IN: Market mania
Artisanal markets are no longer the sprawling displays of boring, boring and more boring your mother dragged you to on weekends. Without widespread retail support, homegrown designers and artists are coming together and doing it for themselves. From old staples like the Leslieville Flea to new kids on the block like Inland and Midnight MRKT, these one-stop shops have never been hotter.
IN: Alternative textiles
Uninteresting cotton and wool are so yesterday. Fashion’s obsession with all things fetish continues, with once-niche materials like latex, PVC and metal going mainstream. Don’t know where to begin? Check out local labels House of Etiquette, Bionic Concepts, Artifice Clothing and Ego Assassin. Just don’t start with the catsuit.
WeWood
IN: Men with wood
Get your mind out of the gutter – we’re talking accessories here. From WeWood watches to foraged wood pocket squares and lapel pins by Toronto start-up Baffi, men’s accessories are no longer an afterthought.
Meow Meow Industries
IN: Furry feline friends
Cats: they’re everywhere. In their quest to take over the world, they clawed their way out of cyberspace and onto our clothing. Join the movement with Kensington Market boutique Model Citizen‘s This Ain’t Your Kat screen-printed Ts or local label Meow Meow Industries‘ tanks, Ts and underwear. You’ll look pawsitively fabulous.
IN: That 70s show
Can you dig it? Loud floral prints, flowy silk blouses and bell-bottoms are back with a vengeance. They’re a little less wild child and a bit more sleek this time around, but there’s never been a better excuse to raid T.O.’s excellent selection of vintage shops and find a good tailor.
OUT: Fitspiration
Fitspo – images and slogans supposedly meant to inspire women to be more active – isn’t the body-positive movement it appears to be. Fitspiration’s emphasis on being young, pretty and near-impossibly thin reinforces the same harmful ideas that its sickly predecessor, thinspiration, does. It’s time to kick both to the curb and focus on feeling good about the skin we’re in.
Michael Watier
Sabrina Maddeaux tries on high-rise jeans.
OUT: Hip-hugging denim
Goodbye, low riders. Hello, high-rise wonders! Jeans that come up above your waist, and sometimes even your belly button, won’t leave you with “mom butt.” New and improved cuts and stitching techniques make high-rise denim extremely comfy and flattering.
OUT: Hocus-pocus beauty
Mystery salves and unproven creams from exotic plants don’t cut it in the world of professional facials these days. It’s one thing if you’re just looking for a relaxing day at the spa, but if you want real results, medical facials from the likes of Skinceuticals and laser treatments from Toronto’s Glow Medi Spa and The Freeze Clinic are the way to go. Beauty treatments (when done right) are no longer a guessing game.
Future Is the Future
OUT: Gender-based marketing
Why let a company tell you what to buy based on your private bits? Most of the time, a shirt is a shirt or a facial wash is a facial wash. With the likes of Pharrell‘s new unisex fragrance and gender-blind local vintage start-up Future is the Future on the scene, we hope unnecessary segregated marketing will soon be a thing of the past.
Myla Dalbesio
OUT: Labelling models
The controversy over Calvin Klein‘s casting of size 10 model Myla Dalbesio proves we need to move beyond restrictive terms like “petite,” “runway” and “plus-size.” A woman is a woman – not defined by her measurements. Sure, we need more size diversity in advertising and editorials, but let’s stop this stringent categorization of body types that sets us back rather than pushing us forward.
