Behind-the-scenes at Folio's Spring 2013 fashion shoot

For those of you that don't know, on top of being a fashion writer for the National Post I am also the Editor-in-Chief of Ryerson Folio Magazine. I started working for Folio as the Fashion editor and was then promoted to Editor-in-Chief so obviously I have a soft spot for the fashion section. I take Folio's fashion pages super seriously and so I made sure to have the VERY BEST TEAM for this Spring 2013 issue. I wanted this issue's fashion editorial to be perfect. There was no way I was going to let a magazine with my name on it have some loser catalogue-worthy shit photography or tacky no-name designer outfits. I want Vogue or Vanity Fair! I want HIGH FASHION DAMMIT! And so I called in my three pros, Folio photographer Joseph Hammond, fashion editor and stylist Christian Allaire, and makeup artist Christina Ciddio

Rolled this thing around campus during the biggest bloody freezing wind-storm EVER...Good times with Chris. We managed not to wreck anything. Thank you, Fashion God!

My darling Chris pulled from the studios of some of Ryerson's most important fashion alumni. He got amazing pieces from Lucian Matis, LABEL, Amanda Lew Kee, and Rachel Sin. Using his amazing networking skills and fashion connections, Chris also managed to get the people from Ann Taylor to provide us with shoes and Artifacts Jewelry to lend us their amazing one-of-a-kind vintage pieces.

The amazinggg yellow croc-skin jacket by Lucian Matis. This thing made headlines last Fashion Week. It was one all of the Spring/Summer 2013 runway's best lists.

COLOUR BLOCKING. It's important. Thanks Ann Taylor ;) 

Together, Chris and I styled our model, the lovely Catrina Chen, while Joseph got his lighting down. Have I mentioned that Joseph is actually an amazing photographer? K, good. Check out his portraits. They're really something else.

Catrina in another Lucian Matis creation

Our buddy Joe being a pro

Catrina in Amanda Lew Kee. ALK makes sportswear sexy. Just saying

After an intense hour and a half of dressing, un-dressing, running, posing, styling, placing, BLAH BLAH fashion head-aching, we got it! We all left the shoot knowing that this issue of Folio was going to have a KILLER fashion spread.

AND GUESS WHAT! IT DOES!!

Get it while it's hot bitchezzzzz

Haven't seen it yet? Dude, what are you waiting for? QUICK RUN TO RYERSON! The magazine was launched last month at our Folio launch party (sick party, you should have been there. If you weren't invited...sorry, I guess you aren't cool enough) and is now available around school.

skirt and top by Lucian Matis
photo: Joseph Hammond

right: dress by Rachel Sin, necklace and bracelets by Artifacts Jewelry. Left: jacket and skirt by Lucian Matis, shoes by Ann Taylor 

Right: top and shorts by Amanda Lew Kee, necklace by Artifacts Jewelry. Left: Label dress and jewelry by Artifacts.

Editor-in-Chief of Ryerson Folio Magazine

Hi everyone! I'm back on the blog-horse. Woohoo! I know you've all missed me dearly, and I apologize for leaving you high and dry with no elayne-fashion to read... pfff (don't worry, I realize I'm not exactly the blogosphere's biggest contender) BUT I TRY! The more you blog, the more people read. The key to a blogger's life. I am officially taking my blogging seriously again! So be ready for some fashion updates because guess what(!) FASHION WEEK (*cough* more like month but whatevs..) IS HERE!! Stay tuned for some of my runway reviews and style posts!

Brittany Paquin and Me
photo: by Eden Millar 

Sissy love
photo: Brittany Paquin

But before I get ahead of myself I have an announcement to make. In late August, while I was still home in Montreal enjoying my fashionless days of over-sleeping, bartending, and being a shit, I got an unexpected phone call from my Editor-in-Chief at Ryerson Folio Magazine (where I work as the Fashion Editor). He had big news for me. He was stepping down and he wanted me to take his place! I've been promoted to Editor-in-Chief of Ryerson University's first arts and culture magazine! I've been working with the most amazing staff of editors, illustrators, writers, and photographers for the past three months and even though it may be a lot of work (especially since I am currently in my final year of university and drowning in course work) I am really loving every minute of it.

photo: Tyler Webb
Ryerson Folio staff

A few months ago the Folio team put together a party at Ryerson's new IMA gallery on Spadina for the launch of our Fall issue (which can be found online on the Folio website.) Trung Ho, the founder and original EIC of the magazine, wanted to make the big announcement at party and told me to prepare a speech....I'm not very good at speeches. I believe the term is word vomit. Anyway I dragged my sister and my biffle Brittany Paquin to the launch for moral support. They thought it would be funny to film my speech... guess they were right. Enjoy....

Matis, Mifsud and Me for Ryerson Folio

Last semester The Ryerson Folio team worked super hard to get the first ever physical issue published for all the world (more like Ryerson population) to see! Apparently it looks amazing (I haven't set foot in Toronto since end of term and so I have not actually seen the magazine BUT IM EXCITED ANYWAY!) and I congratulate my fellow masthead members for all their hard work!

Check out the online version on the Folio website!

For those of you don't know, I am the fashion editor at Folio. For the first issue, I pushed to make sure the fashion section was top notch and as vogue-esque as possible. None of this sad model/bad makeup/H&M clothes/whoever photographer business. I wanted professionals. And that is what I got.

Thanks to designer Lucian Matis (one of Ryerson University's famous fashion alumni), from whom I pulled the majority of the pieces I used to style our glorious runway queen Mikayla Mifsud, Folio's first ever fashion spread looks absolutely FASH ON baaaaaybeee!

Greatest thing about styling: secretly wearing (for only 5 seconds of course) that designer piece you've been drooling over since you first saw it on the Fashion Week Runway. Woooohooooo! I got to wear the Lucian Matis lace gloves! The exact ones I obsessed over and wrote about for Dress to Kill! ....I wore them for about 10 minutes...for the ride back to the studio. BUT STILL! SOOO SICK.

Here's a little behind-the-scenes video of the shoot. ENJOY!

Ryerson Folio Magazine Fashion Shoot - Behind the Scenes from Ryerson Folio on Vimeo.

Toronto Fashion Week F/W 2012 - busy busy girl

It's that time again! It's Fashion Week in the big city of TDOT and this time I'm not a lame volunteer (not that volunteers are lame ...they're great! and I give them a big smile and two thumbs up for being so amazing) I'm ACTUALLY working it! Ha! I'm covering Fashion Week for Ryerson Folio and Dress to Kill magazine. It's been a very busy week full of crazy artistic fashion and incredibly fashionable people. I had the chance to go backstage and interview designers like Adrian Wu and Canadian fashion celebrities like Stacey Mckenzie. I've done SO MUCH but I have yet to start writing about it. With school work and managing two school magazines, there's no time to ACTUALLY sit down and write my reviews. If I'm not sitting on a runway bench, I'm emailing like a crazy person or interview people for my 2,000 + word feature stories for class. So much writing to do, so little time... Hopefully I will get my shit together and have my review of Day 1 up later tonight. In the meantime here's a Streetstyle shot of the outfit I wore to Day 1 taken by FASHION magazine.

Aldo hat, Levi's leather jacket, Zara denim shirt, AA high-waist jeans, H&M faux-fur gloves