About face and more: VicPark Spa offers cutting-edge treatments
Victoria Park, the spa and health club in Westmount, has opened a fabulous new facility in the Golden Square Mile. Housed in a restored Victorian mansion on de la Montagne, it features bay windows, raw [...]
Wearing Canada proud at the CAFA gala
Oh Canada! At the fifth annual CAFA awards in Toronto last Friday, fashion’s glitterati came out to shine in a manner that has hardly been a hallmark of prudent, practical, nice Canadians. Sparkle, tulle and trains [...]
From Fashion Preview and Prélude, a week of fashion in Montreal
Jam-packed, raucous and buzzy. Soignée, elegant and bubbly. Those were the moods at two back-to-back shows at different events to close out a week of fashion in Montreal. Quelle semaine! Fashion Preview, the showcase for [...]
The voice: 10 trends you need to know about e-comm in 2018
The semi-annual HOP summit of the Quebec retail council – the Conseil québécois du commerce de détail – brings together the biggest players in business in Quebec, as well as the amazing startups that are [...]
Playa imperfecto: Isla Mujeres beach offers splendid swimming. Chaotic town has hidden gems
I called them the leatherbacks, a couple in their late 70s, maybe 80s, who hit Playa Norte on Isla Mujeres every afternoon with paperback books. They spread a blanket by the water on the bustling [...]
Impressions from Toronto Fashion Week
Impressions from Toronto Fashion Week: Wandering in to the revamped, rebranded Yorkville Village, where Toronto’s new fashion week just wrapped its second season, I was struck by the familiar. Montreal retailers Jean-Paul Fortin, Judith & [...]
The future of smart wear: beyond the sports app
Smart wear is here. T-shirts, bras, gadgets and watches are wired with sensors to enhance athletic performance and monitor health. In Montreal, OMsignal has developed applications for T-shirts and bras that measure heart rate, breathing, [...]
Fashion design: focus on Marie Saint Pierre and UNTTLD
In 1987, Marie Charest had big dreams to launch her fashion design label. Late one evening at the St-Denis St. landmark restaurant L’Express, her friend Thierry made a suggestion: “Use your own name,’’ he advised. [...]
Montreal’s retail experience: Chains, chains, change
Montreal's fashion retailers are the subject of Part 4 in a project exploring the city's fashion history. The project is initiated by the Festival Mode & Design, with support from the City of Montreal. Reitmans, [...]
Manufacturing: Alvin Segal’s Peerless story
Here is the third instalment in a series of essays on the history of fashion in Montreal. The essays are part of a video project, done with the Festival Mode & Design, with portraits and [...]
Ste-Catherine St.: more than a shopping artery
This is the second in a series of essays on the history of Montreal fashion. Mandated by the Festival Mode & Design, with support from the city of Montreal, the essays accompany a video series [...]
MONTREAL’S FASHION HISTORY: A passion for fur
Well, 2017 is done and gone, and with it, the celebrations for Montreal’s 375th anniversary. There were hundreds of markers for the anniversary, including one in which I was involved – a series of videos [...]