Don’t underestimate her five-foot-two frame—Ghanem’s serendipitous story and quinquagenarian chutzpah render her larger than life.

A look at the fanny pack’s not-so-glamorous past reveals its revival has been a long time coming.

The Louis Vuitton maison digs passionately to curate historical exhibits, preserve family memories, and cultivate the haute service of custom orders.

Staged at the former American Stock Exchange building, Volez, Voguez, Voyagez is the brand’s first major exhibition in North America.

Lorenzo and Massimo Cifonelli continue the long-standing sartorial tradition of French tailoring, English structuralism, and exquisite Italian fabrics.

FROM THE ARCHIVE:Scent is a finicky thing. Nicolas Cloutier, a Quebec City transplant now living in Paris, knows that personal fragrance is not something to be sniffed at. With a marketing degree from HEC Montréal in his pocket and his heart on his sleeve, the 37-year-old entrepreneur opened Nose, a one-of-a-kind perfume concept store.

FROM THE ARCHIVE: Fashion designer Michael Kors, the man behind the eponymous label, sets the pace—if not the standard—for jet-set living.

One day, a young ballerina came to Madame Repetto with a personal request. The 22-year-old blonde was about to make a movie and wished for ballet shoes in glamorous red. The young danseuse was none other than Brigitte Bardot; the film was And God Created Woman.

In the world of fashion, the path to success is a fickle one. When Mikael Derderian—creative director of eponymous label Mikael D—asserts that his career did not follow a “normal trajectory,” it’s a bit of an understatement.

If Alain Regad had it his way, pantyhose would be sold not alongside bras and panties in lingerie departments but as accessories in fashion and beauty aisles. As the president of high-end hosiery brand Gerbe, Regad is transparent about his passion for the French label he bought nearly a decade ago.

Frédéric Mamarbachi is days away from becoming a grandfather. Of his daughter Faye, who is pregnant with twin boys, he predicts, “She could give birth any time now.” The 61-year-old is the founder, creative director, and all-around mastermind of international lifestyle brand m0851.

There is the pretty side of a Canadian winter: pristine white landscapes glistening in the sunshine, clouds of laughter sailing like paper boats in the air, delicate snowflakes trickling down from the sky. Then there is the other side: bone-cracking, sub-zero temperatures and nightmarish winds that slice right through you.

Where do urbanites escape to irrigate their thirsty souls? These days, it’s in a hidden nook, behind drawn curtains and awash in candlelight. Such is the allure of the Big in Japan bar in Montreal.

An unofficial fashion district is rising over the cobblestones of Old Montreal. A foundation of stylish boutique hotels popped up at the turn of the millennium, and the neighbourhood received an added dose of cool after a network of supper clubs injected a jolt of nocturnal glamour.

Jean Paul Gaultier hearts Montreal. He gushes about his “petits cousins Canadiens” in the quintessential French accent that has become his trademark—“The people are so sympathique, so nice,” and then he adds with a chuckle, “Not so snobbish as in Paris.” And, clearly, the feeling is mutual between the fashion icon and the artsy metropolis.

Although the idea of travel may have once evoked glamorous notions of first-class ocean liners, heavy leather trunks, and high-society ladies with cinched waists and linen handkerchiefs, these days the business of getting from point A to B is an inane process involving airport check-ins, compromised cabin leg room, and jet lag. Enter identical twins Byron and Dexter Peart.

Since 1843, the Glenmorangie Distillery has been producing its famous whisky on the shores of the Dornoch Firth.

The ultimate hybrid is not what you think. Largely unknown in North America yet hugely successful in Japan, Monkey Majik, a bicultural pop quartet (two members are Canadian, two are Japanese), has been driving their sweet pop-rock tunes toward mass appeal since 2000, on the other side of the Pacific.

Salvatore Parasuco has a severe case of the blues—blue jeans, that is. The Montreal magnate talks about his plan to conquer the world of denim one leg at a time.

It’s tough being a bad boy when you’ve got orders piling up. “I can’t wake up hungover anymore,” says Ted Nemeth. The latest darling in furniture design, Nemeth, whose work has been lauded as “Pottery Barn for Hell’s Angels” by Maxim magazine, has a vision that’s one part Victorian, one part hot rod, and 10 parts rock-star pomp.

Omnia Vincit Amor. Waris Ahluwalia chose this Latin phrase, which means “love conquers all”, for his latest jewellery collection. And it’s fitting, especially when you consider the inspiration behind the 34-year-old part-time jeweller, part-time movie star’s branded moniker (first name only).

Max Azria knows women. And, bless his soul, he gives them what they want. Les femmes, after all, have been the L.A.–based designer’s focus for the last quarter century. “I don’t love just one. I love them all,” he says, with a sly Parisian wink.

Hollywood glamour is back, you see. And poised at the forefront of this design movement is none other than Kelly Wearstler, Los Angeles’s lady of luxury.