Above is a bit of the interview done with Erin about a month ago. Go to the below link for the full interview.

Art of fashion

AW’10 photoshoot video. It’s a short little piece. Erin’s husband Patrick shot it for us on his iphone (?) I could be wrong about that. The video features a moment captured during the shooting of our lifestyle looks.

Erin and Pat went to a family farm outside of Toronto a few weekends ago and cut down a few small trees. Pat cut the branches off and learned how to erect a teepee of sorts via the internet. He did a really great job! He just sort of brought the trees in and *pop* they were in place.

Felix Wong shot the catalogue for us and he did a WONDERFUL job. He was a true professional and had a great ipod mix of songs from the hit sitcom “Glee”. He and Erin Dunn, our model from Elmer Olsen enjoyed singing along while taking breaks in between shots. The ‘other’ Erin (a la Las Valentias) and I had no idea what the big deal was with these songs as neither of us have seen the show. Regardless, I’m glad we had such a great day.

You can see Felix’s work here at felixwongphoto.com

We shot our AW’10 catalogue a few weeks ago.

Kubo was our gracious model for part of the shoot. Erin’s husband Patrick trained her so well!

We had such a mello day, good music, great people.

Erin our model and Erin from Las Valentias.

Suzzi from Parlour salon did our hair and makeup for us. She did an amazing job and was a pleasure to work with. If you are looking for a stylist – she’s available at parloursalon.com – best salon in Toronto for those in the know!

We can’t wait to share the full collection with you all soon!

Silvio and his wife Estella Rodriquez recently opened their long awaited Argentinian Yerba Mate tea shop called ‘El Almacen’. They are the brother and sister-in-law of my partner Sergio. It’s located at 1078 Queen street west, just east of Dovercourt on the north side.

They specialize in a traditional herbal tea known as Yerba Mate. This tea was first introduced to me at a family function at Sergio’s parents house. It is a communal drink, shared by everyone attending. It’s a wonderful way to be welcomed.

So many people have written about the tea and location itself. So I wanted to write about a different aspect of the location aside from it’s wonderful tea and it’s healthy properties. I want to write about the artwork. The painting above hung in my living room for 6 months before it took up it’s current residence. It’s a portrait of Sergio’s twin brother Christian Rodriguez and his wife Debra dancing the tango. It was painted by Christian himself and is absolutely incredible. Life size.

This painting above is one of the newest of Christians work. His style is Urban classicalism. The concept consists of classical painting techniques similar to 17th century artists mixed with current urban situations and themes.

Visit his website at cristianrodriguez.webs.com for a look at all his works.

Another artist who’s work you can see in the cafe is that of Dean Radic, friend of the family for some years. His work is featured on the two front tables of the cafe as well as canvases on the wall. Above is one of my favorites.  FIAT MIHI , studio on Facebook

I went to see Nouvelle Vague on their 5th show of the tour here in Toronto.

It was last Wednesday. We went to celebrate one of my favorite peoples birthday – Janice. She’s done styling for our shoots in the past and is super talented in all creative corners.

We ate at Gio’s (the nose) and headed over to what was one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time. Following a long applause, the band came out and encored with “Bela lugosi’s dead” by Bauhaus.

By far my favorite song they cover. Dedicated to you Janice.

Happy belated birthday to our favorite Bella.

Good thing.

My all time favorite French singer. This is the title track from her last album 5:55

Visit her website at http://www.charlottegainsbourg.com/ to hear her new album, which was produced by Beck.

Charlotte in the movie “I’m not there” as Bob Dylan’s wife

Charlotte in French Vogue Dec/Jan 2008

Just kidding. It’s more like a few years old at most. But we wanted to update our blog with previous press as we’ve received some really great coverage in the last few years since Erin started the brand in 2004.

Now Magazine 2005 – quilted yoke, striped wool bottom, fur trim.

Erin’s original style for Las Valentias was artful. I loved visiting her in the little white house that sat between one giant apartment building to the right and one mega super market to the left. It was beautiful and Victorian, proud and anachronistic. She joked that the sounds emanating from various pipes throughout the house would make one believe a cappuccino machine was busy at work.

Elle magazine 2005 – Patchwork jacket

In the back of the house Erin had a little studio that connected the hallway to the kitchen. It had two panned glass doors and a window looking out onto a little fenced in backyard with one sad little tree. I loved going into that room when I visited (which was frequent). It felt as though I was being allowed into the recess of Erin’s creativity. There was vintage art from France, old playgirl magazines, racks of the most interesting pieces of clothing with patches of silk screened leather surrounded by pleated lace and ribbon and feathers. The silk screens were of ships and deer and children’s story book art. There were books on every subject of interest to a girl like me. Fashion, art, textile, colour and fantasy.

Now Magazine 2007 – Erin

Erin took a break and worked at Franco Valeri Knitwear as a designer for some time. I had been working at Karbon for the previous 5 years under the same title. We were enjoying a bottle of something fermented when we threw the idea out there to relaunch Las Valentias together.

Now Magazine Spring 2008 – Tara and Erin at Richmond & Spadina

And so we did. We relaunched Spring 2008 and are now in our 6th season and enjoying every minute.

It’s been a twist of fate that I’m now working from a room similar to Erin’s original studio. One where all things inside, be it books, artwork, fabric or ephemera are like tiny parts of my creativity in the flesh. I joyfully relax and put my feet up in the recess of my own creativity, thanks to my partnership with one Erin Keatch.

(My apologize for the size of the pictures, I’m still learning the intricacies of this program and have yet to master them I’m sorry to say!).