Having Thomas Bollmann and Ingrid Jones from Seed9 shot me for their premier issue of Poor But Sexy was  by far THE BEST photo shoot that I have EVER done in Canada!  Not only was the photographer and art director on point capturing their vision, the stylist, hair and makeup team EVEN the food that Ingrid prepared made this shoot inspiring and enjoyable!  

Big up to Thomas Bollmann, Ingrid Jones, Janet Jackson, Alarice Jones and Aniya Nandy I enjoyed taking Canada to the next level AGAIN with you guys!

Queen’s School of Business will be hosting their fifth annual Queen’s Business Forum on the Fashion Industry (Q’BFFI) October 16th and 17th and Ms. McKenzie has been promoted as one of  the Keynote Speakers for the this years event. 

Q’BFFI is a unique and refreshing  Canadian student-run conference that has sparked interest from some of the most influential people in the fashion industry.  In past years, students have heard from:

Sarah Casselman, Fashion Market Editor of Fashion Magazine
Harry Rosen, Founder of Harry Rosen
Ben Barry, Founder of Ben Barry Model Agency
Robin Kay, President of Fashion Design Council of Canada
Brian Hill, CEO of Aritzia
Chip Wilson, Founder of lululemon athletica           …among other notables.

I was invited to attend Vancouvers’ BC Fashion Week to train some of the models.  On my way everything possible went wrong.  I arrived at the airport to find out I had no ticket, but thanks to my saviors Terry and Carol Air Canadas’ Concierge duo I was taken well care of until my next flight 5 hours later.   I was well greeted by Vancouver and had a great time meeting and working with aspiring models including Tiara (who literally made me cry when she walked out on the runway for the first time in her life!), Grace (who ran out and got me cough drops because I was getting sick) and Sunny ( a wicked runway walker  and jewelry designer who laced me with goodies!).  I had the opportunity to meet  and snatch a piece of their first ever designs young fashion design graduates Lacey Lee, Genette Salgado,Isabella Diamond, Stephanie Jones, Cera Neima and Savannah.

A very special thank you to Chez and her team ,Alex, Meghan, Cassie!

I was honored to be apart of this theatrical presentation of design, dance and music depicting jazz icons Billie Holiday and Cab Calloway.  

The event is a benefit for the Multicultural Arts Initiative, a funding and advocacy organization supporting artists of African descent.  Narrated by Malik Yoba the night was filled with mad fun for a great cause!

Custom designs were created solely for this event, included was a glass sculpted floral headdress created by international renowned glass artist Kathleen Mulchay (my favourite piece to rock) and Diana Misetic who made the most fab 20’s/40’s costumes including my favourite pieces the brown dress and black tux pant suit. 

A special tribute was paid to trumpet player Sean Jones as the artist of the year.  

Wicked fun!