Archive for February, 2010

I first came across Stacey Zhang while perusing Quebec’s Sensation Mode newsletter last fall. I fell in love with an adorable asymmetrical plaid cocktail dress featured on the centre of the page. All I could think was, “Please let this be a Canadian design because I want this designer in my shop!” My prayers were answered! Not only was this creation from a Montreal designer, but her entire collection had the same impact! I simply wanted one of each style in every colour! Needless to say, my wardrobe has grown steadily since Stacey became part of Shopgirls.

The “I cannot live without” saga continues with Stacey’s new 2010 Spring collection. As always, this Montreal designer never ceases to amaze and delight with her flirty, feminine yet original designs. Her ability to create interesting yet wearable pieces truly distinguishes Stacey’s collection. We are proud to be one of the few Toronto boutiques to feature her work. To my husband’s dismay, my closet will continue to grow as Stacey’s new spring pieces begin to arrive in-store in early March and miraculously end up in my wardrobe. (Looks like I’ll also need to stock up on hangers for my closet!)

Toronto artist Willow Dawson is Shopgirls’ purveyor of colourful and whimsical prints, and she took a few moments to fill us in on her current projects and long-time influences.

What kind of work do you do and what materials do you use?
I’m an illustrator and graphic novelist. I paint in acrylics on cardboard and sell prints, card sets and button sets of my images. As a graphic novelist, I work sequentially in india ink on bristol paper. My books include No Girls Allowed with Susan Hughes (Kids Can Press, 2008) and Violet Miranda: Girl Pirate with Emily Pohl-Weary (Kiss Machine Presents, 2004-2007). I am currently working on several upcoming projects, including Lila and Ecco’s Do-It-Yourself Comics Club (Kids Can Press, ETA: 2011), 100 Mile House, a semi-autobiographic novel for which I have received a Toronto Arts Council Grant (ETA: TBA, excerpts published online by Top Shelf Productions) and more art prints, of course.

What makes your work unique?
People often comment on my colour choices and the graphic quality of the imagery.

Who or what are your influences?
I’m influenced by a variety of people from turn-of-the-century illustrators and designers like Gustav Klimt and Aubrey Beardsley to painters like Emily Carr and Tom Thompson, cartoonists the likes of Winsor McKay, Julie Doucet, Craig Thompson, multi-disciplinary artists like Dave McKean and musicians like Tom Waits, Veda Hille and my husband’s band Pink Moth.

What is your current creative obsession?
I’ve always been obsessed with nature, pattern and colour.

Who’s your favourite Canadian artist or designer?
I don’t really have a favourite, I like many of them!

Pictured are: Beekeeper (left) and Long Dress.

Via former Shopgirls-window-display gal, the uber-talented Paige Boersma, we learned of these amazing accessories – handbags by UK-based Angel Jackson. The line was launched in 2005 by sisters Katie and Millie Smith, who strive to combine outstanding design and ethical production, and have succeeded as far as we can tell! Their bags are just stunning, and sold in high-end boutiques and stores all over the world. The feather pieces are especially mind-blowing!

Shopgirls was thrilled to read recently that Parkdale has been found to be one of ten neighbourhoods in Canada with a high concentration of artists in the local workforce. Awesome!

Click here for the full article, where you can actually read about neighbourhoods with decreasing artist populations, mean salaries for artists by neighbourhood and even stats for female artists in certain area. And of course, here’s a snippet of the article, along with a list of the other neighbourhoods:

This study, prepared for the City of Vancouver, the City of Calgary, the City of Toronto, the City of Ottawa and the Ville de Montréal, shows that, collectively, the 53,500 artists in these five large cities represent 38% of all artists in Canada, a proportion that is much higher than the five cities’ share of the overall Canadian labour force (21%).

The report provides an analysis of artists residing in various postal regions – “neighbourhoods” – in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver in 2006. The report provides lists of the ten neighbourhoods with the highest concentration of artists in each city. Nearly 22,000 artists live in the 50 neighbourhoods in the five cities’ top ten lists. This represents 41% of the artists in the five cities and 16% of all artists in Canada.

Each of the five cities has areas with above-average concentrations of artists. However, among all Canadian neighbourhoods, certain Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver neighbourhoods have the highest concentration of artists.

1. Montreal’s H2T neighbourhood has 7.8% of the local labour force in the arts. H2T extends northward from avenue du Mont-Royal to avenue Van Horne (and the railway tracks) between St-Denis and Jeanne-Mance. This is the “most artistic neighbourhood” in Canada, with an artistic concentration that is nearly ten times the Canadian average (0.8%).
2. Montreal’s H2W neighbourhood, directly south of H2T, has an artistic concentration of 7.5%.
T3. Toronto’s M6R neighbourhood (Parkdale west to Parkside Drive) has 6.0% of its labour force in arts occupations.
T3. Montreal’s H2Y neighbourhood (the Old Montreal and Old Port areas) also has an artistic concentration of 6.0%.
5. Toronto’s M6J neighbourhood (West Queen West, centered on Trinity-Bellwoods Park) has 5.5% of its labour force in arts occupations.
T6. Toronto’s M6G neighbourhood (north of M6J, extending from College Avenue to St. Clair between Bathurst and Ossington) has 5.3% of the local labour force in arts occupations.
T6. Montreal’s H2J neighbourhood, which extends east of H2T (from St-Denis to Papineau between the railway tracks and Rachel) has an artistic concentration of 5.3%.
T8. Montreal’s H2V neighbourhood (Outremont) has 5.2% of its labour force in the nine arts occupations.
T8. Toronto’s M5R neighbourhood (the Annex and Yorkville areas) has 835 artists out of 15,910 total workers, for an artistic concentration of 5.2%.
10. Vancouver’s V5L neighbourhood (centered on Commercial Drive and extending from Burrard Inlet to East 1st Avenue between Clark Drive and Nanaimo Street) has 5.1% of the local labour force in arts occupations.

Below: Ten Toronto Neighbourhoods with the highest concentration of artists, 2006.

Vancouver-based Pauline Siu talks to us a bit about her line, flora&fauna, and her influences. Shopgirls is thrilled to have her SS10 line coming into the shop in the next month!

What kind of work do you do and what materials do you use?
flora&fauna is an eco-fashion label in Vancouver, BC. We use only organic and/or sustainable materials in our clothing, including organic cotton, and soy (made from tofu processing plant waste). We love using wood and coconut buttons!! They are so cute, dyeable, and biodegradable too! We are always on the looking for new materials that are good for the earth.

What makes your work unique?
Our designs are uniquely functional and fashionable. Every piece is easy to wear and layer – most pieces have hidden pockets, perfect for the gal on the go! A few of the strapless pieces have inner bras built in for support. Each piece is inspired by one of our favourite plants or animals, hence our name flora&fauna – with proceeds going towards charities that help conserve the environment and foster care for orphan animals! So far, we’ve been able to sponsor an orphan squirrel and a black bear cub, with the help of our friends at Critter Care in Langley, BC.

Who or what are your influences?
I get most of my inspirations from my encounters with wildlife – whether it’s on a surfing-camping trip in Tofino, exploring tidal pools, a quiet hike in the forest, or even just hanging out with my dog and our doggy friends at the park! The colours, silhouettes, and other small subtle details often come from there. When I’m back in studio sketching or making patterns, I put on my favourite playlist with lots of fun music, I think the music brings the fluidity to my designs. Top 10 on my playlist are: Bjork, Patrick Watson, Neil Young, Brasstronauts, the Talking Heads, Wax Mannequin, Bonobo, Pink Floyd, Patti Smith, John Lennon. You can check out my blip.fm station to see what I’ve been listening to lately.

Another one of my influences is Hayao Miyazaki’s work. With recurring themes on humanity’s relationship to nature and technology, as well as the power within each of us to make positive changes – these stories helped instill a sense of empowerment, ethics, and respect for nature in me when I was a child, and re-watching them as an adult only deepens my values.

What is your current creative obsession?
Last Christmas, I had a sales booth at Canamade (a Christmas marketplace, featuring Vancouver designers and craftsters) – the weather was awful, so the show was slow. A friend who also had a booth there was making needle felted animals, and I made her to teach me how to needle felt! It’s so much fun!! You can make anything with it. I have been obsessively making kittens ever since! I even got my boyfriend hooked on it. On weekends, instead of going out party, we just sit by the fire with a bottle of wine and needle felt!!

Who’s your favourite Canadian artist or designer?
I absolutely adore Vancouver artist Camilla d’Errico. Her work is so beautiful – she is an animal lover as well!! I hope to do a collaboration with her one day!!

Eco-Fashion is a term that brings thoughts of hemp suits and hippie garb to many. Some might call it an oxy-moron. As far as I can tell it’s the future. Welcome to Fashion Footprint: a column for the socially conscious fashionista. I’ve been asked to contribute this regular post with the goal of lessening the carbon footprint that our love for fashion leaves behind. Gone are the days of the burlap cliché, I’m talking chic and innovative design. Don’t believe me? Check out the first collection by V!TOR as seen at TheKEY.to{Shift} in Berlin last month. Want something Canadian? How about Thieves by Sonja den Elzen. Those are just two of many designers who are paving the way for what’s to come. So lets start with the basics: FABRIC.

Organic Cotton – Cotton that is grown without pesticides and fertilizers that contain synthetic chemicals. (This is a big deal since conventional cotton uses more chemicals than any other crop on earth!) It is generally grown from non-genetically modified plants. There are, however, other problems with Organic Cotton such as depletion of nutrients in the soil and water usage – both to grow and crop and to clean the harvested cotton.

Bamboo – As a resource bamboo is amazing. It uses less water than cotton, grows fast, doesn’t need insecticide or fertilizer and doesn’t require replanting year after year. It also gives nutrients back to the soil & produces a huge amount of oxygen. However, with the exception of Bamboo-Linen most bamboo fabrics (Bamboo-Viscose, Bamboo-Rayon) do require harsh chemicals in one step of the process from plant to textile. At this point some experts believe the negatives of bamboo-viscose are on par with those of organic cotton. Bamboo-linen is said to be super absorbent, anti-bacterial, and compostable.

Click here for a good article that explains different bamboo fabrics and compares them to cotton.

Recycled Polyester (PET) – made from recycled pop bottles, this fabric performs just as well as polyester made from new materials (see: petroleum by-product). I’ve been noticing this stuff popping up everywhere especially in high performance gear by companies such as MEC and Patagonia.

So there you have it – Eco-fabrics for dummies. These are just three of the most common textiles advertised as ‘environmentally friendly’. Don’t forget, there’s always the option of reworking something old into a new design à la Preloved and Shopgirls’ own Susan Harris.

OK, so we’re a little late in writing about this one. Better late than never and we couldn’t resist plugging our friend, even late in the game.

In our opinion, it is Toronto blogger Danielle Meder who’s mastered the art of the fashion tribute. Well-known as a talented fashion illustrator, Meder endeavored to create in miniature the SS10 collections of designers presented year fall at LG Fashion Week. Hence, the Paper Dolls.

Months of work resulted in “Paper Dolls: Toronto SS10 Collections”. While the SS10 collections are about to hit shops, Danielle has already moved on from those dolls and is planning on a new set based on FW10, though perhaps not endeavoring to adapt so many collection to the paper doll.

Shopgirls is so proud to sponsor Danielle’s blog, and we are absolutely enamored with the Paper Dolls! Keep an eye out for the FW Dolls, and some in-store items, perhaps… books? Limited edition prints? We’re working on it.

In the meantime, check out all the adapted SS10 collections on Danielle’s Flickr, and click here to download a mini-version of the book, here to contact Danielle to buy a PDF for cutting out and playing, or here for a copy of the book. According to Shopgirls, it’s already a collector’s item; for anyone interested in fashion, and especially Canadian designers, this is a beautiful tribute and a work of art. Kudos Danielle!

Hi, I’m Kayla Blandford. I’m in my last year of school and my sixth month at Shopgirls. I’m going to be blogging about my internship, fashion in and out of school, and of course, top five lists. Here’s my first post, a bit of all three.

5. Administrative tasks are crucial:
Paperwork can be awfully dull, and Excel spreadsheets are my personal nightmare. However, being a hopeful future entrepreneur, the more comfortable I am with administrative duties, the easier they will be when it is time for me to run my own business.

4. Be outgoing or fake it until you are:
Each day at placement is another opportunity to meet fashion industry professionals. Never pass up a chance to introduce yourself, because it’s more than likely you will run into these people again sometime.

3. A smaller company becomes a bigger advantage:
As an intern the more I am exposed to, the more I learn. Shopgirls is an independent boutique, which allows me to be much more hands on, and I can explore many different aspects of the fashion industry (media, visual merchandising, events, trend reports, etc.).

2. Never underestimate the power of a window display:
While at Shopgirls, the “stage” has become my life. Earlier, I couldn’t imagine how many hours of work are put into a display, and what it takes to really give the mannequins personalities. With the help of other Shopgirls, I have been putting together the window displays, and absolutely loving it. Every three weeks I come up with a new concept, collect the props, build the window and merchandise the mannequins. These displays allow me to be very creative, and ultimately have become my dream job and career goal.

1. “Trust your gut”:
This particular placement is part of my last semester of Fashion Arts at Humber College. On the evaluation, Shopgirls owner Michelle Germain was asked to give me a piece of career advice, and simply stated, “Trust your gut”. These are definitely words I will never forget. Daily, I remind myself to follow my instincts, especially when it comes to fashion.

Any major lessons you learned as an intern? Feel free to share!

Via my good friend and artist, Carl Heindl, I came across the work of American artist Matthew Albanese, who creates mini landscapes using household items like steel wool, tile grout and table salt. He says, “Every aspect from the construction to the lighting of the final model is painstakingly pre-planned using methods which force the viewers perspective when photographed from a specific angle. Using a mixture of photographic techniques such as scale, depth of field, white balance and lighting I am able to drastically alter the appearance of my materials.”

The effect is stunning.

Shopgirls has been waiting patiently since we moved into Parkdale for some big changes, specifically a reconfiguration of the Dufferin Jog. We have found in the last few years that local residents love us, but it’s been tough to get Queen West shoppers to walk past the bridge. With the current changes underway, that whole area is going to be one big invitation into Parkdale, and it’ll be that much easier to get to Shopgirls! Public art, green space, bike and walking paths – we’re so thrilled about this project. And finally we have pictures!

Torontoist details the history and development of the project here.