YYZ LIVING Magazine // ISSUE 4 by YYZ LIVING Magazine

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To those that refuse to walk the path set out by others. To stand in line or blend-in. To those that believe trends are something you make, not follow. There is VAIO速 from Sony速. Bold colours and styles, incredibly advanced technology and software that unleashes your creativity. Edit video, pictures, music. Set your own path. Stand Apart. VAIO.

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YYZ LIVING MAGAZINE IS THE APEX OF LUXURY. WITH RIVETING EDITORIALS AND ALLURING PHOTOGRAPHS,YYZ LIVING PRESENTS A TORONTONIAN VISION OF ARTS, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY TO TEMPT THE IMAGINATION. WE GUIDE YOU THROUGH ENGAGING STORIES. WE GIVE YOU EXCLUSIVE ACCESS TO THE HOTTEST FASHIONS AND TAKE YOU ON A VISUAL JOURNEY TO EXTRAORDINARY PLACES AND CONTEMPORARY DESIGN.

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ISSN 1925 - 1033 All Content Copyright 2012/2013 For advertising & all other inquiries: YYZ LIVING Magazine 86 Yorkville Avenue, Suite 300 Toronto, Ontario M5R 1B9 416 551 8040 / contactus@yyzliving.com twitter: @YYZMag No part of this publication may be copied or reprinted without the written consent of the publisher. We welcome submissions from writers, photographers, and stylists.

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issue IV

ON THE TABLE En Masque! 18 History Impassioned 24 Antique Modern 30 Rufus wainwright 34 In Dense Jungle 38 Cambodia Adventure 44 Flying the Friendly Skies 52 Azimut 62S Italia Yacht 56 Liisa Winkler: An Activist Abroad 60 A Sharp Dressed Man 66 Ursa 70 Terroir Wine 72 Leda & The Swan 76 Maskull Lasserre 82 A Day in the Life of Charles Khabouth 86 Homecoming 90 SEASON’S PLENTY 96 The Luxuries of a Well-Bred Car 104 Tech Fixation: A Modern Home 112 Cotton Flare 114 Nelly Furtado’s Family Indestructible 120 Hot Shops: Hot Housewives 124 A Study in Leisure 128

Photo NICO STINGHE

issue IV

EDITOR'S NOTE

In times of change; season changing, housing crash, fiscal recovery; I have erred towards acceptance. There have been as many crashes as seasons, as many seasons as recoveries, and many more celebrations than each combined. But despite my years, the moments after completing an issue still astound me. I enter my office, and before even sitting down I am surprised by my desk; made from wood rather than loose paper; surprised that the phones ring more politely. And then we start again, knowing that with each iteration YYZ LIVING advances past the prototype of the previous issue. This issue, the first in YYZ’s history, will grace the shelves of luxury hotels in Vancouver and in Montreal. For the first time, twice as long and with more fashion spreads, YYZ is featuring a recurring article, A Day in the Life, where we chronicle the habits of a successful entrepreneur. Another first, but this time for Nelly Furtado, this issue features her first interview following a six-year hiatus from English music, where we discuss her creative process, her family, and how they coalesce in her latest album The Spirit Indestructible. And for the first time our travel correspondent flew east, discovering the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat and the modern Cambodia that surrounds it. Remaining however are YYZ’s diverse reviews and commentaries on everything luxurious: sleek cars, expansive yachts, chandeliers, architecture, lush landscaping, and of course, fashion. At the back of the magazine, my editor’s picks highlight some expected— Hermès scarves are always divine—and myriad unexpected selections from this season’s collections. And glossing our pages are double the number of editorial spreads; balancing delicate couture with sophisticated ready-mades. Of course, without our dedicated team at YYZ LIVING, no change would be possible. So as I welcome you to our magazine, I thank the members of YYZ. It has been an exciting, difficult, successful year and we are honoured that you are a part of our journey.

Shivani Chohan (née Shivani Kumar) Editor-In-Chief

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issue IV

CONTRIBUTORS

Sheila Hui

Born and raised in Toronto, Sheila Hui is an event director, hosting and organizing soirees as part of Uptown/ Downtown Events. While promoting expensive venues makes for an exciting nightlife, Sheila’s passion has always been writing. She avidly blogs at www. omfg-sheilakins.blogspot.ca, and writes the fashion section for BALLnROLL.com. She currently lives in Toronto where she continues to pursue her dreams.

Winston Sih

Technology journalist Winston Sih spends countless hours researching, reviewing, and trying to understand the all-tooconfusing technology of the 21st century. He is currently CityLine’s Technology Contributor on CityTV, and writes for the CityLine web series The Digital Life, where he details the latest technology and web trends. Winston has often appeared as a technology expert for CTV’s App Central, CP24, BNN, Breakfast Television, CityNews, and 680News.

Mark Hacking

Mark Hacking is an award-winning car and motorsports writer. His work has appeared in enRoute, The Globe and Mail, Intersection, Nuvo, and Toro, among many others. In addition to writing about cars, he also covers topics such as architecture, business, technology, and travel for a number of media outlets. A fiercely competitive racer, Mark is a three-time podium finisher at Targa Newfoundland and plans to compete in Daytona, Le Mans, and the Nürburgring: the world’s toughest 24-hour car races.

Deena Waisberg

Toronto-based writer Deena Waisberg has written for numerous newspapers and magazines, including National Post, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Reader’s Digest, Nuvo, More, and CA Magazine. She loves interviewing celebrities because “inquiring minds need to know.”

Miguel Jacobs

Miguel Jacobs is one of the most prolific and well-respected fashion photographers in Canada. He has worked for top magazines and commercial clients including Foster’s Group, The Bay, Universal Records, and Warner Brothers. In addition to his editorial and advertising work, Miguel has photographed celebrities including Michael Bublé and made guest appearances on several TV shows including America’s Next Top Model. His fashion film Now I Need You was featured at last year’s La Jolla Fashion Film Festival.

Arash Moallemi

Growing up enamoured of his father’s blueprints and architecture books, Arash Moallemi pursued a career in photography. He has since contributed to numerous magazines such as WallPaper*, Hello, Gioia, and Ocean Drive and has worked on commercial campaigns for IKEA, Bell, Procter and Gamble, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Scotia Bank to name a few. Currently he is working on short motion projects and is directing commercial spots for LCBO.

ERWYN LOEWEN

Erwyn Loewen fell in love with photography at age sixteen. Now twenty years later, having completed a mentorship with a well-known Toronto photographer, Loewen photographs fashion spreads featuring top Canadian models, unique locations, and an uncanny manipulation of available light.

Nico Stinghe

Talia Zajac

Photographer, filmmaker, architect, and multimedia artist Nico Stinghe loves the glam, the absurd, and the magic of dressing up. Colors and glitter meet the sad and unfortunate in the campaigns he photographs for brands including Adidas, Aldo, Diesel, Tourisme Montreal, and Radio Canada.

Talia Zajac has published fiction in Contemporary Verse 2, The Toronto Quarterly, the Hart House Review, Misunderstandings Magazine, Carousel, NoD Magazine, Writing Without Direction: Ten and a Half Short Stories by Canadian Authors Under Thirty (Clark-Nova Books, 2010), and Body Parts and Coal Dust: Short Stories and Poetry Selected as the Best of the Whittaker Prize (The RightEyedDeer Press, 2010). She has also written reviews for Chirograph, the blog for the Toronto Review of Books.

Alexandra Loeb

Stylist Alexandra Loeb has over eight years of experience in the fashion industry. She began her career as an intern at Harper’s Bazaar Magazine. After studying Art History and Fine Arts in university, Alexandra began working as the fashion and style director for Lilogi.com. Her work has been published in magazines across North America and overseas. She brings her love for fashion, design, art, and history to every collaborative project.

Adrian Armstrong

Arian Armstrong is a Canadian photographer at the height of his abilities. In 2012 he won two National Magazine Awards for his work at Sharp: The Book for Men. This winter he and his brother are travelling to India to stay at his family estate in a small village near Calcutta.

Lisa Vella

Lisa Vella is a talented, Toronto-born make-up and hair artist. This Sheridan College graduate and entrepreneur has over ten years experience working in film, television, and print media and boasts an esteemed clientele, such as Westside Studio, CTV Television Network, and Harlequin. Additionally she has worked with such personalities as singer Donnie Wahlberg, actress Sitara Hewitt, and philanthropist David Suzuki.

Photo NICO STINGHE

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Words / MARK HACKING, Images / Douglas Cardinal Architect Inc.

History Impassioned

The Architecture of Douglas Cardinal Architecture is the show business of the physical world. Just think of the parallels. The star actors, directors, and producers of Hollywood chase opportunities to tell their stories, grow their fame, and increase their respective bank accounts. Meanwhile, the highly skilled craftspeople of the trade—the character actors, cinematographers, film editors—work on the outer edges of the spotlight, focusing on the inherent quality of the project over their personal gratification. Broadly speaking, there are two different types of top architects working today. There are the craftspeople: those who toil in the shadows, their work blending with the surroundings in a way that inspires quiet admiration, but little publicity either positive or negative. Then there are the so-called “starchitects,” les enfants terribles of the scene, the people whose work generates headlines, cost overruns, incessant delays, heated debates, and slack-jawed responses, not necessarily in that order. Douglas Cardinal is a relative rarity in this stratified world in that, to some degree, he fits in both categories. While he is seldom referred to as a “starchitect,” the significance of his projects, the quality of his work, and the sheer number of awards and accolades he has received suggest otherwise. But his work also stands apart from that of the more trendy architects of the day precisely because, in certain respects, his work does not stand out at all. A proponent of what he refers to as “classic organic architecture,” Cardinal has forged a celebrated, decades-long career by designing structures that do not impose his vision on the landscape. Rather, his buildings are designed to accommodate the interior forces of those using the structure, and the exterior forces of the wind and the sun. While it would seem to make perfect sense that an architect should consider the end user, this is not always the case.

For Cardinal, this approach did not develop naturally. In fact, he confesses to a certain degree of myopia early on in his career. “When I first started playing architect, I was working on my own vision, but it was like playing to a mirror. After about five years of working like this, I went to Texas [for graduate studies at the University of Texas School of Architecture] and became involved in the human rights movement. I came to understand that progress is only made possible by heeding the will of the people.” Turning away from self-reflection proved to be the launching point for a new way of working with clients and for the development of Cardinal’s signature style. The flowing, harmonious nature of his work can be seen in critically lauded buildings such as St. Mary’s Church in Red Deer, Alberta and the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec. Cardinal contends that these projects would not have been successful if not for his close working relationship with his clients, including the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., an assignment from which Cardinal was controversially removed prior to its completion.

“For me, it’s always the patron that dictates the building,” he says. “It’s a sacred trust. It’s their building and their money. The Canadian Museum of Civilization cost about $300 million, so I was obligated to work with Pierre Trudeau to bring his vision to life. I think it’s more fun to work like this anyway—to walk in someone else’s shoes, whether that person is a priest or a prime minister.” But this approach has also allowed Cardinal a certain freedom of expression. The architect discovered that the more he responded to his clients’ needs, the more they were inclined to let him explore his artistic vision. “People often ask me, ‘How do you get so many far-out projects here in conservative Canada?’ The answer is: by building up trust.” The patron-artist dynamic is a centuries-old phenomenon that has helped define the great societies of the past and Cardinal believes that it is time for a renaissance. “Architecture is a physical manifestation of a society and where it’s at,” he explains. “If you want to learn about the Greeks, study the Parthenon. For the Romans, look at the Coliseum. For the Egyptians, it’s the pyramids. But for us … what?” If the current state of architecture in our society seems to leave Cardinal largely dissatisfied, it also serves to motivate the seventy-eight-year-old to continue to seek out new projects. His firm, based in Ottawa, is currently working on numerous commissions that run the gamut from prefabricated homes for aboriginal communities to a multi-use, large-scale sports complex in Regina. In all of his projects, Cardinal aims to do his utmost to reverse the trend towards what he describes as soulless buildings that comprise an unrelentingly dismal urban environment, “Here we have evolved so much as human beings, yet never before in history have we produced such ugliness. Cities of the past had a certain dignity and beauty. Today, there’s nothing worse for the human spirit than to walk down the corridors of our awful cities.”

Words / Lili Milborne, Images / Earth Inc.

Antique Modern

Blackened steel beams, sprawling porcelain subway tiles, and subtle Corten steel planters give this city garden, situated on a small laneway in the heart of downtown Toronto,

the intimacy of interior space within the limitless outdoors. Finding refuge in the midst of the city is a time-honoured quest for today’s urbanite, and the “Diamond in the Rough” backyard, created by landscape company Earth Inc., is the perfect place to unwind and forget the bustle of busy streets. The garden’s raw industrial concrete acts as a canvas for Coral Bark Japanese Maples, a Star Magnolia, and various ornamental grasses. The foliage in turn softens the hard lines of the architectural I-beams that frame the space. Overflowing with an assertively modern ambiance, translucent glass panels incorporated into the high-privacy fence allow natural light into the twenty by twenty-five-foot yard. Earth Inc. founders James Dale and Kennedy McRae have established a brand synonymous with high-end architecture and horticulture. As cohosts of HGTV’s Dirty Business, they can be seen creating impressive atriums and avant-garde interpretations of everyday functionalism while promoting the benefits of an urban green space. The design process for gardens, bowers, pools, ponds, patios, porches, and decks begins with the Earth Inc. team completing a comprehensive site survey. The grade and slope of the land are measured, the presence of any surrounding structures or existing foliage is recorded, and a time sensitive sun study is undertaken to fully maximize the available light in potential designs. 30

Once the space is conceptualized, two-dimensional survey drawings are used to create a framework for three-dimensional digital mockups. It is not unusual for designers to create numerous designs for the same space, and through virtual tours clients can easily interact with their future gardens.

To demonstrate their design prowess, recipients of the Landscape Ontario Awards were asked to construct a booth indicative of their design philosophies. Earth Inc.’s eclectic booth made use of sustainable products and up-cycling to showcase the team’s expertise and commitment to sustainable design. The exhibit’s flooring was made using the Carrara marble façade of a former Bank of Montreal building, the metal shelving forming the walls was sourced from a local junkyard, and the forest of trees mounted within the exhibit were found through a woodlot maintenance program. A temporary ‘living wall’ formed by moss, later recycled by a local florist, completed the stunning display leaving minimal carbon footprint.

Using a breathtaking range of unconventional and recycled materials, Earth Inc. designers maintain a balance between environmental awareness and aesthetic preference. Natural stones contrast subway tiles or marble slabs from the discarded façade of a historic Toronto building. Accents of burnt wood, fibreglass, concrete, slate, and iron are situated amongst the regional shrubbery and exhibit a playful, urbanized approach to outdoor living. Recently, Earth Inc. received four 2012 Landscape Ontario Awards of Excellence, including the coveted Casey Van Maris Award recognizing innovative and unique design. The Toronto Interior Design Show held in January 2012 also presented Earth Inc. with the silver award for best exhibit design.

The gardens and terraces built by Earth Inc. range from elaborate to minimalist. Where in some locations water features include a pond or fountain, in other backyards a fifty-foot industrial metal boardwalk with seating areas at either end complements a large concrete and steel water feature. Though the use of water in an urban garden requires ongoing maintenance, the sound of running water creates a serene white noise, which many find an invaluable buffer to the noises of the city. Water features aside, the majority of Earth Inc.’s clients request lowmaintenance designs— spaces that look sophisticated with minimal effort and attention. In pursuit of this, some clients choose works of art or found objects to feature in their outdoor spaces. Downtown, the “Diamond in the Rough” garden features a red “r” mounted on the back wall. Uptown, vibrant walls were built around a modern home’s backyard deck in order to show off the owner’s collection of art and sculpture. With recycled materials and soil, Earth Inc. creates an oasis, a comfortable and exclusive space carefully planned and constructed—the safety of your home in the heart of a wild city.

Words Heidi Hofstad, Images / Universal Canada

Rufus Wainwright When it comes to Rufus Wainwright, he is far from Out of the Game, as the title of his latest album suggests.

He even jokingly predicts that with a new workout regime and a trainer who accompanies him on the road, “it’s very possible, by the end of this tour, I’ll look good naked. So look out, there might be a Playgirl Magazine photo shoot coming.”

cancer, describes Wainwright’s journey lighting candles for her at churches while on the road. “My mother felt it was imperative my sister Martha and I knew what religion was and experienced it first hand, even though we weren’t involved. We would go to church, but we couldn’t take communion. We never got our glow in the dark rosaries.”

Mixing pop tracks with an overall seventies vibe, this seventh album is uptempo and unconditionally fun. The songs incorporate horns and strings, doo-wop style harmonies, even bagpipes, and feature guest artists like Sean Lennon. A Juno award recipient and Grammy nominee, Wainwright collaborated with the producer Mark Ronson, who worked with Amy Winehouse and Adele on their Grammy-winning albums. “Talk about working with a fashion icon, a musical genius, and a model basically. I love him in all ways,” says Wainwright. “Thank God he isn’t gay.”

Coping with his mother’s death is an ongoing process for Rufus and is evident when he speaks of how his own daughter, Viva Katherine Wainwright Cohen, has impacted his life. “It’s a very new experience. My mom just died two years ago,” he reflects. “Once I have a better perspective away from my mother’s demise, I’ll be able to come up with some clearer answers.” Brought up in Montreal, Wainwright is the son of Loudon Wainwright III and the late Kate McGarrigle—both folk singer-songwriters. The pair divorced when Wainwright and his sister were young, and used songs to express the unpleasant, honest details of their failed relationship,

Combining new material and unreleased tracks, the album is autobiographical and reflects many moments from Wainwright’s life. Candles, written for his mother who passed away after years fighting

including Wainwright III’s guilt as an absentee father. Nonetheless, performing remains the tie that binds the family. Wainwright often collaborates with his sister, and this past summer his father joined him on stage at the Royal Opera House in London. “My dad is really one of the best, well-preserved artists around. He’s singing better than he’s ever sung,” reflects Wainwright. “We’ve started to work a lot more together since my mother passed away—to work with what we have left.”

Weisbrodt’s extensive experience working with art organizations and festivals—including previously representing and managing visual artist, theatre, and opera director Robert Wilson—has lead him to become the Artistic Director for Luminato—Toronto’s widely acclaimed festival of arts and culture. The 2012 festival, held in June, included the Canadian premiere of Out of the Game as well as a special tribute concert to Wainwright’s mother with partial proceeds benefiting the Kate McGarrigle Fund for Sarcoma Research.

Wainwright shares his new home and heart with fiancé Jorn Weisbrodt, whom he met through a mutual friend. Describing their relationship as complimentary in almost every sense, Weisbrodt adds, “He likes to be on stage, I like to be behind the stage. He likes to be messy. I like to be clean. A reporter asked a friend of Rufus’ to describe the two of us and she said Jorn is the man-wife and Rufus is the woman-husband. It really describes why [we] work so well.”

Exchanging vows comes next for the couple, although Weisbrodt remains tight-lipped about details surrounding the private affair. “We have a beautiful house in Montauk on the ocean,” shares Wainwright. “That’s my spiritual home—where I go to really reboot, gas-up, go-back-out-there, and put lobster in my stomach”…and perhaps, honeymoon?

Affectionately handed the title Deputy Dad, Weisbrodt explains that Viva spends most of her time with her mother in Los Angeles, and when in-person visits cannot be arranged, they chat over the internet. “It’s a beautiful thought that as you get older you’ll receive visits from a young lady who calls you dad,” Weisbrodt says of the future. “That there is this person in your life, for the rest of your life, who you’re discovering more and more about.” Meanwhile, Wainwright shares his feelings for Weisbrodt in Out of the Game’s Song of You. Although Weisbrodt is also mentioned in the album’s Montauk, Wainwright says, “He needed his own personal, proper song.” Naturally, Weisbrodt extends his praises, calling Song for You, “The greatest Rufus has ever written.” To which Wainwright sings, “There are many melodies to choose from, but there’s only one of you.”

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Walled by trees and following a narrow jungle path, you begin to cross the border... Photo ZARK FATAH

Words / Zachary Ormut-Fleishman, Images / Celeste Milborne / Zark Fatah

THE Cambodia Adventure

Photo ZARK FATAH

There, two huts block your route, each with its own fees and jurisdictions: in one, your temperature is taken and, deemed healthy, you pay a fee (about $10). In another, an armed guard in camouflage leans against the wall, you are asked to show your passport and, deemed a person, you pay a fee (about $12). But then, your trials complete, like the people all around you, you pick up your luggage, and walk over the separating border between Cambodia and Laos. We have seen planes fly, without trouble, into Phnom Penh, as with any other major city, and in fact that is the most common way to enter the Cambodian metropolis, but without money, without a plan, and without the local language—this is how Cambodia ought to be entered—displaced among the displaced.

to be blocked by skyscrapers. However, through its ritualized construction and shape, the war is elided, creating a continuity between the ancient civilization that built Angkor Wat—whose image is plastered onto the modern Cambodian flag—and the modern Cambodia. The illusion spans the country—buildings raised by French colonials in the fifties have been restored in pastel pinks and stand like flamingo lawn ornaments, outside of time. But with streets populated by survivors, some from Laos and Vietnam who have crossed the border looking for cheap land after their farms and families were buried, the war is indelible. Idling amongst the trees on the Cambodian side of the border, aluminum busses lie in wait to take a traveler to the capital, Phnom Penh. The last person aboard, an elderly woman wrapped like a gift in silks, ambles to the back of the bus, and the bus takes off into the trees, the woman still standing, leisurely finding her seat.

Thirty years ago, Cambodia, at war with Khmer Rouge and with America, was razed, and the new Cambodia, a shrine to the Khmer civilization that came before artillerized war, was built. This “New Khmer Style,” with the slanting tiers of twelfth century Khmer roofs and long colonnades, was designed to weaken a light just beginning

This first introduction to Cambodian transport is an indicative one. In the city, shoals of motorbikes amass at stoplights and carry stooks of fruit or newspapers or passengers and dart through a traffic of Toyota Camrys, Tuk-tuks, elephants, and busses. As a pedestrian, surrounded by other pedestrians and a moving mountain of traffic, its easy to loose your bearing; realizing that what you took for a landmark—a man reclining on an elephant’s back—has become smaller, smaller as it moves with traffic.

Far away, there is Song Saa. Past the southernmost corner of the Cambodian peninsula, the twin islands are privately owned and inhabited by a single, expansive hotel, lushly furnished, and surrounded by the turquoise moat of the Koh Rong Archipelago. The waters tremble with endangered fish. Sitting by the pool that overlooks the Archipelago, the hotel is not frenzied by the splashing, hollering, or crying of vacationers, or over-tall men in diving suits taking snapshots of the pool. Instead, as birds cry overhead, monkeys holler from distant trees, and the pool is calm. From Song Saa you sit at the throne of the jungle, looking out over the riches of an empire.

But, wandering the city, the sky darkens, and building fronts move in towards you—you find yourself dwarfed, but this time by chicken, fruit, spices, fish, wooden Buddha’s, silver trinkets—each so vastly multitudinous, and so vastly surrounded by bargaining Cambodians, that you loose all sense of self. The urge to eat is deafening. The market you have found yourself within—Russian, French, or Olympic— does not disappoint. Interspersed among vendors are stalls serving tikalok—made of shaved ice, sugar, milk, and blended egg—and the sweet drink awakens you to the ripe heat of moving bodies. You look for refreshment—buy another tikalok—then another—you change strategies—buy barbecued quail from a stall. It is soft and sweet and warm—but the crowd still raves. You run from the heat.

And it is from that jungle that the modern wealth of the empire has sprung. In 2001, kayaking downriver in a black Lycra suit, Angelina Jolie, playing Lara Croft in the blockbuster Tomb Raider, became the first Western actor to be filmed in Cambodia for over thirty-five years. Exploring Angkor Wat, she brought attention to the beauty of Cambodia’s past, turning a narrative of destruction into a recognizable, though romantic, structure—a view of buildings in mystic dilapidation. By 2003, over one million tourists visited Cambodia yearly; by 2005 more than double that.

Photo CELESTE MILBORNE

Still burning, you find yourself in a forest that levels into plains as a six hundred and twenty foot moat pushes out from the dust. A wide, unadorned platform leads you into the jungle temple of Angkor Wat. There is a Cambodian myth of a proxy war fought with Vietnam through the construction of the most extravagant temple. With a fortune of slaves and more advanced technologies, the Cambodian king excavated laterite, an iron-rich rock found meters below the soil. The Vietnamese army, impoverished and nearly half the size, instructed the men to build a temple made of paper and wood to compete with the Cambodian brick. With lighter, more flexible materials, Vietnamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s temple was taller, more ornate, and unconditionally won the war. Angkor Wat, created to represent Mount Meru, the centre of Hindu cosmology, seems an assurance that Cambodia will never again loose such a war. Surrounded on all sides by dense palm jungle, the towers of Angkor Wat rise steeply from the canopy. Carved into the walls, warriors and gods do battle or pray, suddenly real as they jut out as statues from temple walls. Even palm trees, so intricately carved, seem to pop from the temple into a forestâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the stone canopy, atop the natural one, rising into the clouds.

Photo CELESTE MILBORNE

Photos ZARK FATAH

But it is the temple monks, who clothe the statues with their orange robes that bring life to stone. In the corridors the statues join the crowd, mansized and indistinguishable beyond their sick-pale skin, and among this crowd, you push at the temple doors.

Photo CELESTE MILBORNE

Stone, and tall, they do not moveâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;one of many blind doors, whose purpose is for symmetry, for ritual, for myth. Emptyhanded and feverish, the crowd washes over you. And there you stand, a part of history, clothed among clothed statues, and for the first time, still.

Photo ZARK FATAH

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Flying the Friendly Skies WITH ROBERT DELUCE

Words / MARK HACKING, Images / David Wile

The airline business is not for the faint of heart or the lean OF wallet... In this country alone, close to a hundred different airlines have vanished or been amalgamated as entrepreneurs who recognized the allure of flying and predicted the exponential growth of air traffic, failed to capitalize on either. A truly spectacular example, Roots Air, which began operations in early 2001, closed its doors within six weeks, setting what must be a record for futility.

Launched in October 2006, Porter Airlines ended its fifth year by turning a profit for the first time in company history—something else that the critics would never have predicted. The company started with just one route, a Toronto-to-Montreal business commuter special, but has since expanded to become a serious thorn in the side of established players Air Canada and WestJet.

It is no surprise then that ten years ago, when a group of individuals came up with the idea of expanding the airport on Toronto Island and basing a new regional airline there, critics were climbing over each other to condemn the decision. Of course, given the challenges of running a successful airline in Canada and the airport’s $1 million yearly deficit, it made sense that the plan was considered ill-advised.

I first interviewed Deluce last summer, before the company had reached the five-year milestone. In the eight months since, he has become, if anything, even more confident in his venture—and for good reason. The only Canadian carrier to be rated a four-star airline by Skytrax, Porter Airlines has also been named the second-best small airline in the world by readers of Condé Nast Traveler.

Leading the project, Robert Deluce, the President and CEO of Porter Airlines, knew better. As with any successful entrepreneur, he saw an opportunity where others only saw obstacles. “I did learn to fly here as a high school student, so I had a familiarity with the airport,” Deluce says from his cluttered corner office at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. This familiarity led to the belief that the island airport was, in his words, an “underdeveloped transportation jewel.”

But the man at the controls is not about to rest on his laurels—or let any of his colleagues do likewise. The plan for the next five years involves controlled growth, expansion into new markets, and the introduction of new products and services. “We have grown from one destination to nineteen in a relatively short period of time,” Deluce explains. “For our part, we always look at markets we’re already servicing and ask ourselves if we’re providing enough flights. The second thing to consider: is there an opportunity to branch out from the core cities of Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax? Is it conceivable that we might be servicing New York or Boston, for example, from a city other than Toronto?” The answer, he says, is a resounding “Yes.”

Deluce also had the benefit of growing up in the airline industry— his family has been involved with commercial airlines for over fifty years—so when the idea of launching Porter Airlines occurred to him, he could reference a profound knowledge base. But even Deluce may not have been able to predict how successful his airline would become.

Deluce also confirms that the company is considering a half-dozen new destinations, some in the United States and some in Canada. This widening focus has led the company to announce a spin-off brand, Porter Escapes, to handle vacation packages.

“Porter is a bit of an antidote to what modern air travel has become,” he explains. “We’re about speed, convenience, and service. Everything has been designed to make the experience stress-free.” The future certainly looks bright for Porter Airlines, but if history is any marker, there will be challenges down the road—or speed bumps as Deluce prefers to call them. The early days of the company supplied a dizzying array of lawsuits with longstanding opponents in municipal government and at Air Canada.

“In the beginning, we were carrying more business travellers with time-sensitive needs,” Deluce notes. “But now, leisure travel is growing and is more proportional. Washington is a really good example of that. Our new service to Dulles Airport gives our passengers access to a large international hub and to areas like Virginia and Baltimore.”

In fact, as I was preparing this article, demonstrators were out on Bathurst Street, disrupting taxicabs as they approached the ferry terminal; their concern was over the children from a nearby school who have to contend with the steady stream of traffic.

Other developments on the horizon include a tunnel to guide passengers from the foot of Bathurst Street to the $50 million terminal, and placing U.S. customs officials in terminals to help ease the experience of travelling south of the border. The tunnel is expected in 2014, the U.S. pre-clearance stations even sooner.

But Deluce clearly takes all of these difficulties in stride—in fact, if Robert Deluce did not have the ability to shrug off criticism and opposition, he likely would have left the industry decades ago. “When you’re looking at getting into an industry, you need to make sure it’s one that you really love and are passionate about,” he says. “You had better be committed for the long haul and be focused the whole time. [Flying] does get into your blood, there’s no question about it.”

All of these ambitious plans lead to a fairly obvious question: Is Porter Airlines in danger of growing too big, too fast? In 2011, the airline had nearly 1.6 million passengers; this year they are projecting 2.1 million. During its low period, the island airport served about 20,000 passengers per year. These days that many passengers go through the terminal on any given weekend. “We’ve established a very loyal customer base and that is ultimately what will carry us forward,” Deluce reasons. “The challenge is to protect our brand and keep the level of service very high by being very discerning when it comes to hiring and training. We really don’t have much going for us at all if we don’t have happy customers.” A straw poll of Porter Airlines customers is quick to reveal a very high level of satisfaction with the experience, citing for their decision everything from the easy access to downtown Toronto and relaxing airport lounge to the fleet of ultra-quiet Bombardier Q400 turboprop airplanes.

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Specifications Length overall: 62’ 6’’ / 19.26 m Hull length: 60’ 5’’ / 18.41 m Waterline length: 51’ 9’’ / 15.79 m Beam overall: 16’ 4’’ / 4.98 m Hull Beam: 16’ 1’’ / 4.90 m Height above waterline: 13’ 11’’ / 3.96 m Displacement: 30.72 t / 67,682 lb Dry displacement: 25 t / 55,115 lb Engines: 2 x 1150 mHP (858 kW) CAT C18 Maximum speed: 37 knots Cruising speed: 32 knots Fuel capacity: 713 US gls / 2700 l Water capacity: 237.78 US gls / 900 l Holding tank capacity: 100.4 US gls / 380 l Grey water capacity: 44.9 US gls / 170 l

Cabins: 3 + 1 crew (opt.) Berths: 6 + 2 crew (opt.) Head compartments: 3 + 1 crew (opt.) Bathrooms: 3 + 1 crew Building material: GRP Keel: V-shape with angle of deadrise 19.2° aft Exterior styling & concept: Stefano Righini Interior Designer: Carlo Galeazzi

Words / Darren Dobson, Images / Azimut-Benetti Group

Azimut 62S Italia Yacht

The Azimut-Benetti Group is one of the leading and most prolific builders of luxury mega yachts in the world. The private company, which owns the prestigious brands Azimut Yachts, Benetti, and Atlantis, operates in sixtyeight countries around the world. IV

On October 1, 2011, Azimut-Benetti opened the Genoa Boat Show by unveiling the Azimut 62S Italia, one of ten new models commemorating the 150th anniversary of Italian unification. With an exterior designed by Stefano Righini, the 62S, named for its length in feet and sporty design, is compact and convertible—the yacht’s double-curved glass hardtop opens lengthwise and crossways, giving passengers a panoramic view of the sea.

Another benefit, the Yachtique Concierge Club, is unique in the boating world. The club is reserved for Azimut-Benetti boat owners, and allows them to avail themselves of five-star service 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, Club benefits include everything from restaurant reservations and car rentals to private chefs and food delivery. The club also provides information about boating services such as fueling, insurance, winter storage, engine tune-ups, and tenders.

Philip Rinaldi, a proud owner of the yacht Vivere explains, “A mega yacht not only represents your tastes, but is also, and most of all, a way to express yourself, to show who you have become over the course of your life. I want [my] vessel to reflect my personality as far as possible; I want it to be a precise reconstruction of the image I had in mind or even better. During the months I spent in Italy, it was exciting to watch my dream take shape.”

For the captain, a new innovation was made called “birds-eye view:” a system of three video cameras complimented by bow thrusters, making high-precision maneuvers possible. Two 1150 horsepower engines propel this cruiser to speeds up to a maximum of 37 knots (about 68 km/h) — more than enough power to satisfy thrill seekers.

Azimut clientele plan the interiors of their yacht alongside Carlo Galeazzi, an interior designer renowned for his luxury yacht and military craft design. Unmodified, the interior has enough space in three cabins to sleep six and includes full en-suite facilities. With Zebrano wood furniture, an L-shaped wardrobe, comfortable armchairs, and a vanity table that can be closed when not in use, each cabin presents the refinements of house living unencumbered by the shadow of buildings. The VIP cabin, located in the bow, is also furnished with a double bed and sliding doors that isolate it from the remaining suites.

Despite the power of its vessels, Azimut Yachts is committed to the environment and is one of the first shipyards in the world to achieve environmental certification UNI EN ISO 14001 from the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA). “Our company… wants to be the standard-bearer in the yachting industry,” said Azimut Yachts CEO Federico Martini, “[we are] committed to adopting a sustainable industrial development policy, managing production processes with advanced environmental protection. It is these commitments that have helped guide our success.” However for Paolo Vitelli, President of the Azimut Benetti Group, the reason for the company’s success lies elsewhere. “The fascination of authentic Italian craftsmanship, our customers’ faith in our economic and financial stability, the opportunity to customize your own boat: these are the reasons why for the past twelve years, Azimut has been the favorite shipyard for mega yacht construction among ship owners all over the world. I think that this supremacy…results from the efforts of all the people who work for Azimut Benetti Group. These are people who, on a daily basis, use their passion for their craft to create products which are exceptional and unique, just like our customers, who are the true inspiration for the mega yachts that they create.”

A DANCE OF COLOUR

Dress, LUCIAN MATIS $1,495 Shirt, BCBGMAXAZRIA $78 Bangles, MANGO $9.99

Photographer / Miguel Jacob, Sylist / Corey Ng Hair + Makeup / Claudine Baltazar (Plutino Group) Model / Liisa Winkler / Ryan Boorne 60

Blouse, ESCADA SPORT $475 Skirt, MARC JACOBS, $995 Shoes, GUESS $125 Bracelets, RACHEL ROY $98 Belt, BCBGMAXAZRIA $78 Ring, stylist's own IV

Dress, ETRO $1,495 Earrings, MANGO $24.99 Bangles, STYLIST’S OWN Ring, LIA SOPHIA $48 Shoes, KENSIE $34.99

Dress, STELLA MCCARTNEY $1,595 Shirt, BCBGMAXAZRIA $78 Ring, STYLIST’S OWN Necklace, BCBGMAXAZRIA $158 Shoes, KENSIE $34.99

Dress, LANVIN $5,330 Necklace, BCBGMAXAZRIA $168 Bangle, STYLIST’S OWN Shoes, VINCE CAMUTO $185

YYZ LIVING Besides fashion, what are your passions? LW I’m very passionate about the future of our food systems and the inhumane treatment of animals on factory farms. It’s so important to me to know where my food comes from and what actually went into producing it. Everything we eat is part of a larger ecosystem and it takes very little to disrupt it. It’s important that we find a sustainable model that produces as much food as possible for our growing population. Where does your inspiration come from? I’m very inspired by the book Harvest for Hope by Jane Goodall. It describes the problems with our current method of monoculture farming and the resulting overuse of pesticides and genetically modified foods.

Liisa Winkler

Also, Eating Animals by Jonathan Saffron Foer—if I could make everyone in the world read one book, it might be this one. It really opens your eyes to the shocking truths of “intensive livestock operations” and what has to happen to produce the bacon you buy at the grocery store. Besides that, it’s a good read—well written, humorous, and unbiased. Has raising children changed the way you think of food? My children have made me more aware of what I eat. I want them to learn where food comes from by seeing it first hand, and to be able to show them a system of farming that is not inhumane to animals. The other day, my daughter told me that she didn’t believe in pigs anymore. After driving through the country for hours, we realized it was true—short of visiting a petting zoo, there were no pigs to show her. It’s sad that a pig should become a thing of fairytales. It makes me question what kind of world we’ll be leaving for our children when we’re gone. What about wearing fur when you model?

An Activist Abroad

Modeling is a job that requires me to wear things that I would not choose to wear in my personal life. For a while I decided not to wear fur but then wondered about the leather that I would be wearing. I decided that it’s my job to sell clothes, not to decide what other people should buy. If I were someone like Naomi Campbell, perhaps saying no to fur would make an impact, but I am not Naomi Campbell. The truth is, that if I did say no to a fur coat at a fashion show, they would just put it on a different model and, with or without me, the show would go on.

Raised in Belleville, Ontario, Liisa Winkler began modeling at age fifteen. Moving first to Australia before settling in New York, her image has graced the covers of Vogue, Flare, and Marie Claire.

What can we do to change? The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) has just released a report called What’s on Your Plate? The Hidden Cost of Industrial Animal Agriculture in Canada. It’s the first comprehensive report ever written on factory farming in Canada. It uncovers a wide range of problems that come from industrial animal farming, including air, water, and soil pollution; the destruction of rural communities; and the overuse of antibiotics in animal feed that contributes to the creation of antibiotic resistant diseases. The report makes many recommendations, any one of which would positively impact the way we eat and many of which have already been adopted in other parts of the world. For example, factory farms in Canada alone create 170 million tons of manure each year—equal to the waste of 2.4 billion people. There is currently little regulation of these byproducts and setting any sort of limit would hugely reduce Canada’s ecological footprint. One thing that everyone can do is practice “Meatless Mondays.” Canadians eat more than three times more meat than the recommended intake. Just one meat-free day per week would help immensely.

“If every girl’s crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man,” Robert Stock knows the formula to a lasting relationship. As the founder of Robert Graham, a brand synonymous with trendy, luxurious, and tailored men’s wear, Stock’s garments are the perfect hybrid of what men want and what women want their men to wear. With forty-five years experience in the fashion industry, Stock has committed his life to style.

Words / Heidi Hofstad, Images / Robert Graham

A Sharp Dressed Man

Working after school in a clothing store in the Bronx’s Grand Concourse, Stock studied the forms of traditional men’s wear. Then, during the mid sixties, in what he describes as the height of the Ivy League look, Stock met a young Ralph Lauren. The conversation started over ties; Lauren, at the time a neckwear salesman, was showcasing product to Stock’s store. As their friendship grew, Stock and Lauren shared their aspirations to start a company and create their own men’s wear collections.

Stock eventually moved away from sales and into the design department at Paul Ressler, training under a German patternmaker and designer whom he describes as “a fanatic at neatness and highend quality.” Stock also credits his fashion schooling to the tailor shops he worked in as a child and to the instruction he received directly from Lauren. “The guy was spectacular. He didn’t have any formal training either, but had tremendous flare and belief in what he did and really taught everybody around him.”

On Lauren’s referral, Stock interviewed with the pant company Paul Ressler. “[I wore] typical chino pants, penny loafers, a white, oxford button down shirt, and a striped ribbon belt—the gentleman interviewing me looked exactly the same way.” Stock took the position and began selling flared, wide-leg pants in the Bronx, Manhattan, New Jersey, and Staten Island. He calls it a very profitable time, when Carnaby Street style, including flowered shirts, bell-bottoms, and Edwardian jackets, was invading Fifth Avenue.

Pants continued to be a focal point for Stock, when in 1967 he launched Country Britches. Then, in 1973, he moved on to develop the Chaps brand with Ralph Lauren. Reminiscing about trips to a Manhattan tailor shop with Lauren, Stock explains the nature of their collaborations. A visit involved Lauren inspecting the fit, expressions, or finishes of various custom-ordered suits, deeming most of them unusable. These castaways would be Stock’s.

But in 1976,

Stock began exploring his own inspirations. From the perspective of his childhood self, Stock remembered his father, a mechanic who owned a gas station. “He’d walk into the house looking like he came out of a coalmine. But after a shower he would get dressed for dinner in a beautiful shirt. That’s how I came to appreciate the shirt and clothing businesses…just by seeing him every night with these great custom-made shirts.” That year, Stock opened the brand Country Roads, the antecedent to Robert Graham, in order to design shirts and develop the style for which he is now known. Brightly coloured and patterned pieces make up the Robert Graham tailored men’s wear collections. Whether dress shirts, trousers, jackets, or men’s accessories, Stock mixes them together in vibrant, flawless contrast. But undoubtedly, Robert Graham is now known for its shirts—they are so popular that a collector’s club has formed. Each member owns over one hundred shirts, and with fifty-six collectors currently— including a few Canadians—Stock says, “People are actually collecting these like paintings. Some don’t even take them out of the bag. It’s quite heartwarming. Wives come over to me and say they’re losing space in the closet.” Stock’s method of crafting a shirt is a reflection of his meticulous nature and need for creative expression. “When we started eleven years ago, nobody was doing anything with pop to it, or colour, or any kind of embellishments. I tend to be on the conservative side, but I’ll go to parties and really whoop it up…put some wild outfits together. Art is in the eyes of the beholder and everybody sees something different,” he says.

Every aspect of Stock’s artistry is done in-house. Colours of the season are chosen, fabrics and intricate prints are designed, silhouettes are selected, and thousands of different buttons, treatments, embellishments, and embroideries are carefully considered. The brand has made paisley patterns famous and uses a Where’s Waldo mantra that leaves customers hunting for new touches or flares within the garments. The phrase “Knowledge Wisdom Truth” is sewn into the bottom, inside tail of every shirt, another Robert Graham trademark. Stock extends his design principles to his women’s wear, saying, “We’re trying to get the look. The women’s collection is feminine, sexy, has great details, and a lot of prints. We don’t want it to look like the men’s collection. The reception over the last six months has been really strong.” Building on its success, Robert Graham will be producing a line of home furnishings including sheets, pillowcases, shams, blankets, rugs, and furniture. Creating a fragrance is also a priority, the process of which Stock has been studying his whole life. As a fourteen-year-old in Greenwich Village, Stock explored shops inundated with fragrant sales associates, an experience, he says, which filled him with thoughts of cologne. Married for over thirty years with two grown children—a son, who works with Stock at Robert Graham and a daughter who attends art school—longevity in the industry remains top-of-mind. Stock calls the biggest mistake designers make, “pigeon holing themselves into one successful, yet particular look, without getting on to anything new. To me, the word fashion means change. You constantly have to keep reinventing yourself.” With new Robert Graham boutiques opening soon in Houston, Texas, and New Jersey, perhaps ZZ Top is right, “They come runnin’ just as fast as they can ‘cause every girl’s crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man.”

Words / Zachary Ormut-Fleishman, Images / Christopher Katsarov Luna

URSA

However, it is the charm of Ursa, that walking through gleaming glass doors that feature their polysyllabic Latin name in graphic sleek font, you are treated to an atmosphere more similar to a friend’s house during a childhood sleepover. There are, of course, all the features you would expect of a high-quality restaurant: a varnished wooden bar with thin-frame chairs in front of shelves well-stocked with beautiful bottles of alcohol on display. An equally beautiful bartender, whose knowledge of mixology and flawless candour would render even the least accommodating patron—my companion for instance—docile and content. Above the bar, modernist lighting displays of what appear first as bare bulbs are arranged in loose flotillas floating against the dark ceiling and walls. Patrons too are of the kind you would expect on Queen West—stylish working artists with independent funds and tight knit social circles.

That first bite aches with trepidation. Tasting food for a living, there are not many times when visiting a restaurant, especially one so vigorously reviewed as Ursa on Queen Street West, that before starting a meal I look across the table at my companion—a sweet, but perhaps austere woman—to see what she does first. I find her drinking; looking through the bottom of her water glass, staring at my hands as they stumble over shining cutlery.

On second glance, however, each feature feels just slightly misplaced. The bar certainly looks modern, but below the bar-top there are hooks of the kind in kindergarten classrooms to hang your coats and purses. To the left of the well-stocked shelves of alcohol, a lush tree, perhaps plastic, blends into the greens and burgundies of expensive bottles. The lights more closely resemble snow globes, inverted and lit where you would find the name of the city miniaturized within. Even the patrons, certainly stylish, certainly youthful, do not have the uniformity you would expect of cliques at a table—sitting across from trendy socialites, a man in an un-ironed shirt laughs and smiles, the socialites leaning forward to drive home their punch lines.

When opening Ursa in January 2012, the owners, Jacob and Lucas Starkey-Pearce, aimed to create a space that makes use of the varied culinary traditions of healthful food in order to present a vivacious, delicious, wholesome meal, unadorned by that mealy film ‘health food.’ Entering the restaurant, it is evident the brothers have done their research. Jacob, trained in the Toronto culinary institutions Thuet Bistro and Centro, is in command of the kitchen plainly visible at back of the restaurant. Watching him work it seems as though everywhere at once his arms dig and rummage, living up to his nickname ‘bear cub’ from which the restaurant derives its name. Meanwhile, Lucas glides through the dining room, smiling in flashes, and looking as if just arrived from a summer fashion shoot, entreating entranced patrons to “please enjoy our food, ” and certainly, certainly we will. 70

That first bite is of “Dark Green Salad:” Wedges of radicchio covering mixed greens and pomegranates in front of a hazelnut and pumpkin puree. The plate is topped by a fragrant ‘bark’ that crumbles overtop the salad when touched. It should be mentioned here that I have eaten salad before, and have not, as is so common with those overbusied with work, devoted myself to foods exclusively eaten with the hands. But, sitting in front of the plate, trying not to look inept in front of my judgmental, but stunning guest, I first picked up a fork to try a taste of

Tartar.” Expecting the delicacy of previous dishes, the tartar was aromatic, dense, and earthy, and the accompanying foie grois light, but enriched by its blueberry infusion. Of course, not recognizing the purple mass for foie grois, my date withdrew a heaping spoonful, dropped it satisfyingly in her mouth, and reached quickly for the homemade—delectable—rye bread to cut the intense richness. But, she laughed, and I leaned forward to emphasize the punch line, and somehow we felt we knew each other.

the ‘bark,’ watched it crumble to reveal rough cut greens, picked up my knife to begin to cut, and watched the resplendent hazelnut puree trickle through the tines of my fork. At this point flustered, I tried to use my knife as a spoon to gather the puree and spread it atop the salad leaves, only succeeding in dripping the puree over my shirt. I have rarely been privy to such unguarded laughter. My companion, hiding her face in her hair, went red with apology.

With the next dish, “Raw, ” thick cuts of uncooked Hamachi tuna were covered by sparse greens, pickled ginger, lemon, miso, and flowers. The tuna, providing no functional quandary, was pounced on and devoured, every flake fresh and accentuated by the bite of ginger and lemon. But again, dilemma. Taraxacum flowers, however pretty, seemed more appropriately woven into crowns—surely they were edible? Wordlessly we agreed to leave them uneaten. Another dish, “Housemade Tofu,” arrived featuring rich broth, green onion, and a crackling Bonito flake so large it provided ample shade for the tofu beneath. My guest—fortuitously fond of Japanese cooking—was beckoned by the traditional smells of yuzu and soy, casting her fork into the depths beneath bonito. Her fork catching nothing, there was a quizzical ‘clink’ as it hit the other side of the plate: the tofu, silken, had given way, a mirage of density exaggerated by delicate broth. With haphazard spoonfuls, the pace of the dinner had begun to change; forced civility and high-mannered poise dissolved; we relaxed. Together we stumbled through our last dish, “White-tail

Words / Lili Milborne, Images / Tawse Winery / Villa Maria Estate

TERROIR WINE

We have begun to anticipate the bottle-tessellated shelves of a wine store, neatly organized by country and species.

TERROIR:

Terroir originates from the French, meaning literally soil or land; it has come to represent the goût de terroir, the taste of the land. The beauty of wine is found in its complexity. A single bottle of wine is a complete synergy of human and natural elements blending harmoniously to create sensations that have captivated countless generations. It is worthwhile to sample the unique offerings of terroir wines produced from different regions and experience the many flavours of the earth.

But, the divisions of wine are not so simple. Called appellations, geographical regions of wine production are considered distinct by the particular grapes grown, the composition of the soil, and the techniques used to cultivate them. They are further differentiated by the notion of terroir: that wines from a particular appellation are inimitable outside of the particular area they are grown in, even if the grape variety and winemaking techniques are exactly replicated elsewhere. Terroir wines are cultivated in a harmony of conditions. Grapes grown within a single appellation necessarily share soil qualities and weather conditions, and as a result create a more consistent batch of wine than a large production whose crop spans multiple regions of soil. Seemingly innocuous decisions such as how and where the vines are planted, pruned, and irrigated, as well as when and how they are harvested, drastically affect the wine’s aroma and taste. Furthermore, the materials used in aging and duration of grape exposure, adding cultured or ambient yeast, and the fermentation temperature, greatly influence the molecular structure of the wine. Terroir is the culmination of civilization’s knowledge of wine production.

VILLA MARIA

Family owned New Zealand winerY,

Villa Maria, founded in 1961 by Sir George Fistonich, has become internationally acclaimed for its selection of terroir wines. A form of self-expression for Fistonich, his passion for a wellcultivated wine is memorialized by the many accolades he and the Villa Maria Winery have received over the past fifty years. Receiving a knighthood in 2009, this past year Fistonich was inducted into the New Zealand Wine Hall of Fame for his service to the wine industry. Villa Maria vineyards exist in four different appellations across New Zealand. As a result, the terroir flavor of each wine differs wildly, shifting from the sub-tropical clay of the north, to the snowy mountainous south. Fistonich recognized the regional variations of New Zealand and his goal has been to consistently produce a high quality wine that is representative of the unique characteristics of each appellation. From the early 1980s, Fistonich focused on isolating the superior quality of grapes produced from certain vineyards best suited to optimization, and originated a multi-tier structure to designate the wines. The Reserve, Cellar Selection, and Private Bin wines each represent a different tier, encompassing various levels of wine complexity.

Fistonich has aimed for 100% environmental sustainability throughout Villa Maria, embarking on a comprehensive sustainability campaign, and achieving remarkable results. Chief among Villa Mariaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s changes has been a switch to cork-free bottles. While a cork stopper taints an average of 8% of wines, a screw cap preserves the integrity of the wine and allows the distinct flavors to be enjoyed unhindered. Celebrating its fiftieth vintage, Villa Maria comes to Canada with the Marlborough Private Bin and Cellar Selection Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay available through the LCBO.

TAWSE

Nestled at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment,

Tawse Winery is a family-owned estate winery composed of six appellations each growing a different grape. Opened in 2005, its founder, Moray Tawse, realized the potential for quality winemaking in the Niagara region. Characterized by rich, fertile soil with thick layers of clay, silts, and sands, and unique microclimates, the region provides ideal conditions for wines of cool climates. Tawse was joined by head winemaker Paul Pender, named 2011 Winemaker of the Year at the Ontario Wine Awards, and internationally acclaimed consulting winemaker Pascal Marchand. Marchand gained renown during his tenure in France at Domaine des Epeneaux, and also serves as a consultant on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay projects in Burgundy, Chile, Australia, and California. Employing traditional winemaking techniques aided by state-of-theart technology, it is no surprise Tawse Winery was awarded Canadian Winery of the Year by Canadian Wine Access Magazine in 2010 and 2011, and was the first Ontario winery to hold this distinction two years in a row. Tawse grapes are harvested from old growth, low-yield vines and gently processed using a natural six level gravity flow processing system. Involving minimal physical contact, the system allows the wine to move gently from pressing to bottling. The wines produced through Tawse Wineryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s certified biodynamic methods have stronger, more vibrant aromas and flavors. Tawse wines are carried in LCBO stores and numerous restaurants across Ontario.

swan leda& the

Photographer / Arash Moallemi, Stylist / Alexandra Loeb Hair + Makeup / Bene Pham, Assistant / Annie Xie Model / Lauren (Elmer Olsen) Face Foundation, KETT HYDRO H03 $30 Eyes Liner, GUERLAIN LONG LASTING BI-PHASE $41 Pigments, NARS COPACABANA ILLUMINATOR $46 Lashes, ARDELL INVISIBAND DEMI WISPIES $5.99 Shadow, M.A.C NYLON $15 Shadow, M.A.C CORK $15 Cheeks Blush, M.A.C BUFF $20 Lips Lipstick, M.A.C CREME D’NUDE $14.50

Face Foundation, GIORGIO ARMANI LUMINOUS SILK $65 Eyes Lashes, SEPHORA + PANTONE UNIVERSE TANGERINE TANGO $28 Shadow, MAKE UP FOR EVER MATTE WHITE $20 Liner, GUERLAIN LONG LASTING BI-PHASE $41 Cheeks Blush, M.A.C PRISM POWDER $20 Lips Gloss, ANNABELLE #709 $8.25

FACE Foundation, GIORGIO ARMANI LUMINOUS SILK $65 Bronzer, CARGO THE BIG $34 Eyes Liner, REVLON FANTASY CREAM $12.95 Lashes, ARDELL INVISIBAND DEMI WISPIES $5.99 Shadow, M.A.C CARBON BLACK & KNIGHT DIVINE $15 Lips Lipstick, M.A.C LIPMIX BLACK $17

Face Foundation, GIORGIO ARMANI LUMINOUS $65 Eyes Liner, BEN NYE WHITE & BLACK $7 Liner, M.A.C EYE PENCIL EBONY $14 Mascara, L’OREAL VOLUMINOUS CARBON BLACK $9.49 Cheeks Concealer, M.A.C STUDIO FINISH NW25 $17 Lips Lipstick, CLINIQUE LONG LAST CREAMY NUDE $18

Face Foundation, GIORGIO ARMANI LUMINOUS SILK $65 Concealer, NARS DUO VANILLA/HONEY $38 Eyes Mascara, LANCÔME CILS BOOSTER XL SUPER ENHANCING $28 Liner, BEN NYE CAKE WHITE $7 Cheeks Blush, M.A.C SHEERTONE POWDER PINK SWOON $20 Lips Lipglass, M.A.C OYSTER GIRL $14.50

Words / Christine Estima, Images / Maskull Lasserre

Maskull Lasserre

The Dadaist movement IS characterized by absurdism, nihilism, and a rejection of the prevailing standards of art.

For Ottawa-based artist Maskull Lasserre, his sculptures are a combination of those values—synthesised, sampled, and re-imagined into new shapes. Pieces like Sonata Blade (a butcher’s knife at the end of a violin scroll), Second Thought (an axe handle carved into a violin scroll), and Secret Carpentry (a spinal cord carved into an axe handle) are macabre, but enticing. In the tradition of the Weimar flaneurs, Lasserre is transforming the familiar into the strange. Born in Canada, but spending his formative years in Pretoria, South Africa, Lasserre’s inspiration came from the folk art sold on the streets of Pretoria. “There’s an amazing fluency that South African people have with what’s around them—both in terms of material and how to be creative with it. Every-day objects: recycled electronics, or bits of plastic, or beads, become marvellous creations. Little birds are woven together out of recycled plastic, cigarettes, and some wire. It’s a willingness to make the most of what’s immediately at hand.” “The impression I want the viewer to walk away with is that this is an authentic object, that it has a history in the real world, a use and a purpose, and it comes from a whole lineage of objects,” he tells me over the phone from his home in Ottawa. “Even when these objects are hot off the press, they all look old. That’s my way of sneaking them into the realm of familiarity.”

Even over the phone, I can hear Lasserre’s voice become meek as he admits this process is somewhat self-defeating. “When I succeed, they look like found objects. Like I found them and presented them as works of art. My pet peeve is when people look at my work and go ‘Where did you find that?’ It undermines the amount of time and care and attention I put into them, but it’s also the effect I’m trying to elicit.” “It’s a characteristic of my own work,” he continues. “I reprocess the things that I have around me. I don’t move from an idea to an object, it’s the other way around, an inverted idea. I move from an object and work it into an idea. For the Sonata Blade, I didn’t take a violin and butcher’s knife and just splice them together. Everything gets made from raw material: a sheet of steel and a block of wood.” After viewing his sculptures I am forced to agree. Nothing happens by chance, to be sure, but his work presents the illusion of randomness at all times. Absurd, yes. Nihilistic, no. The twisting, tunnelling splatter of action inherent in each piece is gleeful in its dark cynicism. It does not destroy or change or comment on any philosophy. It is not a reaction to any emotion but the precociousness of its creator. I mention to Lasserre that his pieces remind me of objects that might have been found in the rubble of the bombed Sarajevan Opera House during the Bosnian war. As if the Serbian fireballs could have fused bits of instrument and weaponry together to make the Sonata Blade.

“That’s a great compliment actually,” he humbly accepts. “All of these things have that side of jeopardy, but seduction also. You want to pick up the Sonata Blade but you don’t know how. It makes you feel uncomfortable, but desirous also. It’s that balance that I’m interested in because it can’t really be described or demonstrated in any other way except with these objects themselves, which makes me so interested in making them.” The beautiful sadness inherent in his pieces found a new source of inspiration when, in 2010, Lasserre became one of the few Canadian artists invited to participate in the Canadian Forces War Artist Program in Afghanistan. For two weeks, he observed life—or something like it—with the Canadian Armed Forces just outside of Kandahar, on the border of the Panjshir province. He says it was not a working-holiday of sketching and lifedrawing—in fact, he has profound difficulty describing to me exactly what he did do while there, stating that two years on, he has yet to externalize the experience. However, his most provocative pieces, including the ones mentioned above, have all emerged since his time in Afghanistan. Lasserre currently has a gallery show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. “It’s a super nice spot, located on Columbus Circle overlooking Central Park,” he tells me. “The whole floor of the museum has been given the smell of burnt wood.” He will also exhibit at the Southeastern Centre for Contemporary Art in North Carolina later this year, and Canadians can look forward to seeing a new commission he is currently working on for the Kanata North Recreation Complex in Ottawa, which will open in 2013.

Words / HEIDI HOFSTAD, Images / Jayne Peres

A Day in the Life of Charles Khabouth Charles Khabouth is the godfather of Toronto nightlife. As the PRESIDENT of INK Entertainment, he easily dominates the eating, drinking, and party scenes, overseeing a slew of the city’s hottest spots, including The Guvernment, Tattoo Rock Parlour, Kool Haus, Spice Route, Cube, This is London, La Société, Buaonanotte, & Dragonfly at the Fallsview Casino RESPORT. Now Khabouth offers his Midas touch to Icon Legacy Hospitality, a collaboration that has already produced the thriving event space Storys Building. Together they have opened two new restaurants: Weslodge and Patria, both on King Street West.

06:00 Not content reshaping Canadian nightlife, Khabouth is partnering with the developers of The Four Seasons Toronto, Lifetime Developments, to enter the luxury hotel market. Khabouth’s Bisha Hotel and Residences, named for his childhood moniker, will open on Blue Jays Way, in the heart of Toronto’s fashion district Describing his leap into the hotel business as the biggest project of his life, Khabouth held nothing back from YYZ LIVING, allowing us to experience A Day in the Life of Charles Khabouth.

It doesn’t matter what time I go to sleep, my body just gets up.

I have to be on the road. Any later and I consider myself running a bit behind.

Early each morning I dress for my meetings and for whether I have time to return home and change for the evening. I don’t want to look too stuffy for certain meetings and too casual for others; it’s a balance that I maintain by only wearing black—well, 98% black. I also spend quite a bit of money on my clothes, looking for great fabrics and great cuts to maintain a style somewhere between classic and a bit forward.

I try to hold all my meetings outside my office before I get there. That way I’m not coming and going.

My favourite brands are Yohji Yamamoto for its eccentric, high-end Japanese designs and Prada for its high-end classics—both of which I buy in the Bloor and Yorkville areas. There are a lot of stores there—everything from highend fashion boutiques to jeans stores like Over the Rainbow. In the end, I’m in jeans five or six days a week. Clothes are important to me, and when I was twenty-three years old I had a clothing line that I trademarked CK. I used to sketch and I had someone make patterns for me that I would take to the sewing houses on Spadina Avenue. They would make samples and I would sell them on Queen Street. If I had hung on for a little longer I would have made an insane amount of money, if only because Calvin Klein would have had to buy naming rights from me. In the end it was my club that took off, and anyways, I was not going to be the guy fighting Calvin Klein.

09:00

Three days a week I drive my kids—I have a nine and twelve-year old—to school. I was married, but with my hours at work causing 95% of the problems with my marriage, the marriage failed. However, I’m a much better father today than I was seven or eight years ago. Because at the end of the day, my children put the biggest smile on my face—seeing them or even pulling up and seeing their toys in the driveway—I’m much happier than when someone says, “Here’s a cheque.”

12:00

18:00

19:00

21:00

For lunch, a vegetarian soup and watermelon or mangos. I like to stick to things that are light.

I hardly ever miss dinner and I eat fairly early.

I start checking on my restaurants.

I start checking on my bars.

Sitting in my favourite restaurant for half an hour to an hour, I relax. Three or four times a week I eat with my kids and the rest of the time with a friend or a business associate.

Feedback is very important and you cannot get that unless you’re there. This business is tough, and if you’re not welcoming, if you’re not hospitable, if you’re not truly happy to see people enjoying your space, enjoying your food, your music—your colours come through very quickly.

Other than my meetings, I don’t have a typical day. One day I’m doing an event for a thousand people: a black-tie dinner and a fundraiser. One day I’m doing a rock show. One day I’m building. It’s never the same. Toronto is fairly cosmopolitan and although it’s not New York or Los Angeles, it’s definitely a place I’m happy to live and grow my business. I don’t think I would ever leave this city.

Whenever a new restaurant opens I like to try it. One of my favourites in Toronto is La Société and I’m not saying that because I own it—it’s been very well received by most people in the city and the fish is always incredible. Once in a blue moon I’ll have a burger and it’s probably one of the top three burgers in the city.

I don’t drink and I’ve never been involved in any illegal substances. Everyone knows I’m one of the straightest-laced guys in the city. That’s the way I grew up—who I am. And in this business, you could easily get yourself into a lot of trouble. However, I used to love dancing. I danced jazz and modern and my teacher, George Randolph, a close friend of mine, owns the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts here in Toronto. I danced ten to twelve hours a week for a few years. I could have easily become a professional dancer— I‘m 6’1” and fairly thin.

02:00 Sometimes I’m home by 10:30 p.m., but the average is as late as 5:00 a.m. One of my clubs—The Guvernment—is open fairly late. We often have big events on a Saturday night and I stay because it’s a venue that holds thousands. Before bed, I make notes for the following day—the most important thing—so that when I get up in the morning I’m not trying to think of what I have to do. I also go through my emails, since earlier in the night I’m too busy to deal with messages. I get a lot of funny responses in the morning from people saying, “Wow. You responded to me at three in the morning.” My commitment to my business has never become less—I just sleep less, that’s all.

Words / Diana Cina, Images / Tim Leyes

HOMECOMING

Toronto-born actress Rachel Skarsten is talented, down to earth, and full of energy. Although she is not yet a household name, she is definitely making her mark in movies and television. At age seventeen, she landed a lead role in the WB television series, Birds of Prey, which was filmed in Los Angeles. Her on-set experience was enjoyable, but she missed her friends and family. Once the show ended, Skarsten moved back to Toronto, finished high school, and graduated from Queens University. Shortly thereafter, Skarsten returned to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career once again. “I wanted an adventure so I got in my car, and with $2,000 to my name, drove to L.A.” She has since landed roles in various TV shows, such as Flashpoint and The Listener, and films including Servitude and The Vow. When Skarsten was offered the role of Scott Speedman’s fiancé in The Vow, she thought, “kissing Scott Speedman? Hells yeah!”

YYZ LIVING

RACHEL SKARSTEN

What are some of your favourite Toronto eateries?

Live Food Bar on Dupont—I’m obsessed with their “Big Bowl.” I also love going to Red Tea Box on Queen West to read a book with a cupcake and tea. Come and Get It on Spadina Avenue makes my all time favourite fries.

What are some of your favourite Toronto shops?

Young Jong’s Fruit and Flower Market on Avenue Road—always having fresh flowers in my home is a true indulgence. For clothing, Jonathan and Olivia on Ossington Avenue, and Riant on Bathurst Street.

Which actor or actress would you like to work with?

Daniel Day Lewis. I admire his dedication to his roles, how he can completely transform himself, and how he’s remained an actor first and a celebrity second.

If you could have played any role in a movie that’s already been made, whom would you have played?

Which is harder to play: a comedic role or a serious role?

Comedic roles are easier to play in the moment because there’s a certain spontaneity to delivering a joke. You simply can’t over think it. However, those roles are more difficult in the end because to an audience, comedy is such an individual thing. Dramatic roles take a lot more mental and emotional preparation, but tend to be easier to communicate in the end. When done right, we can all relate to pain.

Who is your biggest inspiration?

My mother and my grandmother. They both taught me in different ways how important faith, family, a university education, and a dream really are. My grandmother was a true dreamer who walked to the beat of her own drum. She was a free bird, a rare breed.

What three things can you not live without?

(1) My Rosebud lip salve, (2) My little brother Jon—it’s always been him and me against the world, and (3) For spring in Toronto, my Dubarry boots. They repel rain and look better the more you wear them.

Michelle Pfeiffer in Scarface. She was beautiful, powerful, and tragic.

What was it like working on the set of The Vow?

I got to spend my time snuggling Scott Speedman and gushing to Sam Neil about my obsession with Jurassic Park. So, I’d say it was pretty great.

If you weren’t acting, what would you be doing?

Going crazy.

We know we’ll be seeing you very soon, so what are some of your current projects?

I’m starting production on the third season of Lost Girl, which airs in the U.S. on SyFy and in Canada on Showcase. I’ll also be finishing up shooting Transporter for HBO/Cinemax and I just completed working on a great Canadian film, Two Hands to Mouth, which we’re awaiting a release date for.

Skarsten is back in Toronto and currently living in the Annex. She misses aspects of Los Angeles, but says, “L.A. will never feel like home the way Toronto does.” In between shooting, she loves walking along the beach and visiting Allan Gardens on Jarvis Street. This Canadian beauty is always on the go. She is working steadily and seems humbled and happy when she says, “it’s a good place to be.”

Words / Talia Zajac

READ THIS

Winner of the And/or Book Award 2010 for photography and the Deutscher Fotobuchpreis 2010 silver medal, Oil captures the disastrous environmental consequences of human oil dependence in startling ways. Enclosed in a wideformat landscape book whose wrap-around cover photograph exhibits miles of barren desert dotted with thousands of pumpjacks, Edward Burtynsky’s photographs are both horrific and beautiful.

Oil

Photographs by Edward Burtynsky Essays by Michael Mitchell, William E. Rees, and Paul Roth Publisher: Steidl (2011) 140 pages, 100 images Hardcover

Burtynsky uses aerial photography to transfigure his subjects into near-abstraction. Unexpected colours and shapes in Sudbury’s nickel tailings become rivers of molten lava. The highways of Los Angeles become context-less swirls and criss-crossing lines. Stacked used-car tires rise up like black mountains. Rusting bulk-carrier ships bob surreally on the empty shores of Bangladesh, ready to be broken down for metals and oil by workers using their bare hands (the only close-up image of people in Burtynsky’s book is his poignant portrait of these Bangladeshi workers). Closing essays examine the history of oil extraction from nineteenth century oil wells in Baku, Azerbaijan; Henry Ford’s transformation of Detroit into Motor City; and the future of the environment and human health.

of celebrated Parisians such as the Comtesse de Castiglione, Coco Chanel, Joséphine Baker, Edith Piaf, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Simone de Beauvoir. Belle Époque postcards of classic city sights like the Notre Dame Cathedral and images of the construction of the Eiffel Tower are contrasted with tragic photographs of Hitler marching into Paris in 1940 or the police attacking students at the 1968 general strike.

Paris: Portrait of a City

By Jean Claude Gautrand Publisher: Taschen (2012) Trilingual edition: English, French, German 544 pages, over 500 images Hardcover

The collection includes the work of many of the foremost photographers who worked in the city, such as Edward Steichen, Nadar, Brassaï, Henri-Cartier Bresson, Robert Doisneau, and Helmut Newton. Short biographies of these photographers are included at the back of the book. Paris: Portrait of a City brings to life a city that continues to fascinate.

Retailing for $69.99

Paris: Portrait of a City examines the changing face of the French capital from the earliest surviving photographs of Paris taken in the 1840s up to the present day. Avoiding sentimentalizing Paris in the manner of such films as An American in Paris, its photographs present famous and wealthy Parisians, as well as Paris’ poorest citizens. Heartbreaking images of poor children, chimney sweeps, and homeless men are placed side by side with portraits

FOREWORD BY GRAYDON CARTER

Retailing for $128.00

Hudson’s Bay Company

By Graydon Carter (Foreword), Joan K. Murray (Introduction), and Mark Reid (Text) Publisher: Assouline Publishing (2011) 280 pages, 220 images Hardcover Retailing for $65.00

Finally, Canada’s iconic department store gets the star treatment it deserves in the beautifully produced coffee-table book, Hudson’s Bay Company. The wraparound cover image features the company’s coat of arms (a shield marked with four beavers, supported by two rearing moose, with a fox coronet and the motto Pro Pelle Cutem meaning “for the pelt, the skin”) superimposed on the company’s distinctive multi-stripe blanket of green, red, yellow, and indigo alternating with white.

Graydon Carter’s foreword explores the company’s rich, 300-year history, beginning with King Charles II’s royal charter giving the Hudson Bay Company 1.5 million square miles for trading—the largest land transaction ever recorded. Lavish full-colour spreads tell the story of the company that helped form Canada. It includes stills from a 1941 Hollywood movie, Hudson’s Bay, about the company’s royal founding in 1670, and the Hudson Bay’s 1995 collector Barbie, wearing the famous multi-stripe blanket. Architectural images of the art deco Arcadian Court and the modern glamour of “The Room,” the Bay’s designer fashion department, are placed side-by-side with the company’s early wooden frontier trading-posts and images of early explorers in a celebration of Canada’s history.

relationship of Dior fashion and visual art, the secret world of the atelier, Dior’s perfumes and jewellery, and finally, in “Starring Dior,” celebrities and royalty who have made Dior part of their signature look from Grace Kelly to Nicole Kidman.

Inspiration Dior By Florence Müller Publisher: Abrams (2011) 330 pages, 200 images Hardcover. Retailing for $145.00

Based on a recent exhibition at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Inspiration Dior contains archive photographs of Christian Dior’s life, costume sketches, reproductions of paintings, and, of course, photographs of his famous creations. The book traces several stages in the work of Christian Dior and his successors including 1947’s sumptuous “New Look” created after years of wartime depravation, Dior’s architecturally inspired “Lines and Bodies,” “Christian Dior and the Eighteenth Century”, and “God and Gold,” inspired by the riches of ancient Egypt and Marie Antoinette. Additional sections examine the close

Inspiration Dior offers delightful surprises, including three palm-sized books hidden within: (1) a miniature reproduction of Dior’s sketchbook from his first collection in 1947, (2) photographs of his French gardens, and (3) a book about the designer’s 1959 visit to Moscow. Metallicgold pages unfold to reveal Dior’s 2004 collection juxtaposed with the curvaceous form of the J’adore perfume bottle. Beautifully photographed and creatively produced, Inspiration Dior is an exquisite picture-book for adults.

and anime art. Instead, he places his creations within the tradition of Japanese art and surrealism.

Murakami Versailles

Certainly, nothing is more surreal than looking at images in Murakami Versailles of highlighter-bright multi-colour smiling daisies with bright little eyes against a background of chandeliers and marble busts in the formal Hall of Mirrors. In another room of the palace, bright fibreglass mushrooms spring up under damask-patterned walls and goldframed portraits. The final pages of the coffee-table book detail how Murakami’s sculptures were assembled and include images of his sketches and drawings. Murakami Versailles offers a visually stunning juxtaposition of traditional Western and contemporary Japanese art that requires no translation to appreciate.

By Laurent Le bon, Philippe Dagen, and Jill Gasparina Photographs by Cédric Delsaux Publisher: Éditions Xavier Barral (2011) 256 pages, over 200 images Hardcover. Retailing for $85.00

Controversial, playful, subversive, cute, and sinister all at the same time—Murakami Versailles offers a unique series of contrasts that will undoubtedly stir conversation. Cédric Delsaux’s large colour photographs document a 2010 exhibit of famed Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami’s work in the palace of Versailles. In an interview with Murakami, he denies the label of “pop art” commonly attributed by Western media to his sculptures, which are brightly coloured, cartoonlike figures, reminiscent in their aesthetic of manga

Louis Vuitton: Architecture and Interiors

By Frédéric Edelmann, Ian Luna, Rafael Magrou, and Mohsen Mostafavi. Contributions by Jun Aoki. Publisher: Rizzoli (2011) 272 pages, 100 images Hardcover Retailing for $90.00

Fashion and architecture mingle in Louis Vuitton: Architecture and Interiors. Photographs describe floor plans like architectural sketches, headquarters are praised, the secrets of industrial buildings discussed. Crafted by its in-house architectural department, Louis Vuitton buildings blend brushed steel, glass, and alabaster in a recognizably soigné package.

Through interviews with the architects, the book discusses how each Louis Vuitton store complements the urban landscape of the city in which it is built. Each space is described in near-poetic detail, capturing the subtlety of Louis Vuitton’s architectural vocabulary: embellishments such as flowers and LV monograms somehow seamless with the local environment in which the buildings are immersed. The result is part architectural guide, part travelogue through cities such as Moscow, Tokyo, Singapore, Macau, Hong, Kong, Las Vegas, New York, Saint-Tropez, and Paris.

season's plenty Photography / Adrian Armstrong, Stylist / Jeanie Lee (Plutino Group)

Hat, STITCH AT HARRY ROSEN $95

Sunglasses, CUTLER AND GROSS $500 Pocket Square, DRAKE’S AT HARRY ROSEN $75 Belt, BRUNELLO CUCINELLI AT HARRY ROSEN $395 Shoes, PRADA AT HARRY ROSEN $485

Sunglasses, CUTLER AND GROSS $500 Earrings, TZURI GUETA AT RUE PIGALLE $150 Necklace, NORITAMY AT RUE PIGALLE $550 Bracelet, NORITAMY AT RUE PIGALLE $350

Shoes, BCBGMAXAZRIA $270

Handbag, HERMÈS $8,025

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Sunglasses, CUTLER AND GROSS $575 Watch, HERMÈS $1,925 Purse, TEMPERLEY AT MAISON 83 $2,615 Shoes, MANOLO BLAHNIK AT HOLT RENFREW $49

Sunglasses, CUTLER AND GROSS $550 Cuff Links, ROBIN ROTENIER AT HARRY ROSEN $345 Money Clip, SALVATORE FERRAGAMO AT HARRY ROSEN $135 Shoes, SALVATORE FERRAGAMO AT HARRY ROSEN $325

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Watch, HERMÈS $5,710

THE LUXURIES OF A WELL-BRED CAR

CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, YOU DO NOT ALWAYS NEED A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF MONEY TO BUY AN EXTREMELY DESIRABLE CAR. FOR YEARS NOW, TOP AUTOMOTIVE CONGLOMERATES HAVE BEEN FIGURING OUT WAYS TO GIVE CONSUMERS DESIRABLE FEATURES AT A REASONABLE PRICE POINT.

Words / MARK HACKING Images / BMW / Daimler / Volkswagen

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3 CARMAKERS, 6 BRANDS, 6 OBJECTS OF DESIRE. In part, this is because luxury car manufacturers identified a gap in the market years ago and have since rushed to fill that gap with “entry-luxury” vehicles—cars with genuine brand cachet offered at a less-than-luxury price point. In some cases, entire brands are created or resurrected just to offer entry-luxury cars to new buyers. The idea is to hook car buyers when they are young and relatively broke and keep them until they are old and relatively rich. So, while you might not be able to afford an exotic car, you can certainly afford a car that has been influenced by an exotic car in some way. Three manufacturers in particular—BMW, Mercedes, and VW—have really embraced this strategy. As evidence, we invite you to consider the following six objects of automotive desire.

BMW The Ghost is, itself, based on the BMW 760Li, but it is tuned more for comfort than for outright performance. While the Rolls-Royce does not drive like one of the biggest cars on the road, you would be hard-pressed to call it a true driver’s car. The EWB version, with its added length and weight, has been pushed even further along the plushness spectrum.

The parent company BMW AG.

The ranking

Number 61 on the Forbes list of the world’s 200 largest public companies.

On the other end of this sliding scale is the MINI Inspired by Goodwood, which is based on the MINI Cooper S Hatchback. As such, the car delivers a stratospheric amount of fun behind the wheel, including spirited acceleration and the most precise handling of any small car on the planet—bar none. But what sets this MINI apart from its brethren is a collection of custom touches that come directly from the Rolls-Royce factory in Goodwood, England.

The brands

BMW, BMW Motorrad (motorcycles), Husqvarna (motorcycles), MINI, RollsRoyce Motor Cars.

Two of the cars

At times, the link between two distinct car brands owned by the same company can be difficult to uncover. Not so with the 2012 Rolls-Royce Ghost EWB and the 2012 MINI Inspired by Goodwood edition. The reason is that the same craftspeople who worked on the interior for the Rolls worked on the MINI as well.

The list of accoutrements is long: diamond black exterior paint, wool floormats, cornsilk leather interior, Walnut burr wood inlays, exclusive 18-inch wheels, and piano-black interior trim that features text in the Rolls-Royce font. The net effect is, in a word, fantastic. While all models in the MINI line are imbued with some serious style to match the driving dynamics, the MINI Inspired by Goodwood sets the bar higher than ever.

Although the Ghost is not the largest or the most expensive car in the RollsRoyce fleet—that honour is bestowed upon the Phantom line—it cuts a very impressive figure nonetheless. The EWB—code for Extended Wheelbase— is a longer Ghost by 178 mm. All of this extra length serves to give the fortunate passengers in the back seat even more room to stretch out, reach for those champagne flutes in the icebox and toast their good fortune.

THE VITAL STATISTICS

2012 ROLLS-ROYCE GHOST EWB

FAST FACT

A truly old-school, non-cellular telephone is an option. BASE PRICE

$290,000 ENGINE

6.6-litre twin-turbo V12 FUEL CONSUMPTION

16.6 city / 10.1 highway (L/100 km) POWER / TORQUE

570 hp / 575 lb-ft TRANSMISSION

8-speed automatic 0-100 KM/H: 5.3 seconds (est.)

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2012 MINI INSPIRED BY GOODWOOD EDITION

THE VITAL STATISTICS FAST FACT

Only 1,000 cars will be built for the whole world. BASE PRICE

$68,000 ENGINE

6-litre turbo 4-cylinde FUEL CONSUMPTION

7.6 city / 5.6 highway (L/100 km) POWER / TORQUE

181 hp / 177 lb-ft TRANSMISSION

6-speed manual 0-100 KM/H: 7.0 secoonds

DAIMLER After a long day on the road however, the seats feel like a medieval torture device. Also, the roadster is a two-seater with a relatively small trunk, so it is not well suited to all driving duties. But all of this matters little for one very simple reason: the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster. Sure, the roadster does not have the show-stopping allure of the coupe version with its gullwing doors, but the performance is identical and driving with the top down has its own obvious appeal.

The parent company Daimler AG.

The ranking

Number 37 on the Forbes list.

The brands

Maybach, Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes-Benz, smart.

The smart fortwo ED, the electrified version of the famed microcar is, in truth, the smarter smart. The sole purpose of the smart—with its leisurely acceleration, relatively low top speed, and lack of storage space—is to be an urban commuter car, nothing more. So it makes perfect sense that the smart should run on electric power rather than gas or diesel fuel.

Two of the cars

To the casual observer it must seem incredible that the same car manufacturer could be responsible for both the 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster and the 2012 smart fortwo Electric Drive (ED). Yet, it is true. In fact, the technology currently being tested on the smart is going to help power a forthcoming electric version of the SLS AMG, dubbed the E-Cell.

The smart is fitted with an electric motor in the back and a lithium-ion battery pack under the floor between the rear wheels. This drive system is so neatly packaged that passenger and cargo space for the ED is identical to that of the gas-powered smart—minimal, but identical.

When considering a car such as the SLS AMG Roadster, there simply are not enough superlatives in the English language to do it justice. The thing is fast, of course—the top speed is an electrifying 317 km/h—but it is also incredibly easy to drive at elevated speeds. The adjustable suspension system does not counteract what is a fairly rough ride, but it does help create incredibly precise handling for such a large car.

Like all electric vehicles, the ED produces maximum torque for acceleration right from the get-go, so it feels quicker than the regular smart up to about 60 km/h. Also, while the battery pack is fairly heavy, the added weight gives the ED better stability and a more composed ride, plus a range of up to 135 km.

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2012 MERCEDES-BENZ SLS AMG ROADSTER THE VITAL STATISTICS FAST FACT

The cloth top drops in just over ten seconds. BASE PRICE

$213,200 ENGINE

6.2-litre V8 FUEL CONSUMPTION

15.6 city / 10.3 highway (L/100 km) POWER / TORQUE

563 hp / 479 lb-ft TRANSMISSION

7-speed dual-clutch semi-automatic 0-100 KM/H: 3.8 seconds

2012 SMART FORTWO ELECTRIC DRIVE THE VITAL STATISTICS FAST FACT

Earlier versions were tested by focus groups in London and Berlin starting in 2007. BASE PRICE

$29,990 ENGINE

55 kW electric motor FUEL CONSUMPTION

0.0 city / 0.0 highway (L/100 km) POWER / TORQUE

563 hp / 479 lb-ft TRANSMISSION

Single-speed automatic 0-100 KM/H: 13.0 seconds (est.) 0-100 KM/H: 7.0 secoonds

THE VITAL STATISTICS FAST FACT

This Continental GT is 40% more efficient than the V12-powered version. BASE PRICE

$230,000 ENGINE

4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 FUEL CONSUMPTION: 15.4 city / 7.7 highway (L/100 km) POWER / TORQUE

500 hp / 487 lb-ft TRANSMISSION

8-speed automatic 0-100 KM/H: 4.8 seconds

2013 BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT V8 THE VITAL STATISTICS FAST FACT

The TT RS has been used as the pace car for the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. BASE PRICE

$67,600 ENGINE

2.5-litre turbo 5-cylinder FUEL CONSUMPTION

12.3 city / 8.1 highway (L/100 km) POWER / TORQUE

360 hp / 343 lb-ft TRANSMISSION

6-speed manual 0-100 KM/H: 4.3 seconds

2012 AUDI TT RS

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VOLKSWAGEN The Bentley is not really a racetrack-ready car—it is a large car and its 8-speed automatic transmission is not calibrated for quick shifting— but on a deserted country road, this car is the very definition of smooth. The car is fast enough for even the most serious driver, the all-wheeldrive system maintains a rigorous, sporty balance, and the exhaust note is downright aggressive. The Continental GT V8 will be 10%-15% less expensive than the W12 in markets around the world.

The parent company Volkswagen AG.

The ranking

Number 17 on the Forbes list.

The brands

The Audi Brand Group: Audi, Ducati (motorcycles), Lamborghini, SEAT.

When the Audi TT debuted in 1998, it turned more heads than a screwdriver and fast became the automotive darling of the creative set. The problem was, in terms of raw performance, the TT could not keep pace with its immediate rivals from BMW and Porsche. Newer, faster versions of the TT eventually appeared—and they were certainly closer to the target—but they still lacked that certain je ne sais quoi.

The VW Brand Group

Bentley, Bugatti, Skoda, Volkswagen, Porsche.

Two of the cars

In terms of sheer desirability, it is tough to beat the range of vehicles produced under the Volkswagen umbrella. The VW group has also been very smart in how it manages its various brands, sharing technology freely, but still managing to develop completely unique vehicles.

But with the recent introduction of the audacious Audi TT RS, there is nothing left unchecked on the enthusiast’s wish list. The sleek coupe is fast. The turbocharged 5-cylinder engine has been boosted to new heights to generate crisp response and an otherworldly howl. The all-wheel-drive system creates acres of grip. The 6-speed manual transmission provides hours of fun. And the entire image of the car has been transformed—the TT RS is the evil twin the family has been hiding in the attic all these years.

The engine and all-wheel-drive system found in the 2013 Bentley Continental GT V8 was developed by Audi for use in their vehicles, including the 2012 Audi TT RS. Although these two cars are vastly different, they also share an objective: pure performance. The twin-turbo V8 in the Bentley Continental GT may be four cylinders down on the twin-turbo W12 that powers the other cars in the Continental line, but it is no slouch. The V8 develops a lot of horsepower (500, to be precise) and a lot of torque (487 lb-ft, to be exact), which translates into some serious get-up-and-go and a top speed of 303 km/h.

TECH FIXATION: A MODERN HOME

Words / Zachary Ormut-Fleishman / Winston Sih

NUMIbyTOILET KOHLER

$6,400.00

While some people shop in shoe stores, and others wait by the door for their package to arrive, the Cubify 3D Printer provides a more direct approach to consumption. 3D Systems, the creator of the Cubify 3D Printer, delivers an affordable method of printing three-dimensional objects, such as shoes or accessories, from the comfort of your own home. The colour printer prints using ABS plastic and replicates objects accurate to 25 thousandths-of-an-inch. The unit can only print in one colour at a time (for now), but gives you the convenience to produce virtually anything that can fit in a 5.5-inch, by 5.5inch, by 5.5-inch area. Created with the user in mind, the 3D printer is expandable with separately sold “on demand” parts that add capabilities such as casting or the use of different printing materials. Designs for printing can be downloaded online or made with software provided at purchase.

The Numi toilet, by Kohler, is one of the fancier thrones we have come across. Consider this the Swiss Army knife of toilets—it does virtually everything. By incorporating cutting edge design and using the latest energy and water efficient technologies, Kohler creates the ultimate experience in personal comfort and cleansing. The Numi toilet includes a motionactivated lid and seat, advanced functioning bidet, air dryer, deodorizer, heated seat, and foot warmers, as well as a built-in speaker system for those who like a little music to pass the time. To keep up with 21st-century technology, the toilet comes with an illuminated touch-screen remote that stores presets for up to six users. Kohler has given the modern luxury bathroom a functional, seemingly urbane focal point.

CUBIFY 3D PRINTER by 3D SYSTEMS

$1,300.00 / CARTIDGES $49.95

FDV IXI SUSPENSION LIGHT by LEUCOS USA

BUGHOLZBADEWANNEN WOODEN BATHTUB by MARKUS FARNER

Our glorious city sky, that in nighttime is lit by spotlights and stoplights is, however, starless. But, above the dining room table, or as a wall separating the parts of a room, a constellation of FDV IXI suspension lamps is an admirable replacement. Hanging from thin metal wires and surrounded by gossamer glass and metal shades, turning off all the other lights in the house and lying down on carpeted floor—it is uncomfortable, we know, but worth it—the light is every bit as beautiful, every bit as mystic.

Legend has it that Markus Farner designed the Bugholzbadewannen Wooden Bathtub on a challenge. Charged with building a yacht, Farner finished construction of its hull before showing his client. Intrigued, the customer quickly lay down inside the hull, and finding it comfortable, demanded a bathtub just like it—and so the idea behind the Bugholzbadewannen was born.

$6,195.00

Available in various arrangements, the FDV IXI suspension lights can be an integral part of any home’s ambience..

Price Upon Request

With its one-of-a-kind look, this wooden bathtub is the ideal fusion of classical and modern design principles—lustrous but made from durable, natural materials. Although the pricing remains unknown, this stunning bathtub would fit seamlessly into even the most luxurious loft.

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FLAMBERGE ROTISSERIE by LA CORNUE $10,000.00

At our typically meat-dense dinner parties our barbecue smokes through our clothes and splashes oil on leather shoes that are never to be worn again. These were the costs of our ruggedness, we believed, of our dedication to the umami cultivated from the great outdoors. Unequivocally, we were mistaken. Although no longer lounging among the grasses, where the ants and beetles roam, the Flamberge Rotisseries by La Cornue, draws the succulent umami from our meats and fishes, all contained within a brushed metal gallery. The size of a kitchen oven, the rotisserie is equipped with automatic ignition, adjustable spits, and enough room to grill two whole chickens while preparing roast vegetables for those so inclined. At YYZ, it is our inclination to use this rotisserie and never look back.

$1,668.70

SORAPOT by JOEY ROTH $200.00

Designed by Joey Roth, the Sorapot is an elegant, modern teapot made of high-quality materials that establish it as the crème de la crème of teapots. Using sleek, architecturally inspired design, the Sorapot brings the natural beauty of tealeaves into sharp focus. Its stainless steel backbone is made using the same process as jet turbine blades and space shuttle components. The borosilicate glass (Pyrex®) and foodgrade silicone body is designed to last and the components are made not to affect the flavour of the tea. Even its packaging is created from post-consumer recycled cardboard and molded pulp, making the Sorapot an environmentally conscious masterpiece.

GROHE RED FAUCET by GROHE $1,668.70

The perfect companion to the Sorapot, the scepter-thin GROHE Red faucet streamlines your kitchen, replacing faucets, kettles, and water filters. Equipped with a combination boiler and filtration unit, the GROHE Red faucet produces, cold, hot, and boiling hot water, filtered of heavy particles and safe for drinking.

With CoolTouch technology, the tap is insulated to negate the risk of burn and comes with a child lock on boiling water that rules out accidental scalding for you or your party guests. The faucet also heats faster than traditional kettles, and can hold up to four liters of boiling water—ready for an impromptu tea break or a winter’s hot cocoa alike.

Photographer / Angela Li Styling / Anastazy Diango Styling Assistant / Victoria Ferguson Hair + Makeup / Sarah McNellis Hair Assistant / Amy Hosier Model / Sydney F / Quinn B (NEXT Models Canada)

Hat, H&M $12.95 Floral Head Pieces, Pomp & Ceremony $110 Pendant Necklaces, H&M $9.95 Bracelet, H&M $6.95 Bow Ties, Pomp & Ceremony $55.16 Floral Dresses, H&M $29.95

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Sunglasses, ZARA $29.90 Flamingo Necklace, TOPSHOP $35.45 Yellow Bead Necklace, ZARA $30 Rigid Necklace, ZARA $30 Gold Chain Necklace, TOPSHOP $18.50 Pendant Necklaces, H&M $9.95 Bracelets, H&M $6.95 Purse, TOPSHOP $40 Cardigan, H&M $34.95 Lace-Top Shirt, H&M $75 Two-Tone Shirt, H&M $75 Orange Floral Shorts, H&M $24.95 Purple Floral Shorts, American Apparel $60

Sunglasses, ZARA $29.90 Beaded Necklace, H&M $12.95 Pendant Necklaces, H&M $9.95 Bracelets, H&M $6.95 Purses, TOPSHOP $40 Lace Dress, ZARA $75 Pink Dress, H&M $39.95

Words / Deena Waisberg, Images / Universal Canada

Nelly Furtado’s Family Indestructible It has been six long years since SHE released Loose, her last English-language album, and fans have wondered at her absence and yearned for another album.

The truth is, Furtado needed a break. “I felt like I’d really been going hard for about ten years. I’d said all I wanted to say in English for a while,” she explains on the line from Los Angeles. So, she reorganized. She got married; started her own label called Nelstar Records where she took on artist development duties; and decided to make a Spanishlanguage album, Mi Plan, in 2009.

It took three years before Furtado felt ready to record in English again. “I had to come back around to it because I’m a really organic person. I don’t like to force things and music is no exception,” Furtado says. To start, she recorded an English-language song with producer Salaam Remi who did three cuts on Furtado’s Spanish album and is known for his work with Amy Winehouse. From there it grew. Over the next three years Furtado slowly put together her fifth English-language album, working with a range of producers including Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, acclaimed for his work with Michael Jackson, Beyonce, and Lady Gaga. The pop songwriter-producer fashioned Furtado’s title track and seven other songs. Furtado wrote the title track with Jerkins the first afternoon they worked together in Los Angeles. “We didn’t really know each other that well, but musically, we felt like we had known each other forever. We found what was almost like our inner musical child. When I left that night it was kind of awkward because you get into the music and it’s so intense and so intimate, and then you’d be like, ‘Should I call you or should you call me?’ It’s almost like this musical one-night stand.” The result is The Spirit Indestructible, a sonically diverse album full of hard beats and playful vocals that Furtado describes as having “swagger in spades.” While the new disc carries over the heavy beats of Loose, it is not a repeat. Loose is a comingof-age album that captured Furtado embracing womanhood. The Spirit Indestructible explores the resilience of the spirit, and radiates a more exuberant than sexual vibe. “I’m more mature on this album. It shows a more spiritual side of me,” says Furtado. The idea for the album took root during trips Furtado made to Kenya as an ambassador for Free the Children, an organization dedicated to eliminating child poverty and exploitation around the world. On these trips, Furtado drew inspiration from those who had overcome great adversity in their lives; a theme reinforced by the books Furtado was reading: Craig and Marc Kielberger’s Me to We and Isabel Allende’s Island Beneath the Sea.

Furtado celebrates the essence of her spirit through the nostalgia that permeates the album. On “Big Hoops (The Bigger the Better),” Furtado channels her fourteen year-old self who dons her sister’s big hoop earrings and baggy pants, and struts downtown to meet her friends, write rhymes, and sing at a music jam in suburban Victoria. The lyrics reference the bands of her childhood—Blackstreet, Salt-n-Pepa, Aaliyah—many of which Jerkins produced. “After I had done ‘Big Hoops,’ I was walking around his studio and saw all the plaques on the wall and I went, ‘Wait a minute, wait, wait a second here…these are the artists he produced,” Furtado explains. On “Waiting for the Night,” Furtado recalls a diary she kept as a smitten sixteen-year-old on a summer vacation in São Miguel, Portugal, her parents’ birthplace. Musically, it replicates the sounds of a summer street party with accordion and booming bass. Furtado explains that the memories of her childhood have returned to her in the last few years and paying homage to them is her way of accepting where she has come from. To preserve the experience of making the album and to give fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse, Furtado documented the process in a series of “webisodes” being posted to YouTube. Though using a videographer who has in the past directed her music videos, Furtado admits that at first she could not write when he was in the room filming. But, she eventually overcame her anxiety, even forgetting the camera was there. “Now I realize why people on reality shows sometimes do crazy things—they forget the camera,” she says. The “webisodes” capture some amusing and insightful moments, such as an exchange between Furtado and producer Bob Rock, of Metallica fame, where each confesses to be intimidated by the other. Another highlight is a spontaneous jam session where Furtado improvises a melody about popsicles while Salaam Remi adds a beat on the wall.

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On the brink of sharing her new album, Furtado says she is ready. There is no question she enjoyed her downtime—in our interview she fondly recalled a road trip she took last August through the national parks of the U.S., where she turned off her phone and did not post to her Twitter account. She also loved being at home with her eight-year-old daughter: dropping her off at school, doing arts and crafts with her, and baking. But now Furtado is looking forward to the album’s release and to touring the world, starting with one-off dates and moving into a full tour in 2013. “I grew up in a house with a lot of strong mommies who worked and did their thing and made it all happen,” Furtado says. Evidently, strength runs in the family.

Words / Sheila Hui, Images / Shaw Media

HOTSHOPS

As the phenomenon that is Real Housewives continues, viewers still cannot get enough of the drama, extravagant lifestyles, and luxury fashions. What started with the Real Housewives of Orange County in 2006 has branched out to other cities in America: New York, Beverly Hills, Atlanta, and New Jersey. But this season, the series has finally expanded into the Great White North. The Real Housewives of Vancouver debuted in April of this year and proved that Canadians can wear fierce fashions just as well as their American counterparts. We caught up with the West Coast housewives to see just what makes their style meters tick.

JODY CLAMAN “Eccentric and over the top!” That is how this self-made business woman describes her style. The same can be said of the reality star’s personality. Often seen in ensembles that are bright and demand attention, Jody shrewdly lists her own store as her favourite, The Glass House Boutique in Vancouver. The vastly popular store carries designer brands the star often wears. With a tendency to favor everything shiny and new, it comes as no surprise that Jody’s favourite article of clothing is a gold-threaded Balmain jean jacket. Eccentric and over the top indeed! “They carry the best brands!” — on her store, The Glass House

TOPSHOPS The Glass House

GASTROGRABS

Jody’s favourite dish is the exotic black cod at Nobu in London

CHARITY

Larry Lunch Bucket Society

RONNIE NEGUS Despite living an undeniably lavish lifestyle—her husband is Russell Negus, founder of Abacus Private Equity—Ronnie has a subdued personal style. Classic and elegant, she describes her aesthetic as “sexy but classy.” We could not agree more. One of her favourite outfits is a simple white t-shirt paired with fitted jeans—streamlined, crisp, and alluring. Favoring simple cuisine over ostentatious feasts, Ronnie says her preferred dish is the classic Italian staple spaghetti Bolognese—with an edge of course—she likes it spicy hot. With her refreshingly down-to-earth tastes and inviting demeanor, we predict Ronnie will be a Housewives fan favourite. “It’s the perfect fresh look. Dress it up with a fabulous pair of boots, a great handbag and you can wear it anywhere!” — on her closet staple, the white t-shirt.

TOPSHOPS

Holt Renfrew, The Room at The Bay, Saks Fifth Avenue

GASTROGRABS

Il Giradino in Vancouver is Ronnie’s local restaurant of choice to order her favourite spaghetti Bolognese

CHARITY

BC Center for Ability, Variety, The Children’s Charity

HOT HOUSEWIVES REIKO MACKENZIE A Japanese-Canadian stunner, Reiko describes her style as “forward, executive, and classy.” With a tomboyish flair and a penchant for racing cars and martial arts, this is one housewife we would not want to mess with. Not without a softer side, Reiko’s favourite item of clothing is a custom made Elie Saab gown. With its long train and classic silhouette, the gown is more than just a dress; it is an heirloom to be saved. Holt Renfrew and Boboli are among the stores MacKenzie visits regularly, choosing pieces to reflect her strong yet feminine personality. “I look forward to passing this down to my daughters.” — on her custom made Elie Saab gown.

TOPSHOPS

Holt Renfrew, Boboli

GASTROGRABS

The “food-obsessed” Housewife, MacKenzie shows off her adventurous side in the kitchen as well. Known to go out and catch the seafood she serves for dinner, when she does dine out it is at restaurants that support locally grown and organic foods

CHARITY

Dress for Success Vancouver

MARY ZILBA A former Miss Ohio who grew up in the States, Mary now resides in Vancouver with her three teenage sons and describes her style as being a mixture of “classic California and Boho.” In true Bohemian style, Mary never creates her outfits entirely from high-end labels. She instead prefers to mix and match her designer pieces with staple items from Club Monaco. While she keeps eclectic by pairing the unexpected, Mary’s favourite piece is definitely high-end—the gown she was wearing as she won Miss Ohio. While she might have grown up south of the border, this Vancouverite is a proud supporter of Canadian fashion. She counts Carlie Wong, Obakki, Triarchy Denim, and TwentyCluny among her favourite labels. “It represents a time in my life where I worked very hard to achieve something at a young age.” — on her Miss Ohio gown.

TOPSHOPS

Holt Renfrew, Burberry, Club Monaco, Bluebird, Hills of Kerrisdale

GASTROGRABS

While she has eaten at the finest places around the world, Mary prefers a treat from her hometown of Ohio—a tabouli salad from Beirut Restaurant

CHARITY

Tuberous Sclerosis Canada, Center for Epilepsy and Seizure Education, Global Mothers Initiative, PETA

Images Jayne Peres

WHAT IS LUXURY?

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Blazer, ROBERT GRAHAM $695 Shirt, JOHN VARVATOS $150 Jeans, ROBERT GRAHAM $250

A study in

leisure Photographer / Justin Aranha Stylist / Reese Evans (Ford Artists) Hair + Makeup / Taca Ozawa (Ford Artists) Model / Jerry (Ford Models)

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Shirt, HUGO BOSS $165 Pants, THEORY $230

Vest, JOHN VARVATOS $175 Pant, JOHN VARVATOS $225 Belt, CANALI $195

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Blazer, JOHN VARVATOS $498 Shirt, ALEXANDER MCQUEEN $645 Jeans, JOHN VARVATOS $250

Blazer, JOHN VARVATOS $475 Shirt, THEORY $85 Pants, PRADA $610

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Images / Benjamin Telford

iSPY

I spy with my little YYZ eye something serene and blissful. Retreat to the Beaches! This is a place where families and friends can spend their time basking in the sunshine. Nestled amidst Queen Street East, Woodbine, and Kingston Road, the neighbourhood is located to the east of Toronto’s downtown core and is one of Toronto’s most idyllic locations. Home to historic buildings such as the George Davis House, one of the four original Carnegie Libraries, and the Fox Theatre (North America’s oldest continuously operated movie theatre), The Beaches embrace its past while preparing for the future. Initially isolated by woodland and dotted with private homes, The Beaches overflow with boardwalks, sandy beaches, parks, and gardens appealing to all ages. Also a thriving commercial district, The Beaches is filled with over 350 stores, boutiques, restaurants, pubs, cafes, and an annual Jazz Festival, making it a hotspot for film and television production. With Lake Ontario at its shore, a remarkable past, and a blossoming future, The Beaches maintains its stature as one of Toronto’s greatest getaways.

PORSCHE DESIGN P’9981 BLACKBERRY, $1,890 Outsells Crème de la Mer at Harrods. A first in fifteen years.

SWAROVSKI NEVADA BRACELET $210 Made for men, stunning on their girlfriends.

HERVE LEGER ELSA QUILTED SHOULDER BAG, $778

HERMÈS SCARF #28, $420

Snake-embossed leather quilted by faultless metal.

Featured in Paris Mon Ami, hewn from softest silk.

SUPER SUNGLASSES, $21 Tortoise, retro, and with their signature golden anchor embedded in one arm.

MICHAEL KORS- BURNT ORANGE HAMILTON WHIPPED LARGE TOTE, $398 Venus leather with golden fixtures and a pocket making cellphones findable.

KARA ROSS PYTHON CORDING NECKLACE, $425 Exciting, gold, surrounded with snakes; sadly, Harrison Ford not included.

EDITOR’ There is no better time to buy accessories. Diamonds are at the peak of their luster, gold blinds, and black leather brings contrast to bright skies. And so I welcome the crisp weather, and YYZ LIVING’s fourth issue, with these, vitalizing, accessories.

YSL HAMPTONS LARGE LEATHER HOLDALL BAG, $2,450 Will hold everything, will look chic doing it.

LA LAQUE COUTUREN° 4 CORAIL COLISÉE, $25

MULBERRY BLURRY BLOOM PRINTED SCARF, $400

Coral coloured autumn camouflage.

A blend of modal and silk, with eyelash trims.

OMEGA CONSTELLATION 24MM WATCH WITH STARS $3,200 A very fine, very slender piece of jewelry, it also tells time.

M∙A∙C BETH DITTO PRO LONGWEAR LIPCREME, $20

M∙A∙C BETH DITTO M∙A∙C SHADE & SMOKE SHADOW/LINER, $26

Shimmer-free, bright, heaven on the lips.

Used by stylists on shoots and the upwardly mobile on millionaires.

’S PICKS SWAROVSKI SWANFLOWER BANGLE, $280 Swarovski crystal and crystal satin float in transparent resin.

TWINLUXE CHROME FINE SHAVING SET, $788 To cunningly replace the rusting aluminum can and shaver that leave bathroom watermarks.

issue IV

SHOP LIST

ANNABELLE

www.annabellecosmetics.ca

ARDELL

www.ardelllashes.com

BEN NYE

www.bennye.com

BCBGMAXAZARIA www.bcbg.com BRUNELLO CUCINELLI

www.brunellocucinelli.it

CARGO

www.cargocosmetics.com

CLINIQUE

www.clinique.com

CUTLER AND GROSS

www.cutlerandgross.com

DAVID DIXON

www.daviddixon.ca

H&M

www.hm.com/ca

ESCADA

www.escada.com

ESCADA SPORT

www.escada.com

ETRO

www.etro.it

GIORGIO ARMANI BEAUTY

www.giorgioarmanibeauty.com

GUERLAIN

www.guerlain.com

GUESS

www.guess.ca

HARRY ROSEN

www.harryrosen.com

HERMÈS

www.hermes.com

JEAN PAUL GAULTIER

www.jeanpaulgaultier.com

KENSIE

www.kensie.com

KETT

www.kettcosmetics.com

LANCÔME

www.lancome.ca

LANVIN

www.lanvin.com

LIA SOPHIA

www.liasophia.ca

L’ORÉAL

www.lorealparis.ca

LUCIAN MATIS

www.lucianmatis.com

M.A.C

www.maccosmetics.com

MAKE UP FOR EVER

www.makeupforever.com

MANGO

www.mango.com

MANOLO BLAHNIK

www.manoloblahnik.com

MARC JACOBS

www.marcjacobs.com

MAX MARA

www.maxmara.com

MISSONI

www.missoni.com

NARS

www.narscosmetics.ca

NORITAMY

www.noritamy.com

PRADA

www.prada.com

RACHEL ROY

www.rachelroy.com

REVLON

www.revlon.ca

ROBIN ROTENIER

www.rotenier.com

RUE PIGALLE

www.ruepigalle.ca

SALVATORE FERRAGAMO

www.ferragamo.com

SEPHORA

www.sephora.com

STELLA MCCARTNEY

www.stellamccartney.com

TEMPERLEY

www.temperleylondon.com

TZURI GUETA

www.tzurigueta.com

VINCE CAMUTO

www.vincecamuto.com

BACK COVER

Le Meridien Bora Bora, Bora Bora, French Polynesia

experience breathtaking destinations and exclusive benefits. only Visa Infinite® cardholders have access to the Visa Infinite Luxury Hotel Collection, a portfolio of hundreds of the world’s most prestigious hotels. and, when you book, you get a host of unique benefits such as the best available room rate, automatic upgrade,** and complimentary breakfast.** †

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discover more at visainfinite.ca

*Visa claim based upon global number of general purpose cards, number of transactions and purchase volume; Visa and Visa Infinite are trademarks of Visa Int.; Visa Canada is a licensed user. Aeroplan and Aerogold are Registered trademarks of Aeroplan Canada Inc. CIBC Authorized Licensee of Marks. Aventura is a Registered trademark of CIBC. ® Lion & Globe Design, RBC and AVION are registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. “The Flying “S” and Scotiabank design are registered trade marks of The Bank of Nova Scotia”. ††At time of booking. **Subject to availability and other restrictions may apply. †The number of properties that are part of the program will change over time.

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