A Little Piece of Home...

I've been home for the past week and when I compare NYC to my home in Toronto, NYC has my hometown beat in almost every category from food, to shopping, to nightlife and entertainment.

But thankfully, Toronto has a couple things that outshine NYC....

#1 Chinese food:

Chinese food in NY is just plain bad. It's wrong on so many levels....which is something I just don't understand. Food in general is AMAZING in NY whether it's Venezuelan food from Arepa Arepa, southern food from Pies'N'Thighs, Japanese soba from Soba-ya, and the list goes on and on. Everything is stellar except for Chinese food which is sub-par.

A few weeks ago, I ordered delivery from a dumpling place that had great reviews on GrubHub and I seriously couldn't eat it and chucked it. I can eat whatever is in front of me usually and hate wasting food but I literally couldn't eat what I ordered. Nasty.

Here's what Chinese food is supposed to look/taste like....

#2 Soia & Kyo & Mackage

Excluding sample sales in NY, Mackage/Soia & Kyo merch in Canada retails below what it does in NY since it's a Canadian based company (go Canada!). I've been scouring NY for the new KYO line (click here to see our previous post on the line) but haven't been able to find it anywhere.

Toronto Eaton's Centre

Low and behold, the very first mall I hit up in Toronto carried the line which was awesome to see in person. Quality wise - Kyo's wool are ok. They're not the best but they're not terrible. Their puffers on the other hand are amazingly warm. I was getting really hot just trying it on in the store so I picked one up for myself for this winter.

The puffy jackets have some great detailing including multiple zippered pockets (all lined with fleece for added warmth), removable hood and a removable elastic piece that lets you wear your jacket like a backpack when you're indoors. When carrying the jacket like a backpack it looks a bit awkward but it frees up both of your arms up which is super practical.

Mackage: The Fall Lineup

Mackage just released their Fall/Winter 2010 lineup online this week so here's a quick peak at the styles for the upcoming season. Hopefully, I can score something at an upcoming sample sale, since I've never been in the same city as their sales until now! (Mackage holds sample sales in Montreal and New York)

As previous collections, Mackage has three categories of outwear this season: wools, leathers and puffers. If you're in the market for a great wool or leather coat - Mackage is something I would definitely recommend. I love most of their pieces for the sleek styling and great fit.

Leathers:

Puffers:

The short puffer in blue looks pretty decent!

Wools:

Of all types of outerwear - I have a soft spot Mackage's wool winter coats. They have amazing leather detailing and great collars which hold their shape which is what made me fall in love with the line years ago. I'm totally digging the jacket with the off-center zipper right now.

Also, new for this season, Mackage introduced the very first men's accessory - a pair of leather gloves. These are currently the only style online, but it's a start.

On a side note - if you're looking for a wallet friendly alternative, Kyo, as mentioned previously, will be launching this fall (Mackage's sister label).

Kyo Part II: The Full Line

An mentioned in a previous post, Soia & Kyo will be introducing a new men's line named Kyo this fall that I'm uber excited for. Mackage (S&K's sister line) is one of my all time favorite lines for men's outerwear - but at roughly $650-$750 a piece, its often not the most affordable option out there... Needless to say, when the folks at Soia & Kyo emailed to let me know that there would be a men's line this year - I was stoked. While pricing isn't stated, my guess is that the pieces will cost about 1/2 of their fancier counterparts (consistent with the women's lines).

Here's a peek at all of the different styles that are set to hit stores in the fall with my personal faves from each category.

The Wools:

Of the three styles, I personally dig the Edi - I have a thing for cuff detailing on jackets. The Maverick would be my second pick.

The Leathers:

Both of these are great pieces but Kert wins this round - great ribbing detail at the waist and cuff.

The Puffers:

Puffers are always a bit tricky. They're definitely warmer than wool but bulkier in a marshmallow-esque kind of way. The Vinny takes my pick as it combines warmth and appeal while minimizing the bulk factor.

The Reversible:

Not too crazy about the puffer side but the other side is pretty decent. Two for the price of one! For all the Canadian readers - this reminds me of a male version of the infamous TNA winter jacket from Aritzia.

Accessories:

Can't forget about the hands! I never really sport gloves in the winter for some reason but if I did, I'd opt for Henry over Owen.

In terms of colours, each style has a couple to choose from:

• wools mostly come in black and charcoal (the Danen style has an extra colour which is a speckled grey shown above)
• leathers come in black and espresso
• puffers come in black, espresso, and carbon
• gloves come in black and espresso

Also, if you'd like a copy of the fall/winter lookbook - just flip over an email to SugarRockMan (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll send it out.

Soia & Kyo to Launch Menswear Line KYO

UPDATE:

I've just got a first look at some of the new styles for KYO thanks to the lovely Megan! What do you think of them? The first look above is actually a reversible down jacket!

As I've mentioned previously I am a huge fan of Soia & Kyo, the younger more affordable sister line of outerwear specialist Mackage. This line has until now only been available for women much to the chagrin of my shop savvy male friends. Thanks to the email below that my friend Jeff received, I now know that they are planning to launch a menswear line called KYO for Fall 2010 to hit this August.

On a side note...I had to share the email because check out the response time. It only took 3 years and 5 months to get a reply!!! Slowest response ever and sort of amazing because who can really keep track of emails that old?

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Soia & Kyo - Toronto
Date: Tue, May 11, 2010 at 4:52 PM
Subject: RE: Men's Jackets
To: Jeffrey C.


Hi Jeffrey,

We have launched a new collection for Men called KYO. The debut will be
this coming August for FW10.

Happy Shopping!

Kelly

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeffrey C. [mailto:jeff@email.com]
Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2007 12:30 PM
To: toronto@soiakyo.com
Subject: Men's Jackets

Hi i was wondering if the men's jackets are on sale anywhere in
the GTA area.

Thanks.