Micam-The Shoe Event

I am off to Milan tomorrow morning, not for fashion week but to attend an international shoe fair called Micam. Mostly, I see the inside of one of these trade fair booths and work under extremely hot lights for 8 hours and sell shoes. There are about 7 of these large halls at this fair and they are full of shoe suppliers which are full of buyers from all over the world buying their next seasons collection. I will hopefully have some time to go to my favourite shop in Milan, 10 Corso Como and I will for sure have time to eat some delicious pasta. yum. I will be back next weekend.

COS-SS10

I have raved about H&M's higher level shop Cos before, and it looks like I will not be stopping any time soon. They have a new SS10 magazine out in the shops and as soon as I open the page I want the everything. I have never done this before but I asked the shop assistant to get me everything is this photo and I bought it. So simple, and the draped jacket and belt will go with everything in my wardrobe.

photo: costores.com

I heart Fendi

Fendi's show was very much my style. I love the layering, the colours, the jackets, the boots and even the hair! This collection is so wearable. I am also getting used to the longer skirt length, it looks very cool and young in the first pic.

Prada also had a very nice collection yesterday but I can't post everything can I! Did anyone catch the live stream? The feed was very choppy on my end and I got fed up with so I shut it off.

photos: style.com

D&G does Apres Ski

Milan Fashion Week started with a packed day yesterday. D&G did a sexy Apres Ski look and I have to tell you that this look is a guilty pleasure of mine. Maybe it is because I am Canadian or my Scandinavian roots but I just love the cozy Apres Ski look. I love snuggling up with a pair of wool leggings and knitted socks with a knitted moose emblem sweater and sipping hot chocolate in front of a fire while it is snowing outside...Apres Ski of course.

I have my eye on the Canada sweater from Vancouver's Aritzia for the Winter Olympics. It gives a bit of this feeling, all it is missing is a moose or a anowflake knitted into it!

Speaking of ski lodges, I went to the roof top pop up bar Alpine Lodge at The East Room in Shoreditch for a Canadian get together. You had to take off your boots and replace them with wooly socks and the place was decked out with fur pillows, fur stools and rugs. It had one of those 70's scenery wallpapered walls of a snowcapped mountain, wood floors, a fireplace and freshly brewed mulled wine. They even placed fake snow outside! It was an amazing atmosphere, I would recommend if you don't want to hit the slopes and just want the ski lodge.

photos: style.com, aritzia, The East Room

London-Footwear report: My Top 2

I struggled to find any decent footwear images from the runway, I know the shoes are out there! I am sure more photos will come about later on but at this point I don't see any major trends from London. I was expecting some really quirky looks, I will post more if I find photos! Let me know if you have seen any good photos of shoes from LFW.

From top:

Burberry Prorsom-Buckle up and bundle up!

Basso and Brooke-Architectural-also the material mix is nice here.

Live fashion show streaming-part 2

I am back on the subject of streaming live fashion shows as fashion critic/journalist Hilary Alexander for the Telegraph wrote an article about the phenomenom of this new way of communication.
As I thought, watching a live fashion show IS the future.

Hilary wrote:

"They (two popular young bloggers) are about to be eclipsed by something that's bigger than both of them--the virtual front-row seat at the instant digital fashion show"

The proof? LFW is live streaming most of the fashion shows this week on their website here. If you want to see Burberry live, it is playing in 10 minutes! I am hooked. Much better than a couple of grainy mobile pics twittered from the shows or having to wait a day for style.com.

What do you think?

EDIT 23.02.10: OH Yes, and Burberry was the first label to show their fashion show in 3-D! I was wondering who would be the first to do it. Now we all just need to get those glasses so we all have a front row seat!

Louise Goldin's fierce collection

Designer Louise Goldin, best known for her knitwear put on a fantastic sci-fi show without being too litteral. I think this collection is the perfect move on for those Balmain shoulder lovers who want more structered and distorted shapes. I especially love the asymetrical peplums and oversized military pockets.

The Rock Collection from Bijules

I am lusting over these rock formation stud earrings and ring from designer Kim Jules from her very cool jewelry line Bijules in New York. There is something very rock chick (please mind the pun) and beautifully organic about this collection.

Studs: $154 USD, Ring $284 USD
photos: bijulesnyc.com

A Quirky start to London Fashion Week-Topshop Unique

A super styled show from good ol' Topshop Unique started LFW yesterday with some wolfish eyebrows and antlers to create a savage but playful atmosphere. I look forward to seeing it in the shop come fall!

photos: style.com

New York: Footwear Report-My Top 3

Seeing as I work in the footwear industry I thought it would be fun to report on the shoes of fashion week. I didn't get too excited about any of the shoes from New York though, I am looking forward to London this week as I think there will be some crazy shoes coming down the catwalk.

Here is what stood out for me from New York, from top:

1. Proenza Schouler-Aggresive: Chunky Platform
2. Nicholas Kirkwood for Rodarte-Mixing it up: Lace up Sandals
3. Marc Jacobs-Sensible but Sweet: Low Points

photos: style.com

Proenza Schouler: Black White and Blue

These are my favourite looks from the Proenza Schouler show in New York. I especially love the fuzzy printed material they used, looks really cozy but really cool at the same time.

photos: style.com

Canadiana Vintage Spirit

I am feeling very patriotic watching the Vancouver Winter Olympics this year and it is making me want to buy some cheesy Canadian olympic gear like those red mittens that everyone is wearing. But, I will not give in. I would like something more traditional like this lightweigt elk printed scarf or this iconic striped wool blanket from Canada's oldest department store Hudson's Bay Company.
Almost goes with the tradional feel of the Marc by Marc show below don't you think?

Marc for Marc

I love the stripy colours Marc Jacobs brought down the catwalk yesterday in New York. I also really love the sweater dressing silhouette continuing and the blousony type trousers with the boots.

photos: Style.com

Texture at Rodarte

Well, I missed the Alexander Wang show when it was broadcast live on Showstudio because I was out celebrating my boyfriends b-day, but I did catch the Rodarte show tonight.
Watching this show live I realized that I paid a lot more attention to the details and I could actually sense the weight of the clothing. This is definitely the way forward, more live shows gives everyone a chance to experience what only a few editors, celebrities and press get to experience. I know that you can watch the shows on video on style.com the next day but it is just not the same. Watching this show live on Showstudio we got to see the fashion crowd walk in, see where they sit and who they talk to,  you get to feel the buzz and hear the actual music the designers have chosen for the show. It is like you are a little fly on the wall of fashion week.
These are my favourite looks from the Rodarte show, I especially love the tattered sheepskin draped over the shoulders.

photos: showstudio.com

Event: Fashion's Microchic Shake up

A Future Human event from Bad Idea magazine; a group of people get together every first Wednesday of the month to discuss a topic over cocktails held at Shoreditch's cocktail cafe, The Book Club.
The second topic of discussion is how the digital age is changing the way we dress, titled Fashion's Microchic Shake up. There will be experts from all areas of the industry on the panel to discuss this topic, one of them being the content director of WGSN, Juliet Warkentin.

Tickets are £8, get them quick as the first event was a sell out!

Fun with Animal Fashion

See by Chloe is one of the brands out there that does not take fashion too seriously.  Fashion is supposed to be fun and these key rings do just that by using animal motifs other than the typical horses and owls that are repeatedly trendy. I love these cute stylish leather crustacean and hedgehog keyrings that also double as a coin purse. Perfect for a Valentine's gift perhaps?

Leather crab: £70 at Liberty
Studded hedgehog: £95 at Feathers

A Dark Day in Fashion

16 March 1969 – 11 February 2010

I could not post about this yesterday because I was truly at a loss for words. Alexander McQueen was one of the most innovative and exciting designers of our time. He was an artist, not just a designer, he always pushed the boundaries to create pieces that were out of this world.

The photos above are examples are from his SS10 collection which in my opinion was one of his best.

The Future Fashion Tent?

Showstudio will be streaming the Alexander Wang (Feb 13) and Rodarte (Feb 16) shows from New York Fashion Week live on their site. I didn't manage to catch the live stream of the Alexander McQueen show last season and so am looking forward to finally seeing one. Hopefully it doesn't crash.
What do you think of this live streaming fashion shows trend? Along with bloggers reporting literally as the models walk past them, will fashion become even faster?

That's RAD

Designer Rad Hourani's unisex diffusion line RAD hit the e-shop this week. I love the scarf vests and the slim trousers, but my favourite piece is this black denim jacket at $390.
Rad shows his main collection in New York (you can see the SS10 collection on NYmag here) but lived in Montreal and Paris before moving.

photo: radhourani.com

Hermes gives us a DIY project!

I take it back when I said that luxury brands have boring campaigns. I love Hermes for their amazing website which gets you browsing their quirky site for hours.
They even let you dowload a pattern of this studded cuff  "collier de chien" in many different patterns and all you need to do is cut it up and glue it together!

Thanks Sadie!

Sonia and Elber Rock!

Next time I am in Paris I will have to make it a priority to visit the fashion related Brachfeld Gallery because they are showing these "Designer" concert tees! They are brilliant! They are created by duo Sandberg&Timonen, which explains the coolness of the t-shirts, these guys are Swedish.

Thank you DazedDigital.com for writing about these!

Victor and Rolf and Dazed

I swept up the Feb copy of Dazed and Confused as soon as I saw the cover with that deformed Victor and Rolf dress from their SS10 show. I loved this collection they decided to call "Credit Crunch Couture" and I am delighted to see that a magazine has done a feature on the duo. They have created the ultimate fantasy ball gown by successfully making cut up, chopped up constructed tulle look light and airy.