The Avant-Garde’s Sartorialist – Jak and Jil Blog

Scott Schuman‘s photos tend to go towards the classically elegant, well-put together person, interspersed with some kooky and fun outfits. But at Jak and Jil, Toronto photographer Tommy Ton will aim for the “so unusual that it’s cool” photos – in high definition – of perhaps the most amazing shoes and accessories collection I have ever seen.

The photos focus mostly on the details, or taken in a way that your eyes are zooming on the glaring obvious item that’s making the entire outfit pop out. You might be familiar with the photo of the fake Chanel paper bag, or a photo of another fashion photographer strolling the street, that’s Tommy Ton, and I believe he’s a rising star.

Reading up on Tommy Ton, it’s to my own surprise that yet another Canadian fashion star is born. Having started his blog only last year in Sept 2008, after being online for only 3 months, China’s luxury retail giant Lane Crawford had contacted him to shoot their 2009 campaign, according to the Toronto Star. I mean, the guy is still living with his parents and busing his way like any normal Canadian citizen to New York for street photos.

It’s also great to know that just a couple of days ago, another fellow Canadian, Rad Hourani had shown his new bridge collection called Rad by Rad Hourani in New York’s Soho Grand Hotel. You can find the photos of his collection shot by Tommy on JakandJil.com. He’s now on the run making shoots for another Montreal-based company, Complexe Geometries (who by the way are gaining quite a lot of exposure, seen them in Clear Magazine as well), and recently gushed about seeing Balenciaga’s Nicholas Ghesquiere in his hotel lobby on Twitter.

I must admit that it’s been difficult to blog about Canadians in the fashion industry, but it’s so refreshing to see new talent gaining the attention they deserve. Not only are they discovered, but discovered ONLINE. I mean Lane Crawford is huge in China, how did they get the memo about Tommy Ton? I’m totally perplexed. By the way, Lane Crawford’s current success is owed to former CEO, Bonnie Brooks who is now CEO of The Bay, so expect The Bay to change in the near future.

The fashion industry definitely has its eyes set to conquer the online world.

Image credits to Tommy Ton