Jean Paul Gaultier for Evian 2009

Christian Lacroix for Evian 2008

This morning during my delay to work, I managed to go to Metro so that I could deposit a cheque at BMO bank machine and shop around a little for snacks and assorted junk food. I came upon the Gaultier for Evian bottle and I almost couldn't resist. I wanted to get it. Though after a few moments, I came to my senses thankfully. I realized I probably would never drink the water out if and the bottle would just sit around collecting dust. I walked out and saved myself $6. YAHOO!

Then I went to Loblaws on my to the North York Centre station and saw the Lacroix for Evian bottle. Yes, I was really procrastinating my duties at work. Seeing two different designs really got me going and I started to think of reasons to justify these purchases. I think if there wasn't news everywhere about people losing their jobs and having to make sacrifices to survie, I probably would have indulged. Good thing I didn't though because it's $12 that could be better spent at Club Monaco.

I still like the bottles though. KitKat mentioned that SIGG should hire some designer to a design for their water bottles. We would be all over those. At least they would be funcitonal and not just be a dust-magnet.

The newest designer to collaborate with H&M is Matthew Williamson. I just caught wind of this today. He is a fairly new designer to the scene is famous for dressing Mishca Barton, Lindsay Lohan, Rachel Bilson, Keira Knightly, Sienna Miller etc etc. He seems to be popular among the "young starlets" and is famous for making femine dresses, colourful prints and cool caftans. His "exclusive" women's line will hit selected stores on April 23, 2009 and a second delivery to arrive worldwide in all 1700 stores.

This sounds totally exciting but can I really do this twice a year? Can I take all this excitment? Especially with Alexander McQueen for Target arriving in March 2009, can my bank account handle it? GAH! More importantly, has the market had enough of these high street designer collaborations? Only time will tell.

Aside: I thought Margareta van den Bosch stepped down as H&M's head designer? Why is she still in all these PR images?

I realize most of you who read this have no clue what I am doing at "work/school" and neither do I. This rant is primarily targeted to those who are in the same boat as I am and yet fail understand how annoying it is to keep receiving questions about when I'm going to finish my degree. Just, don't ask about the thesis. Don't ask if I've stopped doing experiments, don't ask when I'm going to defend, don't ask about the manuscripts. The only people who have a right to ask are: Sergio, Bill and Roy. If you are not one of these three people, get off my back! Exceptions are KitKat and Moomu. You guys may ask. :P For all others, please follow these simple rules, otherwise violence will ensue.

Seoul is a fashion shopping city.

Mega-malls with 10+ floors of clothing...open each day until 4:00AM.
Malls of fabric/materials...packed with people to make and add interesting twists to their own clothes.
Street vendors with stockings in all the colours that you want.
Cheap but well made clothes.

PLUS: delicious Korean food. Full meals for $6cdn!!!!

I will post photos of shopping purchases soon. I only wish I bought MORE. I wanted to buy their chunky sweaters, their scarves, their hats..but knowing I won't be able to use them until 2010 (plus the need to transport them back to Canada) I totally held off. How I wish I was flying directly back to Canada. I would have loaded up my suitcase with winter clothes!!!!

My favourite Dir en grey song. Enjoy!

Remember how I mentioned that the marketing campaign for CDG X H&M had a poor concept that was poorly executed? Watch the TV ad for CDG X H&M followed by the ones for King Karl for H&M, Stella McCartney for H&M, Viktor &Rolf (HEARTS) H&M, and lastly Roberto Cavalli at H&M. You'll know what I mean.

This post is completely unrelated to fashion.

Last Sunday November 16, 2008 I saw my current favourite J-rock band live for the second time. They are currently on tour in North American and had two Canadian concerts in Toronto and Montreal. Who would have thought there would be enough fans in Canada to bring them here! I'm glad they came again because I had missed them in their previous North American tour in 2006 because I was too lazy to go in the cold.

They performed at Kool Haus for just over 1h. We (me and Tony, yes I dragged him there) got pretty good spots and was able to see everything pretty well. I was definitely closer than I was at the Family Values tour two or three summers ago. Here's a clip from one of the best performances of that night.

OOOO. I found a video of the CDG X H&M opening in Toronto. Check it out. I couldn't identify myself or KitKat but maybe you guys have better eyes.

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?main=broadcast&bcid=9666&cpvid=1

Coverage of the CDG X H&M launch from the Toronto Star reports that the first person in line arrived at 20:30h the night before and that only 70 people queued at the Bloor Street location. Might we rethink our game plan next time, to line up at the Bloor Street location. Given that it seems I am willing to stand in line for over 4h at Eaton Centre, why not increase our chances at the Bloor Street location in future years.

See below for the article. FYI, I'm still looking for KitKat's interview with Fashion Television.

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November 14, 2008

`Hands off, I saw it first!' Mayhem erupts at H&M

By Derick Chetty
Star Stylist

It had the makings of a midnight madness sale – swarms of aggressive shoppers ravaging clothing racks, grabbing armfuls of merchandise.

But this time the highly coveted clothing was created by one of the world's most admired designers – Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons.

Yesterday morning, despite pouring rain, 210 people lined up at the H&M store at the Eaton Centre – some for more than 12 hours and some from as far away as Guelph – hotly anticipating the possibility of owning something from the Comme des Garçons collection for H&M.

Another 70 shoppers mobbed H&M's Bloor St. store, the only other Toronto location carrying the line. Similar scenes played out at the company's stores around the world this week.

The avant-garde Japanese designer would have shuddered to see this mob grabbing so indiscriminately at her polka-dot shirts, deconstructed jackets and dropped-crotch pants.

The collection was the latest limited-edition collaboration between the Swedish mega retailer and a famous designer. Past collaborations included Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Roberto Cavalli.

While those designers are somewhat household names, Comme des Garçons is more a fashion insider label, revered for its intellect and influence. Kawakubo is often credited with being one of the first to introduce a predominant use of black, asymmetrical hems and frays seams when she first launched the label in Paris in the early 1980s.

When the doors opened, the crowd, bursting with excitement, crashed past H&M's lone security guard and made a mad dash straight to the racks – positioned front and centre.

Some shoppers were bewildered. Which rack first? Others just went on a wild grabbing spree – descending ravenously. Throughout the ordeal, customers were reminded they could only buy two items of any one design.

"It was complete madness," said jewellery designer Jane Apor. "There were actual moments when you were scared because people were grabbing everything and everyone."

Some came with a strategy. Like Peter Friesen, head designer for Toronto retailer Preloved, who came for the polka-dot shirts. When he arrived at 7 a.m. to join the line, he peered through the glass doors, scoping his plan of attack.

But what prompted such a response?

"It's the idea of something so avant garde, that is so accessible to the masses," he said. "You would think of H&M as disposable clothing but some of these pieces will be collector's items. Besides, the real thing is so expensive."

One of the first people in line, a young woman who arrived at 8:30 the night before, only wanted to get the ruffled coat dress. There were only two. She got one.

"I was completely surprised by the response to this Comme collection, because it's less popular in the mind's eye than the previous collections by Lagerfeld or Stella McCartney," Apor said. "But for me the value was the experience. What H&M has created here is a unique experience."

She bought just three items. "It's almost like a souvenir that says I was there. Like those T-shirts that would say, `I was there and I survived the Comme des Garçons madness.'"

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Eager fashion fans swamped the H&M store at the Eaton Centre on Nov. 13, 2008, grabbing limited-edition designs from the Comme des Garçons label.

© 2008 Torstar Syndication Services. Displayed by permission. All rights reserved.
You may forward this article or get additional permissions by typing http://license.icopyright.net/3.7212?icx_id=536537 into any web browser. Torstar Syndication Services and Toronto Star logos are registered trademarks of Torstar Syndication Services. The iCopyright logo is a registered trademark of iCopyright, Inc.

I stand corrected. There was some violence at the CDG X H&M launch, NYC though. Check it out.

The Jen Clutch, in particular the black one, has been a part of the Club Monaco holiday collections for the past 3 years and every year it has been priced at $79. After every Christmas, I would try stalk this clutch, hoping that it would go on sale but every year people would pay full price for it and it sold out before the markdowns began. This year, this year I must be in luck. Today, the Jen clutch was marked down to $59 and with the 20% student discount it's now $47.20 and definitely within purchasing range. So what do you think people? Grab it or wait for more price slashing to take place. There were tons of it left and no one is buying them, yet. Should I wait longer and be left with the slightly damaged ones in a few weeks time? Moomu, I know you've been eyeing this for as long as I have. Do you want me to pick one up for you?

Club Monaco is exploding with clothes now. The store is over stocked....what, oh, what will they do with all this inventory?

The line when I arrived at 545am.

All the small asian men standing in front of me at 830am.

The window dispaly.


Comme des Garcons X H&M 2009

When H&M first made the announcement of this collaboration, I was excited. Rei Kawakubo, the creative mind behind CDG, has consistently delivered collections that have been described as avant-garde, out-0f-this-world, wearable art, etc etc. Based on her previous collections I expected to be shocked, to be in awe, to be so overwhelmed, but I felt none of these things when the line was revealed in October. In fact, I felt nothing. The clothes appeared bland, uninteresting, and unwearable. Did I really want to stand in line for hours in the freezing cold to buy clothes that would make me look like a homeless-krusty-the-clown? It was a simple decision for me: skip the H&M collaboration this year. KitKat felt more or less the same about the collection (KitKat, correct me if I'm wrong). We decided that the day would be better spent in a spa and shopping at Club Monaco instead. It was final. No H&M this year.

As the launch date creeped up, I continued to visit the H&M website, hoping that eventually the clothes would inspire me, but they didn't. They stirred not even a moment of desire in me. More and more I was sure that I had made the right decision. Then, one Sunday morning, on our way to buy groceries, Tony says to me, "Really? You're really not going to the H&M thing?". I was floored. This is they guy who disapproved of practically every clothing purchase since 1999, and there he was, questioning me on my decision to skip CDG x H&M. I said to him, "There's nothing we want. The clothes are just blah. I don't really want to stand in line for stuff I don't even sort-of like." "It's tradition," he said. "You guys have gone for the past four years already!" I just shrugged my shoulders, "Well, there's nothing we desperately want." And then the ball drops, "Alright. Don't cry to me two weeks from now about missing it, and having to pay 4X the price for something you decide you want later. Besides, you could always sell this stuff on Ebay to finance your Club Monaco obsession." This really struck a chord with me. The ball started rolling, I began to second guess everything. What if I really did decide that I like the stuff afterall? What of the tradition? What of the last H&M collaboration I will have in Toronto with KitKat? What of the possible profits? Hmmmmmmmmmm. It didn't take long before I went full scale in reverse. I thought, what the hell. I'm going to go, even if it's just for fun. Afterall, lining up is half the fun (even though I bitch about it all the time). There was nothing to lose. I was gauranteed to get something and because there was nothing I was crazy about, even if I walk out with nothing, it would be OK, there would be no disappointment. And besides, nothing beats the stories of freezing our asses off for clothes, braving all the crazies roaming around Toronto, and seeing friends whose names we don't know (I'll explain in a second). I would be missing all this, all this that has become a part of Novemeber-life!

I discussed with Moomu and she egged me on: Just do it. Go for the clothes! Get the profit! After this, it didn't take long before I started plotting which items to dive after. I emailed KitKat and crossed my fingers it wasn't too late to convince her to join me in this insanity. She almost didn't come. Poor KitKat confused the launch date for next Thursday! But, the shopping gods were smiling on us and KitKat managed to push all her duties until later that afternoon. SUCCESS! We were both going to the CDG X H&M launch. YAHOO!

This year was unprecedented, I got up at 4am to make my journey downtown. I arrived at 540am and joined the queue of approximately 15 people. 15 crazies who had arrived prior to 540am. I always wonder at what time the first person formed the queue....I guess I'll never know, I will never be that person. I scoped out these people, there was no one I recognized from previous years. They were mostly Asians, particularly Chinese wannabe Japanese. There was this one Chinese girl, whose name is Keiko. Seriously, how dumb is that? That's almost as frightening as meeting some fob who calls himself Giovanni. This is not an urban legend. I actually know someone with these parameters. I met a lady, Susan, who stood in front me. She works as a graphic designer. She was so pleasant and certainly helped to pass the hours. We counted on each other for entertainment. She asked me what I do for a living and for the first time, I think I met someone who was genuinely interested in the need for basic science research. It was very encouraging.... We plotted together, we talked about the designs we wanted, our sizes, and the strategy to get the things we want, trade policies, attack plans. I could hardly believe the discussion myself. I told her of our experiences from previous years and warned her of awful people. Later that morning, some familiar faces started to arrive. It's so hilarious when I think about it. For one day each year, we bond with these people, we share our heaps of clothing, we share or experiences of elbowing people, but even with all this, we don't know each others names. We're always too caught up in clothes..... It's too bad really. I think I would enjoy their company outside of the H&M store. Maybe next time......

As 10am slowly gains more ground, more people joined the line.....in front of me. Yes, I'm speaking of those people who send one poor soul to stand in line before dawn to hold spots for their friends who join the fun at 9am. It's not fair! It's not fair for those of us behind you, who waited just as long, who are just as cold, and just as wet (yes, it was raining the entire time). It's just not fair. OK, while I know we (me and KitKat) are guilty of this kind of arrangement too (only a little though), we are only two people. You can't let 10 of your friends join you at the front of the line. It's just not ethical. Even with all this online yelling and bitching, there was nothing we could do except snarl at them, and secretly curse them, and hope that nothing they get their hands on will fit. One couple who arrived at 930am dared to offer me and Susan $50 if we let them step in line. FRACK OFF, BUDDY! Our time is worth more than $50. JERK!


10am arrives, and so begins the pushing and shoving. This year, H&M enforced a policy they should have implemented 3 years ago: only 2 items per style per customer. This made a huge difference in probability. We (me and KitKat) got everything we kind of sort of wanted and more. Once the clothes were in our hands, they didn't look so bad. In fact, in the rush of it all, some of it started to look pretty cute, wearable, fun, and unique. It take long before we decided to buy, buy, buy, Will we regret it? Maybe. But we have until January 16, 2009 to change our minds. HAHAHAH! I love the Christmas refund policy.

This year was pretty tame. No screaming, no pulling, no shoving. It was almost civil. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the one item I really wanted: a peacoat for my brother. Curse all those skinny asian guys who cut in front of me. CURSE YOU ALL!

After all was purchased, we headed back uptown for some food and settled on the trusty SUSHI ONE near Yonge & Sheppard. Now that we had had the chance to see the line first hand, and touch the clothing, we gained a different perspective. It was a good collection, not great, but good. We agreed that the marketing for this collection was just dismal. The approach was just all wrong, a poor concept that was poorly executed. The result made the clothes boring, unattractive, and UGLY. H&M, if you're reading, think about your audience. We need to be excited, we need to feel passion, we need all these things before we're willing drop hundreds of dollars for your clothes. Over lunch we laughed at our selves and thought, gosh, I can't believe we almost didn't go. I can't believe we almost missed it. Good thing we both came to our senses in time.....

I had a blast! $600 later, I have a few CDG X H&M items I really like. Hopefully, I can sell some of this other stuff and have other people pay for my purchases. In the meantime, let's make a pact. Let's promise that next year, wherever we are, whatever we're doing, let's make it to the H&M collaboration. Life wouldn't be the same with out it, not mine anyway.
Below are pictures of my purchases. What do you think? Which ones should I keep and which ones should go?

OH SHIT! I almost forgot. KitKat was interviewed by Fashion Television. She told them that our strategy is to "politely elbow people". HAHAHAHAHA!

*sigh*

I miss my Canadian paycheque..
If only I could have that paycheque while in HK...cause it's TORTURE being surrounded by so many outrageously good sample sales but totally lacking the funds to splurge.

HK sample sales taking place RIGHT NOW:
Dior F&F
Marc Jacobs sample sale
BCBG sample sale

AND, I just missed Fendi, Gucci and even Club Monaco!!!!!

Okay. Think Korea...think Korea.....


PS - it is now 12:35pm EST. More than 2.5 hours AFTER CDG H&M. Where is the update?? :P

I think this financial shit storm has hit retailers really hard. On Saturday morning, I received an email from Club Monaco informing us of a 40% off sale merchandise promotion. Of course, now the 20% off student discount seems pathetic.

I went through some of my impulse buys with Moomu and she encouraged me to return a significant portion (thankfully!). I queued patiently at my local Club Monaco to return things and when I finally got to the counter, the manager looked at things I wanted to return and he offered to sell them back to me at the 40% off price. I couldn't believe it. There was an air of desperation.....Of course, the extra 20% discount made everything 20% more appealing, especially the items I was reluctant to let go of. I did, however, follow through on my returns. I, then, did a quick calculation of the items I had purchased over the course of 2.5 weeks and altogether, if I could get the extra 20% discount, I would save about $90! This was definitely incentive enough to make, yet, another trip to Club Monaco. I talked to the manager at Yorkdale and he agreed to adjust the price for ALL items I had purchased from Club Monaco as long as they were within the refund period and eligible for the 40% off promotion. They were bending over backwards to get the sale! Even 6 months ago, when I went back for a price adjustment on things that had been reduced further, they said they would have to hold the returned item for 24h before putting it back on the floor. Times have changed I guess...

I can't say I'm happy about this financial crisis because many of my friends have lost money, a lot of money, but I am happy that retailers are suffering especially places that are over-priced like Club Monaco. I admit, I love their stuff and I have been a loyal client despite increasing prices for......12 years! HOLY SHIT!

In total, I bought 13 items for $310. Definitely a steal.....

Bonus: Moomu wanted me to return a tuxedo jacket I had purchased for $47.20 but I wanted to keep it if I could get the extra 20% at $35.40. Instead of charging me $35.40, the girl made a mistake and charged me $23.40 instead. There was no chance I was going to let that one go.

I made a powerpoint presentation of my recent purchases from Club Monaco. This 20% off everything student discount is causing major problems with my spending. There is also 30% off reduced items this weekend....temptation temptation. You can view the file here:

http://individual.utoronto.ca/kassidy/CM.ppt

Let me know your comments.

I want this sweater from French Connection ($88). I saw it the week after the F&F 40% off sale.
CRAP.
It wasn't to be...at least not for now. I prefer the black one but I posted the cream coloured one so you can see the details.

As some of you may know, the days creeping up to my 28th birthday I revived my obsession with stickers and in particular with SNOOPY and friends. On the 18th, Tony took me to the Sandylion sticker outlet near his work and I was in sticker heaven....
Anyway, the actual birthday was a quiet one. Here are pictures of SNOOPY cake I got. Isn't it adorable. I loved it so much I didn't want to eat it....

OK. This picture is a little late but, it's better to be late than never.
Here is George Foreman and Karl Lagerfeld in Hell on October 31, 2008.

OMG! Alexander McQueen for Target!
FRACK ME!

http://www.nitrolicious.com/blog/2008/11/04/designer-collaborations-mcq-alexander-mcqueen-for-target/