molly at work.  Each bag is made by hand and to order.  Now that is love!

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rivets are riveting

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the Denny backpack in progress

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While admiring Molly's custom mason jar sleeve I spilled the last drops of her coffee in the shape of Africa.

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Love.this.bag.  I can't wait to get mine.  Support talent chez nous!