IDS kicks off design weekend in Toronto

 

ARD Outdoor

Story and photos by Allan Tong

The Interior Design Show opened last night with a party to interrupt the cold snap gripping Toronto. Occupying the northern end of the massive Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the IDS (as it's commonly known) kicked off with flutes of champagne and canopes amid booths and booths of the latest in home furnishings, bathtubs, lighting, wooden floors, ceramic tiles, and even cabins. 

The annual design show runs through Sunday, January 21 with Friday being Professional Development Day aimed at industry folk. Highlights include a keynote by Marva Griffin at 2:00-3:00pm. Griffin is the founded Salone Satellite, the renowned showcase of young designers. She will discuss her unusual career path and how the industry has evolved over the last quarter century. Following her will be Oskar Zieta at 4:00pm speaking about his innovative, inflated metal furniture and Poland’s role in the European design industry.

Saturday and Sunday are open to the public. The line-up:

Saturday 11am-12 noon: Safoura Zahedi (Architect, Interdisciplinary Artist, Educator and Geometry Expert), Beverley Horii (Managing Director and Principal, IA Interior Architects), and Tatiana Soldatova (Principal, Syllable) will be imagining the impact of technology, wellness and culture on the interiors of the (near) future.

Saturday 1-2pm: Tura Cousins Wilson (Studio of Contemporary Architecture), Chad Burton (Fashion Editor and Product Stylist), and Krisette Santamaria (Industrial Designer, Krisette Santamaria Designs) answer the question: Multifunctional, multigenerational, multiuse and multiunit spaces pack in all the needs of modern life, but how do you create a multifaceted living space that still feels cohesive and represents your sense of style? 

Saturday 3-4pm Michael Murphy (Vice President, Fogo Island Workshop & Design), Janet Langdon (Textile Designer), and Ernst Hupel (Partner, 2H Interior Design) will reflect on the design legacy of the innovative Fogo Island Inn off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Sunday 11am-12pm will see Brian Gluckstein dispensing his best design advice and predictions for 2024. Following him will be Christiane Lemieux discussing her collections at retail, books and online store as both an entrepreneur and designer. Also, she will offer tips on how she creates a minimalist, nurturing retreat. At 3pm, Aly Velji will reflect on his collaborations with Urban Barn and Rollout. Questions are welcome from the public.

 Of course, there are the exhibitors. Here's what caught our eye:

Kissing Chair by Alison Postma

Ruums repurposes this 160-square-foot cargo container into a painting or musical studio or as  a dwelling that's situated in your backyard. They'll walk through all the city permits and installing plumbing, if needed.

Lighting by Feelux

Wine flowed at Vicostone

Paint isn't just for walls, says Sherwin-Williams

Montauk Sofa

Roche Bobois

ARD Outdoor

Non-alcohol cocktails by Seedlip were popular

WOODca Design offered an example of cool wooden dwellings at this year's IDS, like this sauna

Of course, there are sinks at IDS, this sleek one by Facileklean

OCH Works

McKae Imaging's backlit canvases

Stylish sinks and faucets, indeed

Coffee's other use by Krisette Sanatamaria

For more coverage including videos, find us on Instagram at chinokino_to

film review: Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis)

 

Directed by Anton Corbijn

ChinoKino score: A

Review by Allan Tong

Atom Heart Mother, Band on the Run, Peter Gabriel 2, Houses of the Holy, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Dark Side of the Moon. Those are a few of the album covers that legendary studio, Hipgnosis, designed in the 1970s, and this terrific, entertaining new documentary tells their story.

That story centers on company founders Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey (Po) Powell, two Cambridge lads who were mates with a young band called Pink Floyd in the mid-1960s. The careers of Hipgnosis and Pink Floyd would be forever linked as the thorny, but brilliant Thorgerson and the meticulous Powell designed most of the Floyd's early and later albums. Both entities hit the jackpot with 1973's Dark Side of the Moon, with the multi-coloured prism on the cover forever being the band's visual signature.

The documentary is generous with vintage interviews of Thorgerson (who died in 2013) and contemporary ones of Powell, former collaborators as well as clients Pink Floyd (Waters, Gilmour and Mason), Paul McCartney, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel, and Graham Gouldman of 10CC. Noel Gallagher offers an outsider's perspective as a fan, and is as witty as always. The meat of the film lies in the astonishing stories of some of Hipgnosis' most famous covers. For Wish You Were Here, Powell set a stuntman on fire 15 times, until the stuntman's face nearly burned. Remember, these were the days before Photoshop. For Wings' Greatest Hits, the duo flew to the top of Mount Everest by helicopter to photograph a small statue that Paul McCartney had bought. Terrified of heights, Powell risked sliding down thousands of icy feet to his death. Of course, Hipgnosis could have just placed the statue on a bed of salt inside their London studio, but, hey, that would have been too easy.

It was also the 1970s, after all, the golden age of rock albums which sold in the multi-millions, and Hipgnosis was charging a fortune to design covers. That may boggle today's young minds, as Gallagher notes, who see only a postage-stamp icon of an album on their phones. However, covers were a big deal back in the day because they shaped the image of a band and conveyed the message of the music within.

Director Anton Corbijn evocatively lights his interviews in black and white and uses striking animation to announce each album cover like a chapter page in a book. Corbijn knows a thing or two about album covers, since he has photographed a few for bands like U2.

The hero and villain of this story is Thorgerson, whom everyone in the film recalls as a pain in the ass, but also sharp and charming. He and the more level-headed Powell rode the excesses of 1970s rock until they crashed in the early-1980s in bankruptcy and acrimony. It was a bitter ending, which abruptly ends the film and begs for more detail. However, enough time has passed to heal those wounds and celebrate the surreal imagination of the greatest album designers of all time.

Squaring the Circle opens Friday, June 9 in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Victoria in select cinemas, then expands to other cities in Ontario as well as Quebec City and Charlottetown this month.

IDS kicks off 20th anniversary with wine, food and design

A day after Canadian interest rates rose and as housing prices continue to flirt with all-time highs, 5,500 Torontonians celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Interior Design Show last night. At the IDS opening party, well-dressed partygoers sipped fine wines from Niagara to California, tasted delicious canopes prepared by local restaurants and, of course, sampled the latest in interior design and furnishings from more than 300 exhibitors. Forget your worries (and winter) and enjoy.

Perrin & Rowe are aglow

Canadian designers Sarah Richardson, Tommy Smythe, Colin & Justin, Arren Williams and international stars Jay Osgerby, Snarkitecture and Kathryn Ireland mingled with the crowd as Bellosound DJ's blasted grooves across the Metro Convention Centre (though no one was dancing). Altogether, the IDS kick-off amounted to a giant TIFF party but with cool furniture. The IDS opener remains one of the prime cultural events of the city.

18th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards – nominations

Nominees for the 18th Costume Designers Guild Awards (CDGA), which celebrates excellence in film, television, and short form costume design, were announced today. The CDGA ceremony, one of the most prestigious and well-respected entertainment industry awards season events, celebrates the spirit of creative and engaging storytelling through costume design on both the big and small screen. The winners of the seven competitive awards will be revealed at the black-tie gala on Tuesday, February 23rd at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Continuing its long-time support of the Guild, LACOSTE is returning as Presenting Sponsor of the CDGA. In the past year, LACOSTE has been featured in films such as Spotlight, Pitch Perfect 2, and Ricki and the Flash, as well as in numerous television shows including Scream Queens, Bloodline, Jane the Virgin, and Saturday Night Live.

17th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards – winners

The Grand Budapest Hotel, Into The Woods and Birdman took home the top awards at the Costume Designers Guild Awards last night.

Milena Canonero's creations for the The Grand Budapest Hotel won the Excellence in Period Film prize while Colleen Atwood was presented with the Excellence in Fantasy Film award for her costumes in the fairytale adventure Into The Woods, starring Meryl Streep and James Corden.
Both films have also been nominated in the Academy Awards costume category.

Albert Wolsky took home the Excellence in Contemporary Film prize for his costumes in the Michael Keaton-fronted drama Birdman, which was presented by Beau Bridges, with True Detective and Game of Thrones taking home the Outstanding Contemporary Television Series and Outstanding Period/Fantasy Television Series respectively.

17th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards – nominations

The Costume Designers Guild has announced the full list of nominations for the 17th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards. Nominees include the costume designers for leading awards seasons contenders such as Boyhood, The Imitation Game, Selma and Into the Woods.

Producer, director and screenwriter Richard Linklater (who recently collaborated with costume designer Kari Perkins on Boyhood) will receive the Distinguished Collaborator Award in recognition of his support of Costume Design and creative partnerships with Costume Designers. Costume Designer Aggie Guerard Rodgers will be presented with an Honourary Career Achievement Award for her outstanding work in film. The 2015 Edith Head Award for the Advancement of the Art of Costume Design will be presented to costume designer, scholar, and two-term CDG past president, Dr. Deborah Nadoolman Landis, a CDG member and costume design activist for nearly 40 years. The LACOSTE Spotlight Award honouree will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

16th Costume Designers Guild Awards – winners

The 16th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards took place last night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The three top winners for film were the costume designers for 12 Years a Slave, Blue Jasmine and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. For television, the award winners were the designers for Behind the Candelabra, House of Cards and Downton Abbey.

Amy Adams was the previously announced recipient of the 2014 LACOSTE Spotlight Award. Producer Judd Apatow was also previously announced as the recipient of the Distinguished Collaborator Award, while April Ferry received the Honorary Career Achievement Award for her work in film and television.

16th Costume Designers Guild Awards – nominations

The Costume Designers Guild has announced the nominations for the 16th Annual CDG Awards. Nominees include the designers for 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Producer Judd Apatow was previously announced as the recipient of the Distinguished Collaborator Award, while April Ferry will receive the Honorary Career Achievement Award for her work in film and television.

The 16th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards will be held on Saturday, February 22nd, 2014 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.


Complete list of nominations for the 16th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards

7 features advance in race for Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that seven films remain in competition in the Makeup and Hairstyling category for the 86th Academy Awards®.

The films are listed below in alphabetical order:

2013 Costume Designers Guild (CDG) Awards – winners

The winners of the 15th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards were announced last night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The Guild handed out competitive awards for costume design excellence in seven categories in film, television and commercial. Four honorary awards were also presented at the Awards Gala.

For Excellence in Contemporary Film, the winner was Skyfall costume designer Jany Temime. Jacqueline Durran won the Period Film category for her work on Anna Karenina. The award for Fantasy Film was granted posthumously to the renowned Eiko Ishioka for her designs on the Snow White film Mirror Mirror.

2013 Art Directors Guild (ADG) Awards – winners

The Art Directors Guild of America held a galal ceremony for the 17th annual Art Directors Guild (ADG) Awards last night at the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The host for the fourth consecutive year was Paula Poundstone.

The feature film winners were Anna Karenina production designer Sarah Greenwood for Period Film; Life of Pi production designer David Gropman for Fantasy Film; and Skyfall production designer Dennis Glassner for Contemporary Film.

2013 Costume Designers Guild (CDG) Awards – nominations

Today, the Costume Designers Guild (CDG) announced the nominations for the 15th Annual CDG Awards.

Nominees include the costume designers for Beasts of the Southern Wild, Silver Linings Playbook, Skyfall, Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Les Misérables, Lincoln, and Mirror Mirror. The latter film was the final work by the late, great Eiko Ishioka.

Honourary awards will be presented to Anne Hathaway (LACOSTE Spotlight Award), Lorne Michaels (Distinguished Collaborator Award) and Costume Designers Judianna Makovsky and Eduardo Castro (Career Achievement Awards).

2013 Art Directors Guild (ADG) Awards – nominations

The Art Directors Guild of America has announced the nominations for the 17th annual Art Directors Guild (ADG) Awards.

Nominees include many awards season frontrunners such as Argo, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Lincoln, Life of Pi, Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty. Major omissions include Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master and Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom.

THR's Costume Designer Roundtable interview

The Hollywood Reporter has done yet another of their very fine roundtable interviews. This latest is features Costume Designers. As with the previous interviews, this one lacks diversity (although there is I suppose some gender diversity with the inclusion of two men). However, the designers gathered are knowledgable and experienced, with many of them having started in theatre. None of them, however, initially set out to become costume designers.

The featured designers are Jacqueline Durran (Anna Karenina), Joanna Johnston (Lincoln), Paco Delgado (Les Misérables), Mark Bridges (The Master), Colleen Atwood (Snow White and the Huntsman) and Julie Weiss (Hitchcock).

Topics discussed include misconceptions about the job, competitiveness, working long hours, ongoing collaborations with directors, working with actors, regrets and advice for up-and-comers in the field.

Designing 007: Fifty Years of Bond Style, Oct 26–Jan 20

Today is the official opening day for the North American premiere of the Designing 007: Fifty Years of Bond Style exhibition at TIFF Bell Lightbox, which runs from October 26, 2012 to January 20, 2013. In addition, three TIFF Cinematheque film programmes will run parallel to the exhibition.

Titled after Bond's famous preference for martini preparation, Shaken, Not Stirred: Bond on Film will offer audiences an exciting on-screen journey through five decades of James Bond action and adventure inviting them to watch the evolution of 007 from the first James Bond film Dr. No (1962) to Quantum of Solace (2008). Curated by Jesse Wente, Head of Film Programmes, TIFF Bell Lightbox, Bond vs. Blofeld (October 26 - October 27) will feature the six films from the series in which Bond battles his arch-nemesis, criminal mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld in a back-to-back marathon screening from Friday, October 26 at 7p.m. until Saturday, October 27 at 1p.m. Curated by Colin Geddes, International Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival, Beyond Bond: The Other Secret Agents will launch on November 9. This sidebar programme will focus on the wave of spy films from Europe, Asia and the US that sprang up in response to the enormous international popularity of the Bond series.

Call for submissions: RIDM's T-shirt Design Contest

Announcing the RIDM 15^th Anniversary T-shirt Design Contest

As part of its 15^th anniversary celebration, the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) is holding a t-shirt design contest in collaboration with Chic Moustache.

The competition is open to all amateur and professional creatives, including graphic designers, illustrators and photographers. Participants are invited to submit original ideas inspired by RIDM’s slogan: “Where all stories meet / Là où toutes les histoires se rencontrent.” The theme reflects the great diversity of the films programmed by the festival for the last 15 years.

2012 Festival International du Film sur l’Art – Award winners

30TH FIFA: AN ANNIVERSARY EDITION, A SYMBOL OF REFINEMENT, SURPRISE AND QUALITY!

Montreal, March 26, 2012 – The 30th International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA), presented in collaboration with Astral, has demonstrated that after thirty years the public’s devotion to the festival is unwavering, as is the festival’s mission. For the last month, film-lovers, art enthusiasts and tourists joined in the anniversary celebrations. From March 15 to 25, 232 films from 27 countries were presented at nine of Montreal’s finest cultural institutions, representing all artistic disciplines and modes of expressions.

At the awards ceremony held on Saturday, March 24 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the international jury of the 30th FIFA, presided over by singer-actress-director Carole Laure, honoured 12 films from 9 countries. Other jury members included Simon Brault, CEO of the National Theatre School of Canada; filmmaker Jérôme de Missolz; Christopher Jackson, conductor and artistic director of the Studio de musiques anciennes de Montréal; and Spanish art historian and museologist Salvador Nadales.

2012 Festival International du Film sur l’Art (FIFA), Mar 15–25

The 30th anniversary edition of the Festival International du Film sur l’Art (FIFA) or International Festival of Films on Art kicks off tonight with an invitation only screening of Lech Majewski’s The Mill and the Cross. The film stars Michael York, Charlotte Rampling and Rutger Hauer as the painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. It tells the story of Bruegel's "The Way to Calvary" through a dozen of its characters come to life.

The festival continues over the next week-and-a-half with films about all the arts. It includes films about  painting, sculpture, animation, photography, design, architecture, fashion, film, literature, dance, theatre, opera, music and more.

After last year's successful launch, the Marché International du film sur l'Art (International Market of Films on Art, or MIFA) returns with representatives from countries including France, United States and Spain. MIFA takes place from Wednesday, March 21 to Saturday, March 24. Activities include training, pitch sessions, master classes, roundtables and conferences.

Toronto Fashion Week, March 12-16

Just as the weather has turned very spring-like, the Fashion Design Council of Canada (FDCC) begins its newly renamed World MasterCard Fashion Week at David Pecaut Square.

It kicks off tonight with a private reception before launching into shows starting with KORHANI—Home Fashion Rug Runway. In addition to the many runway shows, they will be having other events including an open house exhibit at the Textile Museum of Canada and a Fashion Film Festival.

Designers showing this season include Chloe comme Parris, Soia & Kyo, Lundström, Lucian Matis, Bustle, Melissa Nepton, Joe Fresh, Rudsak, OPPIO, Pink Tartan, 2011 Mercedes-Benz Start Up Recipient MARTIN LIM, David Dixon, KORHANI Home Rug Runway Show, Dare to Wear Love, Caitlin Powers, Cara Cheung, Ashtiani, Sanya Khan, and Travis Taddeo. In addition, Holt Renfrew will showcase Jeremy Laing, Lida Baday, Dennis Merrotto, Mackage, Line, Smythe, Twenty Cluny, and Judith & Charles.

2012 Costume Designers Guild (CDG) Awards - winners

On Tuesday night, the Costume Designers Guild held their 14th Annual CDG Awards ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The event was hosted by actress Jane Lynch and included presenters Billy Bob Thornton, Diane Lane, Robert Duvall, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher.

In the Contemporary Film category, the winner was Trish Summerville with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. She had been up against the costume designers for Bridesmaids, The Descendants, Drive and Melancholia.

For Period Film, the prize went to Arianne Phillips for her work on Madonna's W.E. She edged out the designers for The Artist, Jane Eyre, The Help and multiple Oscar-winner Sandy Powell of Hugo.

Jany Temime won for Fantasy Film with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 over Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Red Riding Hood, Thor and X-Men: First Class.