November 2012: Letter from the editor
“Snakes. Paris. And Linda Evangelista.”
When ideas started percolating (a year ago!) for this 35th anniversary issue, never did I guess we would wind up here.
But I couldn’t be more thrilled.
FASHION was born as a city magazine helping Toronto women dress for success. Thanks to the brilliance of many over the past 3.5 decades, we have blossomed into Canada’s most-read fashion and beauty magazine. So there were two goals for this special issue.
One: to present a snapshot of Canadian women now to illustrate how far we have come since 1977, when “career woman” was a relatively new concept. Our second aim was to highlight FASHION’s mandate: Bringing the international world of fashion home.
For the latter, we dreamed of the ultimate fashion editorial—haute couture, shot in Paris. Toronto ex-pat photographer Benjamin Kanarek and Ottawa model Amanda Nimmo delivered that and more with a stunning spread set in and around the Hôtel de Crillon (“A Canadian in Paris,” page 204).
And in our quest to mark how our nation has changed over the years, our editors fanned out to find cutting-edge Canadians in fashion, beauty and beyond. In “Border Crashers” (page 175), we discover that two of Mad Men’s most-discussed (and Emmy-nominated) episodes were co-written by ex-Calgarian Semi Chellas. And in “National Treasures” (page 130) we learn that Moroccanoil is a homegrown success story.
Canadian style has also ripened with time. In “Northern Lights” (page 84), West Coast editor Joy Pecknold talks to some of the pan-Pacific shoppers who have sparked new excitement in the Vancouver retail scene. And Alberta editor Caroline Gault explores how the internet has helped that province go from hick to haute.
Our special anniversary section, starting on page 53, includes David Livingstone’s take on how fashion shows have morphed into serious, sombre affairs, and Karen von Hahn reminds us that until the ’90s, Sunday shopping was against the law.
You won’t see the snakes coiled just out of view, but we celebrate Canadian terrain in “Peak Performance” (page 220), shot on the Bruce Trail, which turns 50 this year. But the star of our anniversary issue is Linda Evangelista, the most super supermodel of them all (“Linda,” page 216). That she was keen to salute our birthday (even autograph our cover!) makes us feel that FASHION has matured into a beloved sibling in an international fashion family.
Be on the lookout for FASHION’s limited-edition L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche lipstick in “Haute Cherry,” which hits stores on October 9. You’ll see this perfect berry red, chosen by our readers in a contest earlier this year, on my lips throughout this fall and winter.
Thanks to everyone—readers, collaborators, advertisers and the spectacular FASHION team—who has made this magazine something to be proud of. Let us know what you think of our anniversary issue and our streamlined new look, which sets the tone for our next 35 years, at letters@fashionmagazine.com.
Bernadette Morra is the former editor-in-chief of FASHION magazine. She has been covering the Canadian and international fashion scenes for more than 30 years, first at The Toronto Star, then at FASHION. Over her long career Bernadette has interviewed many fashion world legends including Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford and Gianni Versace.
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