H&M Fashion Against AIDS - prelaunch party

After agonizing over what to wear - what was appropriate, what everyone else would be wearing, what Rafay was going to wear etc etc. I settled on what was a decidedly casual outfit, braved the torrential downpour and headed out to the party at the location on Queen W.
The FAA line is great, there are a lot of pieces that aren't done any justice from the pictures on the site, and although some of the dresses didn't fit too well on me, I'm sure they'll look great on someone with a different body type. The smaller sizes were in high demand, and by the time I got there (7:30 - the party started at 7) all the size 2s and smalls in the mens pieces were gone. This was the first press party I've ever gone to, and I was entirely impressed. The food that was being passed around was great, with waiters and waitresses winding around racks of clothing with trays of mini-burgers, lobster skewers, bacon grilled cheese, feta and watermelon skewers, finishing off with chocolate dipped twizzlers, ice cream sandwiches and candied popcorn - all delicious, and bottles of Smirnoff ice, Heineken and Stella. Free food and free alcohol. How can I hate? I ended up leaving 2 tanks, a rain poncho and a pair of shorts, as well as a festival kit that was given to me with purchase and an umbrella that they were giving out at the door.
I have to say, H&M knows how to treat people. Must be a Swedish thing, because Lord knows how much I love Ikea, and how they have masseuses on hand for employees during the Christmas rush.
Here's a picture of what I ended up wearing tonight, which also doubles as showing off the white silk blouse that I scored at Value Village on Monday. I wore a blazer on top of it (because thin white material + rain almost always = bad news), and white plimsoles that were pretty much soaked through by the time I got to the store from the parking lot. Rafay and I also got our picture taken by the event photographer at the party (with our chocolate covered twizzlers!!), so when that picture goes up onto the site, I'll post it here too.

UNIS spring/summer 2010

UNIS is a menswear line designed by Eunice Lee. I definitely enjoy the idea of a female designing clothes for men. The questions of "How do I want my boyfriend to dress?" and "What would my super cool guy friend wear?" are definitely an awesome way of looking at designing menswear. I would apply this to myself and start my own line, but looks like UNIS has already got that covered.

Vincent Lacrocq for H&M Fall 2010

That cape!!
I enjoy the men's fall 2010 collection for H&M a lot more than I enjoy the women's (in a post coming soon..). I guess this is why I am a men's advisor and not in hennes.

Pierre Hardy for Gap

Pierre Hardy for Gap 2010

If I had the money, the occasion to wear these, or the ability to walk in heels, I would buy these.

H&M Fashion Against AIDS

So when I said I haven't found the rest of the campaign yet... it was because I didn't look very hard. haha.
Also wtf, Lou Doillon is in this?!

Here's some more info on the campaign, and the rest of the images:

H&M casts Josh Beech for this year’s Fashion Against Aids campaign. Celebrating their third season raising funds for fashion against aids, H&M is launching its first festival collection, with 25% of sales going to youth HIV/AIDS awareness projects. Offered through their Divided line, the limited range will encompass the festival experience with garments and accessories that even go as far as to include sleeping bags. As H&M’s head of design, Ann-Sofie Johansson explained, “For me, festivals are unique and inspirational places as they join both music and fashion. To see your favourite bands, to see creative people gathered, all from different nations and with different looks really inspires me. It is very important to make people aware of the problem with AIDS and HIV and we want to contribute in the fight against the disease by donating some of the sales from this collection.” Ultimately, the funds raised will assist Designers Against Aids and the NGO, who is responsible for bringing H&M’s attention to Fashion Against Aids.

FYI, for any who are interested, the man-gladiator sandals that Josh is wearing in the second image were received on Thursday at the H&M at Eaton Centre. I witnessed them being taken out of one of the totes.







Click to view larger.

J.Crew

The J.Crew Men's Fall 2010 collection is beautiful.
View the rest of the collection here.
If I was a man and couldn't afford Balmain, I would dress in this collection.
If I could afford it.





I think I'm more drawn to men's fashion because I'm really into rustic looks and clean lines... I know this exists in womens' clothes too, but it's so much more prominent in men's collections...

Balmain Homme

If I were a man, I'd imagine that this is what I would wear.
You know, if I had the cash for Balmain..







Also, I know I've been posting a lot about men's style/models lately, but I really enjoy looking at male models and men's style... sooooo, sorry if you're not into it.

alexa chung for made well

Alexa Chung for Made Well Fall 2010

rebecca taylor fall 2010

There's something that I absolutely love about this look from Rebecca Taylor's fall 2010 collection.

gurllllllll

Tilda Swinton, why you so ~~fierce~~?

(Get it, ~tildes for Tilda? GOD, I AM SO FUNNY!)

Zac Posen for Target

I think I'm due for a fashion post. Here are some images from the Zac Posen for Target lookbook. The Go Team at Target has picked some real winners to collaborate with (Rodarte for Target, anyone?). This is no exception. The collection hits shelves April 25th. Anyone down for a little road trip to the US for a little bit of Target-shopping?

You can view the rest of the collection here.

procrastination

So check it.
Remember when I posted that awesomely amazing Alexander McQueen clutch ?


Well it turns out that if you don't want the clutch part, you can just have the rings.
And I thought I wanted the clutch really badly....

They also serve dual purposes as awesome jewelery and some pretty hefty (and stylish!) brass knuckles, totally justifying it's $550.00 price tag.

(I mean, in comparison, the clutch is $1595.00...)

So... if any of you are at a loss as to what to get me for Christmas or my birthday....

YOU GUYS

i know this was announced earlier this year (i.e. april/may, before i started working there..)

but how did i not know that this line (Divided Exclusive) existed?

i almost lost my mind and bought the leather jacket today, before i was slapped back to my senses by the $200 price tag.

most of these pieces minus the bodysuit and the .... foamish looking dress are at the h&m in the eaton centre.

there were also some shorts and leggings there that i saw were part of the line but don't have pictures of.

also, i almost bought a crushed velvet dress with cross-back detailing today... but i feel like it's way too high fashion for my life. opinions?

Chanel

I've been dying all day waiting for images from Chanel to show up on style.com.
That being said.. Chanel was... very Chanel. So kudos to Lagerfeld for keeping it that way.
I'm not too big of a fan of any of the looks. They seemed kind of lolita-esque, which kind of creeps me out.
BUT, let me tell you how much I love the looks that were on Freja and Baptiste, and how they came out together (especially the last image!).

Freja is SUCH a babe. I have such a girl crush on her.

Balmain s/s 2010

Everybody's talking about Balmain.
And for good reason.
They always do the best jackets, especially the ones on Daria (who opened and closed the show, the only one she walked this season...).

(images from knightcat, video from rackkandruin)