The SPOKE Daily » Fashion

HIPSTER OR HOMELESS?

Rachel Noonan — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:55:49 +0000

It’s a beautiful morning in Toronto. I am woken with a warm ray of sunshine beaming through my window. The birds are out and my bunny Jermaine is awake and loving the balcony breeze coming through his cage. This is a perfect day for a walk to work. I get showered, dressed and equip myself with sunglasses, moccasins and an Earl grey tea with a touch of honey. Within five minutes I am making time to the beats of She Wants Revenge and rolling along. As per usual I am scoping the morning fashions of my fellow concrete travelers. We’ve got tweed hats paired with cute worn leather cropped jackets, ripped denim with layers on top of lace, cotton and what appears to be a mesh type thingy! As I continue my morning fashion scope I come across a woman walking in front of me. From the rear she looks like the average hipster. Messy bed head hair, black worn out Lacoste jacket, Vintage long strap purse, fishnet pantyhose paired with what appeared to be a black mini skirt and 80’s style kitten heels that could have easily come from a fashionable vintage boutique. She was hipster hobo chic to the extreme and it amazed me someone would spend so much time putting together a look that gives the appearance of a gypsy traveler. She was dressed for the part of jaded concertgoer at the next MGMT concert or the always-indifferent party girl that shows, looks sullen for most of the night and spends half her time in the bathroom smoking. I keep my eyes on her and as I get closer it’s starting to dawn on me that this lady is looking a little more worse for wear than your average downtown try hard. The vintage leather bag had one too many holes, the fishnets were not a patterned rip as per Urban Outfitters style direction for the season and although her hair was the perfect “ haven’t washed because I’m writing poetry” look, it was just a bit too greasy. I’m about two feet from her at the point when it becomes crystal clear, she’s from the local half way house and pretty much a semi or totally homeless person. I couldn’t tell the different between a local hipster and a homeless person, we are close to the end peopleHIPSTERS ARE SO EARLY 2010. Upon my arrival at work I fill everyone in on my morning insights and the lovely Karen directs me to a story about a man in China who becomes somewhat of a hobo fashion icon. Reports on him offer parallels to his daily homeless fashion creations to that of the runways in New York and Paris. The report did yield something positive. Due to the publicity, the homeless man’s family was tracked down in their hometown and they were reunited. That aside, WTF. Hello Zoolander and Derelict. Zoolander shows how absolutely absurd the fashion industry can be, going as far as exploiting the homeless and less fortunate for collection inspiration. What do we do? We become the joke. Wow, sad times people, sad times. I have spent the last while trying to sit on a few Toronto street corners to capture a visual for you of both a Hipster hobo and the real deal Homeless that live amongst us. Every time I find a spot, get ready to shoot I start to feel guilty. I feel bad that A) I am going to exploit someone who either could use some help or needs to go back on the meds. B) I am slightly angry at the indifference that lives under the hipster garb. The world is a pretty rad place to be right now. Apathy and indifference are soo early 2010.

Fashion Against Aids with H&M Prelaunch Party

Karen Lo — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:00:58 +0000

H&M just launched their 3rd Fashion Against AIDS campaign on June 3 in Toronto and revealed their first ever festival collection under their Divided line the night before. 25% of the profit goes to AIDS awareness campaigns: Designers Against AIDS, YouthAIDS, MTV Staying Alive Foundation, and the United Nations Population Fund. The collection in store stretches from safari to rock for boys and girls, head to toe. While MTV’s Movie Night host, Johnny Hockin, was not spinning the night away, Bedouin Soundclash filled the store with a mellow flow of reggae tunes.

Culture Tracking: New Styles

Rachel Noonan — Thu, 20 May 2010 17:03:08 +0000

MELENA RYZIK wrote this article Mapping the Cultural Buzz that appeared in the NY Times. The amount of collaboration involved is pretty intense. Most of the results are not surprising, but there are a few ” Wow, didn’t see that coming”. Check it:

Lady Gaga’s Little Monsters

Karen Lo — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:07:55 +0000

Lady Gaga showed up at the Narita Airport for her Fame Monster world tour with “I love little monster, Tokyo Love” scribbled over her white birkin. In return, her little monsters in Tokyo showed love by doing what they do best – they paid tribute to their goddess through fashion. See the best of Gaga cosplay at the 2 shows at Yokohama Arena in Tokyo. More via TokyoFashion.com

H&M Private Shopping Event

Karen Lo — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 22:38:04 +0000

We were at H&M’s Private Shopping Event last night at their Yonge & Dundas location. The store was closed for the guestlist event featuring fantastic DJ sets, 25% off all merchandise, special edition eco shopping bag, and as per usual, drinks and nibbles. The party ran on to 11pm – a true shop ’till you drop experience. See the craziness for yourself on our Flickr stream!

Monsieur Steve

Karen Lo — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:03:11 +0000

Came across Monsieur Steve’s website through a link of a link of a link, and this guy is, beyond a doubt, a master of fashion exploitation. He punks luxury brand designers by slapping their names with cheeky slogans and shoots his collection in the same half-dressed, nonchalant manner signature to American Apparel. He’s got so much attitude I feel like I get punched in the face for every picture I look at. Check out some of my favorite shots…

Diesel – A Hundred Lovers Campaign

Karen Lo — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:21:31 +0000

Diesel’s A Hundred Lovers Campaign featuring rising musician, Josep, launched an interactive video catalogue for their Spring Summer 2010 collection. Hotspots are activated on hover with info on the product or the dancers (tagged as “Stupid” to go along with this season’s theme “Be Stupid”). Don’t forget to check out the original dance scene from Jean Luc Godard’s “Bande à Part” that directly influenced. Directed by Arno Salters.

NADA 3D – Fashion’s Premiere

Karen Lo — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:58:53 +0000

Yesterday marked the premiere of the world’s first stereoscopic 3D fashion film. Conceived by Nada Shepherd in collaboration with Atomic Clock Cinematic Arts, 2 screenings were held at the Scotia Bank Theatre to launch her Fall/Winter 2010 collection. Nada Shepherd, Creative Director of Canadian fashion label NADA, sees the 7 minute feature, titled “Future Fashion/Fashion Future”, as an opportunity to boost brand awareness. Instead of spending her promotional budget on events that can only reach local buyers, Nada invested in a medium that would reach audience worldwide. The video is now live on www.nada3d.com. Typical mail-in promos are replaced with NADA’s own 3D eyewear which can be requested by sending a self-addressed and stamped envelope to NADA’s head office – a much more engaging and conceptual approach, perfectly tailored to the nature of the campaign. The exclusivity of fashion shows was kept alive with the by-invitation only screenings followed by a Q&A (where Nada denied the rumoured $2 million spent on the production) and a VIP lounge filled with movie-appropriate snacks adjusted to fashionable proportions, wine, and of course, take home gifts to round up the unforgettable event.

Fashion Goes to the Zoo

Karen Lo — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:56:26 +0000

Some inspirations for your spring wardrobe. Turn on your animal instincts! 2010 SS by MerciBeaucoup. BAPE 2010 SS by Tiptoe by E.M.

GIFs for You

Karen Lo — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:26:43 +0000

In my quest of finding the perfect GIFs for our blog readers, I came across the work of the New York photographer/graphic artist duo – Reed+Radar. Apparently the future of online fashion editorials is headed towards 1987 (that’s the year when animated GIFs were first introduced by CompuServe – thanks for the info, Wikipedia!) Except now, they’re called “Augmented Realities”. Enjoy and happy holidays!