nokomis whirwind travels

i'm back! i've missed the store terribly, though it was nice to get out of town for a bit. i was in vancouver and toronto viewing designers fall 2010 collections (and holy shit, i can't wait for fall, it's going to be one of our strongest seasons). when i walked into the shop this morning i was amazed to see how much it had transformed. i poured over each and every rack, drooling over the new pieces. i'm in love with spring. i cross my heart that i will take photos this week so you can see for yourself (or, of course, you could pop by, too).

while i was away, i snapped a few photos for you so you can get a taste of what happens on a buying trip. i should probably edit them down a bit (i can hear tim gunn's voice in my head), but whatevs, you'll survive. let me indulge.

i present to you: nokomis whirlwind travels.

first up, vancouver. i arrived early morning (and by early morning, i mean 9:30 (which is my usual wake up time (tough life, huh?)). i rent a car when i'm in vancouver so i scooted over to my first appointment. i had appoinments all day monday, though i did have time to grab a bite to eat at the foundation, home of tastey and cheap vegeterian food. i forgot all about my camera until my last appointment of the day:

allison wonderland! allison has a cozy studio in gas town on cordova street. we've been carrying allison's line since we opened in fall 2002, so i guess her current collection in the shop is the 16th collection we have carried. that's nuts.

after catching up with her i went over to my friend charlotte's place, where i was staying. charlotte, a painter and architecture student, has an eye for design. check out her beautiful condo in the point grey neighbourhood:

the painting in the first photo is one of charlotte's own. you can check out more of her paintings at her blog: charlottefalk.blogspot.com

the next day i met with dace, adele, and sunja to see the fall 2010 collections for dace and sunja link. we went out to grab a bite to eat once the business part was out of the way.

adele and i cuddle up

dace and sunja

then i wandered over to erin templeton's downtown shop. she sells vintage as well as her own beautiful leather bags.


this is her studio, which is just behind the counter at her shop. it's a great big space for her to work on the dreamiest leather bags. i even brought one home with me, the TCB tote, cause, you know, i needed to take of business.

the next day, saint patricks day, was spent in the air, flying to toronto (i picked row 17, in honour). for the first night i stayed with noko ex-pat kara. she has a cute apartment in kensington.


while kensington offers character apartments, along with a vibrant neighbourhood, it doesn't exactly offer sturdy housing. kara's room, on the third floor, is slanted. nothing is wrong with her bed frame, and her window is parallel to the ground, it's just that her floor isn't flat. if you risk sitting in the rollie chair at her desk, you need to wrap your legs around the desk legs or else you slide right into the closet.

anyway, after getting steam rolled by kara a few times in the night, i was off to my appointments the next day. i rented a bike while i was there, all the better considering the weather was gorgeous.


first up was the preloved gang. another line that we have been carrying since we opened.

ashley, shelley, and peter were all there to entertain me. i told them how much you all loved the youtube video of their pilot television show. i think they were a bit surprised, but promised to keep me posted if the show gets a green light.

while in toronto, i also got to meet with the lovely jennifer and richard from one of our newest lines, mercy studio. they have a the kind of studio that when you're in fashion school, you think all studio's look like.

i also got to meet with some lovely other folks that day too, but i spaced the camera. after all the appointments were made we (my bf tagged along for a vaycay) checked into the lovely gladstone hotel. check out our room:

cute, huh? that's what i thought until i was awoken at 6am by this:

seriously. 6 am this began. ear plugs did nothing. i was a grumpy pants all day. though the gladstone did move us, upon request, but not to such a swanky room, though it was still cute.


and had a lovely view of downtown toronto:

once we were settled into the new surroundings, i once again jumped onto my bike and headed over to liberty village, home of three of our designers. there is a lovely studio space, called Artscape, which is home to Dagg & Stacey, Rita Di Cesare and Las Valentias.

stacey was flying solo that day, as karen was away at a trade show. she was a bit too shy to have her photo taken, so i took a few photos of their studio:



the lovely and warm-hearted Rita:

sadly i was too flustered at my Las Valentias appointment due to a silly mix up that i forgot to snap photos of Erin and Tara. next time!

that night there was a screening of 'the room', touted as the worst movie ever made. dbear, kara and i all headed over with a group of friends. we were not let down. hands down, worst movie ever made. it played at metro cinema recently, and will hopefully make its way back to edmonton. or else rent it or download it. you need to see it. it had a bit of a cult following in toronto (those big city dwellers really got into it) and the screening was hilarious. everyone was screaming lines at the screen, throwing plastic spoons around and wearing ties around their heads (trust me: see it). also: worst trailer i have ever seen.



the next day we went for brunch then biked over to the new art gallery of ontario:

followed by an evening of drinking with more ex-pat edmonton pals.

including another noko girl, jenny. kara and jenny both worked at the store about 5 years ago and are now ready to graduate from the ryerson fashion program! i'm so proud of them. we had a lot of fun catching up.

so that sums up a buying trip! hard work, hey? i now have to put in the orders, that's the tricky part, guessing what you guys want to buy and how many and what colour. my fingers are crossed that you'll love fall as much as me.

thanks for reading to the end of the post! like i said, i'll have some photos of the new spring stuff up on the blog by the end of the week. and don't forget it's our fashion show this week! it's going to be a fun one . . .

xox,

nokomis