Your weekly guide to the city’s retail scene.
SHOWS & SHOPPING
■ Don’t miss the Philip Sparks trunk show if you want your pick of the local designer’s brand new spring 2013 accessories collection. From Feb. 13 to Feb. 19, Sparks’ entire line up of shoes and bags—including his first women’s footwear collection—is available for pre-order, ensuring you’ll get the style, size, and colour you covet. The handsome collection of shoes, including two-tone brogues, strappy mid-heels, satchels, and colourful cotton and canvas totes, generated quite the buzz with the fashion media at its preview last fall. Place your orders online at philipsparks.com or visit the store at 162 Ossington Avenue.
■ Good news for couch-shoppers: Toronto-based shoe designer Abel Muñoz has launched a new e-shop at abelmunozshop.com, offering free delivery within Canada and the U.S. Two styles have already sold out, despite price points ranging from $575–$695, but the coral-buckled and tasseled Caballia2 and navy-suede Eiffel are still up for grabs. Many of the designer’s shoes have heels heights of 13cm with 3cm platforms, so you’d do well to practice walking at home.
■ Save the date for a one-day sample sale from a variety of local designers happening Feb. 23 at the Gladstone Hotel Art Bar (1214 Queen St. W., 416-531-4635) from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Presented by Canadian design specialists Homegrown Boutique (16 Cumberland St., Lower Level), the event will showcase design talent not available in store, including pieces from Felony Case, Fischer Street, Varsity Brown, Vitaly design, and Woudenberg. Clothing and accessories from designer Zoran Dobric, will also be marked down by 50 to 80 per cent.
NEWS
■ Looks like accessories designer Jenny Bird has another hit bag on her hands. The local designer, whose ruched bucket bag and clutch enjoyed several seasons of popularity among the city’s fashion cognoscenti, has created a limited-edition collection of netted leather bags. The microsuede sacks, lined with Bird’s signature pink grosgrain interior, are encased in hand-woven leather netting. Only 100 are available and are priced between $325– $395 US. Visit the designer’s online shop at jenny-bird.com.
■ New on Canadian soil is Minimum—a Danish contemporary clothing company that specializes in a “Scandinavian cool” aesthetic. (Think Zara from Denmark and you’ll get the idea.) Their collection combines colour, texture, and graphics in trend-driven pieces that blend in urban metropolises from Europe to Asia to North America. Check out their sweet floral jumpsuits or neon expose- zip anoraks for girls, or a pale-blue blazer and mart pair of washed denim jeans for dudes. Minimum’s pieces are available at Proper Reserve (498 Queen St. W., 647-341-8000).
■ Sure, the name’s pretty graphic, but the new No Bleeding Lips Secret Lip Liner ($14.95) sure does deliver. Create a perfect pout by preventing gloss or lipstick from bleeding or feathering. Approved by dermatologists, the clear, wax-based lip liner is waterproof, long-lasting, and free of mineral oil, paraffin, and animal-derived ingredients. Available at Shoppers Drug Mart.
