Toronto Fashion week kicked off tonight with three shows from haute retailer Holt Renfrew, Pink Tartan and Pavoni. There isn’t much to say for the Holt Renfrew show. The department store is celebrating 175 years, but overlooked the opportunity to showcase vintage collections or a style narrative, and opted to hawk a compilation of high-end designers stocked in their store.…
When you think of fashion models, often tall, leggy and thin come to mind. But last Saturday, a lecture featuring former i-D Magazine editor, Caryn Franklin, opened up a discussion on diversity in fashion. Franklin said from the start that she didn’t want to recruit students to her way of thinking, but rather to be aware of the lack of…
In April, I visited Munich, Germany and fell in love with their open-air markets, historic beer halls and of course, the colourful shops that sold deirndls and leiderhosen. I couldn’t resist picking up a deirndl myself, I am an 1/8th German after all. Funnily enough, my last name Ast translates to “branch” in German. So whenever someone snarky says “that’s…
Last week, Bourjois Paris held an event where guests were primped and pampered Paris-style. Champagne and makeup touch-ups are always a good mix in my books, and 50 per cent off handbags? It was a sweet deal I’m sad I missed. My sister went in my place while I was stuck on the SRT (which should be renamed sluggish rotten…
