Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2022 i FASHION

I was tempted to just run a Ukrainian flag on this page, along with the words “Slava Ukraini” (“Glory to Ukraine”). It’s a phrase I heard a lot growing up. My mother was born in Canada, but her parents were from Ivano-Frankivsk. I never knew them, and now I realize that I don’t know enough about why and how they left what was then Soviet Ukraine. And my mother is gone, too. Every day now, I think of her and how painful the attack on her people would be for her—because even though she was born here, her identity was very much Ukrainian. She spoke it, cooked it, embroidered it and sang in a Ukrainian choir. The yellow-and-blue flag that I see so often now almost feels like her flag—the…

COMING FROM FIVE GENERATIONS OF SEAMSTRESSES, DID YOU ALWAYS KNOW YOU WANTED TO BE IN FASHION? “No, actually. My mom was a very practical woman, so my sister and I were never exposed to the exciting side of fashion. It wasn’t until we started secretly collecting magazines and watching television that everything changed. I was amazed by fashion, and it eventually became my creative outlet.” WHAT WAS THE BEST LESSON YOU LEARNED FROM U.K.-BASED DESIGNER YANG LI? “Working with Yang Li in London had a huge impact on me as a designer because I was so involved in his process. I essentially learned how to make a collection by being exposed to Yang’s research-and-development methods. His focus is always on how to make a piece fit perfectly. When I finally…

STYLE TIP If the temperatures aren’t warm enough for wearing your crochet pieces solo, layer them with lightweight materials such as lace or sheer knits.…

America’s Next Top Model may not have gotten everything right when it comes to what the fashion industry truly entails, but the drama between contestants did have a certain de gree of accuracy—at least according to model and reality-television star Brittnee Blair. Her own foray into the fashion world picked up speed when she moved to NYC in 2013. “I stayed in a models apartment during my first few months, and I saw some things,” she says. “Some of the girls were really cutthroat. I’m talking ‘Nair in your conditioner during fashion week’ cutthroat.” Another seemingly made-for-TV moment involved a roommate throwing a fellow model’s alarm clock out the window to ensure that she’d sleep through a casting call. Luckily for Blair, these early experiences only worked to unlock a…

While we all attempt to leave toxic masculinity behind, more and more men are taking the time to tend to their well-being, and the industry is responding. The men’s personal care market is booming, with global forecasts predicting that it will grow by more than $100 billion over the next 10 years. Canadian men of all orientations are no exception; they’re increasingly seeking out chic specialized spaces for a little TLC. To deliver those perfect fades and expert beard trims—often with a cappuccino or a glass of Scotch—a growing number of high-design barbershops offering more than just the classic shave-and-a-haircut level of service have set up shop. MINIMALIST AND MODERN In Montreal, Leandro Vergara flipped the script on the barbershop concept when he launched Maison Privée in 2015. “The goal…

Ayça Özbank Taşkan is an architect and jewellery designer whose fluid shapes for her brand, Mara Paris, are influenced by many sources. She was born into a family of artists in Istanbul, studied architecture in Italy, lived in Berlin and Helsinki and is now based in Paris. The Dina silhouette was inspired by Picasso’s single-line drawings and has become an ear-cuff, an earpiece, a necklace, a neon light fixture and a brass and marble sculpture. Nine artisans are involved in making a single gold-vermeil ear-cuff, which is first laser cut and then smoothed and polished by hand. “Dina is very important for Mara Paris,” Özbank Taşkan shares. “Hundreds of people have made tattoos of its design and shared their pictures with us. It feels incredible to know that the design…

Blue Nude’s Sonoran collection is guaranteed to inspire both wanderlust and wardrobe lust. Created by Alberta-born and U.K.-based designer Katarina Protsack, the Spring 2022 offering references the American Southwest and features hand-painted prints by Canadian surrealist artist MET. Bonus: Sustainability is in the soul of this stockpile as each piece is manufactured locally in London, England, using only natural, organic and dead-stock materials. RUN TIME To celebrate the 42nd Terry Fox Run, Adidas has collaborated with Canadian artist Douglas Coupland on a graphic tee that features a black-and-white portrait of the iconic athlete and the words “I’m not a quitter,” with all proceeds going toward cancer research. The shirt has already amassed quite a famous fan base—it’s been seen on the likes of Alessia Cara, Rachel McAdams and Catherine O’Hara.…

Best Use of a Remote LEXSON MILLINGTON ❤ @LEXSONATOR If you were around in the ’70s, you might get a little déjà vu when you discover the gem that is Lexson Millington. With a colourful ensemble, some skip in his step and a vivacious personality that shines through the screen, Millington uses his page to fuse his love for music, culture and fashion. He is the master of mix-and-match, and his Colour Combos series on TikTok is all the inspo you need to spice up your wardrobe. Whichever video you end up viewing, we’re sure you’ll agree that it’s almost like watching a coming-of-age movie: cinematic, inspiring and alive! It’s Millington’s world, and we’re all just living in it. Top Pick to Destroy Euphoria’s Nate Jacobs ERIN NOVAKOWSKI ❤ @WHEELIERIN…

I have a secret: Sometimes, I talk to my clothes. I haven’t arrived at the point where they talk back—yet—but I do like to conceive of my wardrobe as a series of vivified objects with their own pulsating energy. Like a cluster of black linen mushrooms, they may not have a central nervous system but they are very much alive. I can tell you the exact origin and provenance of each item as if it were a precious work of art, and I am aware of the circumstance under which it was acquired. (My oversized grey mohair cardigan? Etsy circa 2011, when I was going through my Kurt Cobain phase. My Prada bag? A wild splurge from Vestiaire Collective as a treat for landing my dream job as a fashion…

Graphic Image Achieving spring’s artful cat-eye looks requires tools that are up to the challenge. Enter Benefit They’re Real! Xtreme Precision Liner ($32). Waterproof and available in both black and brown, with an inky satin finish, it features a firm yet flexible tapered brush tip that measures just 0.1 millimetres. Say hello to your best (and easiest) flick yet. PUCKER UP If the season’s lip liner trend doesn’t exactly have you jumping for joy, U Beauty’s latest innovation, The Plasma Lip Compound ($108), could be a more fitting solution if you still desire a pillowy-looking pout. Engineered to build measurable, visible volume in lips over four weeks, the patents-pending technology uses plumping hyaluronic acid and anti-aging ceramides and peptides to stimulate collagen synthesis. The result both smooths and softens the…

WHEN JAKE WESLEY ROGERS pops onto my laptop screen on a grey day in February, I am instantly blinded by colour. And not just any colour—bright fire-hydrant red. Between the wall behind him in his L.A. home and the top of his head (thanks to a recent hair refresh), the 25-year-old singer is basked in a crimson halo, made more vibrant by his purple, green and orange V-neck sweater. The only neutral in this entire pop-art tableau is the black of his thick aviator-style glasses. Despite this colourful chaos, Rogers is incredibly calm. He periodically sips herbal tea from an old mug throughout our conversation and takes great pleasure in talking about his tea preferences. (He loves a good green or black brew, if you’re wondering.) Considering the theatrical performances…

IT’S AN IMMIGRANT’S TALE “We were telling stories about movement,” says Foday Dumbuya, creative director of Labrum (Latin for “having an edge”), about his brand’s first official London Fashion Week show. The striking looks, mostly accentuated with towering head wraps, were inspired by people who came to the United Kingdom from regions such as his native Sierra Leone and other African countries as well as parts of the Caribbean. “It’s celebrating not just them but also the skill sets they moved with,” explains Dumbuya. “They moved to a different continent, embedded their own culture within that new environment and were able to prosper.” WHY THE TIE-DYE? Several pieces from Labrum’s collection were cut from tie-dyed textiles, for reasons both near and far. “Tie-dye is synonymous with where I’m from,” says…

Oddly enough, the two most formative films of my youth were Interview With the Vampire and Bring It On. In the shadows of my teenage bedroom, I gorged on ghost stories, but in the daylight, my cheerleading uniform and study-time sweats cloaked my macabre interests. While I secretly lusted over mesh tops, Tripp NYC pants and lace chokers in my dark sanctuary, I was always too afraid to put down my pom-poms. Not because I didn’t care about clothes (far from it) but because I thought the styles I loved were off limits to Black girls—especially the ones who led school pep rallies. In the mid-to-late-2000s, goth was largely considered a “white” thing. While I’m sure there were kids of colour lurking around with eyebrow piercings and velvet corsets, I…

Bri Scalesse’s favourite part of modelling is the runway—the chaotic energy backstage, the palpable excitement beaming off the audience and the adrenalin that comes from using her body to make a piece of art come to life. “It’s such a shift in the way that I experience people’s eyes being on me,” she says. “As a person with a disability, I’m used to being stared at as I go down the street or live my life in general. But when I’m on the runway, I feel really powerful. I feel present in my body.” The 27-year-old’s dream to be a model began after she became a wheelchair user at age six due to a car accident that left her legs paralyzed. She recalls flipping through pages of magazines and seeing…

It’s safe to assume that Jonathan Van Ness is your favourite member of the Fab Five. While the whole cast of Queer Eye is undeniably lovable, the breakout success of Van Ness, the show’s resident hair and grooming expert, is easy to understand. His positive attitude and his ability to put anyone at ease with his unapologetically steadfast commitment to being himself are magnetic. It even recently landed him his own Netflix series, Getting Curious With Jonathan Van Ness. It’s the same charmingly optimistic approach he was inspired to bring to the masses with JVN, his recently launched line of hair products. “Our hair is a versatile, powerful accessory, and it has an incredible ability to improve our confidence,” says Van Ness, who has worked with the gamut of clients…

Shirley Ibe has not followed her father’s advice. “His mindset was always quality over quantity,” the makeup artist shares of her dad’s shopping mantra. But with around 250 pairs of designer heels (recently reduced from 400 after a closet cleanout), she says she’s chosen both. “I’ve definitely gone to the extreme in terms of quantity,” she laughs. Growing up in Canada, Libya and Malaysia, Ibe always loved beautiful things. The collector credits her parents with cultivating her passions, whether they took the form of cosmetics or clothing. “I grew up in a household where appearance was important,” she reveals. “My mom was one of those women who always looked put together, and I never, ever saw my dad in jeans.” While Ibe’s initial infatuation with high heels came from her…