Juma Installation at Toronto World MasterCard Fashion Week

Toronto’s Juma, unveiled their Fall/Winter 2012 scarf collection at the Edward Day Gallery without the use of models, opting for an installation style event.  An elite group of Monday night fashionista faves soaked in the wonders of Juma’s silky garbs.  In case you didn’t know, Juma is a brother and sister team (Jamil and Alia) who create unisex, progressive ready-to-wear and accessories using their own digital prints inspired by art and travel. The upcoming season’s work was no exception and channeling aspects of local culture, and wildlife from the siblings travels in Thailand and Northern China but adding a spacey 60s mod vibe. I wonder what their trips are like. I can imagine they are quite unlike anything most family vacations I’ve been on! Since launching their line in the 2003, the duo have relocated to New York where they spend half their lives, bringing some inspiration to their designs. According to Jamil, the two of them looked forward to “developing an environment that will embody the personality of the collection.” I guess this was true enough.  The walls of the gallery were draped with dozens of scarves, not unlike the paintings that usually house the gallery’s walls, with glossy lacquered branches hanging here and there.  It was well fitting as Juma’s scarves really are works of art that bring loud psychedelic burps pops of colour to the  minimalist wardrobe that Toronto just can’t seem to escape from. Aside from launching the exotic and always eye-dazzling array of garments and scarves Juma has been quite busy on other fronts brokering deals with Holt Renfrew, (now available in shops!) designing a tutu for the National Ballet of Canada’s 60th Anniversary, and also planning a new store opening, (location still being kept a mystery) but I’m guessing either Toronto, or New York. – JESSE

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Team Canada & Friends @ SXSW

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INFLUENTIAL AT BEING INFLUENTIAL: SXSW #LOOKATME

This vid is for my SXSW panel tomorrow. If you are at SXSW I hope to see you there. Details below! Panel is moderated by Lucia Mancuso and the other panelists are Michael Dolan and Jake Small from New York. For the full description visit the panel page on sxsw.com. Heading to SXSW opening party now. Have Movember brekky in the morning with the MoBros then it’s panel time. Please wish me luck. I was not nervous until now, now that all kinds of people are actually coming! Dohhhh! Don’t forget to change your watch, assuming your phone changes itself. Daylight savings FTW! Spring is near people, weeeeee.

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THE GRID: Introvert or Extrovert?

This week has been full of awesome fun. While I’ve been away I was written about TWICE in Toronto’s culture newspeper The Grid. One day I was in an article about being an introvert and the very next day was a video about me being extroverted and all over the city. Truth is, I’m a little bit of both. I really love spending time alone, in silence and at home and, as you all know, I also love being around lots of people and in the spotlight. Here’s a link to each article. Casie Stewart is a 29-year-old blogger who was recently featured in an article in The Walrus by Maryam Sanati called “Brand Me,” which shone a spotlight on the major players among Toronto’s “Gen Y personal branders.” These professional internet personalities have managed to generate the success and attention they quite openly—and shamelessly—seek, simply by transcribing the minutiae of their existence online. “Because Stewart’s peers have not known self-doubt as much as we have,” Sanati, a self-identified Gen-Xer, writes, “and because they’re so much better at maneuvering in the digital age than we were, they feel perfectly at ease.” That may be true for Stewart. When it came time for her to speak at the pub, she described herself as “hyper-social.” In fact, the only time she admitted feeling less than socially fluent was during her offline hours. One more thing! If you are at SXSW Storify will build a story from all your online activity automatically if you connect your accounts. I’ll publish mine tomorrow. Now, off to the convention centre for some fun! Have an awesome day 🙂

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SO FAR SO GOOD, SXSW

[View the story “HEY AUSTIN, ILU. #SXSW” on Storify]

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MY CITY LIVES: TORONTO’S BEST VIDEO CREATORS & STORYTELLERS

Earlier this year in between my travels I filmed this video with my friends at My City Lives. I’ve got a bunch of videos on their platform and I’ve watched the company grow over the past few years. I’m happy to share with you this awesome vid put together by My City Lives and The Biz Media. Enjoy! Here’s an excerpt from the My City Lives blog. Read the whole post here! Meet Casie Stewart: daily lifestyle vlogger, brand ambassador, and one of Toronto’s most influential bloggers. Casie is a household name in the Toronto social media community – and for good reason – she’s got an infectious personality and an enormous amount of hustle. We’ve been fans of Casie for a long time so being able to collaborate with her was really special. Casie, having worked for brands like MuchMusic and MTV, is well armed when it comes to communicating with different audiences and succeeds in showcasing her talent in her blog, which she has been writing for over seven years now. Aside from creating a constant flow of contents for her blog, Casie has been an avid creator of My City Lives videos for years. Kate was on the scene with her camera. Here’s a few behind the scenes pix from her Flickr stream. My City Lives Co-Creator, Adil Emma & Xavier from Timeless on Queen (before renos was CTS) I like laughing! Thank you to the My City Lives team for featuring me. I love you guys <3

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