100 Years of Style in 100 Seconds

East London is getting a make-over.

Entertainment and shopping complex, Westfield Stratford City is due to open in the area on September 13th.

To commemorate the opening, director Jake Lunt with The Viral Factory, created a film that celebrates a century of East London fashion, dance and music.

Hundreds of costume changes, four days and music commissioned by Oscar-nominated Tristin Norwell, who interpreted the same tune for each decade, resulted in an entertaining look at our obsession with style over the course of a century.

 

 

Is it me or are dance/fashion videos showing up everywhere?

Want more vintage London style? Take a look at Emil Otto Hoppé’s photographs.

Mango Season

Go across boundaries and uncrate the notion that fashion is ripe for the picking.

A British model took over a French landmark to launch her video collaboration with an American photographer for a Spanish retailer.

How’s that for global jaw-droppage?

Digging the satin pants out of my closet, as we speak. Ms. Moss looking lovely in black and white.

Kate Moss was at the Centre Pompidou – along with the Miró and Kandinsky masterpieces – and Terry Richardson, where Mango held a fashion show that Duchamp and his contemporaries would have both applauded and been appalled at.

The gaga wasn’t over Dada this time, but over the juicy fruits of the Spanish retail chain’s designs for Fall.

Models rode up the escalators during the show, while the hangers-on, hung on and admired one of the loveliest views of Paris, from the bubble-wrapped building.

The Moss/Richardson vid was shown last night, but hasn’t been released en masse, as yet. In the time being, here is the glitzy one of the party, itself.

It’s a fashionable and fitting tribute to International Museum Day, methinks.

If you’ve never been, you must pop over to the Pompidou on your next visit to Paris and be at one with Brancusi and beyond.

[Update May 20: The Moss/Richardson collaboration video is now up.]

Image: Getty.

 

Mr. (and Ms.) Clean

H&M recently launched a Conscious Collection – just in time for Earth Day.

The collection for men, women and kids, is made from environmentally adapted and greener materials such as organic cotton, Tencel and recycled polyester.

“It’s not just about organic cotton any more, the possibilities for creating a complete fashion statement with eco smarter materials are huge now,” says Ann-Sofie Johansson, Head of design at H&M.

Clean lines for men.

Breezy separates for women.

The Swedish powerhouse retailer launched this initial collection April 14th, and will be designing recurring Conscious Collections in the future.

The white pieces for women are soft and romantic, with a preppier vibe for the boys.

So, this Spring, it’s easy to be green: wear white from head to toe.

Gotham Goes Goth

It’s only a matter of time before these window awnings fade to black.

The times - and the windows - are a-changin’.

If Carine has her way, the walls may be dressed in black patent leather buckles and the windows, veiled in black lace.

Carine's stylish window leanings - can't wait to see them this Fall.

WWD reports this morning that Ms. Roitfeld has taken a creative consulting gig at Barneys New York. She’ll be working on the Fall ad campaign, catalogue and windows for the Madison Avenue mode-mark. Working with longtime friend and collaborator, Mario Sorrenti and Barneys CD Dennis Freedman, Roitfeld will go back to her styling roots for the initiative, as well as serving as editor.

Freedman tells WWD that the modern muse’s personal style will be reflected in the campaign as well.

Well, then, it’s only a matter of time before Gotham goes full-tilt French goth, n’est-ce pas?

Carine, in Margiela, photographed by Craig McDean.

And if you think this is a full-time job, it isn’t. Ms. Roitfeld insists she loves her freedom and wants to do many things, working on numerous creative projects. For one, her much-anticipated tome Carine Roitfeld: Irreverent with Rizzoli comes out October 4th.

Her style may be inspired by all things gothic, but she is a true Renaissance woman du jour.

Roitfeld in YSL, in front of the Miu Miu SS10 show.

Image sources (in order): Getty, Zimbio, Another Magazine, I Want to be a Roitfeld.

Read the full WWD article.

Sprung

Sometimes, on a blah day, an old-fashioned piece of mail can take you from grey…

My day was lacking a little colour...

…to great.

...until I went to the mailbox and found a present from The Room.

It features gorgeous pieces available at The Room – The Bay’s designer department – this Spring, including several pieces I previewed at the  British Invasion events last Fall.

The floral vellum had the marketer in me swooning, and the Alaia cover? Let’s not even talk about that. I have a bit of an Alaia addiction.

Images by moi.

Make Room for More Brits

Toronto was invaded by the Brits. Again.

The view from these eyes has always been a little bit British – having grown up with musical influences from across the pond and with crushes on Bri’ish boys.

However, I do believe there has been an inherent love of Ing-lund here in the Homeland, whether it is the crowd knowing all the words to That’s Entertainment (which made Paul Weller smile proudly at the Palais Royale show a few years back) or Mini Cooper hosting a recent Brit weekend capping off with a show by The Beat (that’s the English Beat, to North American natives). And really, could you think of fashion without mentioning a Brit brand? Burberry, Westwood, Paul Smith, the tailors of Saville Row. McQueen. But alas, they are considered the old guard.

The new army of hip designers from the Queen’s country were invited to invade Toronto (politely please, we are Canadian) by none other than, retail royalty Bonnie Brooks, President and Chief Executive Officer at The Bay.

A regal welcome *

Queen B of the Bay: Bonnie Brooks

The Brits (and a few former Canucks), namely Erdem Moralioglu, Mark Fast, Charlotte Olympia Dellal, Giles Deacon, Marios Schwab, Mary Katrantzou, Tom Binns, Nicholas Kirkwood and Jonathan Saunders, recently took over The Room at The Bay for a few days with events ranging from private dinners with media, an invite-only God Save the Queen Gala, as well as a panel discussion and trunk shows, open to the public.

I attended the ‘gala’ where media, socialites, Room patrons and the locally fabulous were out in full force.

The delightful Mr. Deacon

A few pieces from the Giles collection

Marios Schwab amidst his designs

Mary Katrantzou in fashion black in front of her pastel collection for SS11

Nicholas Kirkwood, the soft-spoken shoe designer…

…who creates hard-edged footwear for the rock n’ rolla in all of us.*

The lovely Charlotte Olympia Dellal. Her personality lives up to the vivid colours she dons.

Golden platforms by Charlotte Olympia, fit for a goddess? *

Jonathan Saunders, the kind of gentleman you bring ’round to your mum’s house for tea.

Laser-cut felt that would make any woman feel feminine, by Jonathan Saunders. *

The champagne was flowing, the designers were mingling and in the case of Deacon, spinning turntables.

DJ Deacon, with Canadian entourage in tow.

It’s not my usual schtick – covering parties. I attended because I have a distinct interest in British fashion. Interesting though, that I was not on The Room’s client list after having been a customer for over a dozen years. I guess much got tossed with the old decor.

It was at The (old) Room that I first discovered Liberty of London. I wanted to wear my properly eccentric Liberty tweed suit to the event, but it’s made to keep you warm on a cold wintery walk in the English countryside in the middle of December…and well, might have been a little too cozy for cocktails.

I opted instead, for a mix of Brit and Canadian: a red and white lipstick-print shirt by Auntie Viv bought in Paris, a high-waisted ankle-length black skirt bought in an indie designer Kensington Market shop (on this side of the pond) in the ’90s, a Ports 1961 grey pinstriped tweed cape, my Gothentic pointy Victorian lace up boots bought on Queen West before it turned into a mall, red Danier granny clutch, topped with the McQueen hat, from his Pre-Fall 09 collection. It was my homage to British design sensibilities as I understand them.

That’s me, with the lovely Natalia, whom I met on a French detour, in the Alaïa section. She designs couture pieces and is wearing one of her own.

I was surprised (or was I?) to find many dressed in the Toronto party uniform of LBD and platform pumps. Gala is a funny word in Toronto circles. I have yet to attend one that lives up to the implied dress code.  The few exceptions and the ones that stood out to me are featured in this post.

In fine feathered form, complete with fishnets. Is that vintage Mugler, I wonder?

Moving fast, wearing Mark Fast.

Charlotte and Carrie (from her marketing team) clutched style like no others at the fête. Charlotte Olympia clutches, of course.

The belt is Burberry. The jacket, McQueen?

Undoubtedly, an Anna Dello Russo fan?

She walks on gilded splinters. McQueen SS10 shoes, or a reasonable facsimile?

The lucky doc who happened to be in town just for one night, glam dress in tow. Simple elegance.

Style does not age, my dears. Quite the pair, complete with a pair of Dries necklaces, too. The bubble skirt reminds me of vintage Romeo Gigli. Sigh.

Well, at least the items on the racks did not disappoint. Brooks and her mod squad did a wonderful job in presenting each designer’s pieces.

Mary K’s dresses – worthy of an art gallery, no? *

A dress begging to be danced in, by Mary Katrantzou. *

Fringing on fabulous – by Mary K. *

Ms. K adds detail drama but keeps it subtle with chiffon and pink embroidery. *

The Room, for those two days, became an art gallery, where one could actually touch the luxe fabrics, see the intricacies of embroidered lace up close, pick up the shoe sculptures.  While some of these designers may be known to those of us who adore fashion and follow it like some do the Footie, it was a huge risk for Brooks and Nicholas Mellamphy, The Room’s Creative Director, to bring relatively unknown names to the attention of Toronto’s prospective fashion customers. Kudos to them for that.

The event had a classy air about it, to be sure. In addition to the clothing display, there was a gin bar, a Lula pop-up shop (which will remain in The Room until mid-November) and an avatar of the famed lounge at The Savoy.

Lula Pop-up Shop

The sign for the pseudo Savoy, flanked by a statement neck piece by jewellery designer Tom Binns. *

More designs from Tom Binns *

Layering it on, at Tom Binns. *

One fork accessory and you are done! A Binns necklace from the ’80s. *

One could easily approach the designers, whom were all very down to earth and in many cases, slightly shy. In this day and age of PR hype, it was nice to have a chat with regular people who weren’t necessarily given sound bytes or media training.

Erdem, at ease, in his home country (he is originally from Montreal).

A few pieces by Erdem.

Erdem fans. The woman on the left had one of the classiest looks that evening – love the black, white and gold combination and the earrings were just gorgeous.

I think, though, that this is the true essence of London coming through. There is a certain nonchalance about fashion in London. A close friend who lives there has told me that fashion is like any other industry there, it is part of the fabric of the city (pardon the pun). It’s the norm.

And after my visit to London a day or two after these events (posts to follow), I can see exactly what she means. What we call Brit eccentricity is worn by regular people on Oxford Street.

Mustard Mark.

Fast and Erdem are ex-pat Canucks who flew over for the event, but they weren’t the only Canadian creative contingent that evening.

Arthur Mendonca and Wayne Clark

Mr. Mendonca always looks so handsome. Love the pants and shoes.

And speaking of good pants and shoes, Mr. Bailey does not disappoint.

Hoax Couture’s Chris Tyrell always looks like a million – Pounds Sterling. Still remember a great conversation I had with him and Jim Searle at a Smirnoff party a thousand years ago.

I ran into Joyce Gunhouse and Judy Cornish of Comrags as well, telling them that I still remembered theirs was the first fashion show I had ever seen – at the Festival of Canadian Fashion. I remember that Swamp Thing was playing – those fashion and music memories never leave you.

I wanted to go over to say hello to Tu Ly, to chat with him about his time at Ports.

Tu Ly, always in a fashion class all his own.

He was standing over by the champagne bar. However, by the time I got to the spot and tapped whom I thought was Ly from behind, I realized it was another familiar face – David from Holt Renfrew’s World Design Lab, who also happened to be wearing black and white (like Ly!). We had a lovely chat about Mr. McQueen.

Dapper David, laughing it up.

Dare I say it, but it is quite possible that the men that evening were outshining the women in the room.

Bravo to the risk takers!

Printed, from head to toe.

Tartan and sparkle: a retro duo with style to spare.

These two are surely related to dear Auntie Viv!

Despite these few fashion daredevils, most Canadians play it safe when it comes to style.

This new wave of Brit designers will work better than the Westwoods and McQueens for this market because the collections are infinitely easier to wear. I say this, not with disrespect for any of the designers. Their clothes are gorgeous and each collection has a distinct personality.

Colour-dusted Kirkwoods

There is immense craftsmanship in Christopher Kane’s embroidered leathers (Kane didn’t attend but his clothes were on view), Erdem’s grey lace frocks and in Charlotte Olympia platforms.

Dressed to thrill, in Christopher Kane. *

Sometimes all it takes is one killer piece. Christopher Kane belted blazer. *

Erdem’s ethereal grey lace. *

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better…he embroiders it! *

It’s all in the details, darlings. Charlotte Olympia green platforms, with the signature spider web logo. *

However, they are safer than a bias-cut, twisted, blossoming bosom dress by Westwood or even the plainest of accessories by McQueen. After all, this is the new wave of Brits. While the former lot of designers were all about rebellion, it seems these men and women are rebelling against the notion of what British fashion is supposed to be.

Like the designers, these clothes were unique, yet approachable. So, for Toronto, they should work. And maybe, just maybe, more of the masses will not wear a little black dress at the next party, but a laser-cut Saunders or a printed Deacon or a Kirkwood shoe sculpture paired with one of the above?

Ms. Brooks, Mr. Mellamphy, I raise my glass and tip my McQueen hat to you, for that.

All photos marked with * are by Yours Truly. All others are courtesy of The Bay.

[I also attended the panel discussion the following day and will have more on that and the individual designers in an upcoming post. My 'To Write' list is longer than my FW10 shopping list. Thanks for your patience, my dear readers. It's been a whirlwind few days/weeks/months with many new adventures. I have some great London stories to share very soon, too.]

Zara Dekhna: Inditex Invades India

The Motherland has been invaded by the Spaniards. 

The Inditex Group’s first Zara store opened in India late last week to much hungama. It seems like a late foray, doesn’t it? Luxury brands have been setting up shop from Guragaon to Goa in the last few years, but then again, most things in the Motherland do happen in IST, or Indian Standard Time. 

The 1,800-square-meter space is in the Select CityWalk mall in Saket, South Delhi and will co-exist with brands like Next (England’s answer to Gap – only better), Ed Hardy (I guess bad taste crosses all borders), Esprit, French Connection and fellow Spanish retailer, Mango. All Zara lines will be stocked – Woman, Basic, TRF, Kids and Man. 

 

Two more stores are imminent – another in Delhi’s famed DLF Promenade Vasant Kunj mall, where the retailer will compete against the brands it is, ahem, inspired by – and a third at the Palladium Mall shopping centre in Mumbai. When did the Motherland become such a mall haven? Other major Indian cities also have a Zara in their near future. 

My first experience with the Zara brand – one of many owned by the Inditex Group – was in Madrid about a dozen years ago. I walked in to the Gran Via store and I think angels began to sing. Everything in the store was black, grey, brown, burgundy and green. Was I home? 

A friend was with me and I just remember her saying something about going to the Lladro figurine shop a few doors down. I didn’t even turn my head – just told her to go on without me. It would be a while. (She would smile if she read this story now.) 

I remember picking up a piece, looking at the colour/quality/price and never putting it back down. That one item soon turned into 12, 15, 20. The store was about to close, but the Spanish Sales S.W.A.K. (they were too nice to be a S.W.A.T.) team that came to rescue my numb arm of the mountain of mode told me to relax and take my time. 

It was so difficult to choose. I remember the Zara Woman label being such amazing quality and their suits having multiple options. You could take a long jacket in a grouping and pair it with the slim or wide-legged pants, the short or long skirt and sometimes even a vest. It was manufactured by Inditex, but you could suit it to your style or body type. That is something I never did see in any of the North American stores. 

I walked out with three (yes – tres) large (muy grande) garbage-sized bags full of merch, with the S.W.A.K. team literally blowing me kisses and hugging me as I left. The most expensive single item was a suit jacket at $100. It was one of the best retail experiences I’ve ever had. Those suits were my staples for so many years – with people asking me regularly where I got something that was cut so well and with such great fabric. It was the Madrid Zara – and I just gave away my last piece of that haul in a much-needed spring clean only days ago. Someone else will fall in love with that grey, zip suit jacket like I did and gush over the mint condition they find it in. Good clothes carry good karma with them. 

The next morning, as I entered the tour bus, word of my haul had spread to the group – and each time we passed a Zara in the numerous cities of Spain we visited (and there were lots – like Benettons in Italy!), they said: oh look, there’s a Jyotika (my fellow travellers had named the store after me). 

In recent years, I’ve found less and less but still manage to source a lovely piece or two that carries me through a season or two. 

Inditex has been expanding into Asian countries, starting with Japan in 1999, and more recently, China in 2006 and South Korea in 2008. With the Indian market being as garam as it is right now, it only makes sense for Inditex to get in on the action, and makes more sense for them to partner with the  Tata Group – the resident rulers of everything from cars to luxe hotels and most things in between. 

A sealed deal: Pablo Isla, Inditex’s Deputy Chairman and CEO with Noel N. Tata, Managing Director of Trent Limited, a Tata Enterprise.

Hmmm….Zara goes desi. It’s about time things came full circle. After all, I do buy most of my kurtas at the big Z and they are made in India. 

Checking India off their list, brought Inditex closer to world domination with stores in 77 countries - a feat that’s hard to knock off. 

[Lost in translation: Zara dekhna = Just take a look, hungama = fanfare/chaos, garam = hot, kurtas = tunics, desi = homegrown.]

Images courtesy of Business Week and Inditex respectively.

The Quest for New Retailers

As the economy ebbs and shifts, retailers are trying to find ways to adjust to the new reality (not to be confused with the New Economy reminiscent of the glorious Dot Com Daze).

Despite crashes and closings in the last couple of years, the consumer demand for clothing hasn’t ceased – it’s just transitioned. Everybody wants a designer name – they just can’t always afford it. That’s why we’ve seen so many designer/retail collaborations in recent years. Once a thing of excitement and anticipation, they have become much more homogenized and of lesser quality recently.

Stella McCartney was an early adopter with her line for H+M, for example, and her clothes still hang in my closet. They are well-tailored, all natural fabrics (of course – given Stella’s vegan state of being) and even the bags were biodegradable. I felt like she/the company really cared about every element of that collection.

Now, when a retailer like H+M or Target collaborates with a designer, you know it will be generic landfill-er in coming years. Shame, because the model could have worked, if only retailers showed a little restraint and timed things out a bit more. There seems to be a new collaboration every five minutes. Exclusivity is still in style, no?

More often than not – the quest for more continues.

Our retail landscape here in Canada is wanting for choice and quality. Sadly, a high percentage of my clothing budget is not spent here in Toronto. There simply isn’t much that I want to buy. Of course, there are wonderful and exclusive boutique retailers where I can still find things, but there seems to be a gap (and everyone knows I don’t shop there!).

Bonnie Brooks, President and CEO of the Bay, has been trying to fill the gap that I’ve been talking about to friends over many lunches and dinners for many years. I first noticed it when Eaton’s closed down. This is before Zara, H+M, Aritzia and the like were fixtures in our malls and streetscapes. Eaton’s did a great job of catering to both 20-somethings as well as the 30+ set. It was a place where my mom and I could go together, split up once we hit the fashion floor and we’d meet in the middle with interesting pieces for each of us in hand. I could get my basics there and at Simpsons (even when it was bought by The Bay).

Special pieces were always found in the first iteration of Brooks’ newly re-invented The Room (the designer floor at The Bay’s Queen Street flagship) or Queen West before it turned into a mall. In later years, Zara filled that gap but you still couldn’t stock up at the Spanish retailer’s stops here like I did in Madrid or NYC in years past. I still have some of those pieces. I can’t remember the last time I bought something at the big Z.

And shoes – let’s not even talk about shoes. Note to Canadian retailers: please visit the 3,200 square metres of shoes with 150 brands (75 of them exclusive) at Galeries Lafayette in Paris and come back and revisit your selections. Yes, I can still get $850 Dries flats at Specchio (practical, no?)  – but I can’t get €99 Itallian-made lace-up brogues anywhere in Toronto (I did get those in the aforementioned Parisian mecca of shoes). Give me choice – I don’t want to buy 9 West shoes everywhere I go, Toronto!

Back to my mom for a second. My mom is not a fashionista, but she likes to look good and has trouble finding things to wear. All the stores that catered to her are mostly gone, too. She occasionally finds things at Winners or The Bay, but it’s a struggle. She doesn’t want to look like a 25-year old, but she is no aunty-ji either. To summarize, she can’t find great things to wear here and neither can I.

Slowly, retailers like Brooks and a handful of others are starting to take note. The Room has been reinvented at The Bay but so has their lower-priced designer wear in the contemporary section (I forget the name of it). I’ve been once and want to go back to see the Rachel Roy stuff they have after the designer did a drop-in at the store a few weeks ago.

The space, no doubt, is beautiful and holds promise. Only time – and strategy – will determine the rest, but I have to say I am Bay-curious again…

I’ll write about the quest for new customers by various brands, in an upcoming post.

eCommerce Commitment?

As a long-time lover of all things web and as someone who has worked in the eBiz biz well before Twitter, Facebook and even Goog, I am the first to advocate online shopping.

I know that many people not only have issues with online security but when it comes to buying your fashion online, there’s a lack of a tactical experience, plus the whole lack of try-on factor.

Well, the launch of Net-a-porter’s online wedding boutique had even me wondering how a girl – web or otherwise – would buy the most important dress of her life via the web?

Your thoughts?

Holt’s Jolt

Big news in Canadian retail today…changes at the haute seat at Holt Renfrew.

Caryn Lerner is out as president and CEO.

Mark Derbyshire is in.

Derbyshire was formerly the chief talent scout for Holt Renfrew’s holding company.

So, an HR guy is now running HR.

Here’s hoping he can inject some new talent into Holt’s.

The retailer needs a bit of a makeover.

Lerner will stay on as an independent consultant with the holding company.

With files from WWD.

Déjà Vu: Toronto & Vegas Get Crystallized

Toronto pulled off a coup in recent years by getting a few Starchitects to add to the local landcape. Frank Gehry’s stunning makeover of the AGO swirled into our hearts, Jack Diamond’s rethink of the home of the Canadian Opera Company was so popular, they asked him to build another opera house in Russia and of course, there is the much loved and hated Crystal by Daniel Libeskind at The Royal Ontario Museum.

Libeskind's Crystal for the ROM, Toronto

Its steel peaks jut out over Bloor Street in a very un-Torontonian way. We are a polite people. This structure doesn’t say excuse me when you pass it on the street, on your way to luxe stops like Ports 1961, Chanel and Hermès.

It gives Toronto a wee bit of the fabulous. But just a little, please. We don’t want to spoil our dinner.

If you are looking for the actual luxe life, forget shopping on Bloor Street (even during Boxing Week) and venture to Vegas.

The city has just launched a 500,000-square-foot luxury shopping mall called the Crystals – something that might bring about a déjà vu for us, Torontonians.

The Crystals Mall by Libeskind, Las Vegas

It’s all part of an (lie down for this) 18 million-square-foot complex spanning 67 acres, that will include hotels, condos and a casino.

The Crystals and beyond, Las Vegas

Vast Ventures in Vegas

Brand names (like Tom Ford, LV, Tiffany & Co) aren’t just on the walls, they are in them, too. Libeskind designed the retail and entertainment space but here is a sampling of a few other creative minds involved…

• ARIA Resort & Casino (Cesar Pelli)
• Mandarin Oriental Hotel/Residences (Pedersen / Tihany)
• The Harmon Hotel/Residences (Foster and Partners)
• Vdara Condo/Hotel tower (Rafael Viñoly)
• Twin luxury condo towers Veer (Helmut Jahn)
• $40 million worth of modern sculptures and installations by world famous artists

Starchitects and Startists are so tasty. You can never have just one. Sort of like shopping, no?

ROM image courtesy of Studio Daniel Libeskind. Crstyals images courtesy of WWD.

Mod girls need a new place to shop

Ben Sherman, the Carnaby street retailer synonymous with mod fashion for the past 50 years,  is getting out of the women’s wear game.

After a tough year, the retailer plans to focus on its bread and buttah: menswear.

Shame for mod girls the world over.

Image courtesy of bensherman.com.

Target and Rodarte Go International

It seems everyone – and her sister – are going mass market these days.

Kate and Laura Mulleavy are no exception…

They are taking their Rodarte line to Tar-jhay. No way, you say? C’est vrai, c’est vrai.

They will Go International and make flowers and frou and frill the mainstay.

In malls and school halls,

all the girls will be dolls.

Squealing, I’m a princess

who didn’t spend excess

to look so smashing and glam,

and still be the girl that I am

How can it be? Their dreamy frocks can be mine?

Yes, dears, and the most you will spend is $79.99.

One of my favourite dresses by Rodarte, 2008

The Rodarte line hits Target stores December 20th. And that $79.99 price tag? That’s in US Dollars!

Photo of the Mulleavys and full story from WWD. 2008 Rodarte dress photo, courtesy of FIT. It was part of their Gothic: Dark Glamour exhibition last Fall.

Retail Recall: Cozy Cottons at James Perse

LA retailer James Perse recently opened up a boutique in Montreal. Known for their cottons stateside for years, this is the first Canadian location for the cajh-wear company.

While I’m not a casual girl by nature, I do appreciate good quality cotton pieces for lounging around, so I added it to my retail pit-stops list on a recent trip to Montreal. Westmount is the perfect neighbourhood and vibe for these pieces, which range from t-shirts in varying shapes to long dresses, pants, loungewear and men’s stuff, too.

The online store apparently also sells furniture (does no one just do one thing anymore?).

The colours are neutral for the most part with the occasional burst here and there. Their neutrals include ultra muted shades of plum, blue and khaki. The cotton is indescribably soft. The cuts are simple, but alas, they weren’t made for curves. The Extreme V Tunic was er, too extreme V for me.

But I’d go back for the pajamas and robes any day. The sales staff were very helpful and had the same make-you-feel-good quality as the clothes.

We left the store refreshed (I’d swear we’d been to the Hamptons!), and in my friend’s case, with a big bag of purchases in tow for her and her hubby-to-be.

There was a hint that a Toronto shop might follow (in Forest Hill, no doubt), but there are no immediate plans at the moment.

Montreal
4869 Sherbrooke Street West
Westmount Quebec Canada

Tel 514 484 6163
montreal@jamesperse.com

Photos by Jean Blais, courtesy of James Perse.

Retail Recall: U&I

It’s always nice to be back in Mentreal. Ahem, Montreal. Style prevails no matter where you go. Boho chic on St. Denis to designer diva on Laurier to goth goddess on St. Laurent.

There are a few must-stops for fashionplates, when in la belle provence. The aforementioned Boulevard St. Laurent is home to a few fashion haunts including U&I – a mecca for interesting/avant-garde/edgy pieces.

U&I Boutique, Montreal

On this visit, I got a chance to see Philip Lim’s zippy frock. Worth it’s weight.

Phillip Lim Zip Dress, SS09

While the zipper detail may be rock-starrish for some, Lim did a mellower version than Junya Watanabe did a few years back. I still think about that Watanabe skirt.

Lim also did a fringed tunic that I fell in love with. I would have photographed it, but then I’d have to see it on the blog on a regular basis. If we couldn’t be together, it was best to make a clean break.

Speaking of clean – Ms. Westwood did clean lines in a not-as-simple-as-you-think bias cut t-shirty dress. Made for curves, no?

Throw me a curve, sailor.

Line it up with a great bag, ladies.

Denis Gagnon Ribbed Satchel, SS09

C’est très chic – in any city.

 

U&I

3650 St. Laurent Boulevard, Montreal

boutiqueuandi.com

All photos by Jyotika Malhotra.