What’s cool, cutting edge and important.

What’s cool, cutting edge & important.

From Brooklyn with Love Five minutes into my phone call with Rebecca Taylor, I learn an amusing bit of trivia: The New Zealand-born, New York-based designer had a cameo in an episode of Sex and the City. “I used to dress Sarah Jessica a lot, and I came to the set one day and she asked, ‘Do you want to be in a scene?’ I took it really seriously, but you can barely see me in the background,” she recalls. Taylor’s newly launched contemporary line, La Vie, isn’t inspired by a fictional Manolo-addicted Manhattanite; it’s inspired by her own life as “a mother in Brooklyn with three kids, running to birthday parties or going straight from work out to dinner.” The name of this casual offshoot stems from her obsession with Paris, while the pieces that make up La Vie—slouched cargoes, striped knitwear and prairie blouses—are made with Park Slope practicality in mind. How fitting that some call Brooklyn “Little Paris.” (From $120, rebeccataylor.com) Doors open

Walk into Shinola’s new Toronto outpost—on Ossington Avenue—and ride out on a bike. It’s one of the many handcrafted wares on offer, along with watches, journals and leather accessories. All of these products are made in the brand’s three Detroit factories with a commitment to bringing manufacturing jobs back to the Motor City. (shinola.com) FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION When Rihanna lends her vision to design, she brings her uncanny talent for tapping into fashion’s next wave. Case in point: the slick shades she created for Dior, out now. Simply called “Rihanna,” the specs shine bright in a variety of metallic finishes. (From $1,000, dior.com) ( Don’t) borrow from the boys  Imagine this: It’s Saturday morning; a girl sits on her bed puzzling over a Sudoku or a crossword, a plate of half-eaten avocado toast balanced on the duvet, and she’s wearing a perfectly slouched tee. No, she didn’t borrow it from her boyfriend; it’s from Richer Poorer’s newly launched women’s range. The L.A.-based basics brand turned to hundreds of women for their T-shirt musts, and the result is a thoughtfully designed and ultra-soft take on the staple. ($40, richer-poorer.com)