Bows became graphic Art Deco prints on a silk top

Bows became graphic Art Deco prints on a silk top or shimmering monochromatic sequins on a black tulle dress. More abstract interpretations came in the folds of fabric on a black boat-neck dress or as thin metal cuffs. To break up the bows, the designer turned to a feather print in autumnal shades, which worked well when enriched with the real thing on, say, a jacket or short skirt. Over all, this was a coquette collection that wore its bourgeois badge with pride.
Vanessa Bruno looks to be a designer in transition. It's really the only explanation for a collection that was so atypical for someone who has built her reputation on a chic and feminine French style.
This show was focused on after-dark dressing for the rock 'n' roll urban set. Black dominated, while the accent colors of bottle green, teal and purple came cut in shimmering fabrics. But when the designer used embellishment, the clothing really started to have some direction. A rust-brown slim coat covered in multicolored sequins was a particular standout. And the bit of iridescent textiles cut into the bottom of a turtleneck or woven into an abstract pattern on a top worked well.
But there was a whiff of the Givenchy "black panther" collection in the quilted floral embellished pieces toward the end of the show. At least Ms. Bruno's shift in style seems to be inspired by an expert in the field of dark and moody designs.
Akris is not a brand know for its love of embellishments. The designer Albert Kriemler has built a clean, sporty and streamlined style that is loved by American buyers.
This season the collection got its starting point from the contemporary American painter Franz Kline, inspiring a graphic color-block print and a very architectural slant to the bands of fabrics in different textures that created a patchwork effect.

Canada Goose lawsuit heats up trademark concerns

It's a hot property even in what has been a relatively balmy Canadian winter and Canada Goose Inc. intends to protect its highly recognizable brand even if it means a legal battle.

For more than 55 years, Canada Goose has built a strong business on the warmth and fashionable look of its jackets, but in a high-profile trademark infringement lawsuit, it claims another company is hijacking its brand. The case is prompting trademark experts to remind companies to shore up the protection of their marks in light of this case and others that are making headlines these days.

In a Jan. 31 court filing, Canada Goose alleges that International Clothiers is misleading Canadians by using "confusingly similar" patches and logos. The International Clothiers coats have been available since 2009.

Canada Goose claims its red, white, and blue logo patch and placement on the left arm of its jackets form a "highly distinctive trademark" that International Clothiers is violating with its Canada Weather Gear and Super Triple Goose products. They want the court to force International Clothiers to stop selling the jackets and, with Canada Goose's supervision, destroy their remaining stock.

In its claim, Canada Goose says multiple complaints about the alleged infringement went nowhere.

None of the allegations have been proven in court. International Clothiers have 30 days to file a statement of defence.

The lawsuit is similar to other cases including Gap Inc. versus G.A.P Adventures. Although Canada Goose has not yet claimed a specific amount in damages, the Gap battle cost the Canadian adventure travel company $5 million and a four-year legal battle, demonstrating how much trademark infringement can cost a business.

Kathleen Lemieux, a partner in the intellectual property group at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP says companies need to be aware of the opportunities out there for infringers to take advantage.

"If a company is benefiting from your reputation by mimicking your brand look and feel or your products, that can have a direct effect on your bottom line and on the value of the brand you have created," says Lemieux. "In the Canada Goose case, where the company prides itself on delivering quality, Canadian-made products, the concern is that consumers will confuse the brands and the reputation of Canada Goose will be harmed by being associated with similar-looking garments that may not deliver the same value."

Canadian businesses building their brands in new markets like China should be particularly careful when it comes to their intellectual property. Ikea and Apple are two companies with big brands that discovered last year they had been cloned in China.

Jil Sander Fall 2012

It was bound to be the story of the season. After seven years, Raf Simons has left the house of Jil Sander for…who's to know? Reps stated that two days after the announcement Simons would be presenting his final collection for the brand and that a successor would be announced within the week. Make that 24 hours. In virtually no time it was confirmed that Jil Sander would return to her namesake line. Talk about fashion at warp speed.
And yet, there was something about Simons' evolution at Jil Sander that heralded such a conclusion. The roaring, the applause, the standing ovation he received and the encore bow for the man that revitalized menswear and the house of Jil Sander – he probably didn't see that coming, judging from how emotionally overwhelmed he became as he bid farewell for a second time at his curtain call. And the rest of us, how do we feel? The fashion world has suffered from outstanding creative losses in the past couple of years – the untimely death of Lee Alexander McQueen, John Galliano's much publicized fall from grace. But Simons' situation should and will serve as the marker for how our greats should go out: on an artistic high note, health and dignity intact.

Simons openly refers to his last three womenswear collections as his 'couture trilogy'. He has long been transfixed by the kind of women who wear Haute Couture, and moreso than nearing a couture approach on a ready-to-wear runway (although he does that as well), Simons prefers to negotiate the day in the life of a woman who is all delicacy, refinement, grace – work around a real life scenario for her. Like a little boy obsessed with the secret rituals of his mother, Simons' work at Jil Sander has felt more and more like a way of explaining things from his childhood that stuck with him – a way to define his curiosity – pumping blood back into the veins of, if archetypal, femininity.
If a fashion stint is to be measured by Shakespearean terms, an exit after his much lauded spring collection, with the envisioning of the Jil Sander bride, would've qualified as a departure steeped in the Logos – departing with order intact. A comedy – in other words. That this fall collection, with its ghostly light touch, its dream-kissed softness, its quiet melancholy, should be Simons' final word on the Jil Sander matter – that kind of emotion is not easy to prepare for.

It was exceedingly cinematic. Models navigated a runway with standing pillars that held floral bouquets encased in glass. Wearing double-faced wool coats in soft powder pink, leather brown, stone gray and what can only be called a Jil Sander lilac, the first girls walked out with the sensuous gesture of holding their coats closed. The gorgeous coats, which almost looked like sculpture, considering the way they sat on the shoulders, but away from the body, reminded me of all my favorite depressive (and fabulous in their own right) mothers from celluloid – Julianne Moore in 'The Hours' (who more than likely owned zero couture) to Geraldine Paige in Woody Allen's 'Interiors' (who almost most certainly did). I could imagine the coat clad ladies considering the arrangement of those bouquets on the runway – stopping for a second to consider which position would be most suitable.
The collection packed in all the codes, tropes and symbols from film, literature andAmericanamorays to channel a woman's chaotic, quiet undoing, or awakening. Below the grand coats and dusters were an army of bustier tops and dresses that with their delicate palette, lent the collection that rising at dawn feel – making coffee and roaming the house before anyone else has risen sensation – the notion that Simons' woman is waking up with the world. How interesting that these clothes should be uplifting and brutally depressing at the same time. It would be Ingmar Bergman or Kate Chopin ready-to-wear in an instant were it not for Simons' deft subversive touches, like a black bustled bustier gown completely overlayed in fetishistic latex, or the slightly street-ready silhouette created by peculiar nips and tucks on a platinum lame skirt, or how half of a leather corset came molded onto the bodice of a dress. Not to mention the craziest touch of all – those spectacular 1980s graphic strappy stilettos that could've come straight from a completely different runway show altogether. This season's veiled ski hat, for sure, and more than likely next fall's must-have shoe. Expect the Jil Sander footwear inventory to be wiped clean.

Hydroelectricity: Quebec's Real Power

Forty percent of Canada's freshwater is within the borders of the province of Quebec, where 4500 rivers flow. It is mainly because of Quebec that Canada is the world's second largest producer of hydroelectric power. The province has an installed capacity of 35 gigawatts, accounting for 39% of Canada's total. On a per capita basis, Quebec's capacity is 4430 W and the country's is 2620 W. In contrast, the capacity of China, the world's largest hydro producer in the world, is 150 W per capita and that of the U.S. is 240 W.
To put these numbers in perspective, the average electricity consumption of a U.S. family of four is in the neighborhood of 50 kWh per day. 50 kWh/day/4 capita= 50 kWh * 3 600 000 J/(24h*3600 s/h/4 capita) = 521 W/capita.
Last week, a colleague and I brought our students to the Beauharnois power plant, which is just off the southwest tip of the island of Montreal. With figures from our guides, I realized how efficient hydroelectric plants are. They mentioned that the volume of 3 Olympic-sized pools flows through its turbines every second and that there is a 24 meter height difference between the turbine's water input and output. After looking up the size of an Olympic pool and using E= mgh, I estimated the water's potential energy. They mentioned that the 38 units in the kilometer wide operation generate about 1911 MW of power, so I calculated 90% efficiency. Some research revealed that the efficiency of hydro-generating stations is indeed somewhere between 90 and 95 %.
When we got a close look at the large rods connecting the turbine and generators, and we removed our jackets, it was obvious that the small percentage of heat loss is still a lot of energy. It comes from copper and magnetic losses that result from the large currents induced in the stator's coils and from the continuous movement of the rotor's particles in the changing magnetic fields, respectively. They don't have to worry about heating the premises in winter, but the 40 o C + internal heat in the summer leads to short shifts for the employees.
When Quebec went all out with the James Bay project, which included building the world's 8th largest facility, there were some environmental and native land issues. But once hydro generators operate, they emit no greenhouse gases or SOX and NOX. Since James Bay,
the majority of homes in big cities like Montreal and Quebec, have switched from heating oil and natural gas to electricity. Even at that, the nationalized power company, Hydro Quebec has been able to sell surplus power to the states of New York and Vermont.

With one hockey team having moved to Colorado; the other sitting in 15th place in the conference and with separatist sentiment waning perennially, true power in Quebec lies in hydroelectricity.

Prophetik Channels Princess Grace at Autumn 2012 London Fashion Week

For fall, Garner gravitated towards more contemporary draping techniques, such as a peplum treatment on the waist of a full-length gown. The newer silhouettes are nipped in at the hips with bow skirts, which are more on-trend―and therefore more wearable―than the voluminous gowns of past seasons. They bring to mind Courtney Love in her heyday, when she made "kinderwhore"-style dresses, paired with sturdy combat boots, the uniform of indie girls everywhere. This nod to the grunge scene will do well in the mainstream market, considering the upswell of nostalgia for the '90s.

On the men, jodhpurs and knee-length frock coats in floral print and houndstooth checks. The Scottish Highlands were also accounted for, but with a twist: For one of the kilts, Garner eschewed traditional tartan for a quilt-and-denim treatment. Tweed riding jackets on the women―very Downton Abbey―also sit firmly within the trends seen at Fashion Week.

Garner also edited down the frills this season, styling the looks to appeal to today's woman―if not today's man―by reining in the costumey aspects of his designs. The finale dress featured a skirt made from ostrich feathers, gathered after the bird had naturally shed them. Following its London debut, the dress will be move Stateside, where it'll be exhibited at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.