Glamour in Toronto

I started a freelance writing career about 8 months ago, my writing focusing on fashion and other topics related to fashion. Since then, my life in Toronto became more glamorous, due to the fact that I write about fashion, no doubt about that.

At a certain time I was tempted to start a career in fashion, and to get a fashion job in Toronto. But after numerous attempts to find a Toronto based job in the Canadian fashion industry I realized it’s not that easy to enter the glamorous, fabulous, fascinating yet hard to access fashion field. So I found the best compromise – since I couldn’t get a job in fashion, I started to write about fashion. Writing about fashion could be considered a fashion job as well, so I’m happy with the way I am in direct contact with the Canadian and North-American fashion industry right now.

Now that I write about fashion, I have already a certain number of followers and readers, and I am referring to my personal blog, as well as other online publications I write for. At the very beginning of my writing career I started to contact PR departments of different brands, labels, websites to require permission of using their photo galleries for my articles. Some of them gave me the permission, some of them did not, some of them didn’t even reply to my emails.

But speaking of those who gave me the permission to use their photos in my article writing, fortunately our communication didn’t stop at that first email exchange regarding photos. I started to build professional relationships with PR representatives of many sound names in the fashion industry, and I am glad to share with you that it comes very handy now, after months of writing about fashion.

I started to be invited to different glamorous, fashion related events in Toronto. I attended some of them, while I wasn’t able to attend others; but the bottom line is that I have enriched my Toronto life from the perspective of a fashion consumer and a fashion writer by being a part of the Canadian fashion industry and some of its hot happenings.

My first glamorous event I attended this year was Toronto Fashion Week, due to the fact that I got myself on the right newsletter list which allows me to find out well in advance about important fashion events in Toronto. Besides the Fashion Week itself, I also had the opportunity to attend a couple of fashion shows in Toronto presented by young up-and-coming Canadian designers.

I had another interesting experience some time ago. I received an email from a PR manager whom I didn’t know, but who probably saw my articles about fashion and my email address which I made public. He invited me to cover a fashion event taking place at one of Toronto’s malls, Scarborough Town Centre. The rock icons Disturbed were coming to Toronto to help celebrate the opening of a new Hot Topic store in Toronto. Unfortunately I was not able to attend this event due to my family responsibilities, but instead I covered the event and wrote an article about it on my fashion column from Examiner.com.

Then another fabulous event took place in Toronto, this time a book signing. Lauren Weisberger, the best-seller author of the acclaimed novel The Devil Wears Prada, came to Toronto in August 2010 to launch her latest book Last Night at Chateau Marmont. The event was held at one of Indigo bookstores from downtown Toronto. I didn’t miss this one. I was very excited to meet one of my favorite writers, and I got her autographs on 3 of her books (including the new one).

I also would like to share with you another glamorous experience of mine I had in Toronto. During Toronto International Film Festival September 2010 Swarovski organized a jewelry show-room at Four Seasons Hotel from Toronto. The purpose of the event was to give the opportunity to celebrities coming to TIFF to view and borrow Swarovski jewelry for upcoming red carpet events. As a fashion writer, I was invited to cover this event, and of course I didn’t miss it. I was given a tour of the collection by one of the representatives of the label, Pierrick. The collection presented by Swarovsky at Four Seasons was absolutely stunning. It was the newest collection from Swarovski, called Under the Blue, with exquisite necklaces, rings, bracelets and other jewelry. Another impressive accessory presented there was the silver clutch Samantha Jones wore in Sex and the City-2. I was also showed a customized clutch for Eva Longoria, bearing her name engraved on an elegant plate accessorizing the interior of the clutch. I was allowed to take pictures, so I photographed every single piece of jewelry displayed there. During the tour I took the pleasure to show off my knowledge about Swarovski, as I recognized some of the jewelries from the Under the Blue collection, the Louise set, Samantha Jones’ silver clutch, and so on; and Pierrick, my guide, was very impressed. But at the end of the meeting I was even more impressed when I received a gift from Swarosvki – a purse accessory with Swarovski crystals.

The next glamorous event I attended was the meeting with Sophie Kinsella at one of Indigo bookstores of Toronto. The event took place last month, on September 24, at the same bookstore where Lauren Weisberger came to meet her fans one month prior. Sophie came to Toronto to sign her newest book from her Shopaholic series, Mini Shopaholic (the 6th book featuring Becky Bloomwood).

The next Toronto Fashion Week (LG Fashion Week) is just around the corner, a few weeks away (October 18-23). I would like to attend it of course, but I’m not sure I will be able to. The tickets are already on sale, for those who want to attend the most important fashion event in Toronto of the year. If I miss this fashion week, surely there will be other opportunities to go, for the next ones. For more information about the upcoming Toronto Fashion Week, as well as ticket information, please visit the official website, LG Fashion Week.

Other fashion events will take place in Toronto, and I intend to be there. I may not be able to attend all of them, but I am going to be a part of at least some of them.

Photo: www.fashionstylebeautyandmore.blogspot.com