Miranda Purves (right). Photo by Ryan Emberley.
My evening opened with an act of compliance. “Kevin, just go through the media section and enter the runway room,” a woman in a black T-shirt informed me. After the first velvet rope came a second, and I thought, “This is Labyrinth.” I was standing with Fashion online editor Randi Bergman, and as we stood waiting for the clip on the second rope to lead us into the runway room, we were told we weren’t where we were supposed to be. We turned back to the first checkpoint, then turned back. “We were just told to enter this way,” I said, and we showed her our tickets, trying in a variety of ways to explain that we were media, and that we were advised to enter through this section. There was no arrogance, nor was there any utterance of “do you know who I am?” Two non-descript bloggers showed up to the same rope and the black T-shirt clad woman clicked the clip and said “you aren’t supposed to come through here. Just this once.” We were led in behind them, she clicked the clip back on its post and told everyone else, “sorry, we’re full.” Toronto’s hottest nightclub is oh brother.
The New Eighth Row
The runway room was typical: a clusterfuck. Suzanne Boyd and Suzanne Rogers mugged for their George Pimentel society shots, while volunteers struggled to find seats for the people in attendance. And then it happened: people with little-to-no connection to the fashion industry with gifted baby pink Samsung cameras were seated in the front row, while I sat in the eighth row with new Flare editor-in-chief Miranda Purves. Purves took to her seat gleefully, carrying her bike helmet and sensible purse, and I spoke to her briefly, welcoming her to Toronto. It became clear to me then and there that she’s much more quirky and fantastic than I had originally imagined. Unlike past and current iterations of editor-in-chief and other industry professionals, Purves has no qualms about seating. Just last season, stylist George Antonopolous was overheard scoffing at the idea of sitting in the second row, and here I was, alongside ShOws coordinator Paola Fullerton, Jeremy Laing communications director Frank Griggs, Shedoesthecity.com founder and owner Jen McNeely and the buzziest editor in Toronto at the moment.
Fear of the Unknown
And buzzy she is. She was on the mind of many in attendance, and most said they knew nothing about her because they can’t get a meeting with her. One woman said she had overheard from people in the office that she’s “mean to everyone who works at Flare.” “Mean?” I thought privately. This woman? This city has watched The Devil Wears Prada one too many times, or it is desperate to have its own Anna Wintour. With only one editor’s letter under her belt, Purves has a bad reputation. Is it because she’s an ex-Brooklynite who is trying to inject intelligence into a pub that has been traditionally fluffy? Or is it because she’s not carrying a status bag, and has unkempt hair? Given the general cattiness of the industry, I’m inclined to think it’s the latter. If she really is a mean girl, she’s doing an excellent job of hiding it (See: her gigantic grin and school marmish flat feet in the front row at Pink Tartan).
Charlotte Free is a Hot Pink Mess
Kimberley Newport-Mimran hired Irina Lazareanu, Alana Zimmer and Charlotte Free for her Pink Tartan runway show. Free, who is known for her pink hair, checked out. Checked out mentally, that is. Her head bobbed wildly back and forth as if she was part of the free love movement or about to dance the Maypole, and the consensus was that she “looked like she was on pills.” At one point, she stopped walking on the runway to give the stink eye to the Toronto Star’s Derick Chetty for wearing shiny Kenzo shoes. According to Chatelaine’s Tyler Franch, she didn’t break the stare. While she looked amazing in this Elena Rendina shoot for Wonderland, Free walked the runway in a manner that suggested she’d been awake with Cat Marnell for several days. “She’s trying to be Kristen Stewart,” was overheard coming from the seats.
____
Kevin Naulls is a Toronto-based writer and former editor of The Goods and The Hype at Torontolife.com. Follow him on Twitter @kevinjn.
For more, follow us on Twitter @TorontoStandard and subscribe to our newsletter.
