ALDO40

Canadian shoe giant ALDO turns fourty years old this year and is celebrating with anniversary shoes, bags, contests, panel discussions and one giant pop-up exhibit complete with three stories worth of confetti/soon to be new flagship store in downtown Montreal.

Bringing back the Aldo logo from my childhood days

The upper level of the space greeted visitors with confetti and giant props from past campaigns

Giant bottles of Aldo

 Images from Aldo's head offices

A display case dedicated to one of their newest banners Mr.B's, for Mr. Aldo Bensadoun himself.

 A view of the opening par-tay

 Bubbles! Bonne anniversaire!

Domison Mops

I was walking up St-Laurent the other day and saw a dismaying "À Louer" sign in a window.  The space once occupied by Domison, a local stylish furniture design company was now vacant.  The independent store had been open since 2008 and carried not only the company's own line, but other accessories and works by local designers.  While the retail spaces in Montreal and Toronto no longer exist since the summer, I hope the company will unveil their continued existence in showroom form (at least?!) in the future.

Mop sculpture from December 2011

CR Fashion Book

Oh yeah! After pre-ordering this online, look what showed up on my doorstep!

The hefty tome that is the first issue of CR Fashion Book was squeezed into my mailbox just the other day.   Featuring opposing front covers,  CR has a young girl with baby versus Kate Upton cleavage with chicks.  There is a lengthy editorial of Upton and a menagerie of baby animals and if you wanted more there is the Bruce Weber shot video version of it all, complete with a unicorn.

The matte pages of the magazine contains several editorials around the thematic of birth, life and death; the latter visualized as fairy tale photographed by Tom Ford featuring a princess in a crystal coffin.

Above is an image by the very stylish filmmaker Luca Guadagnino (who I raved about here); his contribution was a stunning editorial of fall couture.

FOXTROTT shields ep

It was one of those satisfying nights where you decide to check out some art/music/dance etc. with no expectations and let the night unfold.  One recent night led me to Notre Dame des Quilles, a bar equipped with two mini-bowling alleys, to take in the sounds of FOXTROTT.

Walking in with not even a vague idea of what I was going to hear, the night began with a listening of the Shields EP to the packed bar.  With the opening electronic strains, beats and vaguely reminiscent of Tori Amos vocals, I was instantly hooked and floored at the same time.

 

After listening to the EP's three songs, FOXTROTT took to the alleys and gave us a stripped down acoustic rendition of the album.  Minimal percussion, a keyboard and two french horns interpreted the songs we had just heard in a new, amazing and re-imagined light.  I was TOTALLY STOKED.  And one bonus song later, it was over, as quickly as it had begun. 

Totally satisfying. I would like some more please.

Insta Post

End of summer is nigh!
I share some summer moments from my Instagram, you can click the button on the right if you want to follow the feed!

Delicious yellow watermelon from Les Jardins d'Ambroisie. Public installation at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

An army of Risk.  Skinning/canning tomatoes!

Woodwork and black lines at Hotel Herman.  A swim in the Lachine Canal.

Redpath Silos x Allez-Up

Not too long ago I got to peek at a transformation taking place in the sud-ouest.  The historic Redpath Silos are birthing to the newest incarnation of the Allez-Up climbing gym in a mere few weeks.

The new facility is the white addition which measures about 55 feet in height is nestled in between the four silos.

 Walls by Walltopia taking shape in the dark

The skeleton of the lead wall (which is nearing completion), the gym's come a long way since 2x4s...

 On top of the roof! A look at the Nordelec, Allez-Up's former location

 Oh man, and the view!  An awesome vantage point of the downtown skyline.

 Looking up close at the massive PBW tag, can I even call it a tag? It's huge!

Looking out from inside on top of the silos

Want some more? Can't get enough? Here's a video by François Lebeau about the transformation.

Les Silos Allez UP from Allez Up on Vimeo.

Gabriel Dawe: Plexus

Mixed media artist Gabriel Dawe was in Montreal to install the latest of his ongoing Plexus series.  The mesmerizing spectrum of colour was commissioned for a promo for Marie-Pierre Arthur's "Fil de soie"- (a thread of silk, but the wordplay is a bit better in French.)

I checked out the installation in progress just before its completion for the evening vernissage and video shoot.  It is amazing to see in person!

 

It starts with some thread

It gets passed back and forth

 

A close up of the mingling of thread

 

The hooks are not closed, nor permanent, alluding to the temporal nature of the installation

 

Making rainbows