14
September

Piles of pleats, big bags, longer everything: The strong style trends from Men’s Fashion Week Fall 2024 shows

By avi maxwel / in , , , , , , , , , , , , /

(Source, left to right: Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Gucci)

Florence, Milan and Paris were unseasonably cold over the last two weeks as designers staged their Fall 2024 menswear collections during Pitti Uomo, Milan Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week. Fitting, considering the clothes we were shown for next fall and winter prominently featured big coats and touched on enjoying the great outdoors. Some designers even celebrated the cold, like Pharrell, who closed out the Louis Vuitton show with a dusting of snow.

The runways were a showcase of looks that felt, on the whole, incredibly wearable. That was particularly evident in Milan, where Gucci launched a new menswear era for itself under the stewardship of Sabato De Sarno. If his predecessor, Alessandro Michele, was an unparalleled world-builder who pushed the boundaries of campy fashion, De Sarno seems set on making clothes that he — and a broader range of clients — want to wear. 

There was a similar feeling in Paris, where many of the big houses offered up collections that were less editorialized than recent years, with more approachable silhouettes. Oversized pants, for example, were replaced by the familiar straight-leg, slim-cut trouser.

Beyond that, though, these are the trends that

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12
September

The Year Street Style Got Good Again

By avi maxwel / in , , , /

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09
September

Succession’s Kendall Roy’s Best Outfits, Ranked

By avi maxwel / in , , , , /

Plain Margiela T-shirts that cost almost as much as your rent, if not more. Suits for the price of a car. Baseball caps and sneakers and sunglasses, completely logo-less, that look so basic, they could be any affordable essential—only, they aren’t. This is the wardrobe of television’s one and only Kendall Roy, maybe-heir to Waystar Royco in Succession, definite style icon in my books.

Viewers (and, at this rate, probably non-viewers too) of Succession know that the billionaires on the show are all about understated luxury—”stealth wealth,” if you will. No branding. No logos. Insanely expensive, nonetheless. I’m talking cashmere baseball caps that are a few hundred dollars, suede moccasins that I’d be afraid to step outside in.

There’s a certain lowkey flex to the ultra-wealthy not needing to slap flashy prints and designs and monograms on their staple pieces: they may look like basics, but everyone knows they’re not spending less than a few hundred on a single garment. Those who do enter the circle of the Roys with flashy designer branding are ridiculed for their tastes, ostentatious and tacky in the face of such understated luxury—RIP, Ludicrously Capacious Bag

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06
September

How these South Asian fashion and beauty creators prepare for Diwali

By avi maxwel / in , , , , , , /

(Source: Instagram/@dhivya.sri, @priyasidhu, @itsgurnaz; art: CBC Life)

It’s time to shine bright for the Festival of Lights. Dressing up in vibrant new clothing is one of the special ways to celebrate Diwali, which is why we reached out to three South Asian fashion and beauty creators to talk about their plans for the big holiday. Whether they’re putting together a simple outfit for visiting the local temple or a more dramatic look for a big party, these creators love the chance to get dressed up, do their makeup to the nines — and inspire their followers who want to do the same. 

We chatted by email about blending tradition with modern trends and their favourite colours, accessories and makeup techniques to try this year.

As a Toronto-based fashion, beauty and lifestyle creator, Priya makes content about her beauty routine, how she styles her outfits, her wellness journey, and more. Her fashion content frequently showcases South Asian fashion looks from Canadian labels and international brands. With Diwali coinciding with the Sikh festival of Bandi Chhor Divas, the season really reminds her of the importance of family, as hers comes together for a traditional Punjabi feast, lighting of diyas, and visits to

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04
September

Why ditching fast fashion never goes out of style, and can save money in the long run

By avi maxwel / in , , , , , , , /

Danielle Cosentino used to give bags of unwanted clothes to her cousin every year.

While her cousin loved the free stuff, Cosentino grew tired of buying so much and wearing so little. She had become caught up in acquiring trends through fast fashion retailers only to realize she was locked in a loop of buying cheap clothes, having them degrade quickly, then having to buy more.

“I’ve always been told if you haven’t worn it in two years, then it should go,” says Cosentino, a massage therapist and nutritionist. “And I felt like that would be half my closet.”

A variety of studies and sources go even further than that, estimating that most of us don’t wear 70 to 80 per cent of our clothes.

Averaging out census data over several years, Canadian households spend roughly $300 a month on clothing, according to Statistics Canada. If most of that will be barely worn, our closets are essentially graveyards of disposable income.

Cosentino wanted to change. She hired Jaclyn Patterson, a personal wardrobe stylist and founder of  Shopwise, an online sustainable fashion retailer that focuses on “slow fashion.”

Cosentino began evolving her shopping habits and treating her wardrobe like a long-term

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