Eliza's Designs

Eliza, a sixteen year old designer makes wonderful creations. She started out by deciding that clothes were too expensive so why not maker her own. "I'd go to the opp shop and buy an old high waisted skirt and take it up so it was nice and modern. Then I started to do it with all the clothes I bought and I'd get heaps of compliments from people about what I was wearing. I only started making clothes from complete scratch very recently and my sister was pretty impressed and encouraged me to keep going."

Upon asking her where she gets her inspiration from : "I watch movies, such as factory girl, which inspired me a lot to make my dresses. Also gossip girl inspired me a bit because I love what Blair Waldorf is always wearing. Even if I'm walking or driving past a shop window and I see something I like, I'll adapt it to one of my dresses. Once I get an idea in my head I always have to make it." Her dream job is to become a designer and from the looks of it she's already on her way.

you can see more of her designs at elizasroom.blogspot.com

Capital Fashion Week - Day Two

Day Two - The night started off with Anastasia Lomonova from Montreal who had simple elegant designs. Las Valentias from Toronto was also rather simple. Elroy designs from Vancouver had a light sixties feel without the drastic colours but rather with short mini-dresses and large buttons.  Aime from Toronto was fierce and urban with geometric patterns and texture variety.  Valerie Dumaine from Montreal was classic and emphasized the high waist trend throughout her line. David Dixon  from Toronto was truly glorious in his use of materials. As the models walked down the runway his dresses floated behind them in an almost mystical way and his use of hardcore black shreds for a reptilian effect was brilliant. Capital Fashion week was a really good show filled with many interesting designs and will occur for a second round in the spring. 

Elroy Designs

Aime

Valerie Dumaine

David Dixon

photocred: Ottawa Citizen

capital fashion week

Capital Fashion Week, held at the Government Conference Center on Rideau Street, had a perfect start off. Day one was full of professional collections from around Canada featuring some of the best designers such as DACE from Vancouver, the men's line KaaDiki from Calgary, House of Spy from Toronto, JUMA also from Toronto, Eugenia Designs from Montreal and the memorable Marie Saint-Pierre from Montreal. DACE began the night with flowing materials and a sixties hippie vibe emphasized by the Beatles' tunes playing in the background.  The clean cut lines and down to earth feel of the collection added to the youthful and summery motif. Following was the mens line KaaDiki which evoked prep school cool with sport genie pants, speedos, and structured shirts. House of Spy had a clubbing mentality with vibrant colours mixed with slick blacks. The hair of that collection was also memorable featuring over-the-top pompadours as you can see on Ilana below. Dominique Rochon definitely works hair wonders and the encompassment of all these parts of the line made House of Spy one of the clear leaders in Canadian design.  Juma by Alia and Jamil Juma was has a career and urban vibe. The genie panted tux was a clear favourite among the crowd and is a prominent style for the upcoming spring/summer 09 season. Eugenia Designs had beautiful flowing dresses but the most memorable part of the collection was the pleated headpieces which were reminiscent of victorian era feather headdresses.  Between the shows, interpretive dances choreographed by Julie Gauthier kept the audience alive until the highlight of the night arrived. Marie Saint-Pierre had a classic gothic look with sky-high heels similar to the shoes made famous by Vivienne Westwood. Capital Fashion Week had an impressive first day and one can only look forward to day two which occurs tonight.

Guess who showed up?

Stacey McKenzie of Canada's Next Top Model

D A C E by Dace Moore

Juma by Alia and Jamil Juma

House of Spy by Wendy Wong

VIP

photo cred: Ottawa Citizen and myself

Enter to Win Pigeon and Peacock Magazine

Send in your style photos to thefashionpress@gmail .com and the 3 top finalists with the best style will win an interview and article on The Fashion Press and the first issue of Pigeon and Peacock magazine. Pigeon and Peacock is a magazine created in London England by the students at the London College of Fashion and has the most upcoming fashions. Innovative and fresh, this magazine will be a winner, for a winner. So yeah, enter.

contest ends February 1st

ottawa fashion week

Ottawa Fashion Week was a high point for Ottawa's fashion scene. After this weekend it will be impossible to call Ottawa the fashion void of Canada. Carmelita Courture was definitely a highlight of the event. With colourful jumpers and an american-apparel-with-class vibe Carmelita was inventive and completely unique. Rubin Kooner's Undone was a basic line of underclothes with class. The flowing loose shirts are simply essential basics.  Stacey Bafi-Yeboa's line Kania Couture had an upbeat vibe with a wildness spouting right out of the eighties. With oversized hoods and structured shoulders, Kania is a line to be observed. Melissa Clemente had classically beautiful dresses and the line Andrea had an intensely urban focus. Ottawa Fashion Week was a success and now with Capital Fashion Week just around the corner one can say that fashion has definitely come to Ottawa.

backstage

Melissa Clemente

Melissa Clemente

Andrea

Andrea

Andrea

Kania Couture

all photos from www.ottawacitizen.com

susie bubble

a favourite of mine for the past two years, Susie Bubble is a lady of inventive class and fun interpretations. Now age 24, Susie started blogging in March 2006 and was featured in teenvogue magazine just about a year later. An ex-digital media worker she is now a commissioning editor of Dazed Digital, an online extension of the ever-cool magazine Dazed and Confused.

born in london and with parents originating from Hong Kong, Susie's style is ever evolving and inclusive of almost anything. Susie is a clear example that you can make anything work if you put it with the right things. when asked about what clothing pieces she finds her self drawn to she states, "depends on the shop. I'm generally drawn to anything that takes my fancy on that particular day, on a particular moment, it really is hard to say. Right now, I'd be drawn to heels constructed out of metal." 

Susie's styles are quite daring and so are her choices of shoes. She wears flats some days but also high heels. and by the word 'high' i mean really high. when asked how she can walk in the Marni patent wedges she states it's "fairly easy. they're not 'taxi' shoes by any stretch of the imagination. I walked in them on cobbled streets in Stockholm for a good twenty minutes without too much trouble. I wouldn't go hiking in them or anything."

In ten years time how does Susie see herself? "If this recession doesn't make Western civilization crumble down to the point that everyone is in a destitute state then I guess in ten years' time I'd like to obviously still be involved in some way in fashion, in which way I'm not really sure. I think fashion roles as we know it will change anyway and that familiar hierarchy will shift so I would never be a fashion luvvie/darrrrling because there won't be that tolerance for that sort of people. Also, I can't address other people as 'Darrrrrling!' I'd sound so lame." hopefully this recession won't affect her career path. we can only hope for the best.

you can check out Susie's fashion articles at www.stylebubble.typepad.com

sara from inks

Sara from inks makes art with brilliant colours and edgy themes. Sara describes her style as "bold, whimsical, and inspiring." She's been interested in painting from as young as she can remember. "Painting has had a presence in my life since I was able to hold a brush." Her favourite mediums for making art are ink pens and watercolour and she looks up to the artists Audrey Kawaski and Anntio Lopez. She decided to spread her work through the world wide web because "it's the one medium where you can gain access to literally everyone." A genius in the making, sara's definitely got talent.

you can find more of sara's artwork at www.sarainks.blogspot.com

toria - the art student

Toria Courtney, an art student from ottawa makes modern art with an edgy feel. similar to the art you'd find in nylon magazine, toria's art is nostalgic and beautiful. she's inspired by "things all around me, music, other art, people and fashion." Toria started enjoying art at a young age for two reasons; disney movies and her mom's monet umbrella. Top favourite disney art inspirations are Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Little Mermaid, and The Princess and the Goblin. As she states, "I love art because it allows you to be yourself and express yourself."

Her favourite artists include Bansky, Degas, Monet... "Oh and Alex Pardee and this new girl I found Audrey Kawasask." She believes that graffiti art is important because it allows the artist to choose their own canvas. One can choose where it will effect their viewer the most. "Bansky has a great social impact because what he has created for graffiti has really changed and challenged art and what people consider 'art'." an artist in the making, her favourite art class this semester is "hands down the painting field!" Toria is one cool cat.

Tavi from style rookie

Tavi, after being photographed by Stephanie from the fashion robot, was inspired at the age of 12 to mark her spot on the world wide web. winner of fashion website of the week by teenvogue and with countless other daily viewers, Tavi has a major fashion influence. "It was Stephanie who got me into blogs. I know her personally and one night she dressed her sister and I up in her clothes and posted the pictures on her blog. As my fashion interest started developing, she emailed me some links to blogs and other fashion sites. The decision to make my own was very hasty and kind of on-a-whim. I had only been looking at other blogs for a short time, so I started my own as a better way to experience the community. Sheer curiosity and haste."

She gets her style inspiration from everything. "Blogs, old pictures, movies, books, street style, magazines, designers, and photography that isn't fashion related. It can just be a photo that draws you in and makes you want to wear an outfit that relates to the photo, giving it more of a story; or it can be a photo that suggests a character you can create through dressing." Her style is constantly changing and developing. Though her obsessions alter daily, she never tires from dressing in the Japanese style, the 70s, and like an evil fairy tale creature.

Now for Lee's random questions. Tavi's favourite book is The Lorax and favourite film is Fried Green Tomatoes. Her favourite piece of clothing "in general is crinoline skirts. In my closet, a dress my Norwegian cousin wore when she was a baby 20 years ago. As if that isn't a strange connection! It was a hand-me-downed to me when I was a baby, and I obviously can't wear it as a dress now but it's great for layering and is the perfect pale shade of pink." Tavi's favourite magazine is the original and fresh Dazed and Confused. A tastemaker for sure, Tavi is no style rookie.

see more of Tavi at WWW.TAVI-THENEWGIRLINTOWN.BLOGSPOT.COM 

andrea crews : paris skate

the image of recycling. save the earth, check out www.andreacrews.com

stephanie from the fashion robot

stephanie from the fashion robot has been documenting her style via the world wide web for over a year and has gathered quite a style posse.  she describes her style as all over the place. her style changes as her inspiration changes. "Right now it's Japanese street style, the 1940s, the skinheads. I like outfits with themes, ones that are almost costume-y in a way."

when stephanie is at career age she wants to be a lawyer and will probably be one of the most funky sophisticats in the office. "I like people," she says, "Actually, that's a lie. I like people who are properly interested in things - horror movies, the renaissance, speaking other languages, existential literature - little random things that make them fascinating to talk to. I can't stand small talk about mundane crap like school or work, I want to get strait to the inner geek or else I lose interest."

about the apparent shallowness of fashion she states, "From looking through blogs and person style sites it seems that many of the people who spend enough time cultivating their own unique look usually have random interests to match. People always pass of those people as "shallow" but I think those who dress the way they do, do so for their own satisfaction - not to look cooler or be part of a specific group - are some of the most interesting people out there."

now for lee's random questions of stephanie's favourite things. her favourite activity is to read books and her book of choice is a clockwork orange by anthony burgess. her clothing item of choice at the moment are combat boots " because they're so comfortable" and a magazine she enjoys is kera "a magazine that I've never actually seen in person, only from scans."

overall stephanie has unique kick-ass style mixing colours and prints in ways you wouldn't think possible. her experimentation has won her teenvogue interviews and the teenvogue award of style blog of the week. she has spread throughout the internet hemisphere like wild fire and we will continue to look forward to her daily doses of fashion.  you can see more of stephanie's style at www.thefashbot.blogspot.com