Anne-Marie Withenshaw

With a new 14 500 square-foot stand alone store now open in Montreal, Joe Fresh Style has left the grocery cart. Sure, you can still get your fave basics at Loblaws and Maxi, but the 514 area code now joins Forrest Hill and Queens Quay, Ontario in having bragging rights to a Joe Fresh flagship. The mega store officially opened its doors Saturday in the old Jean-Talon Station, and to celebrate Joe’s new digs, the man behind the ultimate cheap and chic Canadian basics, Joe Mimran, held a late-night shopfest laste Wednesday. Stars, fashion bloggers and stylists alike ditched the cabs for free underground parking beneath the Park Avenue Loblaws, and stuffed their oversized Pradas and Chanels with awesome 9$ cottons, adorable kids’ clothes, and gorgeous yet ridiculously affordable leather jackets and boots. Shopper’s delight! Check out the photo gallery of the event  below and browse some key pieces from Joe’s new Fall Collection here.

Photo credit: Jimmy Hamelin

Even in maxi dresses, it’s never too early to think about winter coat options!

Even in maxi dresses, it’s never too early to think about winter coat options!

” Hey! Enrique Iglesias is flying into town…On his private jet…just a couple hours…Do you have time for a quick airport-hotel meet- up?”  Hmmm….Let me think?! I’ll put on my H&M leopard print shirt and BCBG heels faster than you can say ‘Bailamos’, baby!

I swear, none of this is a blogger fantasy…but my hotel quickie with the comeback king behind one of the summer’s hottest songs (“I Like It” is currently Number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100) was all business. All I touched was his left kneecap, but oh, what a kneecap.

On top of talking music (his new album Euphoria) and style (he loves G-Star and Diesel), Iglesias was in town to chat us up about Azzaro’s Elixir, the new twist on the classic Azzaro for Men cologne for which he’s signed on as a spokesmodel. But don’t expect any pitchman speeches from the son of Julio. Yes, he smells divine, but he’d rather talk soccer (and his infamous nude water-skiing pact), tunes (he has tons of studio stories about collaborators Akon, Pitbull and Nicole Scherzinger) or simply meet his fans. While in Montreal, the Son of Julio wandered around the lobby of Dorval’s chic Aloft by W hotel just to greet a handfull by surprise, and when in Toronto the day before, the superstar got up close and personal with about 1 000 Enrique-lovers, during an appearance at Sears! Check out the photo gallery of Enrique’s Canadian visit below, and check out my interview with Enrique Iglesias in an upcoming issue of Loulou.

So I’ve got to admit the summer heat had gone to my head for while…and I took a little vaca. Now, though, I’m back at work with a head full of summer jams! High on my list (and slowly kicking Katy Perry out of the top spot) is fierce fashion fiend Janelle Monae and her debut album Archandroid. Even though the album only dropped in May, her style has been making waves for months now,  with Vogue calling her ‘a different kind of diva‘, InStyle comparing her looks to those of Marlene Dietricht and Judy Garland…not to mention Fred Astaire and Colonel Sanders (for an all white look with a simple black ribbon bow tie)!  Since her single ‘Tightrope’ features  OutKast’s Big Boi, it’s also easy to call her the female answer to his partner André 3000, but the reason for her singular menswear-inspired style is actually meant to pay homage to her working-class parents. She told Access Hollywood, “It started off as a uniform. My mother was a janitor and my father… works at the post office. That’s really what it was to pay homage to, the workingman and woman. I used to work at Office Depot.” After seeing her perform as part of the BET Awards’ tribute to Prince, I can safely say she won’t be going back to her name tag and day job anytime soon…Check out Janelle’s Prince-ish pompadour, super shiny oxfords and classic tux in the ‘Tightrope’ video, and let me know what you think of her style in the comments section!

World Cup Fever! In case you missed the FIFA’s star-studded opening ceremonies…

The unstoppable Black Eyed Peas took the stage right after K’Naan’s opening number (tears!), and Fergie rocked yet another futuristic, massively bejewelled outfit. The gladiator-style body suit was created by Indian design duo Shane and Falguni Peacock Couture. Alicia Keys camouflaged her maybe-baby-bump with major chainage, and Shakira went barefoot, and shook it in a tribal bikini-top and grass skirt layered over leggings. Forza!

Shakira

Photo credit: PR Photos / Bob Charlotte