Fashion & Trend

Does the term “retro” mean anything anymore? With each new style revival comes a contemporary twist, bringing about an era of fashion rich in never-before-seen individuality with a heavy dose of comforting nostalgia . Enter roller skating and its ever-flowing archive of groovy inspiration. The sport has been booming since the onset of the pandemic when videos of roller skaters first took off on TikTok. Evoking a feeling of carefree joy during a period of uncertainty, the trend sparked a cultural resurgence and, needless to say, quad wheels have since been flying off the shelves. Despite the short-lived revival of other long-lost hobbies in 2020 — like bread-baking and crocheting — this activity has had an ongoing retro resurgence. @marawa Having a very unproductive week tbh. Hbu? I love you @A-Morir Studio 💎 ♬ Is That All There Is? – Peggy Lee Today, roller skating is a fashion phenomenon. The activity is wrapped up in sartorial sentimentality, with skaters recreating qu...

Fashion saved the lives of Dan and Dean Caten. Twenty years before Dsquared2 was even an idea, the identical designer twins grew up in Toronto, where they experienced incessant bullying and harassment for being different, feminine and poor. “Together we weathered all the storms, always finding shelter in each other,” reflects Dean. “It wasn’t until we dipped our toes into the fashion world that we really felt our purpose and accepted ourselves for who we are.” So it makes sense that since then, the pair has infused community and acceptance into everything they do. Photography courtesy of Dsquared2 Dsquared2 first opened its doors in Milan in 1994 but it wasn’t until the 2000s that the brand and the twins reached superstar status. They perfected maximalist mashups in their collections with ease and continue to effortlessly play with Western and biker references, while still showing a whole lot of skin. But tapping into queer pop culture has always been a priority for the Caten bro...

Pride month welcomes us with colourful sidewalks, the strategically planned product launch and a month’s worth of rainbow washing . Even as many beauty brands are vocal in their support of LGBTQIA2S+ people and communities, the industry has been criticized for tokenizing queer and trans people. Beauty means so much to queer and trans folks — it is affirmation, it is visibility and, often, it brings out the truest version of ourselves. LGBTQIA2S+ communities are not to be bought; solidarity is not a monthly obligation and support for our communities goes beyond June. So, this month and beyond, let’s put our support in those actually a part of the community. See our recommendations for beauty brands founded and owned by LGBTQIA2S+ people below. Boy Smells Matthew HERMAN AND David KIEN. Photography BY ISABELLA BEHRAVAN Real-life partners Matthew Herman and David Kien created Boy Smells as a way to disrupt gendered beauty standards. What started out as a side hustle of mixing tradit...

The first time Wang Newton dressed in drag, she was in a fedora and three-piece suit, dancing and singing to Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.” A business school major at the time, the now drag king was discovering the fun of reinvention. “I felt smooth and confident in a sharp suit while still wearing make-up,” she explained. Drag is the historical backdrop behind our new affinity for gender-fluid fashion. By its dated definition, the art form is about wearing clothing conventionally worn by the opposite sex. And off-stage, genderless fashion has never been more en vogue — so much so that it’s not inaccurate to say that most of us wear some form of gender non-conforming clothes in our day to day lives (sans the social scrutiny cast on drag kings and queens). But history shows us that what’s considered masculine or feminine is all relative. As far back as the 17th century, Persian men on horseback wore heels so that they could shoot bows and arrows while standing in stirrups. W...

Andie MacDowell is many things — an actor, a model and a mother of three among them. But “a confident cook” has never been on that list. So, during the pandemic, she decided to tackle her insecurities. “The woman I’m taking lessons from cooks for Brad Pitt,” she says, letting out a full-barrelled laugh. “I just love telling people that.” MacDowell’s trademark South Carolina accent is utterly charming, and I’m immediately captivated by the delicate creases etched across her forehead and around her eyes as well as the salt and pepper curls tumbling loosely around her face. Not to mention, she’s wearing a head-to-toe bubble gum-pink ensemble: trousers and a button-down silk blouse topped with a belted trench coat. So chic. She’s absolutely stunning. I’m chatting with the 64-year-old in a suite in Toronto’s Shangri-La Hotel. A L’Oréal Paris brand ambassador for an impressive 36 years, Andie MacDowell, who lives in Los Angeles, was flown in by the beauty juggernaut to host the Canadian e...

Is cut-out clothing the key to genderless expression? My mother used to complain about the cost of “incomplete clothing.” Made restless by our suburban neighbourhood, we would sometimes drive to the shopping mall one town over, and, to my preadolescent horror, she would suddenly become a kind of fashion critic. If I tried my luck in a fitting room and slipped on a pair of lightly distressed jeans, she’d draw her face into a cartography of distaste, sigh the wearied sigh of a Black mother and say, “But why must I pay more money for less fabric?” For me, it was a question of style; for her, it was a question of morality. I did not, at the time, have the language to explain to her that the gashes had to be applied after the jeans were completed, so the cost of labour would inevitably be higher; nor could I simply override her taste because I was 12 or 13 and jobless. And anyway, you should never quarrel with your ride home. If she had seen the state of the menswear Spring 2022 runway c...

In many ways, designers are signalling the dawn of a new age. Dopamine dressing, the metaverse,   gender fluid clothing and other trends have liberated fashion from its stuffy traditions. But the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has turned back the clock to a time when few people had such bodily autonomy. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the 1973 landmark ruling that legalized abortion nationwide on June 24. As a result, abortion rights will now be determined at state level, with several anti-choice lawmakers already moving to have the procedure banned. It shouldn’t be lost on us that while reproductive rights have regressed 50 years, fashion has never been more pro-choice. From unconventional combinations to open displays of sexuality, today, freedom is central to the fashion landscape. Take the recent runways at Men’s Paris Fashion Week, which were a celebration of unrestricted dressing. Louis Vuitton’s vibrant yellow catwalk referenced experimental styling with models in ca...

Tennis season is here! Like many people, I picked up tennis during the pandemic to get some exercise and spend time outdoors. And lucky for me (and all of us), tenniscore is in full swing this summer. With the revival of ’70s trends (see: the Gucci x Adidas collaboration and the Adidas Gazelles becoming the new “it” sneakers), the country club aesthetic of the 2000s (think Wimbledon  and  The Royal Tenenbaums ) and recent movies like  King Richard , tenniscore has found itself front and centre. Brands such as Bottega Veneta, Casablanca and Dior incorporated the aesthetic into their Spring/Summer 2022 collections, while Tory Burch and Lacoste have always made the sport’s style part of their brand. Whether you’re working up to pro-level status or hitting the court with friends (or you just really like the tennis aesthetic), tenniscore is fashion’s new favourite subculture. From pleated skirts and curve-hugging bodysuits to classic polos, click through the gallery below t...