Unlucky for me, as I missed what looked like an unofficial kick off for Fashion Week in Toronto by the Heart Truth Fashion Show 2011. The event was to raise awareness for women to take charge of their heart health. One of a kind red dresses were designed for Canadian celebrities to wear (and suits for the men by V. Hazelton) in support of the cause.

Some more snippets:

“We’re reaching Canadian women with this lifesaving message: it’s time to take charge of your heart health”, says Bobbe Wood, CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.  “Make healthy lifestyle choices, monitor your cholesterol and blood pressure levels, and advocate for the care you need from your doctor.  And to Canadian men, we say support the women you love to protect their heart health.”

Each March since its launch, the red dress symbol has come to life on the runway with the support of the fashion industry and celebrity models at the Heart Truth Fashion Show. As the official symbol of The Heart Truth campaign, the red dress represents women’s courage, passion and their power for change as they share the truth with others and raise awareness about the importance of heart health.

You can watch the full show after the jump.

(more…)

I glimpsed EZRA Constantine at the Greta Constantine show in Fall 2009 at un-fashion week. Welcome the new line – it’s the official launch for Spring/Summer 2010, shot by Mckenzie James. It’s dark, it’s gang-oriented (no, really), dark, hostile, contemporary, dark, utilitarian, and…dark. They call the pieces “pieces that form the uniform for the man of tomorrow”. I probably wouldn’t mind that if the wearer looked like these models.

Boys, thoughts?

You may have read in the Toronto Star about how Kirk Pickersgill and Steven Wong from Greta Constantine, decided against showing at Toronto Fashion Week. Although Fashion Week doesn’t start until Monday (October 19th), Greta Constantine held a smashing event at the Downtown Toronto Audi Dealership on Bayview.

Some familiar faces and some diverse people. Met Nathan of Polysh Mag, who gave me the low down on Aldo and of their emerging magazine. I’ll try to dig up the photo (photos, or it didn’t happen right?)

The show itself started about an hour late or so, but the imagery they painted was fantastic. Runway, powerful cars, and fierce stomps. Audio went funky part way through, but it was a beautiful show of passion. Great cross promotion too, I already wanted an Audi R8 bad enough.

I had some focus issues with my camera, but nine shots should suffice. FASHION Mag did a great cover of it avec pro photos.

> photog by Gloria Chik

The kickoff for me for LG Fashion Week (Toronto Fashion Week) would be tomorrow’s presentation of Greta Constantine’s S/S ’10 at Downtown Audi. Not sure who Greta Constantine is yet? Here are the deets:

Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong met in Toronto, Canada and became fast friends.

 

Kirk, a stylist by trade based in Milan, Italy, has worked for international designers such as Dsquared2 and Neil Barrett. He’s a guest teacher at the renowned ISTITUTO MARANGONI in Milan.

 

Stephen began his career as a costume designer in Toronto for Susan Dicks & Co. and has made clothing for several films such as THE LAST DAY OF DISCO, AMERICAN PSYCHO, GLITTER, CHICAGO and currently HAIRSPRAY, starring John Travolta.

 

Stephen’s draping and design expertise, paired with Kirk’s knowledge of fashion forecasting resulted in a business partnership and the establishment of GRETA CONSTANTINE in 2005. Even though the two live on opposite sides of an ocean, they manage to communicate daily via Windows® Messenger™ meetings.

The duo have started to make some big waves in the Canadian fashion industry, having outfitted the contestants of Canada’s Next Top Model for a FASHION Magazine photoshoot (memorable – all the dresses were in a gorgeous white, paired with B2 cage pumps).

While the showing of “THE COLLECTION” tomorrow is invite only, BRANDD Thursday will be the official afterparty at Cheval.

I love Dragonette. And I love Greta Constantine. So it’s only natural that I would be compelled to post about Dragonette wearing Greta Constantine in their new music video, “Pick Up The Phone”.

If you’re not familiar with either of these folks, Dragonette is an amazing Canadian electropop group with addictive tracks like Shock Box, I Get Around and Lagerfeld Lady (Remix). As for GC? Other than the fact that we share initials, they’re ones to watch (and for me to see mid-October!)

Love it.