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

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/

Last week we introduced to you the Top 10 Streetwear Sites you should check out for your latest fashion needs. Today we will talk about lifestyle magazines you should check out to stay current with the latest technology, fashion, hot women, and of course maintaining your health. You will also be able to find out what is Jing Liu’s favourite magazine to read. Read more to find out!

1. Maxim Magazine

The most coveted men’s lifestyle magazine featuring the hottest ladies gracing each month’s cover. Featuring topics ranging from technology, women, sports, sex, and comedy you’ll find the variety of topics enough to satisfy your craving. My favourite column is of course the Hometown Hotties. Check out the 2009 winners to see if you’re neighbour is on it.

2. GQ

Short for Gentlemen’s Quarterly, a lifestyle magazine focused on fashion, style, and culture for men, through articles on food, movies, fitness, sex, music, travel, sports, technology, and books. Now that winter is upon us full force, you should definitely read the article on Best Winter Essentials, staying warm while still looking cool.

3. Rolling Stone

Featuring some of the most iconic musical artist of every generation this magazine is devoted to music, politics, and popular culture. Be sure to check out the article on Go Inside The Battle Over Global Warming on how to do your part.

4. Vibe

A music and entertainment magazine founded by producer Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip-hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. Check out the most anticipated 2010 Albums and see if you’re agree with Canadian native Drake being #1 on the list.

5. Esquire

The very meaning of Esquire is to denote social class and this lifestyle magazine offers nothing less. Known for printing on an over sized magazine with glossy paper, you will find unconventional topics gracing its pages. To check out some pretty ladies, be sure to read the Women We Love section.

6. Nylon Guys

A lifestyle magazine that focuses on pop culture and fashion. Its coverage includes art, beauty, music, design, celebrities, technology and travel. The name Nylon derives from the magazine’s often featured articles featuring New York and London

7. Vice

Not to be confused with Vibe magazine, this edgy and controversial magazine features content ranging from sex, drugs, violence, crime, and social issues. They have an interesting column on fashion DOs and DON’Ts that you should definitely check out to stay fresh.

8. Men’s Health

The men’s guide to fitness, sex, women, workouts, weight loss, health, nutrition and muscle building. You should check out this month’s article on the best and worst cities for guys. We love this lifestyle magazine best for the recipes, delicious recipes, easy to make and healthy!

9. Men’s Vogue

Men’s Vogue is a twice yearly men’s magazine that covers fashion, design, art, culture, sports and technology.

10. Antenna

Considered a niche magazine by all accounts, this is Jing Liu’s favourite magazine to read. The content you will find mirrors that of which you will find in an Asian pop magazine. It features content ranging from upcoming clothes and shoes from your favourite brands to lifestyle and popular culture. Jing loves the section where they show all the graphic tees, tons and tons of them!

The population of Guangzhou metropolitan is estimated to be 8.5 million people. That’s 8.5 MILLION! That’s New York City’s 5 boroughs combined. Guangzhou city is known for it’s clothing and fabric market and it draws a lot of the Chinese from near by cities. In addition clothing is a major part of the Chinese society as China is the highest producer of clothing and textile.

…things are done quite different from any other country.

With this type of market demand the culture and the way things are done are quite different from any other country. In Guangzhou city I was staying with my friend Jacky. His aunt owns a factory and has a friend that produces smaller production runs which is perfect for JUZD. We headed over to the clothing market to see him.

We were dropped off right in the eye of the busy market. It was early in the morning midweek, some shops weren’t even open yet and there were already customers and foreigners lining up for a deal. Each shop is clean and well organized. Most shops are the size of a small 100 square feet tradeshow booth. Yet there were many shops and much were squeezed into each.

Quickly I noticed a consistent theme. Everything they sold were knockoffs. There were many vendors and each vendor had many items but they were the same. Knockoffs, knockoffs, and knockoffs. I felt sick to my stomach. Not only am I strongly against knock offs, I even hate it when one brand produces a similar design as another. The choice of knock offs for the day are American Eagle, Ed Hardy, Abercrombie and Fitch, and good old Nike. They don’t like it when you take pictures in the mall. I guess they are scare that you will knock off their knock offs.

…doesn’t make sense doing an original brand.

Right on top of these knock off shops were their sales office. Each of these shops had a factory. Where? Were they sweatshops? I don’t know. I did not enjoy the vibe from this area and did not want to venture to the appointment but to save face I went. Overall everything was professional and clean. From the stores to the office. And the knockoff designs were pretty good. Creative. But did not even want to go near the product to see the quality and construction. I would have given them a little respect if it was their own brand. But the market demand knockoffs. Base on the economics, for a small Chinese shop it doesn’t make sense doing an original brand.

I’ll pay the higher price and maintain my principle, thank you!

I got a quote for the production of some of the designs and the cost of shocking. Some of the cost were 1/5 of what I was paying. They wanted me to ship my custom made bamboo fabric to them for producing the shirts. As attractive as the offer was I won’t switch my factory even just for the simple fact that I can’t see JUZD line made by a knock off specialists. I’ll pay the higher price and maintain my principle, thank you!

Apartment buildings are right across the street from the clothing market. In China there is less restriction on zoning so you’ll see mesh of commercial and residential buildings side by side.

Fresh fur with the animal head attached. These guys look like they came straight out of the jungle.

Dedicated to providing a sustainable future, clothing designers have begun producing lines that make use of organic materials such as bamboo, wood-pulp, and seaweed. Joining in on eco-friendly train is Linda Lundström, women’s wear designer.

Slightly over a quarter of Lunström’s Spring 2007 collection can be recognized as a ‘Green Note’ item, which is an item in her collection that makes use of either bamboo or eco-Yukon fleece. Lundström aspires to have at least 50% of her clothing line making use of organic materials by Spring 2008. This spring, the bamboo jersey will be introduced into Lundström’s line as well as natural un-dyed laundered linen.

In addition to using eco-friendly materials, Lundström is also keen on following an old addage, “Waste not, want not.” In other words, reduce the need to cut excess fabric, and reuse the leftovers to create new garments. Lundström’s design team has come up with two pieces, which make use of the excess fabric – the Shabby Chic Scarf and the Labarka.

Aside from designing, Lundström recently served as Honorary Event Chair at An Evening of Sustainable style, which not only raised awareness concerning the negative impact of people’s choice for fashion but also offered green choices. It is this involvement with the community that helps us understand Lundström’s dedication towards minimizing our ecological footprints.

We are close to finishing the Fall 08 09 collection. We are excited! If you like the