FASHION Magazine

By Ceri Marsh

Photography by Frances Juriansz. Hair and makeup by Tony Masciangelo for Plutino Group.

Canadian models are the hottest girls in the business. At FASHION, we’ve always known it. Since our launch 30 years ago, we’ve championed Canadian beauties, from our first cover girl, Maura Gahan (then McGaghey), to the three stunners on this issue’s cover: Julia Dunstall, Heather Marks and Meghan Collison. And we’ve been lucky to shoot them, too, as many went on to have major international careers. When we started to plan this anniversary issue and discuss what really stays with people when it comes to fashion, we kept coming back to the models, or, as they’re known in the business no matter how old or young they are, the girls. They’re those beautiful freaks of nature who bring fashion to life.

And so the idea for “Our Girls” was born. Why not bring together as many of the Canadian models we’ve loved as we could in a 30-page celebration? When we first sat down to map out the project, I was more than a little worried. The list of models we wanted to shoot was pages long, and we were in the thick of summer, when it gets that much trickier to track people down, let alone photograph them. But it quickly became clear that something special was happening. Models flew into Toronto to be shot, and photographer Gabor Jurina jetted out to Vancouver, then down to New York to catch those who wouldn’t be in town. The notion of keeping the whole thing quiet until publication was abandoned early, after my mum called to ask me about a shoot that Lisa Rogers was raving about on CityLine! We shot 37 models over the course of three weeks. In the same day, we shot 15-year-old Paméla Bernier and ’80s superstar Donna DeMarco—both are beyond gorgeous.

The loveliest part of working on an anniversary issue—this is the second I’ve been part of—is being reminded about how much people have loved this magazine over the years. It started as soon as we put the word out that 2007 would be our 30th year. Eighties cover model Kerry Jewitt wrote me an incredibly sweet letter to congratulate me on the birth of my daughter; she also shared some snaps of herself with her own girls and told me how much she loved shooting with the magazine. I bumped into hairdresser John Steinberg at our local video store one afternoon in the depths of last winter, and he regaled me with details from the shoot of the magazine’s very first cover. The amazing John MacKay, the brilliant Anne Verner (then Apor) and visionary Michael de Pencier all spoke to us with passion and affection for the magazine. I feel so lucky to be in their company.

The flip side of working on an anniversary issue is that no matter how long and hard you try to represent a magazine’s history, you can’t possibly include everyone you’d like to. Busy schedules mean that you can’t talk to this one; white-hot careers mean there’s no time to photograph that one. Or worse, you’re bound to forget someone.

And while fashion thrives on nostalgia, it can’t all be about looking back. Much of this issue concerns itself with fashion’s future. Who is the next Marc Jacobs, the next Pat McGrath, the next Gisele? From international fashion schools to the runways, we’ve searched the style world to bring you the names you’ll want to know.

It’s always the task of FASHION’s all-star team to sift through the chaotic worlds of fashion, beauty and pop culture and pluck out the truly beautiful, the intelligent, the outrageous, the hilarious. In this issue, it was also their job to find a balance between old and new, to be both historians and forecasters. The result is a testament to their creative instincts and very hard work. The fact that it was all done with everyone’s sense of humour intact is a miracle.

Getting the team to sit for a portrait, even one split into two groups—now that was hard. Booking celebrity covers or shooting 37 models in 22 days is tough, but editors…the worst! I started agitating for an allstaff shot about six months ago. You’ve never heard so many excuses: It would be too hard to organize, it would look funny, and, finally, we were running out of time. But as you can see, we got it done. Gorgeous. It just felt right in an issue largely dedicated to the people who have made FASHION what it has been over the past 30 years to give a huge thanks to the group that creates every issue right now.

I can’t wait to hear what you think of this issue. Drop me a line at letters@fashionmagazine.com. I love to get your letters.

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