Blog almighty: The Sartorialist comes to Holt Renfrew

Blog almighty: The Sartorialist comes to Holt Renfrew

(Photo by Mike Manalang)

While Vogue’s much lighter September issue is about to hit newsstands, the on-line fashion world is continuing to grow, and one of its most loved members is in Toronto today. Scott Schuman, the man behind the influential street fashion blog The Sartorialist, is at Holt Renfrew’s Bloor Street flagship to unveil his in-store photography exhibit to the public and, we hope, snap a few subjects along the way.

The appearance coincides with the unveiling of the luxe retailer’s new window displays late last month. Each is inspired by a fashion blogger, including Schuman, as well as locals Anita Clarke of I Want – I Got and Jak and Jil’s Tommy Ton.

“It just seems like a natural evolution,” says Holt Renfrew’s creative director, John Gerhardt, on why bloggers are the next big thing in the fashion industry. “Fashion always creates stars in their own industry. We did models, editors and photographers, and now it’s about time we did bloggers.”

Though the idea of shooting regular folk isn’t new (Bill Cunningham has been doing it for The New York Times since the ’70s), Schuman was one of the first to take it on-line, in 2005. “The whole industry has been democratized,” says Gerhardt. “Before we had media telling us the trends, and now we can all voice our opinions and find out more about personal style—and it includes everybody, which is fascinating.”

Scott Schuman is making his public appearance at Holt Renfrew (50 Bloor St. W.) today from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. His photographs are on display at the store until July 29.