ELLE Canada Style Lounge

Upper Canada Mall has long been my favorite place for all the obvious reasons, but now I have an excuse to hang around even more! When they are not doing events with the Easter Bunny or Santa, they manage to fit in amazing events such as the ELLE Canada Spring Style Lounge. The event was sponsored by Fuze, Blackberry, and H&M (all of which I have a total love affair with, coincidence?).

On the agenda was Fuze asking for a small donation for a free sample. I loved the drink, although the aspertame taste was very present. But for 15-25 calories, I'm willing to conpramise taste a little! Next I headed over to visit the H&M closet which was stalked full with the latest fashions from not only H&M, but forever21 (could this day get any better!?). There I picked out a Forever21 jacket and had my picture taken with a Blackberry phone. The photo was sent to twitter, and there I have the chance to win amazing prizes (hello, free Blackberry!).

And now the show was about to begin. The star attraction was the one and only, ELLE Canada associate fashion editor, Anthony Mitropoulos! He had gone to the four fashion capitals (London, New York, Paris, Milan) and has brought back a trend report on what he saw. Presented in the form of a well done Power Point, Anthony did a terrific job talking about whats hot. There where amazing examples from tons of amazing designers. After the show Fashion Facet caught up with Anthony for an exclusive interview (coming soon).

All in all, it was a great event...and guess what! There are more to come. Below is a list of the future tour dates and locations!




May 5-9
Upper Canada Mall,
Newmarket, ON
www.uppercanadamall.ca


May 12-16
Oakville Place,
Oakville, ON
www.oakvilleplace.ca


May 19-23
Mapleview Shopping Centre,
Burlington, ON
www.mapleviewshoppingcentre.ca


May 24-30
Vaughan Mills,
Vaughan, ON
www.vaughanmills.ca

"Stuff" is not Fashion

It is not Stuff, it is Fashion

Too often do we mix the two.

Here is a mid-week shocker. Be pre-warned, this is a very "number filled" article. H&M sells about 500 000 000 items a year from 1700 stores across the world. This earns them $440 million bucks a year. Not too bad. They are the 3rd largest clothing realtor in the world, after GAP and Spain's Inditex (never heard of it). Now for the most shocking fact in my mind. A piece of clothing can be designed, produced, and distributed, so from the drawing board to the hanger; in 20 days. Yeah, crazy right? It wasn't always like that. Remember the times when it would take a month for some little seamstress to make a dress?

The world is just pumping out STUFF faster and faster. As soon as a colour or cut becomes popular and gets in style, it's on the racks making the company rich. It's a rush for them to make it, and it's a rush for us to buy it. This rush has increased the seasons of the year. Fashion used to have 5 distinct seasons (summer, fall, spring, winter and Resort). Now we have a staggering 26 seasons, all lasting about 2 weeks each. I love the excitement of waiting and anticipating what is going to become in style. Now the wait is gone, by the time we have the chance to prospect, the runways are out.

H&M is restocked daily, getting about 3 trucks a day bringing the world more stuff. Look at Hollister and Abercrombie. That isn't what fashion is about. A shirt with a name on it, with a pair of yoga pants is not fashion, its people wearing stuff. The more there is the less special it is, so nothing is important. Labels now rush, rush, rush to design and sell, sell, sell. It’s like fashion has had one too many cups of caffeine.

What ever happened to stopping and smelling the roses? It is facts like these that make the world look at fashion as a superficial indulgent. It is not. I say, down with “stuff” and let’s rebuild the world of fashion.