Guest Blog: On Fashion, architecture and flowerpots...

I'm so excited to have this awesome guest blog from Samantha Etane of Montreal visual blog tam+sam! I couldn't check out the Open Doors Design Montreal event so Sam generously agreed to cover it for my dear readers.

Here we go!

This past week-end Design Montreal organized the 4th edition of 'Portes Ouvertes' Design Montreal; designers of all trades - and calibers - opened the doors of their boutiques, studios and atelier to the public.

I saw so many creations, fell in love with so designers, but had to make a choice...

Helmer.
A Passionate creative force who specialize in delicate & unique embroidered pieces for women, Helmer Joseph welcomed us in his St Laurent's boutique-gallery. The designer gives us plaids, polka-dots, lacework, and precious bling with a classy twist.




Incidentally Helmer worked with my next 'coup de coeur' Philippe Dubuc , a designer who embodies the spirit of Quebec's creativity. He welcomed us in his 'atelier' and chatted about his creative process, his upcoming women line he's preparing for Simons, and the challenge of designing women's garment.






Next stop Cardin, Ramirez & Julien , an architecture firm located on The Main. They specialize in sustainable development, and have recently won Rio Tinto Alcan Competition for the design of our new Planetarium.




Jamais Assez is an interior design heaven. There, you can get colorful and original pieces at very affordable prices. On top of it, made in Quebec.






'Portes Ouvertes' Design Montreal is one of these event that makes you realize how lucky we are to live in a city where the artists and the art are so accessible.

PS: A huge Thanks to Eric, from the Dubuc store, who was rocking the brand like it was nobody's business.

Red Carpet Round Up

I usually completely ignore the Oscars but I was home and needing tv-veg-out-time so I watched the Academy Awards in their entirety for the first time in my life.

I kept waiting to be blown away by the dresses but I didn't fall madly in love with anything. There are, however, some worth mentioning.

I don't know if this was on purpose, but I noticed that a lot of the incredible female talent of Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, wore....sapphire blue. (see Michelle's comment below for the real reason - very cool!)

Tanya Kim from E-Talk wore a dress designed by Montreal's own Andy The Anh for the Becel Love Your Heart Campaign - that was pretty cool. It had "love your heart" embroidered on it too.

I really liked Maggie Gyllenhaal's Dries Van Noten number - it was one of the more unique dresses.

I thought Carey Mulligan had the most fun with her outfit: her Prada dress's short front hem showed off her great shoes, and the bust was embellished with tiny pieces of cutlery and other charms.

If I had to pick a Best, it would be Meryl Streep, queen of class. Instead of wearing a big-name designer and getting decked out in swaths of rhinest0ne-encrusted tulle, she wore an awesome white dress from Chris March, a Project Runway contestant.

Montreal Fashion Week Roundup

My favourite inspired looks from Montreal's Fall/Winter 2010 runway shows. Dresses, dresses, dresses and ankle boots!

Marie Sainte Pierre
Photo Credit : Bureau de la mode de Montréal


Denis Gagnon
Photo Credits: http://pretextes.ca/


Bodybag by J.U.D.E.
Photo Credit : Bureau de la mode de Montréal



Nadya Toto
Photo Credit : Bureau de la mode de Montréal

R.I.P. McQueen

Lee Alexander McQueen died yesterday. It's a sad sad day for fashion lovers, designers and anyone remotely artistically inclined.

McQueen was the King of the Thing that went Bling.

I tried to write some sort of hommage to my lifetime's most influential designer but these images from the last few collections say it best. Rest in peace, Fashion's Prince.... Enfant Terrible de la Mode.



















P.S. Check out a nice bunch of images from the last 10 collections at Clin D'Oeil.

The September Issue and the Meaning of Life

SPOILER ALERT.

Thanks to the lovely folks at Worn Fashion Journal, I won tickets to see The September Issue. I was fascinated all the way through - it was crazy seeing how shoots come together and I had no idea designers showed Anna their goods before the clothes even hit the catwalk. But what I was most enthralled with was the juxtaposition of Grace and Anna and what it taught me about how I want to live my life.

Grace Coddington is the Creative Director of Vogue USA, and responsible for styling many of the fashion spreads that appear in the mag. Anna Wintour is the Editor-in-Chief, and held responsible for bringing Vogue back to relevancy.

If one were to judge them by their Wikipedia entries, Grace would be a mousy, unimportant blip in the world of Fashion, and Anna the Emperess. They are both older women, Anna being 60 this year and Grace almost 70, and they've worked together at Vogue in NYC for over twenty years. (There is a much better biography of Grace here.)

The film inadvertently pits them against each other: Grace styling gorgeous, romantic, and eye-candy-laden shoots, and Anna cutting them from the issue. Designers, staffers and famous photographers cowering in front of Anna, and Grace cheering them up afterwards. In the end, much of the magazine is filled with Grace's talent, though Anna will always get the credit.

Throughout the film, Anna lives up to her Ice Queen reputation, often responding with cutting insults or simply a blank stare. Grace makes us laugh, defends pot bellies and cries at the beauty of the gardens at Place Versailles.

Though Anna has lengthy Wikipedia pages to her name, I would rather live my life as Grace.


P.S. Help us ban Zimbabwe Blood Diamonds by signing the Avaaz.org petition here!

All Hail The Sale: STYLIST'S OWN!

I squealed like a kid in a candy store at the STYLIST'S OWN v.i.p. launch last night. The space, MW Salon on McGill in the old port, was a perfect and gorgeous backdrop to the racks of one-of-a-kind and limited edition items made by our local design talent. Delectable canapes enhanced the experience normally associated with xmas-time fights between parents at department stores over the last hot toy.

I was going to treat myself to one special piece and between the gorgeous belts, cuffs, vintage shoes, bags, coats, artwork and objects for the home I had my work cut out for me. I was secretly nursing a fantasy of me leaving the launch with a beautifully packaged designer dress made of random lengths of fabric draped about it.

I loved this gorgeous wool sweater:

And this buttery cropped leather jacket by Twenty8Twelve.


But last night my fantasy came true and I left carrying a beautiful black STYLIST'S OWN bag containing this maze-of-a-dress by Denis Gagnon, in grey. You can't see the back but there is a hood-type sheath of fabric that hangs from the shoulders revealing a triangular peek of the wearer's upper back.


Ok. Stop reading! Go to STYLIST'S OWN, starting today (Friday) and going until Sunday!