Many wouldn’t consider leaving their jobs during a recession, but brothers Mike and Dave Radparvar did, and then student, Fabian Pfortmueller, contributed time to the building of a company that sought to do more than just sell clothing. With consumer, producer, and Earth in mind, Holstee delivers socially conscious designs to the public, as well as donates 10% of all revenue to empower third world entrepreneurs through micro lending.

I caught up with Dave at the Holstee office to get an exclusive on the company and its endeavors. Check out the video below:

For more information, be sure to visit http://www.holstee.com

Industry Insider: Dave Radparvar of Holstee is a post from: Fashion Style Blog

Downtown Toronto is rich in street-wear boutiques, but with so many, how do you pick the best ones?

In my small school located miles away from the city, people dressed the exact same way. My fellow school mates would buy clothes for the same brand names, expecting themselves to be unique even though everyone else had the same clothes on. Hollister, Aeropostale, Abercombie and H&M. The four apocalyptic disasters that were sent down to this earth to prevent people from having a unique and personal style. I always thought the people with the most up-to-date styles and the newest clothes were always the coolest people.  I wanted to be apart of that group, one of the cool kids who were known for their sense of style and trend-setting abilities. The one trip to downtown Toronto’s fashion district changed my life, every store there was so unique, so fresh and so hip. If I could name all of the stores I would, but out of all of them, five stores stick out:

Over The Rainbow:

Opened in 1975 as a premium denim retailer, Over the Rainbow sold jeans and apparel  from many different countries. As time passed,  Over The Rainbow increased it’s reputation and by 2007, the store was known as one of the go-to denim stores of the Country.

Over The Rainbow now sells over 250 styles of denim (largest selection in Canada) and carries over 100 different brands like 1921 and PRPS.

http://rainbowjeans.com/home.htm

Due West/Next Door:

Roughed up and edgy are the thoughts that come to my mind when I think of the ambiance of the store. Established in 1973, Due West is a mid-end retailer that has a very relaxed and chilled out vibe. When I first entered this store, I saw brands like Dom Rebel and G-Star, (which I personally don’t wear) and a lot of more street-ish and more urban styles of clothing. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is into the more graphic aspect of design.

www.duewestclothing.com

Next Door:

Next Door is probably my favourite stores out of the five. Located right beside Due West, Next Door sells higher end brands such as D&G, McQ by Alexander McQueen, DSquared and J.Lindeberg. You definitely get a more up-scale feel when entering this retail store, along with the simple and straight forward design of the interior. There is also a great contrast between the exposed plywood walls and the simple yet noticeable clothing showcase.

http://nextdoorclothing.posterous.com/

Show Room:

The first time I went into Show Room was during the 2009 boxing day sale. At first I thought it was going to be impossible to find something that I would actually like but I was surprised to see such a wide variety of clothes to choose from. After 20 minutes in the store, I had over $350 worth of clothes in my arms and I was walking towards the cash register. This two-floor store is filled with higher priced garments on the second floor and plenty of hip and up and coming brands on the first floor. From brands and labels that would get anyone spending every penny they have, including: Diesel, Cheap Monday, Miss Sixty,  Naked and Famous, Levis, True Religion and Lucky 7.

http://www.theshow-room.com/

Got Style Menswear:

Voted as the top menswear store by in Toronto by Now Magazine, Got Style is the leading menswear store when it comes to casual or business attire. The aesthetics of the store is what every man would want to see while shopping; flat-screen TVs, comfortable furnishings and a sleek interior. Got Style also has it’s very own male only spa which provides haircuts and hot-towel shaves.

http://www.gsmen.com/

My Top Stores: Toronto is a post from: Fashion Style Blog

Most people believe that a real fashion photo shoot requires tonnes of equipment, an amazing camera and lots of money. Lee Morris, from F Stoppers proves that you can do just as much with something as simple as an iPhone 3G.

If you have an iPhone, your true dreams of becoming a professional photographer are now so much closer. All you need now is $20,000 worth of lighting and a sexy model…

How to do a professional photoshoot with an iPhone 3G is a post from: Fashion Style Blog

The great designer Tom Dixon collaborates with Lacorste to design the techno polo. The concept behind it is to minimize the packaging and make it as eco as possible. This was achieve by embossing instead of the printing on the box. I think the air tight sealed shirt packing looks cool, did it minimize the packaging? I think more could have been done.

Art of the Week: Eco Lacoste Polo by Tom Dixon is a post from: Fashion Style Blog

In less than two weeks, FUZE will be throwing a pool party at Polson Piers to sweat off the heat and raise funds for Look Good Feel Better, a charity aiding women with their battles against cancer. All attendees will enjoy a complimentary beachwear fashion consultation by fashion stylist and Stylehog.com founder Julia Siedl, while rocking to the beats of DJ Big Jacks.

We will be giving away four tickets to our lucky readers. All you have to do is to retweet this post (one entry per person) and mention our username “@FSFashionBlog,” and you will be entered into our contest. We will randomly select our readers on July 15th, so get on tweeting!

But if you just can’t wait, you can purchase your tickets online at http://fuzepoolparty.eventbrite.com/

Fashion Style Invites You to Win Tickets to FUZE-A-POOLOOZA is a post from: Fashion Style Blog

After the video I made which showed me washing my selvage jeans after over 18 months of not a single wash people always provide helpful feedback such as “that’s disgusting!” and “gross”!

(It’s got over 6000 views in less than 6 months!)

That was the issue I had with the jeans too. It did not have a fresh smell but if you want great fades that’s the only way. The smell took over the closet and even my room once when I leave the closet door open. But a very effective solution I found was to use Fabreeze. Just spray it once every few weeks and you are good. Kills the smell and bacteria.

Another solution is to throw it in the freezer. I have not tried this before, but if you have please let me know how it is.

Keep your jeans fresh without washing them is a post from: Fashion Style Blog

The notion of pairing sports and fashion has always been regarded as an oxymoron, up until now. In an effort to promote national pride and the Canadian Basketball Foundation, a series of limited edition shirts under Canada Basketball’s new CB Authentic label were created by Jing Liu of JUZD.

The advertising campaign, directed by eMCee, was recently shot and features the shirts in black and white and other cool effects, along with interviews with Canada’s athletes, such as Alisha Tatham and Kevin Pangos. Check out the videos below:

Canada Basketball Unveils Advertising Campaign For Tees is a post from: Fashion Style Blog

According to FashionTrendsetter this season’s colour palette is one of vibrancy, not unlike the colours you may remember from the iMac Colour in the early 2000’s; green, bright orange and pink. In addition to these three basics, this season also features softer pastels reminiscent of the naivety of the 1950’s. And opposite the lighter shades are deep purples, blues, greens and oranges. The most popular of colours and appearing all across the board are no surprise with rich neutrals like auburn and midnight blue.

No matter the source, the winning colour this year has to be turquoise. Appearing on every site and coming in as this year’s Pantone colour of the year, there’s no question turquoise is a great colour. Turquoise evokes a calming and comforted emotion, while maintaining a fun tropical appeal. An aesthetically pleasing combination of blue and green, turquoise possesses positive qualities from both colours. Easily one of the most popular colours blue is associated with the happiness you may find with a perfect blue sky; whereas green, the colour most seen in nature, makes you think of growth and more recently the shift to living “greener”.

If there is some doubt as to which colours to wear this summer, at least remember there is one that is easily matched with almost every other colour in the spectrum. Turquoise compliments your reds and pinks, livens up your greens and neutrals, and gives you blue a maritime feel. And if you feel in the mood to be original, it can be paired with chartreuse effectively.

Turquoise is “It” for 2010-colour trend Spring Summer 2010 is a post from: Fashion Style Blog

Ever wonder what makes someone tick? Or how they got their inspiration? What about what they’re up to when they’re launching their line into a brand new market? Each week we’ll bring you one step closer to understanding the fashion industry with our one-on-one interviews. Last week, I managed to catch up with Noelle Reno, of Z by Zandra Rhodes, as she was beginning her expansion into the US market.

No stranger to the fashion industry, Noelle has been a part of the business since the age of thirteen when she began modeling for Elite.  Fast forward on through to the new millennium, though, we find Noelle, not only in the UK, but also embarking on a new adventure – the founding of luxury cashmere line Degrees of Freedom, which garnered a strong celebrity following, including the likes of Paris Hilton and Victoria Beckham. However, in late 2008, Noelle announced her departure from the brand.

Through a mutual friend on the British Fashion Council, Noelle met with Zandra Rhodes, Britain’s most celebrated designer. The duo, after discussion, set out to launch a new line entitled Z by Zandra Rhodes, which not only highlights Zandra’s taste for prints, but also Noelle’s eye for young and fashion-driven shapes. Met with great reception last month at its launch in the UK, Noelle’s already busy at work expanding into the US market. Should you find yourself at Harvey Nichols, be sure to head up to the third floor where you will find yourselves in for a surprise. For the get-in-get-out consumer, the Z Machine offers a fast and easy way to shop. With the swipe of a credit card and the scrolling through of a touch screen, the product will be brought to you in its very own Z bag.

So when I met up with Noelle in the East Village in NYC, she was on already her third day of meetings with magazines and stores (let’s cross our fingers that the US buyers pick up the line!). For anyone that has hopped off any plane ride lasting more than six hours, you’ll be just as impressed as I was (trust me, you think you would get used to it, but you never really do – you’re always tired out much more than you’d expect). “I’m not much of a print person, but Zandra is, so you can definitely see her in the designs,” says Noelle, “but see the closer fitting silhouettes? That’s me. It’s about working together to find something that matches both our personalities, and we make a great duo.” Moving forward, Noelle seeks to infuse more knit and luxury cashmere-cotton clothing into the line so as to provide selection and luxury.

For those wondering what gets put into the Z Machine and what gets simply placed on the floor, well, that’s up to both the buyers and Noelle. “The decision for what you can purchase via the machine depends on what the buyers feel would work best on the floor and in the machine; I also offer my input on what has worked best for me in certain markets too,” explains Noelle.

And in spite of her wide array of experiences, the now 27-year-old Noelle admits to only now better understanding the benefits of social media marketing, which has boomed within recent years. With so many of her friends advising her on such, Noelle chuckled and vowed to get a Twitter account going once she got hold of her computer in the UK. What’s lovable about the young entrepreneur is her down-to-earth personality and willingness to try out new things. I mean, how many people think about something like the Z Machine in the store? Tons. But how many actually push for it and succeed? Check out your local boutiques and department stores and you’ll find the answer to be “zilch,” unless of course you head on over to Harvey Nichols.

Z by Zandra Rhodes is currently sold at Harvey Nichols and Matches in the UK. The price point of the pieces average 70£ to 90£.

For more information on the line and Noelle be sure to visit the website http://www.zbyzandrarhodes.com/

Images courtesy of Z by Zandra Rhodes

Industry Insider: Noelle Reno of Z by Zandra Rhodes is a post from: Fashion Style Blog

The spooky  vibe sent chills up my spin. There was something with this video that touched me deeply. Something that is just perfect, so perfect I felt detached from myself. And Time magazine critic Josh Tyraniel agrees naming “Love Lockdown” the best song of 2008. It is the perfect mix of the perfect song with the perfect video. I listened all night and went to get the the album in the morning.

The essence of the song was captured brilliantly in the video. The slow depress mode of the song. The symbolic elements such as being trapped, being house lockdown, the mesmerizing tone and feel, and the worshiping of the human statues. The motion and the tempo is synced with the with every millisecond of the song. There is no separation.

What is artistic and cryptic is the meshing of all the tribal symbols, spaceship, and juxtaposition of reality and the symbolic movements of what’s happening to him. The constant unexpected flow from real to what seems to be happening in his mind is so intertwined that there is really no separation which is what he feels like.

You can see more work form Simon Henwood here.

Art of the Week: Love Lockdown by Kayne West – Directed by Simon Henwood is a post from: Fashion Style Blog