Lorenzo Martone hits Toronto for the Prada book launch and some mystery meetings

Photo courtesy of Prada
Lorenzo Martone shows off his LV Sprouse sneaks at the Prada book launch in Toronto. Photo courtesy of Prada

Last night, Prada held its first Toronto bash since the party for the opening of the Bloor Street location in 1997. It took the launch of a Prada book to warrant another celebration, and the delay only seemed to heighten the thrill. Devoted followers of fashion’s highest priestess, Miuccia, paid homage by arriving in her black lace sheaths, metal-coated wools, and this season’s studded shirts and shoes. But it wasn’t wall-to-wall Prada: Stacey Kimel, who was squiring around Marc Jacobs’ beau Lorenzo Martone, wore winged Balmain while Martone’s feet glowed in a pair of Louis Vuitton sneakers scribbled with Stephen Sprouse graffiti. Martone recently launched a talent/pr agency called ARC New York aimed at expanding models’ careers beyond the runway and was in town “for meetings” though he wouldn’t specify with whom. Add in a cheery Barbara Amiel, distinguished heart surgeon Dr. Viv Rao and artist Kent Monkman and the crowd was just as quirky as Prada’s frayed satins. At the centre of it all: frizz-haired mannequins in a mash-up of prints from the spring collection. They were surrounded by copies of the 708-page book which documents Prada’s trailblazing in fashion, advertising, architecture, film and art. This is required reading for the cognoscenti and at $130, a much cheaper way to be a part of the action than buying a handbag.

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