FLARE "CANADA'S FASHION MAGAZINE" MARCH 2013

Got the March issue of Flare in the mail...
you know it, the one that call's itself  "CANADA'S FASHION MAGAZINE".

And, in I plunged. On my first go through, slow but steady, interested in all things fashion, but particularly Canadian, hence the reading of this magazine, I was confused. Where was the "CANADIAN"  part?

Being the purveyor of the "CANADIAN CLOTHING AND FASHION WORLD" that I am, a second go through, and ah yes, 3 pages on "LORI-ANNE KRAUSEWITZ"  maker of "statement headpieces". Nice. Which tied in well to the other "CANADIAN DESIGNER" content  which I found while reading the small print,  Flare used "GRETA CONSTANTINE'S" headresses to decorate a layout of "International" designers clothes. Sad they could not use "The Greta's clothes as well..."

On a third very slow and scouring check, a skirt from "PINK TARTAN" and a shot of an "ARTHUR MENDONCA" jacket. "CANADA'S FASHION MAGAZINE" left me curious as to where might the assumed Canadian content be...

Curiosity prevailed...and so I "counted" my way through...

the March 2013 issue contains
178 full pages total,
98 of which are full page ads,
77 of the ads are from International sources,
8 ads are from Flare themselves, and
3 ads are from Canadian Companies, (thanks Melanie Lyne and Smart Set (oh, with a pull-out)).

Editorial content wise, Miranda Purves, in her Editor's Letter, goes on at length about her new fashion muse, Barbara, "a mysterious blond" from an German film playing at TIFF.

In the personalities department, the issue hits us with a glossy 2-pager of a write up about stylesetters and French sisters, Poppy and Cara Delevingne, and on other pages; Hannah Bronfman of Canadian lineage, but New York residency and pedigree, the always lovely, born in the USA, Actress and Author, Julianne Moore and London born, Masschusett's-bred West African Taiye Selasi. International, and fascinating but were there no Canadians they could talk to? They do manage the writer and donut maker Leanne Shapton, at least Ontario born, but, New York based.

The cover and 10 pages feature the latter day "look and attitude" dopelganger of Avril Lavigne, the American model,  "Charlotte Free".  In the other multi paged fashion editorial spreads, other than the afformentioned "ARTHUR MENDONCA" jacket, there is nothing Canadian.

About 50% of the magazine as you can see is advertising, which is pretty much on par with most these days.

With approximatley 90% of the ads being of international origin, I can see that the international content would be of about the same percentage.

Yes, the magazine itself is a Canadian Product. Great. But what they are saying is already being said elsewhere. I can and do read American Vogue for American coverage, which they do wonderfully and they throw in just about as much Canadian content as Flare does. Other International glossies cover the Internationals quite well, and the Canadian designer is being mixed into their editorial pages right along with all the others .

I have a subscription, and I will continue to read Flare, as I have for years, I have seen that some issues have more than this particular one, and will hope to see more again. And if this sounds like a negative rant soley against Flare and its moniker, it is not. My real curiousity lay with the CANADIAN DESIGNERS, MANUFACTURERS, BUYERS AND SELLERS OF FASHION...I suspect there would be more Canadian content if there were more advertising dollars from them.

TOM D'AURIA, "CANADIAN DESIGNER" said
"Canada is becoming international. It's just a matter of time. We're a young country. We're just starting to get recognized."

But please note, he said this in an article, by BERNADETTE MORRA, writing in the Toronto Star, on August 6, 1987.

Its almost 30 years later people....a little help from home would surely go a long way.

DRESSED TO KILL WINTER 2012

AMAZING CANADIAN COVERAGE

"THE LOVE ISSUE"...Valentines day is coming...

from the article - "Three Quebecois Design Duos"

MARTIN LIM -
"Danielle Martin and Pao Lim fused their two family names to launch their very own label...."

TAVAN & MITTO
"Le rendez-vous est pris dans leur boutique/atelier du boulevard Saint-Laurent a Montreal. En sirotant lentement leurs "espresso", Payam Tavan et Mike Mitto..."

UNTTLD
"UNTTLD is Jose Manuel and Simon Belanger launched their women's lin in January, 2011..."

also in the issue some great full page shots of GRETA CONSTANTINE, HARAKIRI & RAD BY RAD HOURANI.

DRESSED TO KILL  http://dresstokillmagazine.com/
GRETA CONSTANTINE http://www.gretaconstantine.com/
HARAKIRI http://harakiridesign.com/
MARTIN LIM  http://www.martin-lim.com/press.html
RAD BY RAD HOURANI. http://www.radhourani.com/
TAVAN & MITTO http://tavanmitto.com/
UNTTLD  http://tavanmitto.com/

WINTER MAGS 1

I will be feeding this blog from the present and the past...
I have over 30 years of Canadian Designer info archived, and there is new info being added every day, so a little from one and a little from another.
I will try for as many pictures as possible, because after all, what is fashion if we can't see it...although there are some amazing words floating around from some of Canada's press, however, I am being  very careful to not tread on the intellectual, artisitic, or copywritten property of others and so I am also in the process of directly contacting any and all that I can before I will publish anything they might own.
So don't give up if the majority of what you see is words, there will be plenty more to come.
You will also notice that when I do mention someone I will try to include a link to their visible media presence so you can find them!
If you have pics and or info, please do not hesitate to contact me...the more input the better....

So working throught the winter mags I will point out

"FASHION" WINTER 2013 and their new slant on Canadian content. Yeah!!
Editor-in-Chief; BERNADETTE MORRA, in her editor's letter speaks glowingly of Canadian design talent LUCIAN MATIS and DAVID DIXON, and points out the  "level of artistic craft has inspired "Patriot Love" (page 254), a regular feature spotlighting Canadian design." REALLY EXCITING NEWS!! Their "first up, "Montreal's PAVONI".
The issue also gives a nice bit of coverage to "New York-based, Edmonton-raised designer newbie ANGELIQUE CHMIELEWSKI", "former Montrealer...London-based designer "JOCELYN PICARD and his label "LYN", "Montreal-based leather -goods label "RUDSAK"  and its "founder and chief visionary" EVIK ASATOORIAN.
Contributor SARAH NICOLE PRICKETT asks "Is Canadian fashion glamorous?' and gives a nice call out to CALLA, DAVID DIXON, DENIS GAGNON, ERDEM, GRETA CONSTANTINE,  LUCIAN MATIS, MIKHAEL KALE, OBAKKI, PINK TARTAN and TAVAN & MITTO. She suggests "Canadian designers who keep their processes small can turn our country's basic fashion infrastruture, and their own limited budgets, into a marketing strength. Offer artisanship and the conscientious shopper will come."
I have been saying and teaching a similar thought for many years, "don't try to compete with the Gap, you can't, but you can do the unique and limited things that they can't" Today's customer is intelligent and can, with a little guidance, put the two together, and both parties go on to succeed. And as to bringing it home, yes!  Here is hoping. Its what this blog is about,  "COLLECTED WE STAND"
If you noticed in a recent issue of Vogue magazine, they discuss how many American designers are doing their "making at home in the USA". And so are we, and not following behind... as I mentioned in my first entry, there on FRANCO MIRABELLI'S store front, "IMAGINED, DESIGNED AND CREATED IN CANADA"

ANGELIQUE CHMIELEWSKI http://angeliquechmielewski.com/
BERNADETTE MORRA  http://www.fashionmagazine.com
CALLA by CALLA HAYNES http://calla.fr/
DAVID DIXON http://www.daviddixon.ca/
DENIS GAGNON http://www.denisgagnon.ca/
ERDEM  by ERDEM MORALIOGLU http://www.erdem.co.uk/
FRANCO MIRABELLI http://www.mirabelli.com/
GRETA CONSTANTINE by KIRK PICKERSGILL AND STEPHEN WONG http://www.gretaconstantine.com/
"LYN" by JOCELYN PICARD  http://www.jocelynpicard.com/en/
 LUCIAN MATIS http://www.lucianmatis.com/
MIKHAEL KALE http://mikhaelkale.com/index2.php
OBAKKI http://obakki.com/
PAVONI by GIANNI FALCONE and MIKE DERDERIAN http://www.pavonicollection.com/
PINK TARTAN by KIMBERLEY NEWPORT-MIMRAM http://pinktartan.com/
RUDSAK by EVIK ASATOORIAN http://www.rudsak.com/
SARAH NICOLE PRICKETT