Fashion Week

‘Tis The Season

Booked has been invited to cover Vancouver Fashion Week!  You can look forward to real-time coverage from the event.  Our team will be in Vancouver for the entire week where over 30 local and international designers will showcase their Fall/Winter 2012 collections.  Project Runway Canada designer Sunny Fong, Korean avant-garde designer Ha Sang Beg, British label Xsenia & Olya, and Synikal by Byron Abad are just a few of the amazing designers that will be showing this season.  In addition to coverage of the shows, you can look forward to street style photos from UBC Vancouver as well as interviews with models, buyers, and designers.  One of our team members, Liam, has previously modeled in Vancouver Fashion Week but won’t be working there this season as he’ll be simultaneously reporting/working in New York Fashion Week.  You can look forward to reports on post-NYFW shows and events from him.  Tickets for Vancouver Fashion Week start at $75 for a one-day pass, $200 for a one-week pass and $250 for a VIP Pass, which also allows you to attend the Opening Gala.  They can be purchased at vanfashionweek.com.  

(Photos from: VFW)

 (Liam at VFW Photo credits: Lawrence Lu and Yiheng Su)

Rejoice Fashion Show

On March 28^th, the International ILC will be hosting a multicultural fashion show called Rejoice in the EME foyer at 7:00 PM.  One of the organizers, Mariam Hazhir, was inspired to organize this fashion show because of the discrimination people can experience after moving to Canada.  Mariam expressed that the organizers "would like to see a manifestation of the cultural mosaic that is Canada through fashion, and they would like to Rejoice in the cultural wealth and diversity of Canada and seek to promote a tolerant society that preserves these diverse Canadian values.”  She loves the fact that people can express both their individual style and their culture through their clothing.  We Booked Mariam last month and wanted to share this event our readers.  The fashion show, which will consist of 25 models, will include ethnic garments from many regions including Kenya, Ghana, Afghanistan and Germany.  In addition, the show will feature dresses from Dare To Ware Love, an annual gala held at Toronto Fashion Week.  All proceeded from the event will go to the Stephen Lewis Foundations to help children affected by AIDS in Africa.  For students, early-bird tickets are $7 or $10 at the door.  Faculty and community members can purchase tickets for $15.  Tickets are available at the Get Involved Center or the Campus Life Activities Desk in UNC.  We look forward to seeing you there.  

Street Style

March 16, 2012

Jacquelyn was Booked leaving Arts

Lindsay was Booked in EME

Sarah was Booked in EME

Erika was Booked outside the Bookstore

Tori outside Arts

Liam outside Admin

Street Style

March 13th, 2012

Alia was Booked leaving UNC

Sara was Booked in EME

Spencer was Booked in the Well

Marlene was Booked leaving the Library

Tori in the Courtyard

Liam in EME

Street Style

March 12th, 2012

Lindsay was Booked outside the Library

David was Booked outside the Library

Miranda was Booked outside the Science building

Krista was Booked in Fipke

Tori in Admin

This week on Booked

Later this week on Booked we'll be posting our next concept shoot: neutrals. Our friend Thomas Bullock did some great photography for us and we're excited to show you the pictures.  We'll also be putting out a few more Style Profiles, in which we focus on specific people around campus with great style. And as always, more Finds and more Street Style.  Stay tuned.

Minsct

As some of you may know, our team member Yaw has also been involved in designing apparel for a local clothing brand called Minsct.  Given Yaw’s dual citizenship in both Booked and Minsct, we thought it would be interesting to do a collaboration.  Here, we feature Yaw’s brief interview with his other team discussing style, their company, and their inspiration.

Minsct is a small clothing company started by Bryan Lilly and Justin Pelletier.  They had a vision to make a clothing line that expressed themselves in every way possible, a clothing line that was creative, comfortable, and trendy.  They wanted a brand that stands out while still being simple and clean. Every time I (Yaw) sit down with these boys there is always a distinct message behind what they have to say.  "Simplicity is key". It's their motto, it's what they live by. Minsct is an acronym that stands for Music, Imagination, Nature, Sport, City, and Technology but it symbolises much more; it represents a dream of two individuals that didn’t want to fit into a stereotypical mold. Simply put, they are dreamers. On the Minsct website their slogan is "the visionary is you" - the creators of Minsct reach out to their public and ask them to follow Bryan and Justin on their road, on their dream.  

Every part of Bryan and Justin’s personal style connects to their brand vision.  Their way of dressing always involves some form of layering, clean lines, and references urban street style. Their individual style is reminiscent of a new-age skater, but in a way that dresses up an average skater or snowboarder look while remaining accessible as regular-guy style.  Their Minsct creations are testament to their love of color and design. Minsct is not only a brand that represents its creators’ individuality; it also references their lifestyle and mindset. I sat down with these gentlemen at one of our daily meetings to brainstorm ideas and ask them some candid questions.  

(Yaw wearing Minsct)

When did Minsct start?

Justin - "Well the grass-roots idea was to achieve our dream, we both love fashion so we thought this was a good way to put a stamp or a thumb-print on the world."

Bryan - "It started 3 years ago, at least we started talking about it then. But it didn’t really go into progression until September 2011."

What inspires you?

Bryan - "Other people achieving their dreams, possibilities do really exist."

Justin - "Graffiti on top of mountains inspires me."

We all stopped at that moment to agree and laugh. In that moment we all remembered how awe inspiring the world can be and how much we loved little glimpses of its beauty.

Bryan - "It’s all about seeing the little things in life."

What’s the production process?

Bryan/Justin- "Idea, action, make it into reality, then scratch the whole process and come up with something new."

Do you guys ever argue?

Bryan - "Yes, I’m stubborn."

Justin - "Very stubborn."

Bryan - "But we take those arguments and turn them into ideas."

Justin - "I don't believe in perfect designing, its all subjective."

What is your target market?

Justin/Bryan -"People like us, dreamers... people with the same values we have."

Any last words?

Justin/Bryan - "Simplicity is key."


If you're interested in purchasing some Minsct gear hit up their website minsct.com

Street Style

March 6th, 2012

Claire was Booked leaving UNC

Susie was Booked leaving UNC

Amanda was Booked at the Bus Loop

Yaw outside the Science building

Adi was Booked leaving EME

Bri was Booked in Fipke

Jaclyn

Jaclyn is Booked

It is difficult to miss Jaclyn Mulatz on campus.  Booked has been wanting to interview her since we started our blog because of her innate ability to put together casual day-looks with ease.  Her style reminds us of a slightly more urban Olivia Palermo.  Fittingly, Palermo and Miranda Kerr are both people Jaclyn says she tends to reference in her way of dressing.  What we love most about Jaclyn’s style is her wallet-friendly interpretation of these sophisticated styles.  Often, incorporating more affordable pieces causes one’s look to lose a certain level of elegance; however Jaclyn successfully maintains an aura of chic, affordable sophistication by incorporating distinct pieces like her vintage silver Chanel necklace that we see in her second look above. 

The Calgary native currently lives in Vernon and will be graduating from UBCO this April.  Jaclyn acknowledges a difference between Kelowna, Vernon, and Calgary styles.  “If you’re wearing jeans at the movie theatre in Vernon you are overdressed,” she explains.  Yet, Jaclyn doesn’t let this phase her own style choices or “passion or fashion”.  Jaclyn is not the type of person who you will see wearing yoga pants or sweatpants to school, even if she is having an off day.  Rather, she’ll choose to do something interesting like wear her boyfriend’s oversized jeans.  Jaclyn recognizes that shopping on a student budget can be somewhat constraining, but she finds unique clothes in interesting places.  She's a fan of Superstore’s Joe Fresh brand and she also purchases staple pieces like tank tops from Old Navy.  She usually dresses up her looks with pieces from Aritzia and Banana Republic.  When putting together an outfit, Jaclyn starts with the shoes and works her way up.  She loves incorporating pops of colour like her red hat and mustard yellow boots like we see in her last look, and combining these statement pieces with chunky jewelry.  For her, jewelry is like the conclusion ...it always comes last.  As a passionate English major, in Jaclyn's terms "shoes are her introduction, clothes are her middle, and accessories are the perfect romantic ending."  She assesses her outfit and will add one or two pieces of jewelry, or the missing scarf or bag before she runs out of the house.

Booked loves getting to know what sparks people’s interest in fashion.  Jaclyn has always been intrigued by clothes.  Interestingly, she instinctively gravitated towards a more sophisticated style from a very young age and prefers looks with clean lines.  The one thing Booked appreciates more than anything is people who rock their looks with confidence.  It’s difficult and completely subjective to determine whether someone is supposedly stylish or "fashionable", but when someone like Jaclyn dresses with self-assurance and poise they naturally stand out from the crowd.

-Liam

Street Style

March 2, 2012

Alex was Booked leaving EME

Rylee was Booked leaving Arts

Simon was Booked in UNC

Liam in the Courtyard

Tori in EME

Unknown was Booked in EME