Archive for Bernadette Morra


Summer 2013: Letter from the editor

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Summer 2013: Letter from the editor

Photograph by Vanessa Heins; hair and makeup by Sheri Stroh for Plutino Group; shot on location at the Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto.

A Muslim who works at Bikini Village– what could be more Canadian than that?

When we asked writer Maryam Siddiqi to talk to women about how they balance fashion and faith (“Feel the Heat,” page 107), little did we know the stories she would uncover.

A Brazilian who moved to Montreal and converted from sleeveless and strings to Orthodox Judaism. An Ontario woman who dons different outfits for her parents, in-laws, husband and friends. Clearly summer, for some, is complicated…far beyond deciding whether your new sandals should be gladiators or platforms.

The other eye-opener in this issue is how much success Canadian designers have had selling swimwear. In “Catch the Wave” (page 54), senior editor Sarah Casselman profiles five brands making a splash on the international scene—led by Montreal’s Shan, which has 125 employees and distribution in more than 25 countries. We’ve also aimed to make your swimsuit shopping smoother with market editor Caitlan Moneta’s roundup of the best new suits (“Bathing Beauties,” page 72) and our Focus guide to the country’s swimwear retailers (page 174). Read more »


Chanel Cruise 2014: The celebs, the rich girls and beautiful backstage images from Karl’s latest runway show in Singapore

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Chanel Cruise 2014

See the Chanel Cruise 2014 photos »

Steamy Singapore. What better site for a Chanel show given the tropical climate and its enthusiastic shoppers?

At last night’s Chanel Cruise 2013 show, the thatched huts of an old nutmeg plantation offered a colonial setting along with caviar canapés, aged cheeses and iberico ham pulled right off the bone.

Dakota Fanning, Carine Roitfeld and Andre Leon Talley were among the few Western guests, the scene otherwise dominated by Singapore gals who not only love their Chanel, they love it from pearl-drop earrings to flatform sneaker. There were two women in the same striped outfit Lana Del Rey wears in FASHION’s Summer issue, though one was jacketless. I suspect she arrived to find the other guest in the identical look and quickly doffed the jacket to avoid looking like twins.
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Once Upon a Time: The Singapore scoop on Chanel’s new short film

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Oh that Karl Lagerfeld.

Turns out he didn’t tell the stars of his latest short film, Once Upon a Time…Deauville 1913, that they would have speaking roles.

“I thought it was going to be a silent movie,” Keira Knightley revealed leading up to the film premiere on the lawn of the Raffles Hotel in Singapore earlier today. Knightley, who plays Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel in the lyrical black and white short that depicts the opening of Chanel’s seaside shop, didn’t make it to the party. But plenty others did.

Sipping Singapore Slings and lounging on the rattan chairs: French actress Clotilde Hesme, who plays Chanel’s Aunt Adrienne, Saskia de Brauw who plays Vita Sackville-West, Jamie Bochert, who appears as society muse and patron Luisa Casati, and Stella Tennant, who plays Lady de Grey, an early Chanel fan and pal of Oscar Wilde (his play A Woman of No Importance was dedicated to her.)
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Michael Kors hits Toronto! Inside the designer’s whirlwind trip

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Michael Kors Toronto

Photography by George Pimentel

See the photos from Michael Kors’ Toronto visit »

“Just when you thought you had everything, along comes a camouflage mink stole,” drawled Michael Kors, as a model glided into Holt Renfrew’s café in an outfit from his Fall 2013 collection.

The mini-show followed lunch for 20 or so top clients at Holt’s Cafe yesterday following a fête at his Bloor Street store on Wednesday night, with hostess Hilary Weston presiding over the affair in an aqua Oscar de la Renta tunic and pants.

Elsewhere there was much Michael Kors Spring 2013 about, including a dermatologist in a colourblock dress, and a capital markets trader a peony pink sheath. After tucking into sweet pea ravioli, lobster over fried green tomatoes and a sliver of cheesecake, there was an exodus downstairs to the racks of fall clothes available for special order.
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Inside Tiffany’s Blue Book gala in New York: Gwyneth Paltrow, Carey Mulligan, Sarah Jessica Parker and more

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Tiffany Blue Book Gala

See the Tiffany Blue Book gala photos »

Gwyneth Paltrow, Carey Mulligan, Kate Hudson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Williams and Jessica Biel. The guest list for last night’s Tiffany Blue Book gala read like an Oscar red carpet.

But it was all about aqua, with New York’s Rockefeller Center bathed in pale blue light and a 4-storey high blue box erected over the ice rink. Inside was a ’20s-style supper club with mounds of lobster and beef tenderloin, free flowing champagne, plumed aerialists hovering like exotic birds and Smash’s Megan Hilty belting out show tunes. The elegant excess reflected Tiffany’s starring role in the soon-to-be released The Great Gatsby, with the $200,000 diamond headband worn by Mulligan in the film on display alongside pieces from Tiffany’s 2013 Blue Book collection which goes on sale today.
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May 2013: Letter from the editor

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Bernadette Morra | May 2013

Photography by Vanessa Heins; hair and makeup by Sheri Stroh for Plutino group; shot on location at the Shangri-La hotel, Toronto.

I will never be perfect.

This realization struck me on a recent vacation as I was thumbing through a Martha Stewart cookbook.  (There’s no one like Martha to make you feel inadequate, is there? She is even perfect at that.)

I am not sure where this feeling of self-acceptance suddenly bubbled up from, or why. But it has given me a new outlook on dressing. I am much more sure that my choices are right for me. And I am letting go of the belief that I should wear something because I should.

“Striving for perfection does seem like a form of self-hatred,” cover girl Isla Fisher tells features editor Elio Iannacci in “Feeling Jazzed” (page 146). Ironic, then, that her day with photographer Chris Nicholls in Los Angeles produced so many incredible shots, it pained us to edit them down to just a handful. Read more »


DUY Fall 2013: The designer makes good on his Mercedes Benz Start-Up winnings with a superb fashion week showcase

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DUY Fall 2013

Photography by Jenna Marie Wakani

See the DUY Fall 2013 collection »

Edgy but elegant—it’s a difficult line to walk, even for the most seasoned designers.

But Duy Nguyen proved he was up to the challenge in his World MasterCard Fashion Week presentation. The solo show was an award received along with industry mentorship (including face-time with yours truly) from the Mercedes Benz Start-Up program after a cross-country search and runway showdown last fall.

The Vietnam-born, Montreal-based designer proved his mettle (or metal), if you count the silvery embroidered lace gowns, twinkling wool trousers and shimmery tweed pencil skirts showcased in the DUY Fall 2013 collection.

A pale, frosty palette and fox-trimmed leathers fit with the Canadian Arctic theme. Materials were all rich, warm, and begging to be touched, with mohair trousers cut to pleated perfection, and a “hairy” top that looked like a fine shag carpet. Nguyen also spent weeks slicing tulle for his swishy evening skirts, basketweaving wool jersey for tops and handcrafting hundreds of flowers from left over scraps. “I wanted them to look like they were decomposing,” he said of the appliques that wound around shoulders and necks.
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April 2013: Letter from the editor

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Bernadette Morra

Photography by Vanessa Heins; hair and makeup by Sheri Stroh for Plutino Group; shot on location at the Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto.

“How many shows do you see when you are in Paris?”

I get asked this question often, and to make things easy my response is, “Lots.” But the truth is, though the world’s eyes might be on the runways, insiders know there’s more to fashion week than catwalk parades.

Re-sees, essentially a closer inspection of the clothes in a designer’s showroom, fill the gaps between shows. And if there’s any time left, we try to swing by to see out-of-towners who have rented space in hotels or apartments. As you will see in “French Immersion” (page 54), my diary from the Spring 2013 collections, off-runway adventures are rewarded with the chance to touch or even try things on. And if we’re really lucky, the designer is on-site and in the mood to chat. Of course the extra appointments make for days so long that dinner often winds up being a yogourt I have stashed in the minibar. Read more »


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