Phreshly Squeezed

Even though I’m back in Toronto for the week, I’m still a busy mingling and chatting it up. Tuesday evening was spent at The Spoke Club on King West with other fashion enthusiasts to marvel the wonders of the Nanoblur product. Making use of what we call “nano-optics,” Indeed Laboratories makes use of light to create the illusion of reduced wrinkles and blemishes. What is amazing, though, is how quickly the product reacts; once applied to the skin, the effects can be seen in less than forty seconds, and lasts for up to twenty-four hours.

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

Guests mingling at The Spoke Club

Guests chatting it up with drinks in hand and Nanoblur applied

The famed Nanoblur product

The Spoke Club is packed with guests

Rock It Promo's Angelique shows off the product to guests

Indeed Laboratories presentation on the product

Live demonstration in which half the model's face has Nanoblur applied, and the other with no product

Images courtesy of Rock It Promotions and JJ Thompson (excepting for the first two, which are from the BlackBerry)

September issues are the table topics for many right now, and the unveiling of the hottest editorials leave many excited to hold the issues in their hands. Fashion stylist Rachel Zoe lends herself and favorite phrase “I Die” to good humor and lightheartedness with a Harper’s Bazaar feature depicting the many ways that she can “die.”

Notable fashion forward designers – Vera Wang, Francisco Costa, Brian Atwood, Marc Jacobs, and Michael Kors – take up this Rachel Zoe challenge. And before you start asking why this editorial isn’t under criticism for its depiction of violence, realize that it is not neither sexualizing violence nor glamorizing misogynistic values. Instead, it is just poking fun at the fashion stylist. So lean back in your coffee chair and have a good chuckle.

Take a look at how the designers would “off” the fashion stylist:

Vera Wang goes for sophisticated by slipping the poison into the drink

Francisco Costa goes in for the silent kill

Brian Atwood makes use of his precious shoes

Marc Jacobs goes in for an over-the-top kill

And leave it to Michael Kors to finish the job nicely

Images courtesy of Harper’s Bazaar and StyleList

To add to all of the discussions over the BP oil spill is a 24-page editorial shot by Steven Meisel for the August 2010 issue of Vogue Italia depicting Kristen McMenamy in various interpretations of the injured, oiled animals. And while, the spreads are undoubtedly beautiful and provocative, there is a sense of unease. After all, the crew and luxury goods are flown to the scene, with the clothing soaked in gasoline, which could be seen as wasteful of our resources and goods.

But one could say is that such editorial really is in fact a call-to-action. In being so provocative, and at times repulsive, one would think that the goal of Vogue Italia is to evoke the average reader to open their wallets to donating to clean-up initiatives. If such was the case, though, there would be a information at the end of the editorial to direct giving audiences. Flipping through the twelve spreads on Refinery29, there doesn’t seem to be any sign of such.

In which case, the editorial seems to be nothing more than a glamorization of a tragic incident, as opposed to being an intentionally thought-provoking editorial, and thus serving its purpose in capturing our attention and discussing it.

Find below some of the spreads from this month’s Vogue Italia.

Images courtesy of Vogue Italia via Refinery29