O U R
F A L L
F A S H I O N
M O O D
COME AS YOU ARE Stylish weirdos, girl gangs, beauty originals + your ultimate 6ix shopping list
SEPTEMBER 2015 | TORONTO
calvinkleinbeauty.com
forever starts now
new fragrances for women and men #eternitynow
© 2015 Calvin Klein Cosmetic Corporation Eternity™
IN THIS ISSUE
PHOTOGRAPHY: FELIX WONG (THIS OLD THING); CARLYLE ROUTH (STAFF PHOTOS); INSTAGRAM.COM/HAYLEYELSAESSER (EIGHT BALL); GETTY IMAGES (#NOWFOLLOWING); ISOTCKPHOTO (CAMERA). HAIR AND MAKEUP: VANESSA JARMAN USING RIMMEL LONDON/TRESEMMÉ FOR P1M.CA (THIS OLD THING); MICHELLE ROSEN/JUDYINC.COM (STAFF PHOTOS). HAIR AND MAKEUP ASSISTANT CAROLINE LEVIN FOR P1M.CA (THIS OLD THING). ILLUSTRATION: LEEANDRA CIANCI
28 OH, THIS OLD THING? Fall’s notice-me fashion is made for cool girls.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Laura deCarufel CREATIVE DIRECTOR
34 THE HAUL
Jessica Hotson
Pop tarts to perfume: the glory of beauty editor Rani Sheen’s desk.
SENIOR EDITOR
Alex Laws FASHION EDITOR
Vanessa Taylor BEAUTY EDITOR
35 FIRST PERSON
Rani Sheen DIGITAL & SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR
It may be bang on trend, but one writer publicly refuses to fall for the fringe (again).
Michelle Bilodeau ASSISTANT DIGITAL EDITOR
Carly Ostroff
36 BEAUTY SCHOOL
ASSISTANT FASHION & BEAUTY EDITOR
Natasha Bruno
The coolest name in nail art, Madeline Poole teaches us to paint the “wrong” hand.
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Veronica Saroli ASSISTANT ART DIRECTORS
Sonya van Heyningen Kristy Wright DESIGNER
38 #NOWFOLLOWING
Amber Hickson
Meet Margaret Zhang, who perfected the Instagram flat. Tap that.
PUBLISHER
Giorgina Bigioni ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Tami Coughlan PROJECT DIRECTOR, DIGITAL MEDIA
Kelly Matthews
MICHAEL KORS COLLECTION TOP, $4,495, PANTS, $4,495, MICHAELKORS.CA, DRIES VAN NOTEN SUNGLASSES, $329, VUSUNGLASSES.COM, J.CREW SANDAL, $248, JCREW.COM
Direct advertising inquiries to: MARKETING MANAGER
Evie Begy eb@thekit.ca CONTRIBUTORS
Jessica Allen, Adrian Armstrong, Eden Boileau, LeeAndra Cianci, Barbara Czarnecki, Anne T. Donahue, Fiona Green, Laura Gulshani, Andrea Janus, Vanessa Jarman, Caroline Levin, Kayla Rocca, Michelle Rosen, Sheri Stroh, Felix Wong, Norman Wong, Clara Young
The Kit is Canada’s 360˚ beauty and style leader
© 2015, The Kit, a division of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited.
Meet The Kit Compact.
Canadian designer Hayley Elsaesser captains a killer crew. Designer Amber Hickson shot backstage footage of Haley Elsaesser and her squad (page 18), who were as wild as her prints. (Yes, that’s a Magic 8 Ball wearing a cowboy hat.)
Culture, shopping and, well, more shopping—the 12 coolest things to do this month.
12 IN STORES NOW
Building a tower for the Lego-eating backpack (page 15) is all in a day’s work for assistant art director Sonya van Heyningen.
The 10 hottest items you’ll trade anything for. (Or you could just go buy them.)
15 MOST WANTED This backpack has serious style game.
16 NOW TRENDING
PRESIDENT, STAR MEDIA GROUP
Trends to try, products to buy, pieces to lose your mind over.
John Cruickshank EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, TORONTO STAR
Michael Cooke
THEKIT.CA | SEPTEMBER 2015 |
18 GIRL GANG
10 OUT & ABOUT
INTERNS
Rachel Bova, Emma Gerow, Megan Harper, Sara Miller, Marissa Rowles, Robyn Sheremeta, Joanne Son
8 EDITOR’S LETTER
compact
“Tell me all your fashion secrets, Annie,” says assistant editor Veronica Saroli, who explored the ’80s trend on page 21.
25 SPOTLIGHT The season of more is more: Why Fall 2015 belongs to the fashion mavericks.
Two Calvin Klein models fall in love. #Major #RelationshipGoals.
40 COOL GIRL, COOL JOB TIFF programmer Magali Simard on her work and (animalprint) wardrobe.
41 PULSE CHECK
21 SHOPPING CHALLENGE Shopping the 1980s: Glamour, geometric shapes and hip hop = so much to love.
39 THE STORY OF US
Assistant fashion and beauty editor Natasha Bruno hand-picked the best local looks on page 41.
Jessica Allen on the allure of silver screen heroines, plus stylish Torontonians about town.
“You watch movies for a living?” Senior editor Alex Laws reconsiders her life choices after interviewing Magali Simard (page 40).
42 THE STOP Cool stuff to do at Queen & Spadina, mapped out by our homegirl Erin Kleinberg.
7
EDITOR’S LETTER
1
2
MY SEPTEMBER PICKS 1. H&M BOMBER JACKET, $199, HM.COM 2. ALAÏA PARIS EAU DE PARFUM, $120 (50 ML), HOLT RENFREW 3. PAUL ANDREW HEELS, $995, THEBAY.COM.
3
“WE’RE ALL ABOUT TORONTO WOMEN WHO CARE DEEPLY ABOUT THEIR CAREERS, THEIR SQUADS AND SLAYING THE STYLE GAME.”
BEHIND THE COVER From inspo to final shot.
We started with Fall 2015 fashion: layers, luxe textures, hints of eccentricity. (So, basically, Miu Miu Fall 2015.)
We also wanted to celebrate how great it feels to find a friend with whom you become so inseparable that you end up almost subconsciously dressing alike. This pre-Fall 2015 Valentino ad sparked our mirror-image idea.
To capture the energy of the city, we shot on Spadina Avenue, in the heart of Chinatown. COVER LOOK
LEFT: TANYA TAYLOR SWEATER, $514, HAMPDENCLOTHING.COM. WINNERS BLOUSE, $20, WINNERS. TANYA TAYLOR SKIRT, $488, NEIMANMARCUS. COM. EDDIE BORGO NECKLACE, $275, HOLT RENFREW RIGHT: ALEXANDER WANG TOP, $745, HOLT RENFREW. MICHAEL MICHAEL KORS SKIRT, PRICE UPON REQUEST, COME AS YOU ARE MICHAELKORS.CA. H&M NECKBAND, $15, HM.CA O U R
F A L L
F A S H I O N
M O O D
Stylish weirdos, girl gangs, beauty originals + your ultimate 6ix shopping list
WIN IT
KC-SEPT-Covers.indd 1
You’ve heard from us—now we want to hear from you. Take our quickie survey to tell us what you think about the launch issue of The Kit Compact. Submit now (once you’re done reading, obvi), and you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $250 gift card from the Benefit Cosmetics Boutique at 2614 Yonge St. Visit thekit.ca/compact-survey for details.
SEPTEMBER 2015 | TORONTO
2015-08-24 4:48 PM
NEXT MONTH
POWER BEAUTY AVAILABLE FROM OCT. 6 TO 10
Knock-’em-dead fall looks; crazy foundation fun; a body-hair manifesto
WHERE TO FIND US
This issue of The Kit Compact—Canada’s first pop-up mag— is available free in Toronto on Sept. 8, 9, 10 and 11. Our stylish ambassadors are distributing copies outside select TTC stations, at major intersections and at exciting events (hello, TIFF!) Missed out? Check out our permanent spot (while quantities last) at the info desks at Toronto Eaton Centre, Sherway Gardens, Shops at Don Mills, Fairview Mall and Markville Shopping Centre. Check out thekit.ca/compact for all location details, and to read a digital version of The Kit Compact, packed with online exclusives.
8
compact
PHOTOGRAPHY: CARLYLE ROUTH (LAURA); MAKEUP BY MICHELLE ROSEN/JUDY INC. VINCE LEATHER JACKET AND WHITE SHIRT, GIVENCHY NECKLACE, ALL AVAILABLE AT HOLT RENFREW
I
’m so excited to introduce you to Compact, the new pop-up mag from the team here at The Kit. Beauty and fashion is our DNA, but our major focus is you. We’re all about Toronto women who care deeply about their careers, their squads and slaying the style game. We get it because we’re in the same place: We wake up suddenly at 4 a.m., thinking about our next work move or if we should get bangs. (Oh God—probably.) Compact is your guide to navigating modern life with style—a playful, thoughtful read with fashion and beauty pieces to set your pulse racing. Bonus: Everything in the issue is editor-tested and available to buy right here in Toronto—which is where you’ll find Compact the first week of every month. Our fall fashion issue kicks off with “The Top 10” (page 12), fashion editor Vanessa Taylor’s monthly guide to the best pieces in-store right now. Clara Young considers the season’s new fashion weirdos in “Wild at Heart” (page 25), and designer Hayley Elsaesser gets her gang together for “Bright Young Things” (page 18). On set for that shoot, I asked Hayley’s bestie, artist Inez Genereux, to describe her personal style, and she said, without hesitating, “It’s great.” Then she laughed. That kind of unapologetic confidence perfectly encapsulates the spirit of Compact, and the smart, talented women we’ll be talking to each month. Connect with me @LauradeCarufel, and join the Compact conversation (@TheKit and @TheKitca) with #TheKitCompact. Laura deCarufel, I love hearing from you. editor-in-chief
| SEPTEMBER 2015 | THEKIT.CA
B R I N G I N G YO U T H E B E S T C U R AT E D FA S H I O N S F R O M AROUND THE WORLD
LINE • VINCE • MACKAGE PA R A J U M P E R S • S M Y T H E EQUIPMENT • NICOLE MILLER PA I G E • J O I E • D U V E T I C A Z A D I G & V O LT A I R E • M M I S S O N I MAX MARA • EILEEN FISHER CAMBIO • J BRAND A K R I S P U N T O • FA B I A N A F I L I P P I I R O • G R E TA C O N S TA N T I N E D U T C H B L O N D E • A L E X I S B I T TA R AND MANY MORE.
ANDREWSCO.COM
COMING FALL 2015
HAZELTON LANES PHONE: 416 969 9991
SHERWAY GARDENS PHONE: 416 622 1515
BAYVIEW VILLAGE PHONE: 416 225 0049
OUT & ABOUT
THE 6IX INDEX 12 super-fun ways to love Toronto this month
GO: BENEFIT YOUR BROWS
Ever imagined hanging out inside a Benefit Cosmetics palette? Now you can, at the brand’s first Canadian stand-alone boutique (2614 Yonge St.). It offers the full product line (we’ll race you for the Gimme Brow), along with body waxing, faux tanning and, of course, eyebrow shaping to help you get your arches on fleek.
WATCH:
JEREMY SCOTT ON FILM A new Jeremy Scott biopic chronicles the Missouri-born designer’s rise to creative director of Moschino and dresser of Katy Perry. “His underdog story is inspiring to anyone trying to make it in the fashion industry,” says director Vlad Yudin. “He has an impact on pop culture like very few do.”
d i s c o v e r
:
w e
s h o p
a e s o p
Canada’s first cult Aussie store is a minimalist skincare haven. Matte-black counters and washtubs line the centre of the 880 Queen St. W. shop, so newbies to Aesop can try out goods like mandarin-rindscented hand soap and parsley seed serum. The products are propped on a felt-and-steel installation by local designer Kathryn Walter that pays homage to Canada’s fur-trade history.
Jeremy Scott: The People’s Designer hits theatres on September 18.
CELEBRATE:
l i s t e n
:
n o r t h
Gee Beauty, famous for bringing niche brands like Sunday Riley, Le Labo and Tracie Martyn to bathroom shelves across Toronto, toasts its 10th anniversary with a party on September 10. If you can’t make it to 2 Roxborough St. W., Gee’s bounty can now also be scooped up at geebeauty.com.
s t a r s
Celebrating its 10th year, the Polaris Music Prize salutes 2015’s best new albums based on artistic merit. This year’s nominees include Drake, who might be considered too famous to win, as well as first-timers Alvvays (left), Tobias Jesso Jr. and Buffy Sainte-Marie. The winner will be announced on September 21 at the Polaris Gala at the Carlu, but if you’re too tired from partying at TIFF to go, spend QT with the nominees by putting these tracks on repeat.
Tobias Jesso Jr. “Hollywood” BadBadNotGood & Ghostface Killah, ft. Elzhi “Gunshowers” Alvvays “Archie, Marry Me”
I N D U L G E : F A C E T I M E KICK OFF TIFF WITH A FRESH FACE TO RIVAL THE PYTS ON THE RED CARPETS. BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 10 AND 13,
H OT
DAT E S
BOOK A BLITZ + GLOW FACIAL AND TAG BLITZ FACIAL BAR (@BLITZFACIALBAR) AND THE KIT ON INSTAGRAM (@THEKITCA) OR TWITTER (@THEKIT) WITH #GIVEYOURSELFABOOST AND BLITZ WILL THROW IN A COLD STONE JADE MASSAGE BOOSTER TO REDUCE THAT AFTER-PARTY PUFFINESS. Blitz Facial Bar, 803 Queen St. W. and 1133 Queen St. E., blitzfacialbar.com
10
September 9-20 Cocktails inspired by TIFF 2015 marquee films will be served at the rooftop bar of the Thomson Toronto Hotel.
September 10 Pass the popcorn and M&Ms: TIFF kicks off with Jean-Marc Vallée’s Demolition, starring Naomi Watts and Jake Gyllenhaal.
September 19-20 Line Knitwear marks 15 years and partners with the Holt Renfrew H Project for Wool Week—think live knitting and an in-store wool installation.
September 20 Serious shuckers go headto-head at Rock Lobster’s annual Shuck Off on Queen West. Proceeds go to Covenant House Toronto.
September 22 Ted Baker’s Sherway Gardens boutique opens with vintagey decor inspired by Sunnyside Amusement Park, which closed in 1955.
compact
September 23 Vancouver line Saje Natural Wellness brings healing and aromatherapy products to Sherway Gardens.
TEXT: VERONICA SAROLI (EXCEPT GO) ; NATASHA BRUNO (GO). PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES (SCOTT), ISTOCKPHOTO (HOT DATES EXCEPT SUNNYSIDE), TORONTO STAR (SUNNYSIDE)
OH EM GEE
| SEPTEMBER 2015 | THEKIT.CA
THE TOP 10
Fashion editor Vanessa Taylor selects the gotta-have-’em pieces to pick up on your latte or lunch break (or, like, now). On the September shopping list: touch-me textures, structured shapes and shoes with flattitude
2 OVERSIZED TOTE
1
The elegantly constructed exterior of this Canadian carryall allows for all manner of interior insanity—it’s big enough to fit your quinoa salad, Lululemons and three pairs of heels for those days when you just can’t decide. WANT LES ESSENTIELS DE LA VIE TOTE, $895, WANTLESESSENTIELS.COM
3
BOYFRIEND BLAZER The new ’90s-style denim is daunting enough to elicit the immortal couplet “I’m so excited, I’m so excited / I’m so scared.” Keep the look out of Jessie Spano territory with a tailored white shirt and menswear-inspired flats— save the scrunchie (and Slater) for bath time. LEVI’S JEANS, $108, LEVI.COM
Job interview tomorrow? Meeting with the CEO? This is the jacket you need. This is the jacket we all need. You will wear it at least once a week for decades. We will try to borrow it for at least that long. SMYTHE BLAZER, $595, HOLT RENFREW
PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER STIGTER (STREET STYLE), ARASH (SMYTHE BLAZER)
HIGH-WAISTED BLUE JEAN
IN STORES NOW
4
8 LACE-UP BALLERINA FLAT We want Aquazzura lace-ups so badly that selling a kidney for cash seems doable. (Do we need both of them?) These pretty and affordable flats achieve the same effect. Keep your kidney; buy these. That’s science.
TORTOISESHELL CAT-EYE SHADES Cat-eye sunglasses are so universally flattering that you might be tempted to give anyone not wearing them the cut-eye. Don’t. Use your cat-eye power for good.
NINE WEST SHOES, $140, NINEWEST.CA
DIOR SUNGLASSES, $450, HOLT RENFREW
9 NEUTRAL VEST That little voice telling you that a long vest is a little try-hard? Ignore it. Long vests are awesome, especially as part of a streamlined look—think a slim-fitting tee and cigarette pants. Joke’s on you, voice. J.CREW VEST, $569, JCREW.COM
5 BOHO TROUSER
6 KNIT SKIRT Yep, this pencil skirt is the very definition of figure-hugging, but it’s also the very definition of dayto-evening chic. Spanx it up, and get ready to hear “Yasss, queen” from 9 to 5 and beyond. CLUB MONACO SKIRT, $285, CLUBMONACO.CA
7 TWO-TONE BROGUE This jaunty flat evokes the retro chic of swing dancing, without, you know, actually having to go swing dancing. BANANA REPUBLIC SHOES, $148, BANANA REPUBLIC
A N I M A L- P R I N T S H O U L D E R B A G
PHOTOGRAPHY:
Once solely a summer treat, the patterned pant is now a yearround delight, joining the likes of the LWD and all six seasons of Gossip Girl (thank you, Netflix).
Leopard print is the cool kid of fashion’s animal kingdom, and for most of us, it still works best via accessories. Being a cat lady never looked so good.
JOE FRESH PANTS, $39, JOEFRESH.COM
THEKIT.CA | SEPTEMBER 2015 |
10 COACH BAG, $180, COACH.COM
compact
13
MOST WANTED
GAME FACE Meet the new leader of the pack photography by Adrian Armstrong
ART DIRECTION: SONYA VAN HEYNINGEN
Maria Sole Cecchi knows a thing or two about fashion building blocks. After the Florence native dropped out of law school at 19 to work in a Paris handbag store, she glued pieces of Lego onto a bag for a night out. Almost 10 years later, Cecchi’s talent for creating carryall whimsy has earned her a cult cool-girl following, including Eva Chen, Jessica Alba and Anna dello Russo. “I love to mix different elements like exotic python leather with the plastic pieces of Lego,” says the designer of her Les Petits Joueurs line. “It’s so pop and old school; it completely represents the DNA of the brand.” Sounds like our kind of power play. —vanessa taylor
THEKIT.CA | SEPTEMBER 2015 |
LES PETITS JOUEURS BACKPACK, $1,250, HOLT RENFREW
compact
15
NOW TRENDING
TRY THIS: THE PRADA PONY
ED'S PICK: ACCESSORIES BY TALIA BROOCH, $28, ACCESSORIESBYTALIA.COM
We're obsessed with this bejewelled updo from Prada Fall 2015. Bonus: It's ridiculously easy to do. 1. Pull hair into a tight high pony. 2. Use long bobby pins to fix the halfway point to your head on one side. 3. Add random sparkly barrettes or brooches. Done! i t
i t e m
:
the long(ish) grey cape TAKE A CUE FROM CHLOÉ WITH A CAPE THAT HITS BELOW THE WAIST (NO SHORT CAPELETS, PLEASE) AND BELLS OUT, CREATING AN A-LINE FROM THE SHOULDERS.
LUNCH BREAK
PAYDAY SENTALER PONCHO, $850, CA.SENTALER.COM
LOOKBOOK
officially everywhere: grey shadow
A. A warm-grey line in the socket at Giorgio Armani
Trends to try, products to buy, pieces to lose your mind over
B. Elongated sweeps of taupe at Marni
C. Mid-grey on inner and outer corners at Dries Van Noten
F I L E T H I S U N D E R " O M F G , F I N A L LY "
Cos opens its first Canadian outpost this month at 85 Bloor St. W. If you've shopped H&M's sophista sister brand in New York, London or Paris, you'll understand our nearly cross-eyed excitement. The line's minimalist pieces look (and feel) designer, but the accessible price point—around $250 for a dress—means that you can go shopping, and, you know, pay rent.
16
D. Sheer charcoal wash at Alexander Wang A. ESSENCE SMOKEY EYES SET IN SMOKEY DAY, $4, SHOPPERS DRUG MART B. LISE WATIER OMBRE VELOURS SUPRÊME IN FUMÉ VELOURS, $25, LISEWATIER.COM C. ARTDECO EYE DESIGNER APPLICATOR, $18, AND REFILL IN MOUNTAIN, $14, SHOPPERS DRUG MART D. CLARINS OMBRE MATTE EYESHADOW IN CARBON, $24, CLARINS.COM
compact
PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER STIGTER (BEAUTY AND RUNWAY, EXCEPT UNGARO); ADRIAN ARMSTRONG (PAUL & JOE); GETTY IMAGES (UNGARO). ILLUSTRATIONS: LAURA GULSHANI. ART DIRECTION: SONYA VAN HEYNINGEN (PAUL & JOE). TEXT: VERONICA SAROLI (AMATEUR NOSE)
DYNAMITE PONCHO, $40, DYNAMITE.CA
| SEPTEMBER 2015 | THEKIT.CA
w e
Get it at: Ritual, 571 Wellington St. W., ritual.ca; Mync, 2596 Yonge St., myncbeauty.com
l o v e
paul & joe
A
B
C
EMANUEL UNGARO
BOTTEGA VENETA
3.1 PHILLIP LIM
EMPORIO ARMANI
:
l a s h e s
The lash lift is a doe-eyed dream come true—and the effect is more natural than extensions. Yes, you have to lie with your eyes closed for 25 minutes while your lashes are pushed up against a silicone pad, but combine it with a vegetable tint and you can say adios to your curler and mascara for about six weeks.
Lash Goals: Sky-high at Alberta Ferretti.
l i n e
d a r e
y o u r
CÉLINE
p e r m
BEAUTY DECODER: FRUIT STAINS
b e a u t y
D
E
A. GOSH VELVET TOUCH MATTE LIPSTICK IN CORAL, $14, SHOPPERS DRUG MART B. GIORGIO ARMANI ECSTASY LACQ-UER IN CRESCENDO, $39, GIORGIO ARMANI COUNTERS C. NARS LIPSTICK IN VIP RED, $34, NARSCOSMETICS.COM D. FRESH SUGAR SHINE LIP TREATMENT IN BERRY, $22, SEPHORA.CA E. AVEDA NOURISH-MINT SMOOTHING LIP COLOUR IN BLACKBERRY, $23, AVEDA.CA
:
Parisian designer Sophie Mechaly of Paul & Joe is allergic to cats, but she loves them so much that she puts them all over her clothing and her beauty-product packaging, too. (Who wouldn’t want to match her shirt to her lipstick case?) Cats led to birds, and now the whole menagerie is here to decorate your blush and shadow palettes.
THE AMATEUR NOSE
PAUL & JOE BEAUTE EYESHADOW, $28, COMPACT CASE, $8, BEAUTYBOUTIQUE.CA
PAUL & JOE BEAUTE LIPSTICKS, $20, LIPSTICK CASES, $7 BEAUTYBOUTIQUE.CA
We asked a local barista to sniff drive a coffee-based scent. the nose: Brett Johnston of Pilot Coffee Roasters, 50 Wagstaff Dr. the scent: Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium Eau de Parfum, $75 for 50 mL, department stores. the notes: Black coffee, green mandarin, white musk. the verdict: “It’s similar to naturally processed or red-black coffees from sweeter growing regions—they have this pleasant musky, fruitful quality. There are floral and citrus aromatics, but I find them kind of muddled.”
F I L M - F E S T L I N E U P A cheat sheet for classy kicks, whatever your plans—or budget—during TIFF (September 10-20)
WAITING-FOR-RUSH SNEAKS ADIDAS SNEAKERS, $200, ADIDAS.CA
BIG-GALA SHOOTIES ZARA HEELS, $139, ZARA.CA
ALL-DAY-VOLUNTEERING FLATS NICHOLAS KIRKWOOD FLATS, $485, HOLTRENFREW
POST-FILM-COCKTAIL BOOTS ALDO BOOTS, $145, ALDOSHOES.COM
AFTER-PARTY HEELS
STUART WEITZMAN STILETTOS, $550, STUARTWEITZMAN.CA
17
GIRL GANG
DIANA VANDERMEULEN, 27, VISUAL ARTIST “When you see amazing women doing amazing work, you feel like you can do it too.” ANNE BURCHELL, 69, RETIRED ICU NURSE (AND ELSAESSER’S AUNT) “Hayley is really special, and her clothes are so creative— they make you feel alive.”
18
INEZ GENEREUX, 24, ARTIST “We’re like a bunch of shooting stars. We’re all totally different, but we have so much fire inside of us.”
KIERA MELDRUM, 20, MODEL “Having a girl gang is about having fun—you party with your friends, and then go home, chill and watch a movie.”
PHOTOGRAPHY:
BRITNEY DE COSTA, 25, MASTER’S STUDENT “I feel really cool and very confident in Hayley’s clothes. It’s basically the only print and colour I wear, but I love it.”
HAYLEY ELSAESSER, 27, FASHION DESIGNER “I love dressing my friends up in my clothes. That’s my favourite thing.”
BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS
Hayley Elsaesser is one of Canada’s freshest fashion talents. She also captains a killer squad by Laura deCarufel photography by Norman Wong
RITA REMARK, 27, NAIL ARTIST “My best friends are the ones who know me better than I know myself— people I feel 100 per cent comfortable around.”
In a photo studio deep in Toronto’s west end, eight of the city’s coolest women are having their picture taken. TLC’s “Creep” is on the stereo, peanut butter and jelly cookies are on the table, and Hayley Elsaesser’s surrealistic poppy prints transform a rolling rack into a rollicking fashion party. Elsaesser is the centre of this stylish storm, surrounded by her friends, her collaborators and her aunt Anne, who, at 69, is proof of the surprising wearability of a dress printed with Magic 8 Balls and neon pink cowboy hats. “Making things
“YOU PUT IT ON AND YOU FEEL TRANSFORMED INTO THIS COLOURFUL, TOUGH GIRL.”
PHOTOGRAPHY:
LOWELL BOLAND, 23, SINGER “My female friends are very chill and smart. I identify with women who have paved their own path.”
that people can actually wear is really important to me,” says the Vancouver-born, Toronto-based designer. “You put it on and you feel transformed into this colourful, tough girl.” For Fall 2015, Elsaesser cites westerns and Uma Thurman’s Kill Bill character as inspiration: “I like the idea of putting opposites together to make something fun and crazy.” Speaking of crazy: Her career is on a major trajectory. Elsaesser graduated from Australia’s Queensland University of Technology in 2012, launched her eponymous line the following year and now boasts a celebrity fan club including Katy Perry (who sported the line in Madonna’s latest video). This month, she opens her first store, at Bayview Village Shopping Centre (2901 Bayview Ave.). “It’s going to be really amazing to have my own space,” she says, with a megawatt grin. As Elsaesser’s star continues to rise, she counts on her crew for support. “Having my own business, I need to be a little tough,” she says. “It’s so important to have friends who can pick you up and be there for you. We’re all working hard to make our dreams come true.” HAIR AND MAKEUP: SHERI STROH FOR PLUTINO GROUP/GREENBEAUTY.CA. ALL CLOTHES BY HAYLEY ELSAESSER, FROM $100 TO $260 (AND $16 FOR THE SOCKS!), HAYLEYELSAESSER.COM
19
EASY BREEZY BEAUTIFUL
KATY PERRY
SUPERSIZE YOUR LASHES
SUPER SIZER
MASCARA
Katy is wearing lash inserts.
NEW
LASH STYLER FOR
400% BIGGER
VOLUME The amazing Lash Styler with 400% more volume power! Load on the volume, twirl to comb through. See how to Supersize your eyes @ covergirl.ca
©201 ©2 © 20 01 15 P P& &G
INTRODUCING THE
SHOPPING CHALLENGE
2 1
3
“Revisiting ’80s shoulder pads is out of the question for me, but a luxe Jerry-Hallesque coat is a must.”
PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER STIGTER (RUNWAY); FRANCK MURA (GRETA CONSTANTINE); REX USA (LENNOX, JONES AND LUNDGREN); ISTOCKPHOTO (CASSETTE, BACKGROUND); GETTY IMAGES (HALL)
GUESS COAT, $208, GUESS.CA/EN
8 “This faux-leather skirt is total goth prom chic.” REITMANS SKIRT, $46, REITMANS.COM
4
“THE SHOULDER PAD WILL ALWAYS BE SEEN AS A POWER SYMBOL IN FASHION.”
MOOD MIX TAPE
— Kirk Pickersgill, Greta Constantine
7
6
5
New Order “Age of Consent” Talking Heads “Psycho Killer” Paul Simon “Graceland” David Bowie “Cat People” Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” Dexys Midnight Runners “Come On Eileen” Anything by Queen
MATERIAL GIRL CHALLENGE
CHALLENGER
Shop the 1980s trend for $500
Assistant editor Veronica Saroli, 23
JENNY BIRD EARRINGS, $50, JENNY-BIRD.COM
FALL 2015 INSPO Balmain, J.W. Anderson, Proenza Schouler
WHY I CHOSE THIS TREND
SHOPPING STRATEGY
“$100 a month. Usually I save it up, and every few months I’ll invest in something to last.”
“This season’s take on the ’80s is packed with inspiring touch points: OTT glamour, androgynous shapes, lots of layering and the ascent of hip hop. The charms of ’80s interior design, like thinly veined marble, geometric shapes and salmon pink, are also creeping back into modern tastes.”
“To capture this feeling on a $500 budget, I chose a fun statement item (a faux-fur coat) and smaller pieces that encapsulate the spirit of the decade but won’t look out of place in my current wardrobe.”
“Lots of white, black and navy—and a pair of sparkly shoes for good measure.”
THEKIT.CA | SEPTEMBER 2015 |
compact
SWATCH WATCH, $60, SWATCH STORES
“These earrings let me channel the Blitz Kids in London 35 years ago.”
MY STYLE BUDGET
MY PERSONAL STYLE
“These playful colours match the Balmain dress (middle left)— at a fraction of the cost.”
DREAM SPLURGE “A huge, floor-length coat.”
1. The inimitable Annie Lennox. 2. Proenza Schouler Fall 2015. 3. The catalogue for Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 2015 Now’s the Time exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario. 4. Grace Jones and Dolph Lundgren strike a pose. 5. A look from Greta Constantine’s Fall 2015 presentation in Paris. 6. J.W. Anderson Fall 2015. 7. Colour blocking at Balmain Fall 2015. 8. Jerry Hall on Marc Bohan’s catwalk in 1985.
“The vintage shape and sky-blue hue stand out in the flat pack.” NINE WEST FLATS, $125, NINEWEST.CA
TOTAL COST $489 21
Life is short. Stay out late. What would you tell your 20-year-old self ?
#ColourfulWisdom
Glam meets goddess with a luminous complexion, a delectable bronze sheen, rich copper hues contouring the eye, and lip colour that takes a bite out of the night. See why the world’s best beauty brands call Sephora home.
Follow Sephora Canada
Yorkdale Sherway Gardens Fairview Square One Bloor Street Benefit Uptown Yonge Boutique
SPOTLIGHT
Gucci girls, working the quirky librarian vibe, in the first womenswear collection by creative director Alessandro Michele.
WILD AT HEART
PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER STIGTER
Fall’s coolest trend is all about being yourself—just amplified. Clara Young celebrates the return of the fashion eccentric
THEKIT.CA | SEPTEMBER 2015 |
compact
The Fall 2015 collections remind me of my friend Eve. Undeterred by fashion convention, Eve will pair a tartan peplum jacket, dark-grey lace-trimmed trousers and an oxblood sweater embroidered with beads, tassels and tufts of this and that. Patterned Nicholas Kirkwood pumps finish the look—and elbow-length gloves. The queen of mix and no-match, Eve is a bona fide eccentric, and eccentricity is the code word for fall. 25
DIANA VREELAND
muse to Marc Jacobs, who commissioned a runway set of floor-to-ceiling canvases recreating her allred living room, which was designed to look like a “garden from hell.” On the catwalk, the models’ gloves, impeccably cut coats and ultra refined chignons reflected the sartorial rigour of a woman given to pronouncements such as, “Unshined shoes are the end of civilization.” At Maison Margiela, Marchesa Luisa Casati, a 20thcentury Italian aristocrat who wore live snakes as necklaces and paraded around with cheetahs on diamond-studded leashes, sparked the imagination of long-time admirer John Galliano. (Casati has also influenced Karl Lagerfeld, Alexander McQueen, and Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig, who named their Marchesa line after her.) For Fall 2015, Galliano resurrected the spectre of Casati during the debt-ridden decline of her later years, clad in a cloche hat and leather washing-up gloves. Still flame-haired and raccoon-eyed, she was bereft of the pet cheetahs, the family fortune and her sanity. Fashion extroverts like Vreeland, Casati, the socialite Daphne Guinness and the nonagenarian decorator Iris Apfel are important source material for the eccentricity trend. Theirs is a strongminded fashion, individualistic and contrarian. And like my friend Eve, who thinks nothing of bicycling to the pool in a belted orange boiler suit and high-heeled open-toed sandals, they simply don’t care that they look extremely different from the rest of us. In fact, they revel in it. (Casati, who was buried in leopard skin and wearing false eyelashes, once declared her intention to be a living work of art.) In turn, we revel in them. Fashion fearlessness acts as a shorthand for a powerful personality, an authenticity that challenges, an audacity that enthralls. You might not ask the woman in the fur shoulder pads to handle your accounts, but you sure want to sit beside her at dinner.
CHRISTIAN DIOR
IRIS APFEL
PRADA
This season’s all-you-can-wear craziness stinks of a stylists’ conspiracy. It draws a line between fashion laywomen, who cling to their little black dresses, and the initiated, who have a connoisseur’s understanding of the fine art of overdressing. How else to explain the strange shapeless shifts at Gucci, floral patterned like old wallpaper? The amoeba-swirled onesies and oddly tinted fox furs at Dior? The explosion of librarian glasses, berets and Pierrot pompoms? They’re more costume than streetwear, what Toronto stylist Lea-Anne Baxter calls “beautiful but ugly.” That’s a contradiction in which Miuccia Prada is well versed. “Ugly is attractive, ugly is exciting. Maybe because it’s newer,” the designer mused to a reporter back in 2013. This fall, Prada’s Pepto pink shifts embellished with fur shoulder pads embody the “don’t pair, don’t care” spirit of the season. In the fashion world, ugliness is like a secret handshake. Understand it, and you’re one of the few who do. Embrace it, and you ascend to the rarefied ranks of the fashion iconoclast, who dresses purely to please herself.
26
MAISON MARGIELA
compact
PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER STIGTER (RUNWAY, BACKSTAGE AND RUSSO), GETTY IMAGES (APFEL, GUINNESS, VREELAND). SUPPLIED BY THE AGO (CASATI)
GUCCI
ANNA DELLO RUSSO
Designers occasionally feel the blade for sticking their necks into style-eccentric territory. Critics famously savaged Yves Saint Laurent’s 1971 “Libération” collection, which included Carmen Miranda turbans and a black shirt-dress emblazoned with surrealistic pink lips. “Nothing could exceed the horror of this exercise in kitsch,” a Guardian critic wrote, while a former Vogue editor sniped to Women’s Wear Daily, “Saint Laurent let down the whole of Paris couture. For that, he deserves to have his face slapped.” In 1981, avant-garde designers Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto collaborated on a now-iconic collection of voluminous misshapen coats, which elicited this derisive reader response in People: “Yamamoto’s clothes would be most appropriate for someone perched on a broom. [They] are definitely for the ‘woman who stands alone.’” Nowadays, all the world’s an Insta runway, especially during fashion week, when street-style snappers, both pro and amateur, roam in search of women who stand alone. The Anna dello Russos and Willow Smiths among us are descendants of a long line of fashion nonconformists, some of whom directly inspired designers this fall. The late legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland acted as
PRADA
IN THE FASHION WORLD, UGLINESS IS LIKE A SECRET HANDSHAKE. UNDERSTAND IT, AND YOU’RE ONE OF THE FEW WHO DO.
| SEPTEMBER 2015 | THEKIT.CA
SPOTLIGHT THE MARCHESA CASATI BY AUGUSTUS JOHN
MOSTLY A s
GUCCI
GUCCI
Iris Apfel, 94, a New-Yorkbased interior decorator and fashion icon Further study: Watch Iris (2014), a joyful and moving doc by filmmaker Albert Maysles.
CHRISTIAN DIOR
MOSTLY B s
DAPHNE GUINNESS
MARC JACOBS
PRADA
DRIES VAN NOTEN SUNGLASSES, $347, VUSUNGLASS.COM. KENZO COAT, $2,279, SHOPBOP.COM. JEWELLERY BY KAREN NECKLACE, $450, JEWELLERYBYKAREN.COM
The style eccentric’s outrageousness also pushes fashion onward and, most of the time, upward. Take Daisy Fellowes, the ’30s It girl and heiress to the Singer sewing machine fortune, who helped make Surrealist designer Elsa Schiaparelli a star. Fellowes faithfully wore Schiaparelli’s monkey-fur coats, lobster frocks and even a generator-powered light-bulb dress. Today, Fellowes would be a Tommy Ton favourite amid an ocean of madly dressed fashionites, ready for their 15 nanoseconds of fashion fame. In our era of instant information—real-time runway shows, borderless online shopping and fast fashion, where the same Zara dress is available from Toronto to Taipei—true singular style is more alluring, and rarer, than ever. But discovering it begins the same way it always has: by being brave enough to trust your instincts. In her 1984 memoir, D.V., Vreeland recalled, “[In] 1966 or ’67, I published this big fashion slogan: This is the year of do it yourself.… Every store in the country telephoned to say, ‘Look, you have to tell people. No one wants to do it themselves—they want direction and to follow a leader!’” Nearly 50 years later, designers are nudging us to take charge and become leaders of our own style. The season’s most powerful message proposes that we dress up as ourselves, whether that involves bold patterns or cheetahs and diamonds. It’s a challenge well worth accepting. After all: No guts, no glory.
p o p
q u i z
Diana Vreeland (1903-1989), fashion editor for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue editor-in-chief Further study: Read D.V., Vreeland’s supremely quotable memoir, which includes bon mots such as “Blue jeans are the most beautiful thing since the gondola.”
WHICH STYLE ECCENTRIC ARE YOU? WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE COLOUR? A: Turquoise B: Red C: Sparkle
JOE FRESH SHIRT, $32, JOEFRESH.COM. BIRKS PEARLS, $995, MAISONBIRKS.COM. HERMÈS SCARF, $1,080, HERMÈS BOUTIQUES
WHAT’S FOR LUNCH?
A: A bright green salad with vibrant pops of red, yellow and orange veggies B: A peanut butter sandwich and a shot of scotch C: Lunch is bourgeois
WHAT’S YOUR SPIRIT ANIMAL? A: Bird B: Swan C: Cheetah
WHAT’S YOUR DESERT ISLAND ESSENTIAL?
MOSTLY C s Marchesa Luisa Casati (18811957), Italian heiress Further study: Visit the AGO, where the best-known portrait of Casati, by Augustus John, is on permanent display.
A: Colour B: Opinions C: Feathers
FAVOURITE WAY TO SPEND A SUNDAY? A: Roaming New York flea markets B: Roaming Parisian corridors of power C: Roaming Venice in a fur coat with nothing underneath
TOPSHOP BLAZER, $140, THEBAY.COM. BCBGMAXAZRIA SKIRT, $448, BCBG.COM. JENNY BIRD CUFF, $75, JENNY-BIRD.COM
27
FASHION
BATTER UP
LEFT: HILFIGER COLLECTION JACKET, $490, TOMMY HILFIGER. H&M TROUSERS, $80, HM.CA. ROBERT LEE MORRIS RING, $210, HOLT RENFREW RIGHT: HILFIGER COLLECTION JACKET, $490, TOMMY HILFIGER. ALTUZARRA TROUSERS, $825, HOLT RENFREW. HERMÈS BAG, $8,800, HERMES.COM. MICHAEL KORS RING, $85, MICHAELKORS.CA
PHOTOGRAPHY:
This luxe varsity jacket is a super-easy fashion home run: Literally all you have to do is put it on. #blessed
TWO OF A KIND
You text each other first thing, you hang out from coffee to cocktail hour, your style is always in step. This is our salute to best friends everywhere and the amazing more-is-more fashion pieces that make it worth seeing double this season
photography by Felix Wong fashion direction by Vanessa Taylor styling by Fiona Green shot on location at People’s Eatery in Toronto
29
FASHION
MINI POPS
Who said minis aren’t for Mondays? Give it a cool-girl twist with lots of layers and combat boots, never heels. LEFT: J.W. ANDERSON NECK BAND, $320, RAF SIMONS SWEATER, $705, SSENSE.COM. PETER PILOTTO SKIRT, $825, HOLT RENFREW. MICHAEL KORS SUNGLASSES, $240, MICHAELKORS.CA. H&M BOOTS, $149, HM.CA RIGHT: H&M TANK, $40, SHIRT, $40, HM.CA. MICHAEL MICHAEL KORS SKIRT, $175, MICHAELKORS. CA, J.W. ANDERSON EARRINGS, $610, SSENSE.COM, MICHAEL KORS COLLECTION MUFF, $2,995, MICHAELKORS.CA
LONG & SHORT
There’s nothing conservative about a long skirt when it’s paired with a crop top— and killer shoes, obvs. J.W. ANDERSON TURTLENECK, $445, SSENSE.COM. PINK TARTAN SKIRT, $395, PINK TARTAN. J.W. ANDERSON EARRINGS, $610, SSENSE. COM. MICHAEL KORS RING, $135, MICHAELKORS.CA. VALENTINO BAG, $1,895, HOLT RENFREW, WINNERS HEELS, $100, WINNERS
31
FASHION
MIX MASTERS
Press reset on the classic fit-and-flare: Add edge via unexpected colour combos or a you-wanna-piece-of-me moto jacket. LEFT: MULBERRY DRESS, $2,400, MULBERRY.COM. VALENTINO BRACELET (WORN AS CHOKER), $345, HOLT RENFREW. COACH SATCHEL, $595, COACH.COM. HERMÈS BOOT, $2,715, HERMÈS.COM RIGHT: MICHAEL MICHAEL KORS JACKET, $495, MICHAELKORS.CA. MULBERRY SKIRT AND BLOUSE, PRICE UPON REQUEST, MULBERRY. COM. EDDIE BORGO CUFF, $550, HOLT RENFREW
32
POSH PJS
Beaded embellishment fancies up any relaxed-fit ensemble— especially a pyjama-style suit. Minimize cost per wear and break it up with slim trousers or a structured blazer. MICHAEL KORS COLLECTION TOP, $4,495 HAIR AND MAKEUP BY VANESSA JARMAN USING RIMMEL LONDON/ TRESEMMÉ FOR P1M.CA. HAIR AND MAKEUP ASSISTANT CAROLINE LEVIN FOR P1M.CA. ART DIRECTION BY JESSICA HOTSON
33
T KH TE K HT AK U L
3
“The macaron is dead; long live the handmade pop tart. (We love Bake Shoppe at 859 College St.)”
2 “I drink my body weight in green tea every day.”
1 4
“I rely heavily on Post-its to keep my mountains of products organized!”
6
5
THE BEAUTY DESK
Beauty editor Rani Sheen opens endless parcels before sorting and storing their contents, but it’s the products she doesn’t put away we really take note of photography by Adrian Armstrong
1. TOUSLE, REPEAT
2. CLEAN SWEEP
3. EASY BREEZY
4. BROW BOOST
5. STICK & SNIFF
6. NAILED IT
The cute N.Y.C. blowout spot Drybar launches its products here this month. Get into this sweetly scented texturizing dry shampoo.
Sucking every last bit of sludge from your pores is so satisfying, especially with this stick of goopy black cleanser.
A locally made, allnatural deodorant that actually works (truth) and now comes in stick form instead of a pot.
Filling in brows is so yesterday. Now, it’s all about glossing them up and making them shine.
The passion project of the founder of Sephora, this clutch-sized solid scent stick smells like a French garden.
Like an Instagram filter for your nails, this sheer lilac tint brightens white tips and neutralizes yellowish beds.
BOSCIA CHARCOAL DEEP-PORE CLEANSING STICK TREATMENT, $35, SEPHORA.CA
LOVEFRESH 100% NATURAL DEODORANT IN LAVENDER TEA TREE, $24, LOVEFRESH.COM
SABE MASSON LE SOFT PERFUME STICK IN ZAZOU, $32, BLOSSOMLOUNGE.COM
DEBORAH LIPPMANN GENIE IN A BOTTLE ILLUMINATING NAIL TONE PERFECTOR, $24, MURALE.CA
DRYBAR TRIPLE SEC 3-IN-1, $33, SEPHORA.CA
34
SMASHBOX BROW TECH GLOSS STICKS IN BRUNETTE AND BLONDE AND BROW TECH HIGHLIGHT STICK IN BRONZE SHIMMER, $24 EACH, SMASHBOX.COM
compact
| SEPTEMBER 2015 | THEKIT.CA
Backstage at Bottega Veneta Fall 2015, Guido Palau was reportedly them with our new grown-up ceramic running around cutting bangs on “anyone who would let him.” If he’d flat-irons (before scrunching the rest tried the same thing on me, I’d have quietly taken out a restraining order. of our hair with whatever product Don’t get me wrong: I’ve tried them. We’ve all tried them. For a select made us look “beachy”). We were boho few, they become a way of life. For the rest of us, they’re destined to and freewheeling. And in my case, so become a painful memory. freewheeling that after watching one This season, fashion is trying to make bangs happen. The recurring too many Yeah Yeah Yeahs videos, I bane of my beauty existence is the hip new thing according to Céline, brought blunt bangs back into my life Saint Laurent and Rebecca Minkoff, as well as Bottega Veneta, where just like Karen O. I was an original. models channelled the late ’60s and early ’70s with bangs plucked from I wasn’t. The advent of music Laurel Canyon’s folksy heyday. Frankly, they should’ve stayed there. downloading brought with it access Not since the blond box-hair-dye disaster of 2006 have I endured such to independent artists, so those of us tragedy—and I know I’m not alone. trying to separate from our former But bangs aren’t making a comeback, because they’ve never really left. Abercrombie-wearing selves embraced A consistent contender in the hair game since the Victorian era, they’ve the hair trend that united (at least maintained a firm hold on the beauty world for roughly 90 of the past 100 aesthetically) Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley, years. They’re a rite of passage, the eternal question and the fastest way Leslie Feist and Chan Marshall, a.k.a to change our lives (and faces) without Cat Power, among many others. doing very much at all. They’re the maker Unfortunately, when I cut this set of bangs I also attempted the or breaker of hairstyles, and they will “modern-day mullet.” It didn’t help that my face is round, my hair is superabsolutely make your forehead break out. fine, and by then I’d dyed it a shade best described as chicken-fat yellow. I don’t have a childhood memory It was bad, and it was now 2007. Trying to make leggings and denim without bangs. But as I got older, started skirts work in harmony was hard enough—I needed to let the bangs go. to care and teened up in the years before So I grew them out, along with the rest of my hair. And by 2009, I’d salon-quality straighteners (read: I even learned how to curl it without scrunching, wearing it in loose waves attempted to use a real iron), my bangs like Zooey Deschanel herself…which is how I justified bangs one last became my nemesis. So I spent a sumtime. They worked for about a year, until I cut my hair into a bob and my mer slicking them back with butterfly bangs went on strike. Due to humidity, the wrong product or bad luck, clips and enough Dep to keep the gel I was no longer channelling Brigitte Bardot—I just had a bunch of hair industry afloat. I found myself in eighth stuck to my forehead. By 2013, the dream had finally died. grade bang-free and feeling alive. High After two years of growing my hair out, my former bangs are now school and a centre part would be mine. chin-length, and the feeling of accomplishment and certainty will never be They weren’t, but it was fine. By the rivalled by the fleeting euphoria of believing I look like a post-makeover early 2000s, we’d begun aspiring to look Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada. Because I didn’t. And I never will. like Kirsten Dunst, Aaliyah and Mischa So Fall 2015 can have its bangs. Even if Guido Palau himself offers Barton with side-swept bangs, shaping me a haircut.
THEKIT.CA | SEPTEMBER 2015 |
compact
SAINT LAURENT
PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER STIGTER (BACKSTAGE BEAUTY); REX USA (THURMAN, BARDOT, PAGE); GETTY IMAGES (SWIFT)
Basically, they suck. Anne T. Donahue on why she won’t be seduced by fall’s ubiquitous fringe
TAYLOR SWIFT
BRIGITTE BARDOT
MY BIG BANG THEORY
BOTTEGA VENETA
CÉLINE
BETTIE PAGE
BURBERRY PRORSUM
UMA THURMAN, PULP FICTION
FIRST PERSON
BANG ON
If you do fall for the “new” fringe, these handy inventions eliminate the emergency over-the-basin bang wash. AMIKA MIGHTY MINI TITANIUM STYLER, $32, SEPHORA.CA. CONAIR INFINITI PRO ULTIMATE HAIRBRUSH, $40, SHOPPERS DRUG MART. LIVING PROOF NO FRIZZ HUMIDITY SHIELD, $26, SEPHORA.CA
35
BEAUTY SCHOOL
BORN COOL
Nail artist extraordinaire Madeline Poole talks music and manis during her first trip to the 6ix
“Where is the 6ix?” asks Manhattanbased manicurist Madeline Poole, painting her nails on the top floor of the Burroughes Building at Queen and Bathurst. “Am I in it? I was going to ask my cab driver to take me there.”
“I CAN’T PAINT A TRIANGLE PERFECTLY BUT I CAN CLEAN IT UP PRETTY WELL.” Like many first-time visitors to Toronto, Poole is mostly interested in looking for Drake. After the R&Bmo aficionado and Sally Hansen global colour ambassador learns she is indeed already in the 6ix, talk turns to her summer jam (Jamie XX, Young Thug and Popcaan’s “I Know There’s Gonna Be [Good Times]”), her music baes (she worked odd jobs with Kelela when they were both young and broke) and the other Toronto artists she needs to add to her Spotify (Prince Innocence, Bizzarh). A creative force herself, Poole provides endless nail-art inspo to her 100,000+ Instagram followers (@mpnails), and her work graces the runways of Stella McCartney and Adam Selman. Once we’ve discussed the difference between living in New York and living in L.A. (Poole is qualified to comment, having recently moved from the latter to the former) as well as her native Baltimore, we arrive at our destination: the
nail trends she thinks will be big for fall. “Generally I just follow my heart and whatever I’m into. But then I also look at the shows because I kind of need to back it up,” says Poole, who started as an artist painting miniatures before transferring her skills onto nails in 2011. For Fall 2015 she’s feeling squiggly designs that call to mind 1970s rickrack trim, textured polish swipes that look like distressed fabrics and metallic crushed-velvet-like lacquers. But the look she’s betting on, and paints on herself while we talk, is a blackened-purple triangle moon and tip on a naked nail bed. The negative-space trend is something she’s championed for a minute: “I’ve done it since I started doing nails. It wasn’t really a thing then, but it was big in Japan, which is where I got a lot of my inspiration.” Poole is a pro at pushing the boundaries of nail creativity, but she cops to an ongoing struggle with that universal hurdle: painting the Wrong Hand. “People always ask me for tips for painting your wrong hand, and I’m like, ‘Give me tips! I’m not ambidextrous!’” she says. “When I first started I was way better at it because I had patience and I did it all the time.” To make it easier, Poole uses tape to set out graphic shapes and holds her hand up in front of her face, with fingers curled toward her in a half fist. She pulls the skin away from each nail with her thumb to get as close as possible to the edge. It works a treat. “I can’t paint a triangle perfectly but I can clean it up pretty well,” she says. “It’s all in the cleanup, really.”
Poole paints models’ nails for Stella McCartney’s runway shows; here, she wears a silk jacket given to her by the designer.
WORK YOUR TRIANGLES 1
TAKE SHAPE. Skip base coat. Using a nail-art striping brush, paint on triangles and tips in two coats. Make them generous, as they’ll shrink when you neaten them.
2
CLEAN IT UP. Sharpen the lines with an angled brush dipped in remover (Q-tips are too fluffy). “The triangle is easy to clean up; it takes two swipes.” 3
TOP IT OFF. Wait until dry. Load up the brush with topcoat and paint it on gently so you don’t smudge the shape.
m a d e l i n e
p o o l e
’
s
t o
-
d o
l i s t
i n
t
.
o
. (
f o r
r e a l
)
4
POST ON INSTA. Get ready for your LISTEN LOCAL
Starting with R&Bmo artist Majid Jordan.
36
EAT A ROTI
The question is Gandhi or Island Foods?
FIND DRAKE
Our reco: Start at the OVO store.
close-up. “If you can’t get a picture with all your fingers, just try one or two. Sometimes it’s better to really get detail.”
compact
HAIR AND MAKEUP: MICHELLE ROSEN/JUDYINC.COM (POOLE). PHOTOGRAPHY: INSTAGRAM.COM/MAJIDJORDAN (MAJID JORDAN); GETTY IMAGES (DRAKE); TORONTO STAR (ROTI)
by Rani Sheen | photography by Norman Wong
| SEPTEMBER 2015 | THEKIT.CA
! l e G M O EtD!ED! igEh l N e h T t H t OuLIG No w ei.th l m e u l G o ! st v
At2Xlathe
NEW MIRACLE GEL™
The gel you love just got better! Our new & improved top coat with 2X THE VOLUME and even MORE SHINE. The next best thing to a salon gel mani! 2 STEPS • UP TO 14 DAYS OF COLOR & SHINE • EASY REMOVAL
Find your color at sallyhansen.com Rhapsody Red
Tispy Gypsy
Boho a-Go-Go
Beatnik
Mintage
Fish-teal Braid
#NOWFOLLOWING
H A S HTAG HEROES
One surefire way to stand out in the feed: nail a signature shot
POST PERFECT
#backseatconfessions who does it best: @evachen212 why: All it takes is a swanky bag, hot shoes and a piece of fruit to compose an instantly recognizable shot.
First, she conquered Instagram. Now style phenom Margaret Zhang is taking over the beauty world. Oh—and she’s 22 by Rani Sheen
#selfeet
you’re building long-term relationships with, that you really love, to maintain that integrity. With Clinique I was using its products anyway. As soon as you start pushing what just anybody sends you, you lose the foundation your audience is based on.”
ON MAKING IT ONLINE “You need to aim in a different direction and use your website as a vehicle to that end. If you want to be a director, write about films, make your own mini films and put them online. If you want to be a stylist, style yourself, style other people.”
ON #INSTAOBSESSION “You start living your life through your and your friends’ camera lenses, and it’s kind of unhealthy. I’m always looking for light and when I see it, I always try to get a shot. 38
who does it best: @ihavethisthingwithfloors why: Sometimes it’s worth letting the shoes play second fiddle to a beautifully tiled floor.
I see beautiful things in very basic set-ups; it doesn’t have to be in the Maldives.”
ON THE RIGHT CAPTION “What you say about the post is important. Rather than being like, ‘Here’s my breakfast again,’ are you at breakfast and studying, are you with a friend, are you working on something? It’s important to have that kind of conversation so it doesn’t get boring.”
#mundanemonday who does it best: @cocorocha why: Our hometown supe knows how to make laundry and errands look chic.
ON GETTING SO GLOWY “I spray my face with Clinique’s Moisture Surge 10 times a day. I’ll be shooting in the morning, then meetings, then class, and it’s my in-between thing to freshen up. The Chubby Stick highlighter I use because I don’t wear a lot of makeup. In Australia, makeup is not an ideal situation because you’re going to sweat it all off.”
compact
#skellie who does it best: @omgliterallydead why: Because why not document a skeleton doing yoga or getting froyo with a bestie? —veronica saroli
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES (ZHANG), INSTAGRAM.COM (HASHTAG HEROES)
Fashion photographer, stylist and law student Margaret Zhang—who happens to have a wellloved blog (Shine by Three, which she started at 16) and 543K Instagram followers—has built her well-lit empire on the #zhangflat. The hashtag and concept refers to a shot from above of an artful jumble of accessories, beauty products and carefully chosen knick-knacks. The native of Sydney, ON THE #ZHANGFLAT Australia, has even taught work“They started really small. shops on how to recreate it. (The It was just, like, some secrets are good natural light jewellery on some shoes, and stepping away to assess the and then I started adding set-up from a distance.) Recently, beauty products. They got beauty giant Clinique noticed bigger and bigger until they Zhang had featured its products got to the edge of my Ikea in said shots and enlisted her, table. It’s my dream to do a along with fellow power millenmassive coffee-table book nials Tavi Gevinson and Hannah of fancy flats in different Bronfman, for its newest camplaces in the world.” paign. We caught up with Zhang in New York to ask her what it ON BEING TRANSPARENT takes to make your mark online. “I don’t do paid posts or products. It’s about working with brands that Below: The #zhangflat in all its glory
| SEPTEMBER 2015 | THEKIT.CA
THE STORY OF US
JASMINE + TOBIAS
Painfully pretty model couple meet, share selfies, inspire #relationshipgoals and land Calvin Klein fragrance campaign by Rani Sheen As many great love stories do, it started in a bar. “I went up to her and asked for her number. And she gave me the wrong number,” says beautiful model Tobias Sorensen, speaking about his girlfriend, equally beautiful model Jasmine Tookes. Luckily for their future Instagram fans, Tookes recovered from her brief lapse in judgment by the time he approached her again to chat. “She was like, ‘Let me see your phone again,’ and she gave me the right number.” Many beach, pillow, red-carpet and gym selfies later, the New-York-based pair have scored the ultimate modelcouple gig: a Calvin Klein Eternity Now fragrance campaign, following in the footsteps of everyone’s fantasy #momanddad, Christy Turlington and Edward Burns. To shoot it, photographer Cass Bird took a series of black and white photos
MEET CUTE
the couple Jasmine Tookes (@jastookes), 24, and Tobias Sorensen (@thesorensen), 27
years together Three
of Tookes and Sorensen romping around a sunlit apartment in various states of undress. “We don’t have to fake the chemistry,” says Sorensen. “And I was never scared of, like, crossing her boundaries.” File under #modelproblems: “Sometimes you’ll be shooting with someone else and you know that they have a boyfriend or girlfriend who might not be comfortable,” adds Tookes. Bird’s photos are sweetly voyeuristic, a composed version of the snaps the two post when they’re at home. “I get the most likes and comments when I post
photos of us,” says Tookes, the followerwinner of the family. “We really like it when people come up to us on the street and say, ‘We follow you; can we get a photo of you guys?’” Eternity is supposed to represent eternal love, which might make a lesser couple quake under the pressure. “Yeah, the fragrance is about us as a real couple, but at the end of the day it’s our work,” says Tookes. Sorensen agrees. “We can’t stay together because of a fragrance. We’ll stay together as long as we’re happy and hope for the best.”
insta clout She has 572K followers, he has 130K
top comments #relationshipgoals, #parents, #momanddad
social signatures Swimsuits, rock-hard abs, photogenic friends and frequent island trips
the appeal Double the beauty, double the likes
PHOTOGRAPHY: INSTAGRAM.COM/JASTOOKES (OUR LIFE IN PICTURES)
OUR LIFE IN PICTURES
the bar meeting
the island trip
the overshare
the wake-up shot
the workout
the fragrance
Jasmine: “We saw each other from across the room, locked eyes and really couldn’t stop staring at each other. He was kind of smirking at me. I was like, ‘Oh my God!’”
Jasmine: “He asked me on this trip to Turks & Caicos. I’m a very spontaneous girl, so we went, and when we got there our hotel room had a clear shower in the middle of the room. I texted my mom, like, ‘What am I gonna do?!’”
Tobias: “We like to let people peer into our everyday lives, and I think that’s why we’ve created such a big fan base. We show people what we like to do and what we feel for each other.”
Tobias: “I like getting close to her in the morning when I wake up. She smells really good in the morning.”
Tobias: “We work out together all the time. I think I got her into it more now than when we met.”
Tobias: “On her it’s fresh, like when you smell like a big bouquet of flowers.”
Jasmine: “I didn’t work out.”
Tobias: “We learned a lot about each other. It was a make-it-or-break-it kind of trip, and luckily we made it. She kind of moved in with me after that.”
Jasmine: “We get so many nice comments, not many negative ones. The most common one is #relationshipgoals.”
Jasmine: “I like the way he smells when he first steps out of the shower because he puts some moisturizer on and he always puts on fragrance after. It smells really fresh.”
Tobias: “She gave me the wrong number at first. I choose to think that that was by mistake, but it was on purpose.”
THEKIT.CA | SEPTEMBER 2015 |
compact
Tobias: “She’s so addicted to it now, so we go to lots of classes together. It makes it a little bit easier to wake up in the morning and get it over with instead of having to go there alone.”
Jasmine: “I think the guy’s one is very masculine and sensual. When he puts it on, you just want to hug him.” CALVIN KLEIN ETERNITY NOW, $78 (50 ML), ETERNITY NOW FOR MEN, $70 (50 ML), HUDSON’S BAY
39
COOL GIRL, COOL JOB
NAME Magali Simard, 31 ON WORK
How did you land your job? After I graduated from film studies at the University of Toronto, I started as an intern at TIFF. For six months I rolled movie posters. I was just happy to be in the building. I had my eye on the prize—I knew it would take a long time, but it worked out, and I started programming short films five years ago. How do you spend your day? We watch everything submitted to the festival and for year- round pro gramming, track filmmakers, and promote films and introduce them to the audience. In the most beautiful seasons we are in a room watching five films a day.
2. LINT BRUSH “I love cats.”
3. A RABBIT’S FOOT “For luck.”
4. A CURLING IRON “I'm very much into my hairdo.”
What are the film festivals like? They vary: I was just in Rio at a more casual festival. Cannes is everything everybody expects it to be, where there’s a lot at stake. TIFF is one of the big ones, too. It’s a fascinating industry, glamorous and extremely artsy. Do you have a mentor? Cameron Bailey has completely believed in me and is a big reason why I am where I am now. In life, my parents Line and Jacques: They’re the bomb. What’s the best advice you’ve been given? Play to your strengths. I think a lot of people pursue jobs because they see the external appeal. Like friends in the book business or publicists: They are sexy jobs, but does that mean they’re going to tap into your strengths? A few years later they are left wondering if they made the right decision.
What’s the last movie you saw for fun? I still really look forward to summer blockbusters because they are so different from what I program. I love Mission Impossible. Tom Cruise is the greatest.
ON WARDROBE
What do you wear to work? I love to wear pink Converse for comfort, but I keep four pairs of heels under my desk . I ’ll buy dark jeans at a store like Body Blue and one vintage designer thing a month. I like Bridge + Bardo and I have a ton of Jenny Bird jewellery. How has your work wardrobe evolved? I used to be a bit more casual and generic. I had a lot of Cher T-shirts that had to go. She’s my idol. I still have them; I just wear them alone at home. How do you amp it up for TIFF ? During TIFF I kick it up a gear for sure. The jacket and heels will get you through to six o’clock. After that I add a statement necklace or change completely at the office. Or in the
5. EXTRA SUNGLASSES “See reason for #1.”
6. EMERGEN-C PACKS + VITAMINS + ADVIL “They do not save you on Day 8, though...”
40
STYLE Floral rock chick
LIVES Queen Street West
bathrooms of restaurants or in a cab. (I have done that.) The evenings are more about the glamour. It’s a world of actors, so you have to look good. What ’s your dressing strategy? I sketch my outfits, so in the morni n g w h e n I ’m l i ke , “ W h e re ’s my Gatorade?” I just flick through my drawings and then I get ready. It’s two outfits per day, and you have to sustain it. You don’t want to start a 10 and end a 2. You want to be at least an 8 throughout the festival. What ’s your go-to beauty look? My hair is a big thing for me. It’s large, so it has to be good for TIFF. I’ll get a couple of blowouts, and I keep an iron at the office at all times. And I get my nails done every Sunday, instead of going to church. W h a t ’s yo u r s t yl e s i g n a t u r e? Animal stuff screams my name: Lots of my jewellery or patterns are animal inspired. I have a little horse necklace and a fox one, and my last gift from someone was a squirrel brooch. I am becoming that person.
9 TO 5
1. BRIGHT LIPSTICK “When you start looking tired midTIFF, it’s a go-to.”
W h a t ’s t h e b e s t part? We travel a lot, especially in the first five months of the year. It’s a big perk, but the most rewarding thing is picking the films.
We watch a ro un d 4 0 0 h o urs of movies and narrow it down to about 20 titles. We owe it to the industry, the filmmakers and paying audience members to pick the right ones.
MICHAEL KORS SUNGLASSES, $240, MICHAELKORS.CA. STELLA MCCARTNEY SHIRT, $765, PANTS, $795, HOLT RENFREW. JENNY BIRD CUFF, $115, JENNYBIRD.COM. CHLOÉ BAG, $3,990, HOLT RENFREW. TOPSHOP PUMPS, $124, THEBAY.COM
6 TO MIDNIGHT
TIFF SURVIVAL KIT
OCCUPATION TIFF film programmer, Canadian titles
AQUAZZURA PUMPS, $760, HOLT RENFREW. ELA HANDBAG, $368, HOLT RENFREW. OSCAR DE LA RENTA EARRINGS, $210, HOLT RENFREW. BCBGMAXAZRIA BLAZER, $423, BCBG.CA. TOPSHOP DRESS, $455, THEBAY.COM
compact
SIMARD SHOT ON LOCATION AT THE TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX TORONTO
SCREEN SIREN
by Alex Laws photography by Kayla Rocca
| SEPTEMBER 2015 | THEKIT.CA
PULSE CHECK
l a u r e n , 31 IRL: Florist #DREAMROLE: “Winona
Ryder in Edward Scissorhands.”
“The Little Mermaid.”
Jessica Allen on...
PHOTOGRAPHY: KAYLA ROCCA (STREETSTYLE), CTV/TODD FRASER (ALLEN)
SILVER SCREEN STYLE Some women discover their style by dressing like Coco Chanel. Others slouch into the laidback incognito look pioneered by Rachel Zoe. I’ve always turned to the silver screen for inspiration. But my fashion and film relationship is more than a little complicated. After I grew out of childhood obsessions with Wonder Woman, Princess Leia and Laura Ingalls Wilder—those boots!—the first movie that directly inspired my style was Margaret’s Museum (1995). Helena Bonham Carter plays the daughter of a Nova Scotia miner complete with a uniform of knee-length vintage dresses and bulky wool cardigans. Overnight, I went from wandering my university campus in T-shirts and jeans to looking like a 1940s housewife with a chill. Empire-waist dresses were next (not to mention Georgian-style cotton nightgowns, which proved to be a lifelong love), thanks to cinematic adaptations of Sense and Sensibility (’95) and Emma (’96). The grunge explosion ensured that there wasn’t any shortage of Austenesque baby-doll frocks—the problem was that I looked terrible in them. N o m a t t e r, I w a s m o s t l y d o n e w i t h dresses—except for that white, collarless one Anouk Aimée’s character, Luisa, wore in 8 ½— because I became gender-blind. Chanel famously revolutionized fashion for women by dressing like a man, but what would she have done with Guido, Marcello Mastroianni’s nimble-footed, artistically tortured character from the Fellini film? While I find it almost impossible to imagine incorporating the sleek tailoring of Guido’s Brioni suits, the movie started my obsession with his sprezzatura; he was my gateway into the shaded world of Persol. While adding Italian sunglasses is an easy style shortcut, embodying a coffee farm in Ngong Hills is a little trickier. That’s right; now I’m constantly dreaming of looks that echo the tan-toned linen world of Out of Africa. You see, I don’t just want Robert Redford to wash my hair: I want to wear his outfits while he does it. As tempting as it is to dress every day like Raiders of the Lost Ark’s Marion Ravenwood— save for the slinky white silk number from the snake pit—I’ve realized that I can’t just lift looks directly from the silver screen. Dressing like Margaret is an affectation, while incorporating a vintage floral print into a look is style. The secret is to acquire a few select pieces—think Saint James striped Breton shirt, tweed blazer, cuffed pleated pants, a pair of Church’s—and turn them into something approximating a signature look. That’s cinematic sartorial paradise. JESSICA ALLEN IS THE DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT FOR CTV’S THE SOCIAL.
THEKIT.CA | SEPTEMBER 2015 |
compact
, 30i s h IRL: Editor, influencer and writer #DREAMROLE: “Audrey Hepburn in the k i m b e r l y
, 28 IRL: Retail manager #DREAMROLE: “The Little Mermaid.”
film Funny Face or Leslie Caron in the musical Gigi. The clothes are breathtaking.”
a s s i a
FILM & FASHION
Inspired by TIFF mania, we asked chic Torontonians: Which movie character would you most like to be? , 28 IRL: Owner and operator of l e x i
“Apollonia from Purple Rain.”
Lexington and Co events
#DREAMROLE: “Baby from Dirty Dancing. I want to dance on a log in the middle of a forest with the most handsome man.”
“Baby from Dirty Dancing.”
, 29 IRL: Owner of Jacflash j a c l y n
, 28 IRL: Artist manager #DREAMROLE: “Apollonia from s a r a h
Purple Rain.”
fashion, spaces and events #DREAMROLE: “Elle Woods from Legally Blonde. She looks like a stereotypical ‘dumb blond’ but she gets into Harvard Law School.”
41
THE STOP
QUEEN + SPADINA
Check out designer Erin Kleinberg’s neighbourhood hot spots: Hop off the 501 streetcar and walk east, from the Dark Horse to the Horseshoe by Alex Laws | illustration by LeeAndra Cianci
EDITOR RECOS See you there?
1. Oak + Fort, 666 Queen St. W.
“You can’t beat this place for loose tunics and long blazers in minimalist neutrals. It has a great downtown vibe and most items are under $100.” —Vanessa Taylor, fashion editor
2. Romni Wools, 658 Queen St. W.
3. The Cure Apothecary, 719 Queen St. W.
“This natural-beauty hub is now carrying Kypris Beauty. I can’t wait to try its Moonlight Catalyst, said to mimic retinol’s cellrenewing powers.” —Rani Sheen, beauty editor
4. Durumi, 416 Queen St. W.
A. NANA
785 Queen St. W. “Nana is the best for a low-key scene with the yummiest Thai food. My go-to is satay grilled chicken with salad and peanut sauce. So delish! I can never get enough of that peanut sauce.”
B. FASHIONABLY YOURS 709 Queen St. W.
“I’m all about seeing how the old can be transformed into the new. Fashionably Yours fills me with major
42
inspo for my collection and life in general. I find it so calming and interesting to peruse old fabrics, prints and silhouettes.”
C. ANALOGUE GALLERY 673 Queen St. W.
“I go nuts for the rock-androll photography. Every time I walk in there I fall in love with a new picture.”
D. BARREWORKS 625 Queen St. W.
“My friend owns Barreworks, and I love to kick-
start my day with an epic workout. The classes slay, and it’s a moment for me to put work and life aside and give myself a boost for the rest of the day.”
F. RUSH LANE
E. MOKUBA
G. RAINBOW NAILS & SPA
“Après workout, I’m running through the 6ix for fabrics. I legit could spend hours rummaging through Queen West stores. Mokuba is a game changer for me; its trims, ribbons and finishing touches are amazing.”
“Hair done, nails done, everything did! I like to keep my nails simple and profesh—you can never go wrong with a deep red or grey, and shellac keeps them chip-free for weeks.”
575 Queen St. W.
“Everything in this tiny boutique—ankle boots, minidresses, sculptural coats—looks expensive, but the prices are insanely affordable.” —Laura DeCarufel, editor-in-chief
563 Queen St. W. “I’m a huge mojito chick and love a spin on the classic. Always and forever.”
163 Spadina Ave.
5. Alo, 163 Spadina Ave.
“Sitting at the bar and watching the sun set over the city here feels just like you’re in New York. And the $3 petite choux are utter bliss.” —Alex Laws, senior editor
compact
PHOTOGRAPHY: CARLYLE ROUTH (EDITOR HEADSHOTS). HAIR AND MAKEUP: MICHELLE ROSEN (EDITOR HEADSHOTS)
“I love grabbing a slice at Sud Forno and then hitting Romni Wools. I get lost in there, picking out colours and textures for new weavings.” —Jessica Hotson, creative director
| SEPTEMBER 2015 | THEKIT.CA
with
colour
&
kiss commitment goodbye
Natural Instincts is shiny, healthy looking colour that only lasts 28 washes. No harsh root-line. No ammonia. No strings attached. No wonder it’s the #1 semi-permanent colour.*
Commitment Free Colour Try it and #FlirtWithColour
*based on P&G internal calculation for sales volume Š 2015 P&G
MAKEUP THAT’S GOING PLACES NEW
DOUBLE WEAR MAKEUP TO GO
esteelauder.ca © 2015 Estée Lauder Inc.
8-hour wear at the push of a button. Hydrating, luminous, flawless all day. Innovative compact keeps liquid makeup fresh and spill free. Press once for a light touch, twice for more coverage. Take it everywhere. Free shipping with any purchase at esteelauder.ca.
NEW Liquid Compact
SHADES FOR ALL SKINTONES