FLARE's Editor-in-Chief gives you exclusive access into the Canadian, North American and international fashion scenes.
The two storey wall of handbags at the Vancouver Louis Vuitton Maison boutique
Dear Santa: I need this Louis Vuitton wardrobe for future travels
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Lisa Tant
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Thu 9 Dec 2010 10:00 AM
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The first thing you see when you walk into Vancouver’s newly renovated Louis Vuitton boutique is a two-storey high wall of handbags. Lit panels show off a selection of the house’s best designs – signature canvas, shiny patent clutches, multi-coloured logo studded bags – a handbag lover’s dream. It’s an impressive first look at Canada’s only Maison store.
What makes the 10,000 square foot Maison different from Toronto’s equally impressive Louis Vuitton boutique on Bloor Street? Both carry the ready-to-wear collection designed by Marc Jacobs and have a top notch selection of handbags but only in Vancouver will you find the bag bar (the biggest in North America) and a private VIP shopping suite. Maybe Tom Cruise or Reese Witherspoon, both shooting (separately) in Vancouver, will stop by? The Maison floor plan also suggests different rooms – although LV prefers to call them “universes”, as in – “here is our men’s universe”.
Some of the store’s highlights are out of my universe. For example – the $100,000+ diamond necklace designed by Lorenz Baumer, and the $35,000 wardrobe, complete with drawers and hangers big enough to house a small child.
Each Maison – there are 11 worldwide – including Paris, New York, Tokyo and London – showcases a permanent work of art. Here, it’s Vancouver-based artist Steven Shearer’s “Ragpicker’s Rainbow”, a set of vibrantly hued serigraphs. It’s a nice touch that gives this massive international brand a Vancouver flavour.
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Lisa Tant
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Wed 10 Nov 2010 10:53 AM
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“Get a good therapist,” quipped Joeffer Caoc when asked for advice for aspiring designers. He should have added find friends with great houses! On November 9, Dr. James Stewart opened the doors to “Integral House” (a reference to its curved walls), his $24 million home in Rosedale, a leafy enclave of Toronto, to showcase a night of fashion. I’ve walked by the site of this architectural marvel of curving wood and frosted glass for years wondering what it looked like inside. The home took six years to build said Stewart, the noted musician, professor and author of university-level calculus textbooks.
Stewart shared his concert space, a three-level-high hall, (imagine a West Coast inspired art gallery) with fashion lovers who came to see capsule collections from Toronto designers Lucian Matis, David Dixon and Joeffer Caoc. The crowd gathered to raise funds for the upcoming New Labels show in April 2011 that will highlight up-and-coming new designers working from the TFI. (F
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Lisa Tant
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Tue 12 Oct 2010 11:11 AM
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Looking at the Balenciaga collection up close (and inside out) is always one of the highlights of my week during the Paris collections. A few days after the show, I head over to the studio on the Left Bank when buyers are writing their orders.
Creative Director, Nicholas Ghesquiere, always amazes me with his fabric and construction techniques. Many described his show last week as "punk" but I was told it highlighted "unconventional beauties" of the early 90s. Think of the quirky young beauty of Kate Moss or Stella Tennant, and the disheveled grunge music of the time. Tennant walked in his show the week before. Now she’s a 40 year old mother of four but with her cropped hair messy and gelled and her signature stomp in place, she fit in with the other “novelty” models Ghesquiere hired, including some girls he admired on the street and top models such as Carolyn Murphy, a pregnant Miranda Kerr and show-closer (and new mother) Gisele Bundchen.
The
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Lisa Tant
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Mon 4 Oct 2010 16:33 PM
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The Louis Vuitton logo and distinctive chocolate brown canvas are recognized worldwide as status symbols. The famed company started in Paris more than 150 years ago as a maker of fine trunks and luggage. Many of those heritage pieces plus iconic items from the company’s private collection and pieces on loan from the National Library of France will be on display at the Musee Carnavalet in Paris until February 27, 2011.
Born in 1825, Louis Vuitton was a professional trunk-maker and packer. He rose up the ranks to become the main packer for Empress Eugenie, and then started his own company specializing in luggage packing. In 1856, his House of Vuitton invented the flat trunk which was better suited to travel. Various special orders, based upon his light wood frames covered in grey waterproof coated canvas, followed and his business took off. But it wasn’t until 1997 when Marc Jacobs launched the luggage company’s first fashion collection that the label exploded globally. In add
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Lisa Tant
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Tue 14 Sep 2010 11:08 AM
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Gala premieres, red carpet fashion, star sightings – we all look to the Toronto International Film Festival for a luxurious taste of global film and celebrity. Yet amidst the Festival’s movie mayhem is a growing philanthropic side. Three of the Festival’s biggest events that I attended shone the spotlight on those in need.
OnexOne, a charity that gives to children worldwide, was launched five years ago (fittingly on September 11) during TIFF. Spearheaded by Joey Adler of Diesel Canada with support from the Rogers family, the charity has quickly become a global powerhouse in raising funds. OnexOne Ambassador, Matt Damon, spoke at Saturday’s exclusive lunch at Ame on Mercer Street about the importance of the charity and the work done in Haiti. Damon and Honorary Chair Frank McKenna announced a $3million commitment to the construction of a pediatric award in a Partners in Health hospital in Haiti. The annual OnexOne Difference Award (previously given to luminaries such as Richa
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Lisa Tant
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Mon 23 Aug 2010 09:00 AM
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I've spent much of the summer interviewing applicants for a variety of different jobs at FLARE, ranging from an editorial assistant to beauty editor. Resumes have flooded my inbox - some brilliant and some not so much. Here are five things I look for when deciding which candidates to meet and which to file. My list is in no particular order, it's just what popped to mind first.
1. First impressions
I'll make a judgment call within seconds of meeting someone, even before they've had a chance to say anything. It's natural, we all do it. And it's the same when I open a job applicant's email. Unless you're a close friend, it's better to use more formal language - ie. Dear Lisa is better than Hey Lis! or the dreaded Hiya! (I get that one all the time.) Make sure your spelling is correct and specify the posting you're applying for. I can always tell when an underqualified candidate contacts me because they've changed the title of the job opportunity
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