Ferragamo sets up shop in Toronto, exploring K beauty with Laneige and new green baubles at Birks – and more. Here’s the latest in fashion, design and beauty news.
DESIGN
Bonne Choice’s eclectic housewares reflect its owner’s unique eye
For more information, visit bonne-choice.comSupplied
In the showroom of Bonne Choice, a design dealer launched in Toronto’s Etobicoke suburb in June, everything your eye lands on is intriguing. While a particular piece’s pedigree may pique your interest, even more anonymous work stops you in your tracks. The business’s creator, Carlo Colacci, has made a career of championing such eclecticism – most notably through his role as co-founder and president of Drake General Store, the offbeat retail offshoot of the Ontario hipster hotels.
“I’m happy to trust my gut,” Colacci says of his intuitive approach, which results in vignettes such as a mix of Ettore Sottsass for Alessi tableware, a wacky Memphis era tabletop mirror and Adélie Ducasse’s playful lighting designs. Bonne Choice also features furniture and objets by Michel Ducaroy, Mario Bellini, Gio Ponti, Gaetano Pesce and Charlotte Perriand. What really stands out is Colacci’s ability to truffle out decor that makes you say “wow.” Sure, Togo sofas have been trending, but Bonne Choice’s option is covered in a whimsical leaf pattern. “We have so much fun in here,” he says.
A sense of joy radiates through the space, with work from artists including Hamilton-based Jasmine Cardenas hanging adjacent to canvases painted by Germany’s Peter Robert Keil. Toronto-based painter Maxine McCrann has daubed her signature flourishes across the building’s skylights. “There’s a feeling of transition with these items,” he says as we examine the Togo in the showroom’s windows. Bonne Choice’s wares include pieces from Colacci’s personal collections including a selection of splashy Ozark Roadside Pottery. “Certain things I do grow attached to; but I’m trying to treat this as an extension of my home.” – ODESSA PALOMA PARKER
FASHION
In Toronto, Ferragamo unveils a new retail concept for its refreshed direction
Ferragamo’s new Toronto store is located 131 Bloor Street West. For more information, visit ferragamo.comSupplied
Boasting lush details such as travertine, bronze and hand-tufted silk rugs, Ferragamo’s new boutique on Bloor Street in Toronto is the Italian brand’s fourth decadent retail destination in Canada. Its luxe footprint, according to the CEO of Ferragamo Americas, Daniella Vitale, is prime space to “build out our network under a completely new direction.”
Since appointing British designer Maximilian Davis as creative director in 2022, the house has ushered in a fresh perspective while retaining its design signatures. Davis deftly intertwines Ferragamo’s history with what’s of-the-moment, and Vitale says that “a lot of the modernity that Maximilian is creating comes from the more recent archives, and he juxtaposes that with some of his own ideas. There are so many incredible periods that the brand has gone through that we want to be able to explore, as well as Ferragamo’s Florentine heritage. But it’s about how that history is explored while on a path to the future.”
The new boutique’s product assortment (featuring items from Ferragamo’s ready-to-wear men’s and women’s collections, accessories and fragrance) nods to this mingling of timelines. Exclusives include takes on the label’s bags that highlight retro-futuristic resin elements or a top-handle crafted from a glamorous gold chain. One standout is a pair of gold shoes with an ornate heel that hints at the unusual silhouettes Ferragamo’s founder, Salvatore, made famous.
Such show-stopping pieces are crucial to the kind of entertainment-meets-retail atmosphere Vitale says the Bloor Street store is trying to encapsulate. “You have to give people a reason to cross a boutique’s threshold these days,” she says. “They have to feel special, and they have to want to be there.” – ODESSA PALOMA PARKER
BEAUTY
Korean skincare brand Laneige has perfected keeping skin hydrated
For more information, visit laneige.com.Supplied
When the K-beauty craze swept North America, media coverage focused on its multistep regimen, a sensational proposition for those raised on the one-two-three doctrine of cleanse, tone and moisturize. But a key differentiator that was often overlooked was its emphasis on hydration.
Founded in 1994 by Amorepacific, one of the largest beauty and cosmetics companies in South Korea, Laneige has made moisture its raison d’être. “We believe the secret to happy, glowing skin is effective, lasting hydration,” says Michelle Shieh, scientific communications manager at Laneige’s New York research and innovation centre. She points out that much of the brand’s success results from research into ingredients such as the blue hyaluronic acid used in its bestselling Water Bank collection. “It’s a micro-sized hyaluronic acid [molecule] that is double fermented with deep sea algae that absorbs deeper and locks in hydration better,” Shieh says.
Laneige’s research also focuses on how sleep can boost skincare’s benefits. Shieh notes that, without sufficient sleep, skin is more likely to have a lower moisture level, a duller tone and an uneven and rougher texture. To counteract this, Laneige developed its sleeping masks, which create a thin, breathable layer that aims to hydrate, nourish and balance skin without feeling heavy on your face. “Our Water Sleeping Mask is meant for all over the face and is applied not instead of a moisturizer but after, as the last step of your routine before you go to bed,” Shieh says. It has also expanded the sleep-focused range into collectible Lip Sleeping Masks, a range of colourful pots of lip balms in flavours including mango, vanilla and gummy bear that moisturize lips overnight. – CAITLIN AGNEW
TRAVEL
In central Paris, Hôtel Madame Rêve is a sleeper hit
Stays from €500/night or €820/night for the Madame Réve x the Louvre Museum bed and breakfast package with a private guided tour through madamereve.comSupplied
Paris’s luxury hotel landscape has something for everyone, from the old-school opulence of the Bristol to the boutique charm of Château Voltaire. A stay at Hôtel Madame Rêve is particularly unique. Located just up the street from the Bourse de Commerce Pinault Collection gallery in the 1st arrondissement, it offers a surprisingly intimate experience considering its grand position atop the Louvre post office.
After arriving in the lobby (and peering into the Madame Rêve Café, the hotel’s bar and Mediterranean restaurant), an elevator whisks you up to the third floor, home to 63 rooms and 19 suites. While you’re up among Paris’s rooftops with views toward the city or the lush inner courtyard, the feeling is akin to being at sea. Wood-panelled walls, some that angle up toward expansive skylights, create the sense of a stateroom on a grand ocean liner while decor and artwork pay homage to the building’s post office past and present. Down the hallway, you’ll find La Plume Rive Droite, the penthouse Japanese restaurant that overlooks Église Saint-Eustache. Up one more floor is the Roof, an open-air spot that buzzes on warm evenings.
This season, the hotel has partnered with the Louvre Museum on a one-night stay and tour that’s available exclusively to hotel guests and plays up the property’s dreamy moniker. Via a map left in your hotel room or a private tour organized by the hotel’s concierge, immerse yourself in works from the likes of Giotto and Fragonard, as well as Greco Roman statues, that highlight how sleep and its illusions influence art. – ANDREW SARDONE
JEWELLERY
Malachite takes on a starring role in Birks’s Dare to Dream collection
For more information, visit maisonbirks.comSupplied
Green emeralds exploded in popularity in the 1920s, defining the art-deco decadence of the flapper era. Today, that indulgent spirit is being revisited in jewellery collections that incorporate green stones of all sorts. At Mejuri, green aventurine and malachite add colour to the brand’s dainty designs, while David Yurman uses green onyx and jade in its pieces. In a nod to the popular Bottega Green hue introduced by former creative director Daniel Lee, Bottega Veneta has introduced several pieces of jewellery in the verdant hue.
Birks’s new malachite-focused pieces for its Dare to Dream collection take their design cues from the intricate ceiling of the jeweller’s original store on St. James Street in Old Montreal. Jean-Christophe Bédos, president and CEO of Birks Group, explains that the feeling of the collection was also inspired by the country where Birks has been based since its founding in 1879. “The name comes from the fact that Canada is a positive country with a lot of new beginnings,” he says. “And the fact that we believe in the promise of a brighter tomorrow.”
Dare to Dream mixes yellow, white and rose gold with complementary elements including diamonds, mother of pearl and enamel to a layered, kaleidoscopic effect. The new pieces include a disc pendant in two sizes, a barrel pendant, a pair of earrings and a ring. The decision to incorporate malachite was not only made because of its striking deep green tone, but also because of the stone’s meaning. “Malachite is a stone of transformation and evokes positive change,” Bédos says. “That’s part of the Dare to Dream story.” – CAITLIN AGNEW