A Royal ParTea with Jeanne Beker

Ottawa’s fashion darling Julia Vorob’eva attended a “Royal Partea” and met with Jeanne Beker to discuss fashion and her new label EDIT.  Julia Vorob’eva is a fashion blogger from The Fashion Keeper and is involved with Blackbook Lifestyle. She interviews local stylists, designers and bloggers, and talks about the latest trends in the world of style and beauty. Here are Julia’s photos from the event and her words with the renowned fashion journalist, Jeanne Beker.

In honour of the Royal Wedding and those who can’t attend, St. Laurent Centre organized the “Royal Partea” on April 21, with a special guest, Canadian fashion journalist and a TV personality, Jeanne Beker.

All of the fashionable guests had an opportunity to indulge in a cup of royally inspired tea with delicious treats, spring fashion show, high-quality swag bags and a chat with Beker.

Decorated with a dominant white colour, pink and the royal blue dim lighting, beautiful daisy bouquets, the event took place at the ballroom inside the Museum of Nature.

Most importantly, over $20, 000 was raised for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation that afternoon.

The inspiring Beker came onto the stage to share a few tips on how she achieved her success.

“You can never, ever rest on your laurels,” said Beker. “You always have to be pushy and look for the next big thing.”

She could be running after Karl Lagerfeld backstage at some show in Paris while there would be 50 other shows trying to get to him. At moments like this, Beker always keeps reminding herself of her father’s model: “don’t be afraid and never give up.”

Beker is a huge influence to all Canadian fashion-lovers with her strong and significant voice in the industry.

“You have to be fearless in this business and you have to have a point of view,” she said.

Later that day, wearing a classic black dress from her own collection EDIT by Jeanne Beker, 500-dollar Gucci belt and Italian snakeskin Gianvito Rossi heels, Beker presented the launch of a new plus size collection in The Bay store at St. Laurent Centre.

The plus line apparel ranges from $49.99 to $270.00 and it is going to be in 67 stores across Canada.

One of the EDIT’s hits this season is going to be the cream trench that can be worn three different ways. If you remove the sleeves, the trench becomes a jumper. But then the sleeves become another independent piece – bolero. It would be perfect with the dress for those who don’t like their arms exposed.

The dream of having her own brand came to life when Beker found a manufacturing company out of Montreal that produced a number of collections and had designs ready to choose from.

With all the experience that Beker had, sitting front-row on every runway show in the world, interviewing the biggest names in the industry of fashion, she thought her input would be editing collections presented by designers.

“I thought that maybe I could be an editor, because I am not a designer,” said Beker.

She decides what details to change, what colours to use and what fabric to choose from.

“This collection is a way of giving back to women who look up to my style.”

Beker is a big supporter of Canadian designers. She proudly wears them to the events all around the world and promotes them as much as she can.

“People in Canada need to wear more of the Canadian designers and support our national identity.”

Having lived one of the most fascinating lives, despite all the struggles and challenges on her way, Beker believes that the best is yet to come.

“I am 59- years-old and I feel like a survivor,” said Beker. “I am so looking forward to my next chapter, because the older we get, the better we get.”

* Photography by Julia Vorob’eva