Monday, March 06, 2017

Toronto Art En Vogue

Toronto Art En Vogue
Clothes are considered necessity and fashion is a driving force in culture and economy, but for all its influence, is fashion art? And where does it fit into Toronto’s artistic diversity?

If you were to look at the website for the Ontario Arts Council, you will notice that it does not include fashion as a part of the province’s cultural and artistic industries. The fashion industry has, over the years, been clamouring to have the council to recognize fashion as an artistic endeavour.
Members of the fashion industry are in constant rebuttal of this notion, though. To many in the fashion industry fashion is, undoubtedly, an art.
“Of course it’s an art,” says Toronto stylist and George Brown graduate, Claudia Flipfull. “Art funnels into what I’m doing now as a stylist.” She states that styling requires artistic discipline and theory: line, texture, colour, form, value and shape. “It all corresponds. We just use fabric instead of paint.”
 “Without art,” she continues, “and without creative individuals, there would be no fashion. We’d all be walking around wearing potato sacks if fashion wasn’t a creative outlet.”
Fine art and fashion have always fed into one another. Dolce & Gabbana’s much buzzed about Fall 2013 Collection, for example, made waves and garnered acclaim for its heavy inspiration from Byzantine Italy and Catholic iconography. Blogs like Bianca Luini’s tumblr, Where I See Fashion (whereiseefashion.tumblr.com) find definitive similarities between runway’s latest collections and other visual mediums in the art world.
            Fashion can, to many, seem like a business endeavour focussed on making sales that appeal to the masses, and not necessarily to tell a story or create something new. Flipfull can acknowledge that “fashion, is a business, sure, but there’s so much creativity involved that it can’t just be seen as that.”
However, it is not simply just that fashion is a business that deters people from considering fashion as an art. Because the medium does not solely appeal to an aesthete, because fashion has a function and purpose and, to some extent, necessity, it cannot completely consider an art form. The necessity itself means that some clothing and, in a similar vein, some fashion is done without drive or vision.
Flipfull recalls something her former George Brown professor, Ingrid Wagemans, once told her class: that fashion is an art and a science; you need both together. It is about merging the ideals of form and function together to create something independent, expressive and individual.
There is something wholly unique and integral about the number of artistic and cultural assets that Toronto has to offer. With recognized institutions all over the city in art, film, dance and theatre, Toronto’s artistic landscape is thriving. Regardless of whether or not fashion is officially an artistic industry, how does it all fit into the large and varied scene set by Toronto?
Flipfull has some hesitation to say that the arts and fashion have been fully integrated into the city. She notes that while she can draw inspiration from anywhere, whether it be live music or gallery openings, the two scenes are entirely separate.
“In both fields, there are some really great people. I think there are a lot of talented artists that have a lot of really great ideas and strong collaborations,” says Flipfull, “[however] a lot of really great creatives are being pushed out because of money and status. We’re not doing anything new or innovative here [...] and we’re a small part of the fashion world, and we’re afraid of looking stupid.”
Events, like Toronto Fashion Week, that gave emerging creators and designers a platform and exposure, have been floundering. When news about Toronto Fashion Week being cut surfaced, Catherine Bennett, senior vice-president and managing director of IMG Fashion Events & Properties said that they  “really felt that our Canadian fashion footprint was not generating the local commercial funding that we really required [...]” in an interview with The Canadian Press.
While it can seem disappointing that the Canada’s largest event concerning the international fashion scene has had to struggle to make a name for itself, it allows for something new to grow. Without the pressure of such a large scale event, Toronto can pare off and reinvent fashion to suit its own needs and give itself room to define what fashion is to us.
While there is a sense of style that embeds itself into the city (Flipfull notes an undercurrent of hip hop influence because of artists like Drake), Torontonians do not necessarily put the art into it. She goes on to say that “[fashion people] know how to put clothes together, but they don’t know how to put the story, the meaning or the message behind it.”
She encourages emerging creators to “take inspiration from everywhere and merge it into what you’re doing. [...] Know how to combine art and fashion and be original!”
Small multi-disciplinary art venues such as Bloor West’s Super Wonder Gallery, Roncesvalles’ Black Cat Artspace and Ossington’s Artscape Youngspace have been host to a number of fashion shows that showcase fresh Torontonian talent. Spaces like these highlight the convergence of art and fashion and how local, grassroots creation and innovation are part of what Toronto has to offer as an artistic tour de force.

As a culture, Toronto is inching closer toward the recognition of fashion as an artistic discipline, and building from the ground up acts as solid foundation toward this goal. Tough shifts in the industry pose as challenge, creative individuals have moved in strides in order to prove that innovation and ingenuity can garner recognition and a voice in a larger artistic platform.

ART IN MOTION

ART IN MOTION
- A conversation with Toronto-based filmmaker Vishnu Hari and his take on the cuts and edits in the worlds of film and fashion

A degree in Astrophysics, a job at IBM and currently pursuing a masters in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Toronto; these attributes don’t resonate with the word film-maker. However, Vishnu Hari would disagree. “I enjoy cataloguing the human experience,” he says as he takes a sip of his tea. “[This is] the reason why I studied astrophysics as well. There is nothing more human than realising your insignificance within the grander scheme of things. There’s a beauty to it.” As nihilistic as that may sound, Hari is extremely perseverant and determined when it comes to filmmaking and capturing the human essence.
He has come up with several scripts and shot many a film over the past few years. However, the project that found him recognition was his short film, Acceptance; a film, which on the surface speaks about getting accepted into an Ivy League school. As you delve deeper into the film, you realise it’s a tale on being accepted in general; be it amongst your peers, family, society or just learning to accept yourself. The film was screened at several festivals such as the New York film festival, Florence film festival and Texas film festival to name a few. The film, with its 50-minute running time, has even garnered a significant viewership on YouTube.
Hari chats with his friend and co-writer, Ryan Chan, (who lives in New York) almost every night and works relentlessly to come up with original ideas for his scripts. He casts his characters with sensitivity and constructs his films with utmost perfection; from the dialogues and the screenplay, to the clothes that adorn his actors. When asked for the reason as to why he pays so much attention to his character's attire, he says, “It’s the first aspect that gives you a glimpse of the subject’s personality. When I was in high school, in Singapore, I grew up in public housing and was brought up in a middle class family. I wanted to visit nightclubs with my private school friends but I couldn’t afford clothes such as a three-piece suit. I had to figure out what my fashion style was and so, I’d wear bright traditional Indian clothes to differentiate myself from the crowd. So, I too could get photographed and upload pictures onto Facebook since that was and still is, in a way, a form of currency.” Fashion holds a special and personal importance in his life and this translates into his work as well.
“When I create a character I always think of what he or she is wearing. Whether it’s a military dictator or the CEO of a large company, I want to know the cut, the colours and the brands,” he says. Sticking with this ideology, the characters in his film Acceptance, dress in unique styles to communicate their identities to the audience. Sometimes, they dress in a particular way to mask their true identities. “The lead character of the film, Rohan Patel, dresses in a polished manner to hide his insecurities,” says Hari. In this way, we get a deeper look into the personalities and intentions of the characters just from the way they dress and carry themselves.
            Although the film is centred on a very human topic, it has been shot in an extremely stylistic manner. Smooth camera movements provide the illusion of almost gliding through the digital landscape that is Singapore. During the day, the characters in their private school setting, dressed in sharp uniforms, only add to this seamless and clean approach to filmmaking. Even as an avid cinemagoer, Vishnu can’t help but notice the fashion in films. “After watching the film Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, I was completely blown away by the costumes and how dapper all the characters looked. Fashion is visual and film is visual. They are both completely intertwined. Fashion is what people wear and films need to be fashionable to succeed.”
            It should come as no surprise that one of Hari’s favourite filmmakers is the creative genius Tom Ford. “ He is a filmmaker first and fashion is something that just comes to him. He has the ability to synergize the two worlds and the end product is absolutely stunning.”
            Fashion and film are both arts in motion; be it the smooth camera movements or the models gliding across the catwalk. The actors who bring the filmmaker’s vision to life or the seamstresses and models who make the creative director’s dream a reality. They are mediums of expression. Fashion helps you express your identity and the expressions of the characters in films make life more relatable. According to Hari, film and fashion have a symbiotic relationship and going forward, this relationship is only going to increase in strength.


Close to Home: Made In Canada

Close to Home
How small business owners are changing the Canadian fashion industry and coming out on top 

            As I sit with Alyssa Kerbel, owner and operator of “Mini Mioche” children’s boutique, it is a cold February day. We sip tea and coffee as I nervously shift, trying to make it not so obvious that this is my first interview I’ve ever done. She doesn’t seem to notice, she prepares herself, and is all smiles, which is comforting. Unlike the weather outside, Alyssa has a warm aura about her, but still manages to come across very business-like. She is the type of person who would be a great friend or boss, but could be hard as nails when she needed to be. Nonetheless, she is open and willing to talk about the Canadian fashion apparel industry and provides some great insight on the importance of buying and manufacturing the Canadian way.

            To preface, Alyssa has owned and been the CEO of “Mini Mioche” children’s boutique for 8 years. Over those years, she has expanded her store/office from her original home of Queen Street West in Toronto, Ontario, to the Distillery District. With two stores to work out of, she has been successful in providing mothers, fathers, and children with eco-friendly, organic kids clothing. Made and manufactured right here in Toronto, Alyssa is definitely an entrepreneur with a bright future still ahead.

Alyssa: “I actually had another business prior to this, I had a wholesale fashion agency so I was selling mostly adult brand of clothing, some of them Canadian brand, some of them international that were distributed to Canada. It had been about five years since I started it and I had my daughter. I took some time off, because you know when you run your own business you don’t get a maternity leave…”

Alyssa’s personal style is reflected in her boutique children’s line. What she has on, a plain white t-shirt and dark denim skinny jeans, are a staple that can be found in “mini” versions throughout her two stores.

Alyssa: “I just found it, I just dress a certain way – I am very casual, I just found it very hard, you know, I wanted to dress her [my daughter] in a certain way…unisex, layers, soft stuff, and I just found it very hard at the time (which was eight years ago) to find that for her. And so I decided to start this brand. Initially it was very small and the basics, which was the ten styles that came in a bunch of colours, and was just for infants…
…I decided that I really wanted it to be made in Toronto, in Canada, and be organic. I was selling products that were eco-friendly and organic at my other business and customers were responding well to that. I wanted to stick out from the other baby companies and brands.”

Being and entrepreneur and full time mother sounds tiring does it not? Alyssa makes it seem effortless though, and proving that she is willing to take time to sit down with a student makes her all the more wonderful. As we all know, the fashion industry has no standard workday, every day can seem like a completely different challenge. Kerbel takes these challenges head on in her own business.

Alyssa: “Honestly there is no typical day…it really depends on what’s going on that day, and what time of year it is, which is something I really enjoy about the fashion industry. Most of the time now, we have our office where about eight employees work. We do the online photo-shoots, website, everything through there. And so most days I work out of that and just oversee, and make sure everyone is doing what they need to do…
…I also oversee the production side as well, sometimes I will go to the dye houses and manufacturers. I do most of the buying for the stores, so this afternoon I will sit with my colleague and do the buying for the fall/winter orders.”

            In this day and age we know it almost impossible to survive without our phones and social media. A blessing or a curse? Alyssa devotes ample time to, and dedicates her boom in sales over the past year to Instagram alone.  

Alyssa: “My focus right now is definitely on our online business…there is a ton of opportunity still there to grow. We have all of our clothing made in Canada so it is NAFTA approved, meaning we can ship to the USA and do not pay duty or brokerage. Plus right now with the U.S. dollar, it is way cheaper for them. Our online business has doubled from last year and Instagram has been a huge driver for our sales…
…We’re redoing out entire website for this year, so that is one of our main focuses. The next thing would potentially be to open up another store, and if I did that, it would be Vancouver. I’m not rushing into anything as I have my kids and it is a little daunting to open up a retail store across the country. I would say it would happen in the next 1-2 years.”

As I am currently in a fashion education program, I wonder sitting across from this small-business owner, what education is the right education? Do you have to take a business program to start a business? Alyssa’s Queen’s University Sociology degree with post grad studies in Public Relations may surprise some, but shows that it only takes a good idea and a lot of drive to succeed in this dog eat dog industry.

Alyssa: “My whole thing is that if you are passionate about what you are doing, you’re going to be good at it. I was always very passionate, even as a child, about clothes. So I worked at an agency, which was my first job in sales/fashion. I had no previous experience, but I could sell…that was always kind of a skill I had. I then left and started my own agency after two years, and then started this. I don’t do well working for other people [laughs]. That was something I learned very early on.”

Before concluding my teatime with Alyssa, there is one more question burning on my mind. As an aspiring entrepreneur, I want to know her advice. What tiny bit of information can she give to students in Canada that want to someday do exactly what she did, start a business from absolutely nothing and have it remain successful in a world where most fail.

Alyssa: “A few pieces of advice; one is that you will always have people telling you that you’re crazy, and that you’re going to fail, but don’t let that deter you. You have to be prepared to sacrifice a lot, and you have to live it and breath it. It’s not going to work otherwise. If you’re not 100 percent in, an super passionate about it, and don’t love it, it’s probably not going to work out…

…I sacrificed a lot of things; putting off kids, putting off marriage. Planning when I was going to have a kid so it that it worked around my business. It’s hard, but, extremely rewarding, when it works. Extremely rewarding, even when just little things work, and that’s what keeps people going, is when you get those little hits.”

High Key She’s the Epitome of Canadian Celebrity Style


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ET Canada’s bombshell Stylist, Alicia MacNamara, on her first job, Canadian designers and her advice to future ambitious stylists

Beauty and brains, Alicia MacNamara is the Stylist for Canada’s number one Entertainment News destination, Entertainment Tonight Canada.  At ET Canada, Alicia oversees wardrobe direction and maintains her craft and passion for fashion design.  After focusing her studies on political science, history and fine art, Alicia graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor in Education and Masters in Teaching.  Alicia tackles both her passion for fashion and teaching by mentoring students through a styling internship program at ET Canada.
Between the masses of shimmering dresses on racks, two walls taken up by shelves of the tallest heels imaginable, another wall dedicated to the jewelry lining it sits Alicia at her sticky-note covered desk and day-planner.  I was fortunate enough to sit down with Alicia despite her busy schedule and talk about the making of her exciting career.
Creativity lives inside of all of us in different forms, for Alicia the fine art of seamstress and pattern making came to her naturally.  Not only brave but bold, Alicia’s first venture in the industry was a personal business, “Initially I did custom evening wear and bridal gowns for private clients” this venture showcased her couturier skills and grew her industry experience and network.  This experience lead Alicia to working in wardrobe, “In 2010, I became the assistant costume designer for Dan For Mayor: Season 2.” This experience set her career into high gear where she had the opportunity to work on sets of multiple television series.  Her lengthy resume includes working as Assistant Costume Designer and Wardrobe Supervisor for episodes of Covert Affairs in 2010, as well as wardrobe assistant for episodes of Against the Wall in 2011. 
Styling encompasses different job requirements in each setting and brings new challenges. When Alicia transitioned from television series to on-air filming at ET Canada she found that although they sound similar by both being on sets, they are completely different.  Rather than characters having their specific style throughout a television series, on-air filming at ET Canada is “Non-stop busy! There is always another event, we are always on television or working on editorials, it’s not like a television series or show that stops and finishes, it’s completely non-stop” this means that new dresses and styles change on the show in an instant.  Alicia scours every nook and cranny in the 6ix and beyond as she sources, bringing in new styles every day to create and assemble a vision that is as unique as it is stylish for the on-air staff at ET Canada including Cheryl Hickey, Sangita Patel and Roz Weston to name a few.
Being a Canadian entertainment news outlet, Alicia believes it is important to keep it Canadian with the show in terms of style, “Canadian designers are to be respected and spotlighted as the leaders in our community” she says, “we wear Canadian on the show because it is important to invest in our fashion community first.”  As a celebrity stylist in Toronto, Alicia keeps her personal style Canadian conscious, “I try, if I am purchasing clothes personally, to purchase from my sponsors, whether it is a Canadian boutique or a Canadian designer or Canadian brand.”  Alicia explains that working at ET Canada “Is nothing short of entertaining and when I do have that rare down time, all I want to do is get back to work”.  The passion she has for her job radiates from her presence.  To date in her styling career her most stand out moment is explained as the time she dressed Sangita Patel in a stunning white and shimmering gold accent cut out dress by Canadian designer L’Momo for the red carpet at the Emmy Awards this year.   
Passion fuels the journey that life takes us on and with the career that Alicia has built herself this far in the industry, she makes sure to pass the opportunities on to aspiring stylists and fashion students.  Alicia takes on student interns at ET Canada to give them access to experience and the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of not only the wardrobe department itself but also the opportunity to network oneself in the fashion industry.  Alicia’s words of encouragement to fashion students include volunteering in any fashion setting to network yourself, “you need to work on creative projects with whoever you can get involved, whether it’s volunteering to work for a designer or work for an online magazine, or even being creative with artistic friends who have their own passions as say a makeup or hair artist, whether it be on social media or in an online portfolio to show what you are capable of doing.  You have to develop an aesthetic and show your work ethic to set yourself apart from your competition”.