Trompe, There It Is

Graphic Print Collared Shirt, $39, Joe Fresh and Trompe L'Oeil Shirt in White and Sugarplum, $275, Pink Tartan.

It's easy to forgive a designer husband and wife team for borrowing each other's design ideas. After all, I'm sure the conversation around the Newport-Mimran dinner table involves some idea sharing. Or perhaps Kim's nanny cam was working overtime one night while Joe covertly sketched out this brilliant shirt (or vice versa...guess we'll never know what went down at Casa Mim). I'm tempted both ways; the $39 pricetag and oversized trompe l'oeil collar on the Joe Fresh version or the perfectly prim sugarplum pink of Kim's Pink Tartan beauty?

Tough call. I always feel like a child caught up in the midst of a marital spat with these two. I love them both so much and yet I always feel so torn. It's tough being stuck in the middle, especially when such cute clothing's at stake ...

My One-On-One with Kimberley Newport-Mimran & A Pink Tartan Giveaway

Pink Tartan's new washable line for The Shopping Channel. Photo via The Shopping Channel.

With its ultra-luxe fabrics, ladylike silhouettes and to-die-for tailoring, Canadian label Pink Tartan has quickly become a sartorial staple for chic women everywhere, including no-last-names-necessary celebs like Gwyneth and Charlize.

Fresh off her turn at Toronto's World MasterCard Fashion Week, and a few days before the launch of her gorgeous new washable collection for The Shopping Channel, I caught up with president and head designer, Kimberley Newport-Mimran, for a quick chat about what makes Pink Tartan tick.

Read the full interview on iVillage.ca...

Now for some exciting Friday news: KNP and the lovely folks at The Shopping Channel have offered RLR readers the chance to win a $100 GC to shop the new Pink Tartan Collection, and you'll need to act fast to win.

CONTEST RULES:

1) Leave a comment below telling me why you would love to put Pink Tartan in your closet.

2) Tweet the following for a bonus entry: "@realliferunway & @theShoppingChan are giving away a @PINK_TARTAN GC to shop the new collection & I want to #win! http://bit.ly/P9a6x3"

3) Contest closes tomorrow (Saturday, March 29th) at 5 p.m. We'll contact the winner via email.

4) Contest open to residents of Canada only.

5) Best of luck, lovelies!

Don't forget to mark your calendars. Pink Tartan launches this Sunday, March 30 on The Shopping Channel. Tune in live at 8 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 8 p.m. or shop the collection online at theshoppingchannel.com.

See the Pink Tartan Fall '14 Collection from World Mastercard Fashion Week

All photos by George Pimentel Photography

It's officially (though there is absolutely no evidence to support this) spring! While most people are just starting to pack away their coats, gloves and boots, the fashion crowd at World Mastercard Fashion Week in Toronto has already geared up for Fall 2014. Though this move has killed most of my Fashion Week plans, I was lucky to be able to attend some of the hottest ticket shows last night. First up was Pink Tartan, one of my all-time fav Canadian labels. Designer Kimberley Newport-Mimran's luxe designs rarely disappoint and last night was no exception. 

Staying true to winter-ready Canadian Style, Newport-Mimran incorporated a mix of both faux and real bone, leather and fur, with pops of red buffalo check and houndstooth. Inspired by übermodel Verushcka, from the iconic 1966 Vogue shoot "The Great Fur Caravan," the collection was more strong and sexy than sweet. With the exception of a few velvet brocade and lamé fabrics that I'd rather not revisit and some strangely oversized fur oven mitts (why the big paws, KNP?), there were several looks that I can't wait to try out come fall (check out looks 3, 9, 22, 31 and 36), plus some cozy fur hoods that I wish I'd had on hand this winter.

Stay tuned for backstage and runway pics from Joe Fresh and Mackage. Hint: Joe Mimran > Kimberley Newport-Mimran this time around. As they say, all's fair in love and fashion... 

Happy 1st day of Spring! #yay

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Hitchcock Blondes at Pink Tartan's Fall '13 Show

Runway photos by George Pimentel.  Stalker photo of Steven and Chris and slightly blurry image below by me (couldn't you tell?)

It was a packed house last night at World MasterCard Fashion Week for the Pink Tartan Fall/Winter 2013 show. Steven and Chris, Jeanne Beker and the rest of Toronto's top tastemakers were all on hand for Kimberley Newport-Mimran's show and I was seated second row, next to Susie Sheffman and the eLUXE team and close enough to touch the clothes (though I refrained, for obvious reasons). 

For Fall '13, KNP was inspired by a darker kind of beauty, “I always start designing a new collection with a muse. I envision her, her life, and then I dress her up. My muse this season embodied my favorite disturbing blondes- Constance Langdon and Marnie Edgar” she notes, “Beautifully dressed sophisticated blondes, but there is something underlying that you can’t quite put your finger on. This collection is all about rich luxe fabric—very Pink Tartan—a return to pulled together looks with a dark twist. As Hitchcock says ‘blondes make better victims’.”

This season, the show was styled by Cary Tauben, complete with Tippi Hedren-esque blonde wigs, black headbands and elbow-length black gloves.  The whole collection had a very sophisticated, very sixties feel and I loved it, I really did, and I get where he was going with it, but some girls just shouldn't be blonde. I mean, I would look (and have looked) completely ridic in a platinum blonde wig.  

Other than that distraction, I found plenty to covet from the collection including the cool black & green mesh pieces, the cobalt swing coat, the short-sleeved black & white dress with the long gloves and everything camel. Gor-juicy. Thoughts about the collection? Will you be a Pink Tartan vixen this Fall?

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World MasterCard Fashion Week

My speed-packing efforts last night, 11 p.m. 

As I sit here, $45 away from frequent roller Prestige status (as deemed by VIA Rail, that is), hurtling along the tracks towards Toronto and the first day of World MasterCard Fashion Week, I contemplate the following:

• My suitcase is zipper-busting jammed. I wonder if my sister has a steamer/iron? Oh please let her have a steamer/iron, otherwise it's Dishevelled Chic for Fall '13.
• I packed 2 pairs of very cute, very high, very open-toe shoes, and apparently a last hurrah winter snowstorm is en route to the city. Bad choice? Fashion over function I say (especially at Fashion Week)
• I have an interview with Joe Mimran due for iVillage.ca, 2 other articles due and no Photoshop on my laptop. Plus, I'm on a ghetto old train car with zero plugs so my battery is slowly but most certainly wasting away. 
• I think I forgot to buy diapers before I left. Nope, I'm sure I forgot to buy diapers. Crap.

It's always a massive amount of work to leave my husband and kids behind for Fashion Week.  Meals pre-cooked, house in order, clothes put out, backpacks packed - not to mention stuffing 3 good outfits into a carry-on with zero room for sartorial error.  Once I get to Toronto, I'll take the subway up to Yonge & Eg to my sister's house, do as much work as I can, then head downtown to the Tents for a night of Fall '13 shows.  On today's schedule, I've got 4 fashion shows (Miz by Izzy Camilleri, Chloe comme Parris, Pink Tartan and Bustle), then a party for Glam Media at The Spoke Club and then Holt Renfrew's Opening Night party on Bloor.  Fun! This is so not my typical Monday. Watch, eat, drink, sleep, dress, repeat. Is there room for a nap in there somewhere??

I'll be in the city until Wednesday night (at which point child-minding tokens run out) soaking up all of the great Canadian talent. Will be sure to report back with pics from the runway and backstage and of course, all the fashion flock rocking their finery at the Tents. Can't wait to get this party started!

xx