Madonna screens her new film W.E. to Toronto audiences, the second time the film has been shown after debuting at the Venice Film Festival. The question: Is it good? The answer: It’s interesting.

It’s Madonna’s sophomore directorial effort, a biopic-ish flick largely about the life and love of Wallis Simpson, the woman who attracted King Edward VIII’s affection, prompting him to renounce the throne in 1936 in order to be with the woman he loves (what happened next for the royal family forms the premise of Oscar-winning The King’s Speech).

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At 32, Skye Parrott is every bit a contemporary trendsetter. Part fashion photographer, she has contributed to V, Interview, i-D and Acne Paper. Part publisher, she is the co-creator of Dossier, a biannual art and fashion journal. She’s also an art photographer, curator and retailer running the bricks and mortar manifestation of her magazine, Dossier Shop, from the garden level of her Brooklyn home.

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Barilá S/S 2012 (photographed by Jimmy Hamelin)

Montreal Fashion Week rolled back into its usual digs at the Marche Bonsecours for three full days and nights of Canadiana style.  The Block made its way down the cobblestoned streets of Vieux Montreal (in heels, no less!) to bear witness to the display of local talent. Check out our thoughts on three of the Montreal-designed collections we caught during the week.

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On the cover of Zonoscope, the third album from Australian electropop superstars Cut Copy, a river flows through New York, descending from the heights of the Chrysler and Empire State buildings as an unimpeded waterfall. The surreal image, created by late Japanese photomontage artist Tsunehisa Kimura, sets the stage for the record’s dreamy sound. Framing the flooded cityscape is the fictional zonoscope that the album is named for. “The zonoscope is this lens that you look through to see into this ot her world that we’ve created making this record,” explains frontman Dan Whitford.

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On the last day of August 2011, the steps of Montreal’s ornate Église de Saint Jean-Baptiste were draped with throngs of sartorially-daring fashion devotees who smoked, scowled, and generally flaunted their expertise in the art of being charmingly blasé. Despite the external cool emanating from the crowd, however, an electric current of excitement and anticipation was palpable—after all, this was no ordinary day at church. Up and coming Montreal designers Natasha Thomas and Christian L’Enfant Roi were set to debut their much awaited S/S 2012 collections in this unique location, and the crowd was ready to worship at the atelier.

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There are some articles of clothing which inspire the wearer to channel a whole new persona. For instance, I imagine that by simply pulling on a pair of these gorgeous Cobra Society boots, suddenly I’d become the kind of girl who boldly tromps though dusty desert bad lands, impervious to the slithering critters and suffocating heat which would surely send my usual, city-girl self, scuttling to the first place I could find with wi-fi and a decent iced mocha.

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Eleanor Friedberger, photo by Michael Rubenstein

Since 2003, Eleanor Friedberger has been working relentlessly as the fairer half of brother-sister duo, the Fiery Furnaces, who have released nine records within six years. While the hard work has clearly paid off, the songstress felt that it was time to take a step back from the Fiery Furnaces and stand alone with the release of her first solo record, Last Summer. (Don’t go getting your knickers in a twist, because this does not mean the end of the Fiery Furnaces). With fear of regret and the realization that she isn’t getting any younger, Friedberger – who appears to share the same gene pool as Patti Smith – felt that the timing was right and went forth to produce one doozy of a solo album. Weaving in autobiographical accounts line-by-line, verse-by-verse, song-after-song, Friedberger’s sing-talk vocals only heighten the album’s sense of intimacy. It’s like listening to the quirky musician read a segment of the diary she wrote last summer.
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Last year when Carine Roitfeld officially resigned from Paris Vogue people reacted in such a dramatic manner, one would’ve thought that she had died. Text messages were being sent around that read: “Carine? Noooo!!!!!!!” or “End of an era (insert sad face).” Thankfully, Roitfeld is alive and well and posing with her children for Barneys fall campaign. Not being at the helm of Paris Vogue has given her time to pen (or put some pictures together) Carine Roitfeld: Irreverent , a visual history of her entire career thus far, set for release on October 18.

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When sisters Chloé and Parris Gordon debuted on Toronto’s runway as Chloé comme Parris in the fall of 2010, there was a palpable buzz. I missed the show, but it’s all anyone would talk about for a solid twelve hours. Grandstanding phrases like “the best newcomers in years” to “the ones to watch” were thrown around, and the fashion set hailed the Gordon sisters as marking a new, exciting era for emerging talent in Canada. Bloggers were swooning at something they could actually relate to (and probably afford) that was also close to home, and the city’s more seasoned fashion reporters finally had new talent worth genuinely applauding in the papers. The duo’s affiliation with The Fashion Collective – a burgeoning creative agency itself tasked with bringing fresh blood to our fashion week – also did much to enhance the sisters’ persona without questioning credibility. Chloé and Parris weren’t struggling to gain exposure or funding or showing mediocre fourth year fashion student work either – they were already, somehow, a thing. Even before their Toronto debut, two boutiques in the city ordered pieces from their publicly unseen fall 2010 collection.

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Karen Elson and Raquel Zimmermann dancing to Pitbull’s “I Know You Want Me” clad in Lanvin’s stellar F/W collection. What’s not to love? Couple in the genius of Steven Meisel and creative direction by House and Holme, and we’ve got one minute of much-needed silly fashion fun. The best part: the always-adorable Alber Elbaz joins in at the tail end.

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