Winter 2013: Letter from the editor

On the hunt (as always!) for a fabulous frock, I recently ventured to designer Lucian Matis’ studio in an industrial park miles from my office.

Not long before, I had seen his fall collection—a feast of feathers and lace—paraded in a gilded ballroom.

When I first laid eyes on the spidery strands, which you can see for yourself on page 191 in our “Period Drama” shoot, I assumed they were spun in some futuristic Swiss lab. “Actually,” Matis clarified, “my mother crocheted all my lace.”

Weeks later, I spied a festive David Dixon dress in our fashion closet. It was a delightful hybrid of laser-cut chiffon and folded leather sequins. After listening to Matis lament his lack of novel materials and hearing about his homemade solution, I had visions of Dixon and his kids around the kitchen table cutting out lambskin squares.

Canadian designers do not have access to, or money for, the unique embellishments that haute European brands do. But that hasn’t stopped them from delivering their most glam collections yet, as Sarah Nicole Prickett reports in “Siren Call” (page 64).

This new level of artistic craft has inspired “Patriot Love” (page 254), a regular feature spotlighting Canadian design. First up, Montreal’s Pavoni, a young label that has already made it onto Katy Perry and the retail racks of Dubai.

Perhaps someday our designers will achieve the world renown that Canadian models have. Coco Rocha’s success is well-deserved. Watching her move in front of a camera is breathtaking. Fabric flies, limbs are in perpetual motion and her expression seamlessly shifts from shock to bliss. With a solid two million fans on Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese social media site, and a Twitter following of nearly 400,000, Rocha’s fame will only grow with her role on the reality TV show The Face, launching in the new year (“Hot Coco,” page 200). What’s so admirable about Rocha, though, is how her commitment to her beliefs has not been swayed by photographers urging her to show more skin.

It won’t be hard for her, or any of us, to stay covered up this holiday season. As you’ll see throughout this issue, the impact right now is coming from geometric shapes, velvety textures or elaborate decoration. Best of all, our holiday looks start at $30—how can you not love that?

Let us know how your party season pans out at [email protected].