Month: September 2020

We caught up with the pair to talk fall trends and how they make themselves feel dynamite.

Today, Canadian retailer Dynamite kicks off its newest campaign with two familiar faces – Jasmine Tookes and Josephine Skriver. The models (who also happen to be best friends and business partners) front the new fall collection, and are also the first duo to star in the brand’s new #IAmDynamite muse series.

The series “encourages customers to bring their aspirations to life,” says the brand – a message that clearly resonates with both women. “I love the message that [Dynamite is] spreading to empower women to strive to be their best selves,” says Tookes, adding that the similarities between the messaging of the campaign and the Instagram-based, lifestyle-focused community she and Skriver have built on Instagram called JoJa, “were too great to ignore.” On the topic of aspirations, we ask, having achieved so much already, what’s next for the pair to conquer? Tookes say she wants to build JoJa out into a “full lifestyle brand” and hints that something big is coming. “We are currently in the process of building something that we are both very excited to share with the world and hope that it can inspire and bring together many women. It’s a lot of work to stay healthy from the inside out, the mental load for women today never stops. So we like to remind ourselves that it’s a marathon, not a sprint, we need to take breaks for ourselves, too, but the end result is going to be spectacular.” For Skriver, the ultimate achievement “is happiness.” She continues, “I believe different things at different points in your life will bring that to you and it’s not always cut and dry. It could be travelling, doing a fun new project, starting a family, or building a company. The most successful person is always the happiest person, and not the other way around. If I can keep a smile on my face, I have conquered all that I need to.”

When it comes to making herself feel dynamite, Skriver says she relies on daily self-affirmations. “It is so important to love yourself and to be positive when looking in the mirror. It’s not always easy but every morning I try to wake up and tell myself, ‘You are a woman! You are strong! You are beautiful!’ Then I get ready, put on an outfit that expresses who I am and how I feel and then start my day ready for whatever the world throws at me.” Clothing plays a key role for Tookes, too, alongside friendship. “I put on my favourite outfit, blast some of my favourite music and get together with my best friends. I think having an amazing support group can make anyone feel dynamite,” she tells FASHION.

And speaking of clothing, the pair both share the same love of layers when it comes to dressing for fall. “I love being able to mix and match pieces and to mix different cuts, textures and colours,” says Skriver, adding that the Dynamite collection has “the perfect layering pieces” – including the faux leather puffer jacket which is her favourite piece in the whole line-up. “I can wear it with anything – jeans, tights, a dress. You can’t go wrong with it.” Tookes adds, “I love being able to start to wear layers again for fall. It’s a great time to experiment because you can wear dresses, chunky knits, jeans, joggers, tees – almost every item in your closet has a time and place during fall.” As for the pieces she’ll be wearing on rotation from the collection, Tookes points to the camel knit set she wore in the campaign. “It is so cozy and comfortable but also looks so chic. This is an item I could wear everyday. It has quickly become a staple in my closet and will see lots of love this season.”

Scroll through the gallery below to see our favourite pieces from the collection:

Dynamite’s new fall collection is available from today. Shop the full edit here.

Nomadland, One Night in Miami, No Ordinary Man and more.

Although much of the world shut down this year—live events were cancelled, awards ceremonies were moved online and concerts began taking place in living rooms—the Toronto International Film Festival decided to soldier on with a mix of virtual and IRL movie screenings. TIFF 2020 might have presented a reduced slate of 50 films (down from the usual 200+), but its focus on diversity and inclusivity didn’t wane.

This year, 48% of the festival’s titles are directed, co-directed or created by filmmakers who are Black, Indigenous or people of colour. And in the fourth year of its Share Her Journey initiative working towards gender parity, 46% of the films at TIFF 2020 are directed, co-directed or created by women, up from 36% last year.

No stars flew into the city for this year’s festival of course, but they did seem to be missing the communal experience and the electric energy that takes over the city every September. “You literally crash into people in hotel lobbies and lines waiting to get into a conference,” said Kate Winslet at a virtual TIFF press conference. “I wish that we were all in the same space and could hug and connect. It’s sad not to get that bit of TIFF, because TIFF really is that—it is about closeness, and connecting to people through their films and artistry.”

While there were no crowds lining the streets outside theatres this year, waiting to catch a glimpse of their favourite celebrities, nor was there movie chatter at every restaurant and bar on King Street, there were many conversations taking place online, with actors, audiences, filmmakers and journalists weighing in on social media, Zoom panels and Instagram Lives. Here are the films and performances that had everyone talking at TIFF 2020. Be prepared to hear about them all through awards season.

Nomadland
Like Chloe Zhao’s earlier works, Nomadland is both intimate and expansive, following a small community of American baby boomers who have traded in their homes and pitiful pensions for a life on the road. While the cast is mostly filled with the real-life “nomads” who populate the book this film is based on, lead actor Frances McDormand and her co-star David Strathairn are both likely to earn Oscar nods. The film won the prestigious Golden Lion award at the recently concluded Venice Film Festival, a prize that usually bodes well for a film’s performance on the awards circuit.

One Night in Miami
Actress Regina King’s feature directorial debut is based on a play that imagines the conversations that may have taken place between four American icons (and real-life friends) Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown on one night in Miami in 1964. These four men might be legends but the film shows them as complicated human beings trying to figure out their place in the culture, and how to channel their power and platform into meaningful change. There’s already early buzz for King who, if nominated for a Best Director Oscar, would make history as the first Black woman to receive that honour. Kingsley Ben-Adir is sure to earn a nod for the righteous fury with which he captures Malcolm X, and co-stars Leslie Odom Jr, Eli Goree and Aldis Hodge are likely to get awards recognition as well.

Shiva Baby
Emerging Toronto filmmaker Emma Seligman’s debut feature film received a great response for its darkly comedic depiction of a young, queer, Jewish woman struggling to hold it together over the course of a chaotic shiva. Overeager relatives, well-meaning but OTT parents, an ex-girlfriend and a current sugar daddy all convene to make for an excruciating but hilarious afternoon.

No Ordinary Man
Co-directed by Canadian filmmakers Chase Joynt and Aisling Chin-Yee, this documentary looks at the life and legacy of jazz musician and trans icon Billy Tipton, whose trans identity was revealed to the world after his death in 1989. Although misgendered and misunderstood at the time, Tipton went on to have a profound impact on the trans community. This profound and moving film explores the musician’s lasting legacy through the perspectives of a series of trans actors, writers and thinkers.

Beans
Weaving a coming-of-age story with news footage of the 1990 Oka Crisis, this compelling film is rooted in director Tracey Deer’s own experiences as a young Mohawk girl who lived through the crisis. Told from the point of a view of a 12-year-old girl, nicknamed Beans, the film shows both the personal and political reverberations of this event on the Mohawk community in Quebec. Both Kiawentiio Tarbell, the lead actress, and Rainbow Dickerson, who plays her mother, deliver standout performances.

Inconvenient Indian
Michelle Latimer’s experimental documentary explores not just the unfair ways in which Indigenous people have been portrayed in the media but also the efforts of the current generation of Indigenous folk to reclaim their identity. Based on a book by Thomas King, the film pulses with life thanks to striking visual imagery, bold narrative choices and an energetic soundtrack.

Ammonite
This period drama centres around the relationship between 19th century palaeontologist Mary Anning (played by Kate Winslet) and geologist Charlotte Murchison (played by Saoirse Ronan). Although the film, directed by Francis Lee, has received mixed reviews, the performances by both its leads have been acclaimed as powerful and award-worthy.

Pieces of a Woman
This film by Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó portrays the trauma of losing a child through the lens of a young Boston couple who suffer a tragic home birth. Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf, who play the anguished parents, earned rave reviews for their work in the film, which also stars Ellen Burstyn, Succession’s Sarah Snook, and Benny Safdie.

The Father
Sir Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman are receiving early awards buzz for their work in The Father, a drama in which they play father and daughter. Amid plans to move to a different city, Colman’s character must figure out the best way to care for her aging father, who suffers from dementia. Based on a play by French writer Florian Zeller, the film expertly brings to screen the bewilderment and confusion of a mind that’s beginning to lose touch with reality.

The fashion industry has changed significantly since model-turned-advocate Bethann Hardison got her start in a Garment District button factory. As part of ELLE’s look at the future of fashion, she shares her views on the industry’s current struggles and how she personally has effected change over the decades.

When did you decide to leave modeling and go into activism?

First of all, I’m not an activist. People say that, but I’m an advocate and it’s a little different. I’ve had moments of activism for sure, but as I like to say, “an activist has to remain active.” When I left modeling, it was just because I felt I had done it and the time was up. I was tired of entertaining the crowd, so it was just like “Next!” I walked down the runway and saw Polly Mellen sitting front row, screaming my name, and at that moment I knew I didn’t want to do this anymore. Simple.

I grew up in the garment business, so I always had a full-time job. I was a runway model, but I had other things that I did. I’d just opened up a showroom that represented Valentino and other Italian brands from this factory out of Como. I had been working with Valentino at that time in Rome and so they were the ones that told the factory, “OK, you work with her in New York and we’ll give you the licensing on our swimwear.” I never wanted to have a modeling agency, but people convinced me that that’s what I needed to do. I was originally going to partner with a French woman, but she switched up on me at the last minute, so I knew I had to do it on my own, but I didn’t have a pot to piss in. But it all worked out.

How?

One of my top models at the time whom I’d represented at Click and always believed in me, a white girl, she just made sure she found the money and all the models said “No no no, we don’t need to get paid first. We’ll take the hit.” And that did very well from about ’84—’96, when I just decided I couldn’t do it anymore. It was hard to do because it was successful, and we were doing good things that were making a difference. It was a white agency with Black kids and Asian kids and Latino kids. It wasn’t a Black model agency, but it had a Black owner.

Rose HartmanGetty Images

Are the conversations you were having then with the industry regarding representation any different than the ones you’re having now, either from the model or designer perspective?

Every industry has its exclusions. Fashion, television, you name it. It’s all about referrals: What have you done and who have you done it for? Everyone fears risking something new, like a retailer taking a chance on a relatively unknown designer. That’s like in the Roman times, that’s not unusual. There are stores willing to take risks but I just wish people had more history. A lot of people don’t know because they’re brand new with this.

Back in the day, when I was coming up in the ’70s, we didn’t have this frustration that seems to be percolating in the industry. Number one, the Garment District is a whole different thing than the fashion business. The fashion business is a glamorous entity that people seem to have gotten their knickers all in a twist about. It was organic: people came along, designers came along, everything just started to brew. We didn’t feel the feeling like we are now. People started coming out and just became entities. It became a community of people who designed, white, Black, and so on. We just kind of showed up and it you had style and creativity, you got noticed. It’s unfortunate that our industry has gotten full-on with so many inhabitants. Before it was a tiny little elitist island that nobody gave any care about, nor did the island itself invite many people because it was very exclusive in the sense that designers didn’t even have outside people come to their fashion shows. There was a fear of lines being copied and everything was very private. Nobody cared about being part of the industry or going to fashion shows and then one day that changed. And once that changed, everything started to change.

What caused that?

I don’t know but all of a sudden, the designers started inviting celebrities into the shows. Believe me, I’m telling you, it was never like that before. A few people here, a few people there and the outside world started being invited in. Next thing you know, popular culture has begun to run the show. All of a sudden, we had things called bloggers, I didn’t even know how to spell it. All of a sudden they’re in front of you. Important retailers and editors can’t even see the shoe of the girl walking down the runway.

So now with all these people wanting to be on inside, they start to dictate a little bit. When you say that I’ve been fighting for diversity and inclusion in our industry for so long, this is not true. A lot of people think that but what I have done—and I do believe I am a revolutionary because of how I have functioned—I think you basically have a calling and at some point in time you just call things out along the way, but you don’t start doing that until it’s time.

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What was that time for you?

My modeling agency started in 1984 down in TriBeCa on North Moore Street and because of who I was and all the designers that knew me and what I stood for, they were all really happy to support my agency. But I had a good agency, good talent, and a good eye. At that point, all the big designers such as Calvin Klein only used runway girls because that’s who serviced that segment of the industry. But Calvin, being the great marketer he is, decided he wanted to put the print girl on the runway so that the editors could already visualize the editorial. So the girls that went to [the Battle of] Versailles, like myself, and Billie and Pat, those girls started to be replaced by print girls. They’d never walked, never done a fashion show before but they were the image that he wanted to see. As different as designers can be in their work, they all pretty much follow the yellow brick road. So that became the trend.

And so there weren’t many Black print girls. Black runway models, yes, but not print girls so that’s when the image began to change of what you see on the runway. And it wasn’t just Calvin, it was Perry Ellis, Donna Karan, all of them. And so I started getting calls from them: “We need you to find us a Black girl, Bethann, we need a great Black girl.” And then I would say things like, OK, how many girls are you using? And they’d say 35. And I’d say, OK, you want one Black girl? I was very good at turning the tables on them, to let them see how awful that sounds. I always knew the playing field. So when, say, Brides would call to book Catherine, one of my top girls and a white brunette, I’d say, “Let me ask you something. You do realize that Black people get married, too?” And they were often taken aback, because race wasn’t something easily discussed, but you have to educate people.

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Several people I’ve interviewed have said they simply want to be recognized for being a great designer, not a great Black designer. What is your view?

Look, I don’t want the President of the United States to be called the Black President. We were always distinguished as Black but we didn’t have to wear it. There was a feature in the New York Times where the fashion editor called us “those Black stallions” and we took pride in that. And then Newsweek did a story on how successful so many Black models had become, but when it came down to the Black designers, if there was a group of them covered they would go back to them and say they couldn’t say it was a group of Black designers. Designers didn’t design thinking they were Black designers, they just designed because everyone was equal back in the day. Giorgio di Sant’Angelo, Halston, everybody was sort of in the same culture. But it didn’t mean that the press wouldn’t call our color out, they could and we never took offense to it but nobody wanted to be known and be thought of as a “Black designer”—what does that mean? People would be conscious of how they used it and when they used it.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Here’s why Emmy-winning Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany made headlines this week.

From Tatiana Maslany as She-Hulk in Marvel’s upcoming Disney+ series to Apple’s new content subscription plan, here’s all the news you missed this week.

Tatiana Maslany was announced as She-Hulk
Orphan Black star (and Saskatchewan native) Tatiana Maslany will be playing the lead role in Marvel’s upcoming She-Hulk series for Disney+. The last major character to be co-created by Stan Lee, She-Hulk’s human alter ego is Jennifer Walters, who gets her powers after an emergency blood transfusion from her cousin Bruce Banner (aka the Hulk). Stay tuned for more details.

Drew Barrymore launched a talk show
Drew Barrymore is back on our screens, this time as a talk show host. The first episode of The Drew Barrymore Show premiered September 14 on CBS with a Charlie’s Angels reunion. Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu joined Barrymore to kick the show off, followed by guests like Reese Witherspoon, Gabrielle Union, Charlize Theron and Billy Porter over the course of the first week. In addition to interviews, Barrymore does a quirky daily news segment, monologues and more. “I am not one person, I am not one mood, I am not one thing, I am such a mixed bag myself,” she said during a virtual press conference. “I want a show that represents all of the different things that we are interested in.”

Apple rolled out a new subscription plan
Announced earlier this week and rolling out in the fall is Apple One, a new subscription service that will offer users access to Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud and more in a single package. Three different plans will be available: Individual, which includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and 50GB of iCloud storage for CAD 15.95 per month; Family, which includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and 200GB of iCloud storage for CAD 20.95 per month; and Premier, which includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple Fitness+ (a new Apple Watch fitness experience arriving later this year), and 2TB of iCloud storage for CAD 33.95 per month. Both Family and Premiere plans can be shared by up to six family members. While the Apple One Individual and Family plans will be available in over 100 countries and regions, the Premier plan will be available only in Australia, Canada, the UK and the US.

Instagram launched new accessibility features
Instagram recently introduced AI-powered automatic video captions for IGTV to make it easier and more accessible for deaf and hard-of-hearing communities to use the platform’s video services. To start, the feature will be available in sixteen languages globally. According to Instagram, as more people use the closed captions in this new feature, the AI will begin to learn and improve in quality.

And ICYMI: we spoke to Noah Reid about his new short film, which premiered at TIFF this week, and the end of Schitt’s Creek.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

In another dimension—the one where science isn’t “an opinion,” where health is a human right, where Quibi is the name of a celebrity baby instead of, like, whatever it is—Fashion Week would be moving right along. There would be triumphs and trends, breakout faces wearing sponsored mascara, and the occasional “that didn’t need to be a show” sigh from weary editors on a micro-drip of cold brew and chunky accessories. In other words, the jagged bliss of our jobs.

Jamie McCarthyGetty Images

Instead, here we are in a more twisted timeline, exclaiming “it’s so good to see you!” even though half our faces are covered. And that’s where Christian Siriano pops into view. (For real though—at the show he seemed to appear magically from behind a tree in his backyard, yelling “it’s so good to see you!” while wearing a mask—one of the 750k he’s created for frontline workers since the start of the pandemic.)

Along with helping solve this dimension’s PPE shortage and making TikTok videos with Sarah Jessica Parker, the 34-year-old designer has been doing exactly what the rest of us have: binging old movies in his PJs. “Comfort viewing is a very real thing,” he says, “and for me, that’s Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead.” The 1991 comedy stars Christina Applegate as a high school senior pretending to be a fashion executive. Its glorious finale has a bunch of giddy teens wearing Balmain-meets-Burger-King versions of fast food uniforms on a catwalk made from pool floats. And for many current millennials—Siriano included—“it was the first time I ever saw a runway show, or even realized that fashion could be a job.”

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Or in the case of Siriano’s latest collection, a great job. Along with expected (and exquisite) confections like lipstick-red poufs and pink princess skirts, there were flare-kick pants and cropped plaid blazers that could perk up a dreaded Zoom meeting pretty fast. See also: a black lace corset with a thighbone-bearing skirt for maximum Hailey Baldwin vibes (and a brief pang of party withdrawal for the Ghosts of Wang Fests Past). Of course there were Emmy Award options because the show is still happening (sort of, somehow…) on Sunday, along with bombshells like Lauren Chan and Sabrina Karlsson, who was dressed like a Connecticut Persephone in yellow chiffon and sooooo many daisies. (An ode to Drew Barrymore, who filmed a segment with Siriano for her new talk show?)

Mike CoppolaGetty Images

Then there was Coco Rocha, who closed the show in a scarlet body-con gown while pregnant with her third child. (Mazel Tov, Coco!) “It’s the only show she’ll get to do this season with the baby in her belly,” sighed Siriano. “So we wanted to make it special.” So did Rocha—she stepped into his swimming pool for the grand finale, swam the backstroke… and then had to be pulled out by the atelier assistants, because have you ever gotten a multi-layered couture gown sopping wet? Even the hardcore CrossFit attendees among us could never. And though the move was very reminiscent of Shelley Long’s pool dive in Troop Beverly Hills (another favorite of the designer), Siriano swears it wasn’t choreographed. “To be honest, we told her to be free—Coco is such a muse, and I trust her completely in my clothes—but I had no idea what she was going to do!” said the designer after the show. “It certainly wasn’t planned—but what has been this year?”

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In that other timeline, Rocha would have somehow emerged from the pool like an X-Men goddess, posed while sopping wet, and been air-lifted by a helicopter sponsored by an energy drink. In this one, Christian Siriano took his bow while laughing, surrounded by women of all body types and skin tones, as an audience of die-hard fashion folk clapped, ‘grammed, and smiled broadly, because it was a beautiful day and there were beautiful things in it—even if those things needed help to get out of a saltwater swimming pool before they could keep going.

So wait, maybe it was supposed to be this way? Anyhow, onwards.

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“People are still coveting these styles.”

While Diana Nguyen, founder of the consignment site Lux Second Chance, knows that the concept of “luxury is based on scarcity”, she actually launched her business to provide more opportunities for consumers and collectors to get their hands on their favourite pieces.

“I love consignment,” says Nguyen, noting that she’s personally been a fan of that way of shopping for over 15 years–before it became one of the buzziest ways to buy hard-to-acquire items or the season’s latest trends. “But it’s not about the brand itself,” she notes of her high-end habit. “I’m a minimalist, so it’s about the quality.”

When Nguyen returned to Canada after working in the banking sector in Asia five years ago, she wanted to slow down the pace of her professional life and find a way to nurture her interest in tech and fashion. She’d noticed that in Canada, much of the consignment industry at the time was localized, and she wanted to develop a way to sell high-end goods from around the world–a kind of one-stop shop for the best of what fashion has to offer.

Starting off by selling 23 of her own handbags, Nguyen’s idea flourished thanks to her site’s ability to bring together an impressive inventory of pieces by brands like Hermès, Chanel, Goyard and Celine. “Our site [features] a bunch of [consignment] stores on one platform,” she notes, adding that Lux Second Chance’s reach has expanded from the Canadian market to include sellers in the U.S. and Europe.

One might be surprised by the fact that people are still keen to get their hands on a Birkin or Boy bag given the current economy, but Nguyen points out that there are several reasons why a business like hers has maintained–and grown–its clientele in the last few months.

“Luxury buyers aren’t shopping frivolously right now,” she says. “They’re shopping wisely.” That purposeful pursuit is motivated by a sense that “classics never go out of style”, as she says, and that many people would rather make an investment in a luxury good than on the stock market–and Nguyen has done the research on this. She compared the value of some stocks to that of an Hermès Birkin bag, and found the iconic tote actually outperformed shares.

Nguyen also says that seeking out items online means buyers have more options to peruse, since many luxury brands don’t sell their higher prices pieces via e-commerce. Coupled with the restrictions quarantine set in place for shopping IRL, it means that sites like Lux Second Chance are very of-the-moment.

In recent months, Nguyen has noticed an uptick in people buying cross-body and belt bags–“for those who want to go hands-free”–but that versatile items like Prada’s multi bag and large totes have sold well, too. “Backpacks are also making a comeback,” she hints. Further speaking to an interest in the mix of fashion and function, she says customers have been purchasing lots of chain link necklaces and rhinestone earrings–anything to give a bit of zest to all the video calls we’re now making.

She predicts that we’ll be seeing a rise in the chic sweatshirt as we head into fall, and that comes as no surprise. Classic and comfortable, they’re the super hero of a thoughtful WFH wardrobe.