Archive for 2016

Today marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and especially today, the YWCA hopes to make a statement surrounding victim-shaming.

Only 3 out of 1000 sexual assaults in Canada lead to a conviction. Why? Due to the widespread victim-blaming habit, that is shared in our society. The scary part about this is that most of these habits stem from people in positions of authority.

BLAMÉ will aim to make people think twice before they blame a victim of sexual assault. The provocative fashion brand and pop-up store, called, a collection for your ‘questionable’ lifestyle, contains clothing and objects regularly linked to victim blaming.

BLAMÉ IS NOT A STORE. IT’S A TESTAMENT TO THE CRUELTY

OF VICTIM BLAMING. WHEN A WOMAN IS RAPED IT CAN WEIGH

ON HER FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE. TELLING HER THAT SHE

DESERVED IT BECAUSE HER HEMLINE WAS TOO SHORT, OR HER

LIPSTICK WAS TOO SEXY, IS CRUEL AND IGNORANT. BROWSE

OUR COLLECTION. ASK YOURSELF IF ANY OF WHAT YOU SEE IS

AN INVITATION TO RAPE. HELP US STOP VICTIM BLAMING.

YWCA CANADA IS THE COUNTRY’S OLDEST AND LARGEST WOMEN’S

MULTI-SERVICE ORGANIZATION. WITH 32 MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS IN MORE

THAN 400 COMMUNITIES, YWCA CANADA IS THE NATION’S SINGLE LARGEST

PROVIDER OF SHELTER TO WOMEN AND CHILDREN FLEEING DOMESTIC AND

SEXUAL VIOLENCE. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.YWCACANADA.CA

IN-STORE, ALL ITEMS WILL CONTAIN IMPACTFUL CLOTHING TAGS THAT FEATURE REAL VICTIM BLAMING QUOTES PULLED FROM COURT CASES, SOCIAL MEDIA AND NEWS OUTLETS – SHEDDING LIGHT ON SOCIETY’S BIAS TOWARDS ‘EXCUSING’ THE PERPETRATORS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND VICTIM BLAMING.

IF YOU ARE ALSO INTERESTED IN FURTHER SUPPORTING, WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO SHARE THE ATTACHED INVITE, AS IT IS AN OPEN EVENT, AND THE POP-UP WILL ALSO BE OPEN ON SATURDAY. FOR MORE INFO, VISIT WEARBLAME.COM

THE YWCA’S POWERFUL PSA ALSO JUST LAUNCHED THIS MORNING, COMMUNICATING THE SIMPLE TRUTH: A VICTIM CARRIES HER RAPE WITH HER FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE. WHEN SHE IS BLAMED FOR IT, SHE ALSO CARRIES THIS BURDEN FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE.

#NEVERBLAMETHEVICTIM

By Harija

Halloween is just around the corner and here are some last minute shopping decor and costume ideas from Walmart Canada.

Inflatable Minion, $29.99

Bring the spirit of Halloween home with this Airblown® inflatable Minion! It self-inflates in seconds and comes with everything needed for a quick and easy set-up, including tethers and yard stakes. Plus, it deflates down when not in use for easy storage between seasons.
Available in-store at Walmart.

Inflatable Haunted Archway Ghost House, $99.98

Give your yard or lawn a touch of Halloween spirit the quick and easy way! This complete scene self-inflates in seconds, comes with everything needed for setup, and deflates down for easy storage between seasons!
Available at Walmart.ca

7-ft Inflatable Blinking Eyes Witch, $59.98

This 2.1 metre (7 foot) blinking witch inflatable by Occasions will bring your yard to life this Halloween. Programmed eyes will blink frequently and will be visible during the day and night.
Available at Walmart.ca

8.5-ft Inflatable Pumpkin Patch, $69.98

This 2.59 metre (8.5 foot) inflatable pumpkin patch by Occasions sets up in minutes and will be the perfect decoration for your yard this Halloween. It includes seven different-sized lighted pumpkins with cute faces.
Available in-store at Walmart.

8-ft Inflatable Flashing Lights Tombstone Scene, $69.98

This 2.4 metre (8 foot) inflatable tombstone scene by Occasions includes six different tombstones, each with randomly flashing lights. Each tombstone has its own funny saying.
Available in-store at Walmart.

Animated Ground Breaker Witch, $59.98

Give your guests a fright they won't soon forget with the animated ground breaker witch! It comes to life with glowing eyes, realistic torso movements, and speaks spooky phrases.
Available at Walmart.ca

Haunted Crystal Ball, $59.86

Terrify your Halloween guests with this ghostly haunted globe. When activated by sound, it lights up to reveal a "floating" ghost head that makes spooky sounds.
Available in-store at Walmart.

Flying Monsters Ghost, $19

These Spooky Ghouls Make Frightening Sounds And Actually Fly Back And Forth Along A Supplied Cable. Available in-store at Walmart.

Fog Machine Zombie Head Accessories, $21.77

Fog shoots out of these creepy zombie heads while making eerie sounds, frightening any trick or treaters coming to your house. Available in-store at Walmart.

Bride and Zombie Gravebreaker Décor, $19.98 each

These scary outdoor installments will give anyone that decides to come to your house this season a fright.
Available in-store at Walmart.

Female Minion Adult Costume, $48

Includes: Dress, gloves, knee socks, headband, goggles.
Available in-store at Walmart.

Wonder Woman Sporty T-Shirt Adult Costume, $24.98

Bring out your inner Superhero with this Wonder Woman Adult Costume. This colorful piece quickly transforms you into the famous character from movies, TV shows and comics fame. This Wonder Woman Halloween costume includes a printed T-shirt, a removable red cape and a starred headband.
Available at Walmart.ca

M&M Adult Dress Costume, $59.97

This fun take on the green M&M costume comes with a headband and dress!
Available at Walmart.ca

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Batman T-Shirt Adult Costume, $24.98

Get set for the greatest gladiator match in the history of the world! It’s day vs night as Superman squares up against Batman. Clad in the Dark Knight’s latest look, will you have what it takes to save the entire human race?
Available at Walmart.ca

Superman Deluxe Adult Costume, $64

This adult costume includes muscle chest jumpsuit with attached boot tops and cape!
Available in-store at Walmart.

Cheers,

Harija Ravi

By Harija

On Tuesday, October 4, Quebec's top designers descended on Toronto’s west end to offer the city’s fashion set a glimpse of the visions and creative processes behind their Fall/Winter 2016 and Spring/Summer 2017 collections. Bilingual media personality and fashion ambassador Glen Baxter hosts the four-day pop-up shop, starting with a by-invitation-only VIP launch reception on Tuesday, October 4 where distinguished fashion media, celebrities, personalities, bloggers, influencers, and buyers will meet the designers in person to preview their Spring/Summer 2017 collections and shop from their current Autumn/Winter 2016 collections before the event opens to the public.

Quebec-based designers also presenting their collections will include original jewellery for the independent-spirited woman from Anne-Marie Chagnon; environmentally conscious high-end leather goods from By Kilani; Eläma, a line of sophisticated fashion-forward fur and outerwear pieces recently featured on Dragon’s Den; timeless fashion with a modern touch fromLAMARQUE; ready-to-wear pieces from Les Poupounes de Luxe who are setting a new standard with their clothing for women of all sizes; Louve Montreal's assertive minimalist handcrafted jewellery; avant-garde unisex designs by Pedram Karimi; elegant cocktail dresses and gowns from Rush Couture; Wallo’s sleek designs and colourful printed womenswear; genderless apparel from the creative design team from WRKDEPT; and bold, edgy menswear from Xian. Toronto is represented by refined and trendy womenswear from Amanda Maria; Cara Cheung's high fashion luxury with urban street style clothing for women; and elegant evening and modern sportswear from menswear designer Christopher Bates.

The Cabinet Éphémère is a new kind of pop-up boutique that offers a privileged foray, a confidential glance at the creative process of fashion designers. In a trunk show atmosphere, both eclectic and organized, these architects of objects without boundaries propose their collections to the public. The main objective is to bring together, in one venue, designers with a similar creative approach and vision and the product originality and quality that draw consumer attention. It's a most inventive answer to the standardized and commonplace mass-market clothes boutiques. The concept is simple and, today, we have proof it is effective.

For more information, visit cabinet-ephemere.com.

LOCATION

Rally, 12 Ossington Ave, Toronto
DATES
Wed, Oct 5 to Sat, Oct 8
HOURS
11am - ~~7pm~~ 9pm

It's now opened for public, so check it out this weekend:

To learn more about Cabinet Éphémère, visit the website.

For further information, please contact Gail McInnes at gail@magnetcreative.ca.

*All images are courtesy of Nick Lee.

By Harija

Introduction of In-Store Recycling Program to Canadians Continues Company Goal to Reduce Textiles Consumers Send to Landfills Each Year

SAN FRANCISCO (July 28, 2016) – Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) today announced the expansion of its clothing recycling initiative to all Levi’s® mainline and outlet stores in Canada. The company is making it easier for consumers to recycle clothing and shoes, underscoring its commitment to sustainability by reducing the volume of waste sent to landfills and creating an infrastructure that supports a circular economy.

Consumers may drop-off any brand of clean, dry clothing or shoes in the collection boxes at their local Levi’s® store. Any consumer who brings an item of clothing to recycle will receive a voucher for 20 percent off a single, regular-priced Levi’s® item in-store.

“We’re thinking about sustainability across all facets of our business and how to shift consumer behavior to make recycling clothing the norm,” said Michael Kobori, vice president of sustainability at LS&Co. “As an industry leader, we consider all phases of our product lifecycle, including stages beyond our direct control like the product’s end point. Collecting used clothing at our stores makes it simple and easy for consumers to do their part and builds upon our commitment to do the right thing for the environment.”

Expanding clothing and shoe recycling is the latest endeavor in LS&Co.’s broader sustainability goal of creating an infrastructure that supports a circular economy by 2020. In the apparel industry, this refers to designing a product from cradle-to-cradle rather than cradle-to-grave. For example, in 2014, with its pilot of Wellthread™, LS&Co. designers created 100% recyclable product from a single fiber – cotton – that not only met durability expectations of consumers, but could also be easily remade into new garments. Recycling clothing by separating fibers and creating new garments reduces the need for virgin cotton, generating significant water and other environmental resource saving.

Each year, 24 billion pounds of discarded textiles end up in U.S. landfills. The good news is almost 95 per cent of them can be recycled. In Canada, the waste is far less, but the need to recycle is equally as important as our industry becomes more conscious of our resources that also help with our production. Levi’s® is ensuring that raw materials from old clothes and shoes are put to new uses and reduce the amount of waste that is created when it comes to individuals disposing of clothing.

Levi’s® has specific goals in mind for the future surrounding product sustainability. Levi Strauss & Co. plans to continue working with its global suppliers to sustainably source 100 per cent of its cotton by 2020. The Levi’s® brand also aims to make 80 per cent of its products using Water<Less™ techniques by the year 2020 as well. This technique allows the design process to approach decisions in a different way, ultimately reducing the amount of water used by the finishing process – which is essential in all steps of garment creation. As a result, Levi’s® is working hard to support the circular economy and clothing recycling initiatives like this takes the organization one step closer to bettering its products and focusing on how it can reduce waste on all levels.

The company has taken great efforts to understand the environmental impact of its products through two lifecycle assessments. Since then, LS&Co. has made strides in reducing its water usage, saving more than 1 billion liters of water through its Water<Less™ finishing process, which the company recently publicly shared to encourage water conservation across the apparel industry. LS&Co. is also educating consumers about reducing water and energy consumption through the introduction of the Care Tag for Our Planet in 2009 and the “Are You Ready to Come Clean” quiz in 2015. Diverting old garments from landfill while making it easy for consumers to do their part is the company’s next step to realizing a more sustainable future through closed loop products.

The expanded program builds upon an ongoing partnership with I:Collect (I:CO), an end-to-end solutions provider for reuse and recycling of apparel, footwear and other textiles. “We admire Levi Strauss & Co.’s vision and impressive sustainability efforts. We are proud to be expanding our partnership to increase consumer access to clothing and shoe recycling opportunities,” said Jennifer Gilbert, I:CO USA’s Chief Marketing Officer. “This in-store take back program not only makes it easy for consumers to recycle their unwanted items, but also helps create much-needed awareness about the challenge of textile waste and the aim to keep these items in an everlasting cycle.”

I:CO provides a global solution for preventing collected items from becoming waste by diverting them from landfills. The company has best-in-class procedures for sorting clothing and shoes — wearable items are resold and re-worn, while other pieces are reused as products such as cleaning cloths, recycled into fibers for insulation and paddings or upcycled into new products.

The product does have to be returned to a Levi’s® location. All Levi’s® locations in Canada will accept any brand of clothing and shoes, no matter the condition, as long as items are clean and dry. Individuals can place items in the collection box individually or wrapped in a bag. In doing so, individuals who participate in this initiative will receive 20 per cent off one full-priced Levi’s® item in store. The limit is one voucher per day per customer.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co. is one of the world's largest brand-name apparel companies and a global leader in jeanswear. The company designs and markets jeans, casual wear and related accessories for men, women and children under the Levi's®, Dockers®, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co.™, and Denizen® brands. Its products are sold in more than 110 countries worldwide through a combination of chain retailers, department stores, online sites, and a global footprint of approximately 2,800 retail stores and shop-in-shops. Levi Strauss & Co.'s reported fiscal 2015 net revenues were $4.5 billion. For more information, go to http://levistrauss.com.

About I:Collect (I:CO®)

I:Collect (I:CO) is a solutions provider for apparel, footwear and other textiles reuse and recycling. Through its innovative retail takeback system and worldwide infrastructure, I:CO aims to keep consumers’ used clothing and shoes in a closed loop production cycle where these goods can be reprocessed and reused again and again. This reduces waste, preserves material resources, protects the environment and enables sustainable consumption. I:CO has takeback programs with more than 60 retail partners on six continents. Visit www.ico-spirit.com.

By Harija

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