Material Archive

Two Weeks in New York City: Quickie Intro

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I recently spent 2 glorious weeks in New York shooting an upcoming campaign for a client. During my "free time" there, I took the opportunity to indulge in two of my favourite past times – shopping and eating – and what better city for it!

This post is just a little preview of some fun stops. In later posts, I'll get into more detail about the specifc restaurants I visited.

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I have literally seen Ghostbusters enough times to actually recite the majority of the film from memory. Heck, my Mr. Stay Puft action figure is watching over me right now as I compose this post! So, you can imagine the unique childlike thrill MB and I had when we randomly walked by the original fire station from the film, while strolling through Tribeca. :)

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The new Uniqlo flagship store on 5th Avenue is ridiculously big. So large, that I actually was overwhelmed and felt lost on more than one occasion. Despite that, I still managed to find several great items to bring home. One of particular note was a great wool and cashmere trench coat.

Their prices are so reasonable, I really had to calm myself to not buy a whole other suitcase's worth of clothing.

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Wow – the Christian Louboutin store on Madison Ave is intense! When I arrived at 5pm on a Friday after work, I was greeted by a line-up of other patrons and a massive body guard! According to Mr.Big, a wait time to get into the store is a normal daily occurence. I noted that no other luxury retailer on the street had the same traffic.

When I got inside shortly after, I was met with an unusal scene. Picture: upper crust ladies who lunch, sitting next to hardcore rapper type dudes (all trying on majorly tricked out sneakers I have never seen the likes of before) and then working girls like me. A very odd mix indeed!

Regardless, all were very happy – especially this girl! Why? I had called ahead and secured the last brown Simple Bootie in size 40 anywhere in the whole bloody world after weeks of looking, calling and visiting every retailer that carries CL  – major shopping victory!

The staff were really great too and recommended that I get my soles reclad in red rubber – see below. That's one of them holding his colleague's boot to show the non-slip red rubber add ons. It's a brilliant idea, as the signature red does wear off pretty quickly in my experience.

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I had a pretty productive visit at Prada as well. A new winter coat, bag and wallet were amongst my newly adopted cohorts. :)

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Some random snaps I took during breaks while working at the photography studio...

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A quick visit the to the MET on the weekend recharged my creative inspiration batteries!

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Coming up over the next several posts: reviews and photos of Jean Georges, Corton, Del Posto, BLT, Gramercy Tavern, Nobu, Lucali – amongst others!

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Mercy's GASPARD Opens

The store's fitting rooms are lined in Liberty prints

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While walking home from work yesterday, I came across a lovely new boutique called Gaspard. The moment I entered, I realized it belonged to my former Portrait clients, Richard and Jennifer from Mercy. Their signature use of Liberty prints tipped me off instantly and then I recalled bumping into Richard and chatting about their upcoming venture a few months ago.

After over 15 years as Mercy, the duo have finally expanded to offer their amazing line in their own store – complete with several other clothing, shoe and jewelry lines to compliment theirs. The result is a very tightly curated vision. So happy for them.

Yes please & thank you: Baguette vending machine

"Enterprising French baker Jean-Louis Hecht offers fresh bread 24 hours a day thanks to his "automated baguette dispenser". via

ACME DeLuxe Ice-Cream Bricks

This is a real store sign! Unfortunately, it's sits on what is now an antique store on Queen West, next to Local Kitchen where I had dinner tonight.

Honestly, the concept of an "ice cream brick" store named "ACME DeLuxe" seems too good to be true – it's right out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon...  :-)

Reminded of my love for Parra today:

Just ordered this print as I have loved it for ages.

Am a fan of huge Parra's work and hope to collaborate with him one day on the right project.

J.Crew opens in Toronto: leaves all the interesting merch in the US

The recent pricing controversy didn't keep my curiosity at bay and so I went shopping with list in hand (after doing a pre-shop online) and ventured out to the burbs to see the new outpost of American retailer J.Crew at Yorkdale mall.

Someone must have sent Jenna a memo outlining Canadians' supposed predilection for boring basics because I wasn't able to find one thing on my list in stock. The most interesting shoes, blazers and dresses were left south of the border for their more "fashion forward" customers. Deep sigh.

Canadians love J.Crew because of it's sunny and distinctly American outlook. Having Canadian buyers curate the collection (the sales staff confirmed this) removes what makes the brand interesting to us to begin with. So thanks for your efforts Mr. Drexler but I'll stick to my online / catalog shopping for now.

Photo from the Grid

Today I bought: Ports 1961 Perf Suede Booties

Saw these in the window at Ports 1961 on Bloor Street and decided I had to give them a good home...

A visit to Mjölk

 

Yesterday, after wrapping a TV shoot in the Junction, I luckily came across Mjölk – a store I've been keen to see since it opened. I arrived just as it closed for the day but the manager Lauren was kind enough to let me sneak in and take a quick look around and snag a great bag by Naoto Fuksawa.

With a laser precision curation style, Mjölk carries lovely furniture and craft products from Scandinavia and Japan. In their own words, owners, John Baker & Julie Daoust talk about their vision for the store:

"We specialize in Scandinavia because the north enthralls us. Soft, quiet snowy forests and streets in the winter. Glittery, blinding sunlight on colourful buildings during the summer. Fika (coffee break) at the Konditori, with a kaffe and Napoleon pastry in hand. Trolling the Helsinki open-air markets for treasures. Aalto building tours. S.O.S. (Smör Ost och Sill = butter, cheese and herring). Swedish style. Grass roofs. Hot dog streetside snacks. And of course, the Arctic. These are a few of our favourite things."

 

 

 

  

Are you using Svpply yet?

Svpply allows you to tag items you like on other sites, basically creating a visual shopping list or reference archive. You can have a peek at my list here.

Commute Home

 




 

Some of my favourite pieces at home are from Commute and so I must confess that I'm a little sad that they've moved away from my hood in Queen West – they are now at a bigger space at Bathurst & Dupont. They've also updated their website to showcase some really beautiful custom installation work – have a look.

Making of Bergdorf Goodman's 2010 Holiday Windows

 

Vanity be thy name

From the New Yorker

Interview with Net-A-Porter’s Natalie Massanet

Those shoes are mine betch

Oh, how could I forget this gem – a true classic.

Pierre Marcolini, will you be my Valentine?

 

Given that we are talking about Valentine's Day, it seems like a logical next step to discuss chocolate. Clearly, I already talk about chocolate quite a lot on this site (given that I eat the glorious stuff every single day), so I thought I would post about a brand that is exceptional – for this particular "special" day in February.

When you hear Pierre Marcolini speak about his brand, (there is a great little movie on his site), you quickly understand that making chocolate is not just a job to this man – it is his passion, his vocation and he is on a mission. One only need look a the few images above to see that he is rather serious and really cares about elevating the art of creating and experiencing chocolate to a new level.

For my part, anyone that understands that chocolate can and should be branded like fine jewelry – knows that connoisseurs never eat it because they are hungry or snacky, but because they want to experience and savour something truly pleasurable that is special and punctuates a moment. ♥

Aubin & Wills Branding

The packaging and typography of Aubin & Wills wares is quite lovely don't 'cha think? Check out the fox with a top hat – bloody charming.

   

Taschen's Barcelona

 

Since I've been doing research on Barcelona, I thought I would share the lovely series of books from Taschen that I like to refer to when visiting certain cities. All of the books (Paris, London, Berlin, New York & Barcelona) are so well designed and thought out and have beautifully illustrated covers and maps.

 

Nice package: Mini Giants

Nice design by Camilla Lillieskold for children's online retailer Mini Giants. Illustrations by Nila Aye. Via LovelyPackage.

Feeling a Whole Lotta Love for Love of Mine Boutique

My friend Adam and his lovely wife Anna recently opened a new home and fashion accessories store called Love of Mine Boutique and Friday night was their official opening party. Located on Queen west, nestled between the likes of Magic Pony and Buckler, the store is a wonderful addition to the neighborhood and really raises the area's level of sophistication. Carrying lines like Jonathan Adler, John Derian, Rebecca Minkoff, Canopy New York, Green Beads, Swallow, Heather Benjamin, Noir, Alexis Bittar, Pade Vavra, St. Kilda, Mercedes Salazar, amongst others – the store has something beautiful for every discerning eye.


I left at the end of the party with a soft wool throw for the chesterfield!

FINN Boutique

My new office is just around the corner from FINN Boutique which is going to be dangerous! They carry my former clients Mercy as well as Ewankia, Hoi Bo, Designers Remix, Tocca, Camilla and Marc and furnishings by Missoni Home. I already have a shopping list!

1. Ewankia wool jersey Simone dress in dove grey. 2. Hoi Bo satchel with oiled canvas 3. Baby Alpaca hand-knit mittens in charcoal.

Their website is currently under construction so go to their Facebook page here in the meantime to see what's new.

Retailers take note

People that know me have heard me wax on about how annoyed I become when I see women dragging around their significant others shopping. You see the scenario play out over and over – woman is attempting to engage her man in the sport of her trying on 47 pairs of jeans and he, is slowly suffering a painful death, never knowing if his feedback is what she wants to hear. I am so tempted in this situations to say something to these ladies because they really shouldn't bother trying to turn their lovers into their girlfriends. After years of working in retail, I can safely say that most straight men simply don't find shopping fun and no one wins – it's not a bonding exercise for couples! And yes, I'm referring mostly to clothes and the like – not important major purchases like a car.

Well, while hitting some boutiques on Queen West this weekend, I encountered a store that had this awesome Gun N' Roses pin ball machine which was free to all patrons to use. Genius idea! Obviously, I still don't advocate couples shopping together – but sometimes it's unavoidable. In that case, having some amusing distraction for men other than a chair might work in everyone's favour. Maybe Barneys, Saks and Neiman's should consider a waiting area with game consoles, internet access and drinks in their women's denim and shoe departments? Sort of like an elegant airport lounge for men. Who knows, they might even look forward to going there. Just a thought. ;-)