Tag: FASHION Magazine

April 30, 2020 at 10:30PM Launching a new beauty brand in the midst of a global health pandemic might sound incredibly stressful, but for Camille Katona and Stephanie Spence, the timing allowed them to reiterate the messaging behind their new brand, 19/99 Beauty. “The pandemic hit when we were about six weeks out from launch,” they tell FASHION via email. “We, along with so many others, were and are grasping for ways to adjust to our new world and 19/99 will have, more than ever, a focus on building community and conversations. While what is happening in the world is devastating, we are also seeing a shift in what we as a society truly value. As a new beauty brand, our hope is to be able to use this time to rethink what beauty is all about.” Photograph courtesy of 19/99 Beauty In a release, the Toronto-based pair (who have both worked in the industry for more than 10 years) describe the brand as making “high-performance, multi-purpose products designed for those who want to define their own beauty and don’t give a sh*t about what is considered appropriate.” The line launched with just two products – the Precision Colour Pencil ($26) and High-Shine Gloss ($24) – which the pair says was a deliberate move to help combat the excess waste already hyper-present in the industry. “We wanted to challenge ourselves to create a limited number of products that are universal; that work for anyone regardless of age, skin tone, aesthetic

Read More

April 30, 2020 at 09:50PM Need a break from binge-watching TV? Looking for some entertainment while doing dishes for what seems like the millionth time since quarantine began? Check out these 14 Canadian podcasts that touch on things like identity, the culture of celebrity, the intersection of fashion and technology, beauty entrepreneurship, wellness and more. Breaking Beauty In this podcast, Canadian beauty editors Jill Dunn and Carlene Higgins interview brand founders on how they made it in the business, and share intel on which new launches to buy and the ones to skip. View this post on Instagram Mark your calendars?!! Jill will be hosting an IG Live with skincare guru & celeb aesthetician @reneerouleau on Tuesday May 5 at 8pm. Come hang out with us!! PS – any skincare questions for Renee? Drop ‘em in the comments below. A post shared by BreakingBeautyPodcast ??? (@breakingbeautypodcast) on Apr 30, 2020 at 7:02am PDT //www.instagram.com/embed.js Show Your Work Elaine “Lainey” Lui, founder of Lainey Gossip, and TV writer Duana Taha co-host this weekly podcast unpacking all the recent happenings in the world of celebrity and entertainment. Topics the two covered recently include the post-royal rebranding of Harry and Meghan, Reese Witherspoon’s media empire, and Jessica Simpson’s new memoir. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle: starting over from scratch https://t.co/8r84tZ8HTl — Elaine L. (@LaineyGossip) March 30, 2020 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Dear Seekers Toronto journalist and social media strategist Sasha Xiao began this podcast in 2018 as a means to connect with “curious, reflective and explorative

Read More

April 30, 2020 at 09:05PM As the world continues to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, fashion houses are having to shift the way they do things, particularly when it comes to campaigns. Last week, Bella Hadid starred in the first major luxury campaign to be shot over FaceTime for Jacquemus, and now, Valentino has revealed its plans for its Fall advertising campaign. According to WWD, creative director Pierpaolo Picciolo has tapped his network of high profile friends to appear in the brand’s upcoming men’s and women’s campaigns for Fall. So far, the list includes the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Anwar Hadid and Laura Dern. Each of the stars has agreed to waive their fees for the project, with the house donating one million euros to the Lazzaro Spallanzani Hospital in Rome to help with its COVID-19 relief efforts. Each star will be shot in their own home (by someone they’re living with), wearing clothes from Valentino’s upcoming collection. Excitingly, Canadian spoken word artist Mustafa the Poet (whose real name is Mustafa Ahmed) has also been tapped for the opportunity. This won’t be the first time the Canadian has worked with the Italian brand, either. For its F/W 20 campaign, Valentino asked Ahmed to create a series of poems to appear on pieces in the Valentino On Love collection. Plus, in February, Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy wore a custom Valentino tux to the Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty that was adorned with the words of one of his

Read More

April 30, 2020 at 08:42PM After the announcement this month that London Fashion Week will launch a digital platform, a small slice of direction was given to an industry that’s been in a downward spiral for the better part of a decade. It offers hope that for creatives, there is prosperity beyond the runway calendar; and it also presents an opportunity for everyone involved to rethink, reimagine and start fresh in approaching the design, production, retail and editorial lifecycles of the pieces that allow us to express our inner character to the world. But one thing sprang to mind after hearing the LFW news and other announcements about catwalk cancellations: What would happen to street style? It’s a medium that’s become a powerful means for press to illustrate trends, and for brands to flaunt their latest wares. It’s launched influencers into business moguls and created icons out of editors—and now it’s facing a disappearing act in the wake of social distancing, a deepening examination of how the fashion industry functions, and for the individual, what’s necessary and what’s not. Labels have turned to telling stories about their products through social platforms because customers crave authenticity in what they consume, be it visually or through a purchase. And to save itself, street style must likewise pivot back to its original incarnation and intention, documenting what people wear—and how they wear it—in an uninhibited way, sans the intervention of the entities that capitalized on its popularity. Photography by Sabrina Fenster/StreetScout. “It was

Read More

April 30, 2020 at 07:00PM At five feet 11 inches and size 0 and with long blond hair, Rachel Romu looks exactly like the sort of person you’d expect to see walking down a catwalk or striking a pose in a glossy magazine editorial. But one thing sets this model from Thunder Bay, Ont., apart from her peers: She carries a cane. Interestingly, it’s the cane that actually brought her to the runway in the first place. Romu was a track-and-field athlete in her youth, and her goal had always been to become an Olympic champion. But in 2016, doctors discovered a spinal tumour that needed to be urgently removed and also diagnosed her with a connective-tissue disease known as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. With her sports dreams dashed, Romu had no idea what life had in store for her next. Then, in the spring of 2017, Toronto designer Annie Thompson—who learned about her story in a chance encounter with a friend of Romu’s and frequently uses friends and clients for shows and shoots—asked if she’d like to appear in her next campaign. “Modelling never interested me until it felt like there was a meaning behind it for me,” says the 27-year-old. Knowing it was a chance to represent the disabled community in the historically non-inclusive fashion industry, Romu decided to say yes. She has since worked with brands like Lesley Hampton, ZOFF and Hayley Elsaesser and is signed with the Plutino Models agency. View this post on Instagram Toronto Fashion Week

Read More

April 30, 2020 at 05:05PM Although Meghan Markle has relocated to Los Angeles, it doesn’t mean the Duchess of Sussex is forgoing her work with charities for which she is a patron. Overnight, Smart Works shared a clip of Meghan surprising one of its clients with a video call ahead of a job interview. Calling in from LA, and wearing a berry-hued sweater with two gold necklaces, Meghan told the client, “You seem incredibly confident and prepared. I know everyone here is so excited. When I was reading what your interests are, and especially you have a big focus in mental health as well, right? Psychology? I think that’s excellent.” Meghan went on to ask the client about why she was excited for the potential internship, calling her a “beacon of hope” during these uncertain times. “I just wanted to be able to call in and wish you the best of luck and my fingers are crossed for you,” the Duchess offered. After the client praised the work Markle has done with the charity, she replied, “It’s a pleasure to support [Smart Works], you see how great they do and how many people they help and that’s what it’s all about. I’ve been really proud to be able to be their patron, but it’s an easy yes when you have such incredible women helping you.” “It’s been such an honour to meet and learn from so many talented women in the Smart Works network over the years, and recently to

Read More

April 29, 2020 at 09:30PM This year, Mother’s Day is no doubt going to look and feel very different from previous celebrations. With stay-at-home orders still in effect for the foreseeable future, that annual Sunday brunch gathering or trip to the spa is out of the question. Quarantine life aside, though, that doesn’t mean we can’t treat those special superwomen in our life come May 11th. From luxurious face masks that will bring a sense of pampering into one’s own bathroom to fun and innovative makeup staples for that next Zoom meeting, we’ve rounded up some noteworthy beauty buys to help put a smile on her face, whether that be your mom, aunty, your best friend — whoever. Click through the gallery below to see our edit of 11 beauty-focused Mother’s Day gifts: <div class="sjm-attachment-carousel–header gallery-container–default" data-slick='{"speed":400,"adaptiveHeight":true,"variableWidth":false,"centerMode":true,"centerPadding":"0","slidesToShow":1,"lazyLoad":"ondemand","prevArrow":"Previous”,”nextArrow”:”Next”}’ data-simplemodal=’false’ > 1/12 Mother’s Day Gifts 19/99 Beauty Multi-Purpose Trio ($46, 19/99 Beauty) 19/99 Beauty, a brand new Canadian cosmetic line, immediately caught our attention with its ageless beauty ethos: “We deserve a more open and multi-generational dialogue about what beauty looks like at all stages of our lives, from ages 19 to 99,” stated the brand in a press release. #Love. If mom likes beauty products that pull double, even triple-duty, then bag her 19/99 Beauty’s multitasking starter set: the red Precision Colour Pencil can be used on the eyes and lips, and the clear High-Shine Gloss is made for eyes, lips or cheeks. Use it alone or on top of makeup.

Read More

April 29, 2020 at 09:00PM Everyone is on the hunt for fashionable face masks, it would seem. With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging on and health authorities condoning the use of non-surgical face masks to help the spread of the virus, searches for face masks have risen sharply in recent weeks. So much so, that the Off-White face mask is the most searched item in the world in the menswear category for Q1, according to fashion data platform Lyst. Lyst released its Q1 Lyst Index today and its findings show the early effects of the coronavirus on the fashion industry. In the report the company notes, “The Lyst Index for Q1 reflects a period which has been anything but ‘business as usual’ in significant parts of Asia for most of the three months; and in Europe and North America for the final weeks of the quarter,” adding however that “consumers’ brand allegiances remain largely unchanged” during that time. It also noted that the Q2 report is likely to “paint a clearer picture of COVID-19’s global impact.” The most notable impact is the fact that the Off-White face mask topped the menswear category. Plus, the report also revealed that searches for fashion face masks in general surged by a whopping 496 per cent over the quarter. Elsewhere, the report also crowned the Virgil Abloh-led brand as the hottest brand in the world for the third consecutive quarter, followed by Balenciaga, Nike, Gucci and Prada. The index noted there was a 733

Read More

April 29, 2020 at 08:02PM Fashion brands continue to step up to help support frontline workers and our community’s most vulnerable people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether that’s producing hand sanitizer, manufacturing PPE or by donating masks, there’s been no shortage of heartwarming news coming out of the industry over the past month. And the good news continues today with the announcement that H&M Canada has partnered with Women’s Shelters Canada to donate $300,000 worth of product. In a release, the brand wrote, “With domestic violence increasing significantly due to the ‘stay home’ restrictions of COVID-19, this donation will help a group of individuals who are vulnerable to the current pandemic.” More than 20,000 products will be distributed amongst Women’s Shelters Canada’s network and will include various sizes for both women and children. This isn’t the first time H&M Canada has worked with the organization, citing the pair’s “strong partnership” in the release. Since the coronavirus pandemic began, Women’s Shelters Canada has been working tirelessly to support its network of shelters across the country. In a post on its website, the organization shared that it is helping to provide shelters with access to emergency government funds, as well as connecting them with Food Banks Canada to ensure they have access to the food they need during this time. This isn’t the first instance in which H&M has provided support during the pandemic – to date, it has donated $500,000 to the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and pivoted its supply

Read More