Alexander McQueen Fall 2008

With his theatrical runway shows and controversial designs, I would without hesitation say that Alexander McQueen is my favourite designer. I've loved him since being with Givenchy for most of his career, and then with Gucci more recently. And now he has a collection called McQ that's mostly denim and can be found at net-a-porter.com. Look at the similarity between the first dress here and Kenley Collins wedding dress from Project Runway Season 5 in my previous post.

Balenciaga Spring 2008

Check out these wonderfully printed shoulder-padded style dresses from Balenciaga's Spring 2008 line. Very modern gladiator, especially with the tall sandal boots. Also, in 2008 Jennifer Connelly did these advertisements for Balenciaga. Take a look at the similarity between these dresses and a couple of Kenley Collins creations from Project Runway Season 5 in my previous post.

Project Runway's Kenley Collins

The vintage inspired designer, Kenley Collins, placed 3rd in Season 5 of Project Runway, however she was my favourite designer of the season. Her style is very old-Hollywood or modern day calendar girl. Check out her website where she has items for sale, including hair accessories. Her attitude didn't win her any points and she was also criticized for ripping off other major designers work. More on this later.

Propr

Ben Harper, David Arquette and David Bedwell have teamed up to start an eco clothing line for men and women called Propr to come out in the Spring! There are not many pics online of the clothes yet, but be on the lookout.

Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein

Brazilian-born Francisco Costa is the creative director of Calvin Klein and winner of the CFDA award for best womenswear designer of March 2006 and June 2008. He has designed a beautiful, however admittedly boxy, white and grey collection for the Spring. The lime green dress seen here on Elle Macpherson is an unforgettable design of his from 2005. More recently Eva Mendes has been his muse.

Onesie Bodysuits

Do you remember Madonna's lavender leotard and corset getup from her Grammy performance of 2007? I haven't forgotten. I'm not sure how it's possible, but I believe that onesies are styling and not just for babies. Check out Lady GaGa and Beyonce. These bring back memories from my gymnastic days in the 80's, not sure where else you could pull this off.

iPod Armband

The iPod Armband is an absolutely essential accessory if you have an iPod and go to the gym regularly. If you don't have one, your probably used to tucking your iPod into your shorts by now, where it gets positively and grossly sweaty. I've tried other options like a case that has a rope to go around your neck and a case with a clip to attach to your shorts, but these options fell short. So if you're looking for a good iPod solution like I was, viola! And one last thing, beware of sizes, since there are now so many generations of iPod types. I've found that stores generally only carry the armbands to fit the most recent versions.

Joe Fresh Style

Joseph Mimran is behind Canadian born companies Alfred Sung, Club Monaco and Joe Fresh Style. The cheap and chic Joe Fresh clothing can be found at Real Canadian Superstore, along with sleek President's Choice Home Collection also designed by Joe. I love the prices and wide variety of items that Joe Fresh offers, everything from work to casual clothes, shoes, gloves, lingerie and activewear. And it's so convenient to pick up groceries and clothing at a one-stop-shop.

Matt & Nat

Montreal company, Matt & Nat, provides stylish vegan handbags. Designed by Inder Bedi, these handbags are eco-friendly with entire collections having been made from recycled plastic bottles. However you would never know it, since some look very much like leather. Jorja, one of their most popular handbags, was named after Jorja Fox, a well-known celeb vegetarian from CSI. You can find these handbags at Holt Renfrew, Mendocino, Browns and I've seen them at Winners occasionally.