Wondering what to do today? We recommend dropping by our friends at Lavish & Squalor for their Summer Kick Off Sale! For exactly 2 hrs between the hours 5-7pm not only are you getting 20% off Cheap Monday’s but also a yummy cocktail as a special thank you. No one can ever have too many pairs of jeans so why not stock up for the summer? We knew you’d agree.
For the month of May designer of Legends League Bryan Espiritu is releasing two special limited edition tees for the The Vault Series. “Facebook is the Feds” tee & “Hold Em Down” tee are both are available for purchase online and will only be on sale for the next 5 days after as you can imagine they will be put back in the vault. At $40 a pop there is no reason why you shouldn’t have one for you collection.
Design: Facebook is the Feds
Original Release: 2008
Vault Series Release: Original design and colourway.
Collection/Series:
“Facebook is the Feds” was part of a series of tees called “The Feds”. It was conceptualized by my homey, Andy Bennett, who felt that the public was becoming too comfortable with communications and social platforms that were implemented or controlled by the government as means to influence or monitor our moves.
Design: Hold Em Down
Original Release: 2008
Vault Series Release: Redesigned. New colourway.
Collection/Series:
The “Hold Em Down” design was part of a collection I did called “The B-Class”. It was a nautical theme that was motivated by the influence of early 90′s hip-hop fashion when heads wore a lot of Hilfiger, Nautica and of course, Polo.
Click here to see the “Behind The Scenes: “Hold Em Down” design process 2008 – 2012
SWIMS is a Norwegian lifestyle brand, which is known for reinventing the galosh (overshoe). By adding additional functionality, lots of colors and a contemporary shape, the company has created a humble renaissance for the galosh throughout major metropolitan cities around the world. In the spirit of reinventing Johan R. the founder of SWIMS turned his attention to another iconic shoe the loafer.
The style has been made for decades and is popularly worn across continents. It’s an evergreen. Being made of delicate materials, its utility is limited. Most of them have one serious limitation in terms of functionality: They don’t combine well with water. I wanted to extend their utility by using high-tech materials and state-of-the-art technology.
My objective was to design a loafer I could wear in the ocean so that I don’t scrape my feet on rocks or coral, something to wear by the pool or on the deck of a boat, a comfy loafer I could “loaf” around in a beach town instead of my flip-flops. (No offence to flip-flops – they’re great too!)
The SWIMS loafer is a product of my own experience, my appreciation of functional design, and my obsession with altering classics.
Now available at (Toronto):
“Bossed Up” is the first single from my new album Water and the first of some leaks that are going to come out. The song is about myself and my friends during high school. Its called “bossed up” because we seemed to think at 16 – 17 we were kings and acted in such a way, thus getting into some situations.” – KJ
Hugo Boss just launched their newest fragrance BOSS BOTTLED. SPORT., with the help of F1 driver Jenson Button. This high tech, energetic fragrance is intended to sharpen your senses and inspire high performance.
So what does this have to do with you? Well, if the opening image wasn’t a clue Hugo Boss, in celebration of this launch, is offering fans the chance to win a F1Montreal VIP experience. In this particular case “VIP” mean a 3 night stay in Montreal, VIP passes and spending money, all you have to do is click on the glowing RED link below for your chance to win! … What are you waiting for?!
We always love to bring you stories that showcase how amazing our city (Toronto) is and more importantly the extraordinary people in it. Lets start with Daniel Eckler, co-founder of Vizualize.me and founder a little site you may know EveryGuyed.com which he interestingly enough sold in Dec. 2011 If that wasn’t a significant achievement in itself Daniel beta-launched a new site called Piccsy in 2010 with Creative Director, Glenn Michael and Technology Director, Eric Liang. Like himself both Glen and Eric have an impressive resume that proves once again that our home-grown talent can go toe-toe with the best from around the world. Proof, the site gets over 3.5 million visitors, 30 million page views per month.
Now to tell you a little bit about Piccsy. Daniel puts it simply as “Piccsy helps you discover the images you love.” we on the other hand call it a guys version of Pinterest. It is easy to use (add, like, share), allows you to cater the feed to your individual interests (men’s fashion, cars, art, music…), and well, we just recommend you Try It!!
Snap-Shot of our tailored feed.
Converse is known for its collaboration series so it should come as no surprise that for this season they teamed up with Stussy to produce two exclusive sneakers, the Elm LS, Sea Star Cammo & Sea Star. Based on the style of musician Hanni El Khatib, this collection looked to exemplifies Hanni’s classic aesthetic and artistic drive with stylish updates of the Elm and Sea Star models. End result, you get the Elm shoe “dressed up with black premium leather and features tough d-ring eyelets, cord laces, camo ripstop lining and embossed Stussy logo on the outside heel. The Sea Star features a classic boat shoe silhouette and is available in a rugged camo or black ripstop upper with leather laces and camo ripstop lining.”
If you love these shoes, you’ll be happy to know that they are available exclusively at Stussy Toronto, located at 431 Richmond Street West.
News Flash!!! Uniqlo makes a guest appearance at Community 54 located at 1275 Queen Street West here in Toronto. This is HUGE given that the brand only has a handful of stores in all of North America most of which reside in New York! Uniqlo is a Japanese street brand company that has taken the market by storm by offering some great affordable fashions. They are often said to be the better version of H&M, and we agree (emphatically)!
So as you can imagine it brings are great joy to be the first to announce that Community 54 (Toronto) will be selling a limited run of Andy Warhol x Uniqlo colabo tees along with select styles in denim. Granted this is a small collection, which only means that you better hit the store before it is all gone!
People don’t remember you by things you buy or own but by the memories and adventures you share. So when we got wind of this great contest from Tourism New Zealand called Stories Beat Stuff we just had to share. Toronto is undoubtably one of the most multicultural cities in the world and though we have the opportunity to learn so much from each other here nothing beats traveling to a place that you’ve always admired which in this case happens to be the awesome country of New Zealand. Tourism New Zealand is offering you a chance to win one of two amazing travel prize packs, each worth almost 30K!
Option one: Natural Goodness where you get to go adventuring around the South Island, you and your friends will hike through national parks, climb glaciers and raft rivers. Not to mention kayaking with dolphins, getting up close to whales, then seeing birds and seals along the stunning coastlines. When it’s time to put your feet up, we’ll have hot springs nestled in the mountains waiting for you. With all of these amazing experiences to be had, plus a whole lot more, this is all about discovering for yourself New Zealand’s epic natural goodness.
Option two: Winter Highlife, this epic prize will have you waist deep in New Zealand’s spectacular ski scene – perfect for beginners and the pros. But this winter playground is not just about the snow. Bungee jumps, skydives and jet boat rides are just some of the activities we’ll throw in to keep you busy. Oh, and did we mention that the Queenstown Winter Festival just happens to be on while you’re here? With VIP tickets, you and your friends will truly be living the winter highlife.
So how do you enter to win one of these exciting prizes? It’s really simple. First, hit up their Facebook. Then follow these easy steps. Take a video OR upload a photo of what you’d trade for a trip to New Zealand – making sure it’s a real object! Choose three of your best friends that you’d want to come along with you and then share it round via Facebook/ Google+/ Twitter to get as many votes as possible.
Get creative people!! Check out some of these entries to get your creative juices flowing.
Video Entries
Photos (I know we can do better!)
Fashion Art Toronto, more commonly known as |FAT| wrapped up its last runway show on Friday and boy was there a lot to see. I had the distinct pleasure to have been invited in to the bloggers circle to attend and review most of the 13 menswear presentations (video & runway) and I must say there was definitely say that creativity was in no short supply this season. Here are some of the key men’s runway shows that I covered for |FAT| this year.
Jade Sullivan-Vallentyne is a Ryerson graduate, Toronto resident and a designer with a conscience. She has been designing since her teens and in her years has always felt that as a designer it is her responsibility to be aware of her environmental footprint. Whether that manifests itself in the way of choosing sustainable or natural fabrics for her garments or in the case of her most recent collection to feature textiles made by women living in the highlands of Patacancha, Peru. Jade always tries to lead by example… Click here to read the full article.
Like an oasis in the dessert finding menswear designers in Canada is a rare commodity. So you can imagine the joy when we find a designer like David C Wigley as he brings to life a gorgeous collection that channels the theme of life, death and rebirth. The show opened with some dark dramatic capes and heavy knit shawls and gradually moved to lighter knit pieces paired with gold short and eventually rounding off with some wonderful tailored jackets with some vibrant prints. Once again playing on the recurring theme of life, death and re-birth. Overall the collection had a little something for everyone, whether you were looking for a little edge, trend or sophistication… Click here to read the full article.
Von Bardonitz is one of the last designers that is showcasing menswear this year and though this collection also has womenswear the vision is anything but gender specific. Fighting societal norms the designer endeavored to create a collection that fought the fixed gender denominations imposed by the world around us…Click here to read the full article.
Raji Aujla is a brilliant young designer and her latest collection is a testament not only to her artistic aptitude but also her ability to bridge the “gap”. For those of you unfamiliar with Raji, she is actually a journalist first and a designer second. She has reported on stories of human rights abuses, international affairs, war and conflict. So how does fashion play a role in her life? Click here to read the full article.
Watching Pedram Karimi designs on the runway this season one couldn’t help but wonder if we were at FAT or Toronto Fashion Week. A great compliment to the young designer who’s collection exudes a style aesthetic fit for the big leagues (baring some minor refinements). I would describe Pedrams design silhouette as one that borrows the seamless draping and layering prowess of the amazing Rick Owens and marrying that with the iconic gender neutral styles of Rad Hourani. Having said that there is a significant difference in the way Pedrams outfits come together…Click here to read the full article.
Zent, a “Made in Canada” menswear brand hit the runway to showcase a collection that presented some unique pieces that relied heavily on sheer fabrics and softer textiles like silk chiffon. It was all about showcasing the male body for this season with several t-shirt and short combinations that are sure to keep you cool all summer long… Click here to read the full article.
What can be said about this budding young designer that hasn’t already been said by my fellow writer at |FAT| Liz. Her review of his show was on point and as such I happily direct you to her words for the full story on this entertaining show. Click here to read the full article.
Photos courtesy of Vasko Photography www.thephoto.ca
