Luxe Leather Line Inspired by Calgary

12 / 5 / 1512 / 7 / 15

Kensington was the style destination today for designer Aleem Arif, who stopped by Kismet Clothing boutique to offer a sneak peek at his spring collection. But despite the fact that his leather label Bano eeMee uses 100% sustainable, vegetable-tanned leather, there’s no silver lining here. That’s because Aleem amps up his linings with images, either inspired by his travels or collabs with other artists.

Bano eeMee is the brainchild of Boston-raised banker Aleem Arif, whose label is a hybrid of his mom’s name, Bano, and his nickname, eeMee. Formerly an algorithmic stock trader, he moved to Calgary and discovered his passion was actually fashion. Who says Calgary is all about Stampede? Bano eeMee is now based in Toronto, with supple lamb leather jackets in 30 stores across Canada. Oh, and Galeries Lafayette is pressuring Aleem to do a special line in Paris.PR powerhouse Ellen Parker wore her own Bano eeMee jacket from last season, but this jacket won’t be her last Bano eeMee.Yes, Ellen. Get this one.

Spring and Summer look fabulous, Aleem! Glad to have you back in YYC, even if it’s just a quick jet set. Although I’m predicting that your visit will be more stylish than social: us high-fashion Calgarians will inspire your fall collection.

Awaken with the Holistic Approach

11 / 23 / 15

When you book Mara Boaru for your massage, you’re in for a holistically good time. When the physio therapist emigrated from Romania, her creds didn’t impress Canuck authorities — she’d have to upgrade for the official Canadian PT designation, a masters degree. The delay was unfortunate for her, but lucky for her customers — because she got her RMT diploma to tide her over, allowing her to work while studying her first love, all over again.

The result? She is one of the rare physio therapists who is also massage therapist. And vice versa! It means she takes a holistic approach to physio, rather than just treating one part.

Which means she’ll fit in perfectly with the 50+ holistic professionals and teachers at the new Awaken Holistic Health and Wellness, slated to open spring 2016, with a pile of classes, including yoga, fitness and nutrition, health services, and… a float pod room.

They just launched a crowdfunding campaign to raising funds for their wellness centre. Check out the goodies they’re offering to entice your pledge. The 60 minute service of your choice for $70 is a hot deal, and I have a hot tip to go with it: choose a massage. With Mara. Amazing.

Literary Death Match III

10 / 14 / 1510 / 14 / 15

Wordfest is back, and with it, one of my favorite nights of raucous, intellectual battle: Literary Death Match. If you don’t have your tickets yet, get them now: LDM is back in Calgary for the third time tomorrow night. To celebrate the upcoming war of words with ensuing hostile hilarity, I am reposting my interview with host Adrian Todd Zuniga on his “Deadly Style” from his last visit to Cowtown.

“What is going to be healthy and delicious, and also make me happy?”The host of Literary Death Match is starving. Maybe not quite to death, but definitely in that just-got-off-a-plane and made-it-through-customs kind of way. Yet Adrian Todd Zuniga is not the type to order off a menu without some intense Q&A.

I get it. We’ve met at Joey’s Eau Claire, just around the corner from the Westin, the Wordfest hotel of choice, so I can do some grilling of my own. Once Adrian finishes his blackened basa, I want to know — what will he be wearing tonight as 4 authors face off onstage?A cornflower blue suit. Of course.

Literary Death Match is a traveling word circus. With Adrian as its ringmaster, no staid, snooze-inducing readings are allowed on his world stage. The show, which visits dozens of cities a year, is Def Poetry Jam meets American Idol (minus the meanness) meets Double Dare.

The Los Angeles-residing, Missouri-born author and screenwriter created LDM eight years ago. This is his second visit to Calgary. Being a man of style, he abhors being seen in the same outfit twice.

“I rotate through suits. It’s very important for me not to wear the same thing in the same city. It would be lame.”Last year Adrian wore a red velvet smoking jacket, which bookended nicely with 2013 competitor Todd Babiak, no slouch in the wardrobe department himself. See my style feature on Todd here.

Besides making sure he didn’t lame out with a suit repeat, Adrian didn’t feel comfortable wearing a bow tie back-to-back with his last appearance in Calgary. Also important to note: “I don’t wear bow ties on dates. I think it’s too much of a statement. I think I’m a more subtle gentleman on that front. But I do wear suit jackets to pretty much everything.”Even while our interview cuts into his pre-show quiet time, he has the rumpled flair of someone out of a Robert Doisneau photograph.

Like “The Kiss” sans a girl to kiss. Which is confirmed when Adrian volunteers, apropos of nothing, “I haven’t kissed a girl in Calgary yet.” Later that night, onstage, he mentions he is single.The downside of his fashion daring can have drawbacks. Like when he told his friends his new suit was the ultimate in Don Draper. They said, ‘You mean the Pete Campbell suit?’

Luckily, the Sterling Cooper doppelganger apparel on stage at the GRAND couldn’t derail the momentum of the 2014 Death Match. In fact, the cornflower shine only added to the intrigue of authors Michael Crummey, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Alison Pick and Matthew Thomas being rated on literary merit, performance and intangibles.

LDM is normally judged by a panel of three, but the only way to compensate for a last-minute cancellation by Mayor Nenshi was to bring in two backups. From left to right at the black table: comedian Chris Gordon, author Carrie Shyder, Olympic hero Mark Tewksbury and author Johanna Skibsrud. I will totally name favorites: even though Mark claimed he wasn’t a literature type, the author of three books was hilarious and enthusiastic. Ginger Jesus, aka Chris Gordon, was a close second, and as he made very clear, sponsored by Hudson’s Bay.

The evening ended in a race to ring the bell, to identify classics from one-star Amazon ratings. Lone stars, as Adrian aptly put it.

“I believe the way you dress is a compliment to the people you are with,” says Adrian. “So I’m sorry that I’m basically saying, go fuck yourself, by what I am wearing today.”

Don’t worry, Adrian, I’m not taking it personally. And thanks for this candid with the cows, by the way.

Kidding! Great to see you! Literary Death Match marches on to Austin, London and San Francisco next. I have no doubt Adrian’s closet can support the world tour.

Crediting the Creator

10 / 13 / 1510 / 13 / 15

It’s cool when your photos get noticed. It’s even cooler when a publication asks your permission before it uses them, and offers to pay. This candid I shot while chatting with Jimmy Pattison (about his big Christmas tree star in the BPs, among other things) at the opening of Nordstrom Calgary caught the eye of Canadian Business Magazine…… who enlisted illustrator Alvaro Tapia Hidalgo to adapt it for an October 2nd story by Jim Sutherland, who was my first editor ever during the old Vancouver Magazine days. Nice story, Jim! And awesome illustration, Alvaro! Although I was digging the lavender plaid Jimmy was going with in the photo. He has some stylish moves, many of them tartan.Ripping stuff from the ol’ Interwebs has become so pervasive that many peeps out there don’t seem to realize that the person (or organization) who worked hard to create that content owns it. I appreciate it when credit is given where it is due. Like with my photo of this vehicle wrap on the streets of Calgary, to stick with the tartan topic. It resonated with super-cool British artist and author Toby Leigh, who’s so obsessed with fake Burberry he’s publishing a book on it. And of course, I support that! Delighted that my pic will be included, Toby. Especially because you asked.

Artesia Kitchen Party

5 / 12 / 155 / 12 / 15

Have you ever walked into a show home kitchen and fantasized about using the fantastic new appliances? Perhaps at this Albi Home, in Artesia at Heritage Point? Recently, Artesia invited Chef Paul Rogalski to do just that. But being co-owner of the world-renowned Rouge Restaurant, he took it up a notch…… turning a cooking demo into a kitchen party.I’ve seen a few ginormous island kitchen islands recently, and it always makes me wonder how you wipe the crumbs off (with a Swiffer?) but Chef Paul knew exactly what to do with the space.

In between showcasing cooking techniques for Roasted Cauliflower and Parsnip Soup, Duck A L’Orange and Tangled Beef Flank in Sherry Vinaigrette…Chef Paul dished on how to slice and dice an onion to achieve the perfect Big Mac garnish. Surprisingly it involved tossing almost half away. And yes, this award-winning chef and master of modern French cooking referenced McDonalds. Someone give this guy a reality show — quick!

Between courses, guests spilled out of the kitchen, into the super-wide entrance hallway. Tanya Puka of Anstice Communications flashes her pearly whites at the camera. On her right, Carolina Oxtoby, President and CEO of Heritage Pointe Properties and Heritage Point Golf Club. And in the glasses, Brad McMeekin, President of Skyline Construction. All well-versed in the art of being an Alberta houseguest: shoes off!A belle who busted her way through the doors of the developer boys’ club, Carolina is the woman who helped to make this luxurious neighborhood happen. Years before Calgary’s bedroom communities had sprawled anywhere near southern city limits, Carolina was trudging through fields and knocking on farmer’s doors. By 1989 she’d helped to amass 1000 acres for the Heritage Pointe community and matching golf course in De Winton — south of the “deep south,” as they like to say round these here parts. Artesia at Heritage Pointe followed.

While Chef Paul continued to slave over a hot, never-touched-before stove, Carolina told me how sustainability was a priority for her, especially water management. Heritage Pointe Properties uses grey water to maintain the landscaping.Sustainability continued indoors, with party guests thriving on champagne and Chef Paul’s delicious eats. What a great night!

Cirque Sneak Peek

4 / 9 / 154 / 9 / 15

The dress rehearsal last night for Cirque du Soleil’s 35th production, KURIOS – Cabinet of Curiosities, was disguised as opening night. Crowds of kids, and the occasional woman wearing her best circus high heels, trekked through the Stampede grounds to get to Parking Lot 6, now home to a 62-foot Big Top that seats 2700 people.Inside, the media had the best seats in the Top. This official media preview was the only opportunity to film the entire performance during its run in Calgary. I don’t have a big boy lens like these photogs, but my little Canon EOS Rebel SL1 managed to make it through.And thank goodness, because I was right there, front and center. Close enough to touch the stage. And get bumped by people using that fold-down stairway to the left. However, since Cirque performers are -ahem- highly skilled professionals, that never happened.From my vantage point, I could almost tell the thread-count in the juggler’s pants. Costume Designer Philippe Guillotel’s genius influenced all the couture, including the shoes. Meanwhile, every performer does their own makeup before the show. Sounds like my old Action News days in Cleveland. Except I didn’t have to paint on these brilliant masks concocted by Makeup Designer Eleni Uranis.The contortionists had another look entirely. The frilly edges along their sinewy limbs, reminded me of the koi I have been obsessing about lately.From the social media files: I hashtagged “Circus” on my Instagram account last night. It lead to a whole new world of “likes” from contortionists, a group of people I haven’t had much interaction with. Turns out that they are far from freakish — just an ultra-sexy breed of humans. Writer/Director Michel Laprise worked with Madonna on her Super Bowl performance and her MDNA tour, so the Cirque concoction of outlandish-sensual-dance-gymnast-artist-feast-for-the-eyes-and-ears all makes sense.

But it was a lady of minimal movement who entranced me the most.Antanina Satsura plays Mini Lili. In classic trippy Cirque style, she represents another character’s unconscious mind and intuitive self. In real life, the 60-year-old Belorussian refers to herself as a proportionate dwarf. One of the 10 smallest people in the world, she may be only 3.2 feet tall and 39 pounds, but she is a powerhouse on stage.Speaking of the stage, this balancing artist flew high above it –and me– just to take his jacket off.I love how Cirque du Soleil characters always have time to appreciate an outstanding performance. If I’d had time for a narcissistic moment, my selfie would have had the same expression…… while watching these aerial acrobatics! The strongman is a human trapeze.The musicians are also up in the rafters — if a Big Top has rafters. That’s Michael Levin, linking daredevil with the word cello. Most cellists I’ve seen tend to play the instrument much closer to the ground, while seated.Cirque du Soleil’s KURIOS runs until May 24 in Calgary, with a special VIP opening tonight. I’m thrilled to say I’ll be there. See you tonight, KURIOS!

The Next -Preneur?

3 / 3 / 153 / 5 / 15

Heard of Jennifer Carlson of Baby Gourmet? The million-dollar mom who mixed her organic baby foods from the Calgary Farmers Market into the entrepreneurial stratosphere wants to tell us how to take a bright idea into a big brand. And presumably how to identify the next niche-preneur arena, since the mom-preneur cup appeareth to be full.

Her appearance at the Westin kicks off the Spring 2015 Women of Influence evening series on March 10. I’ve met great people at these events before, so I’m going to check it out. Plus I fully support the savvy target marketing by WOI — ticket prices include wine, appies and swag bag.

Non DIY-er does DIY

2 / 28 / 152 / 28 / 15

I’m not the DIY type. I like to buy things, not make them. But when the Home+Garden Show approached me to decorate a birdhouse in the name of Ronald McDonald house, I decided to try the DIY horizon, guided by a blueprint from a 2-year old beneficiary of the charity.

DIY inspiration
Materials from Michaels
DIY in the making
DIY done!
Had to sneak in a Blue Besos signature
Et voila! DIY Blue Besos style
All proceeds go to Ronald McDonald House

Inspired by Jet Bug’s love of bold colors, I approached this avian home with Jet’s palette in mind. The feng shui of Jet’s pigment lineup cascades down the roof, from cresting purple to red, with Blue Besos blue as the base color. A secret Jet Bug signature imprint is embedded in the design.

Bidding has already begun, but the silent auction continues all weekend. Make an offer and you could leave the home show with a Home Tweet Home to call your own.

Pink Tartan and Lipstick Pockets

11 / 3 / 141 / 4 / 15

In a section of Calgary’s new Nordstrom called Studio 121, Kimberley Newport-Mimran delicately wields the mic while describing her designs.

Claire Doty’s Soaring Style

10 / 28 / 145 / 1 / 17

Claire Doty can make a safety helmet look good.The 17 year old Grand Prix rider is the youngest in the top level class at the Royal West, the elite international equestrian event on right now in the heart of Calgary.