black hills winery, town hall brands, okanagan winery, helen siwak, folioyvr, vancouver, bc, oliver

BC Sips & Stories: The Resilient Soul of Black Hills Estate Winery

Stretching along the sun-drenched benchlands of Oliver, British Columbia, the Black Sage Bench has long been considered the premier terroir for big, expressive red wines in Canada. At the centre of this reputation sits Black Hills Estate Winery, which since its inception has stood out as a beacon of precision, minimal-intervention winemaking, and relentless dedication...

chanel, oakridge park, peter merino, helen siwak, folioyvr, vancouver, bc, yvr, west coast luxury, ecoluxury lifestyle

Peter Marino Continues to Guide Chanel Forward with Design

CHANEL‘s new Oakridge Park boutique is, without question, one of the most striking retail spaces to open in this city in years. Peter Marino‘s design unfolds across 750 square metres, room by room: luminous white marble, black lava stone, gilded accents catching the light beside deep burgundy tones and blush finishes. It would be easy...

chaumet, oakridge, helen siwak, folioyvr, vancouver, bc, yvr, west coast luxury, ecoluxury lifestyle

Joséphine’s Enduring Reign: Chaumet Arrives at Oakridge

Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais arrived in Paris from Martinique already shaped by contradiction. She survived imprisonment during the Revolution, buried a first husband, and later stood beside Napoleon as he crowned her, only to be set aside years afterward for want of an heir. Through each turn, she treated fashion as a form of authorship...

PRESS RELEASE: Michael Kenna’s “Beautiful Fukushima” Opens at Kostuik Gallery October 15

[Press Release originally distributed through EIN PRESSWIRE Here.] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – OCTOBER 2, 2026 – VANCOUVER, BC — Kostuik Gallery presents Beautiful Fukushima, a new body of work by award-winning British photographer Michael Kenna. The 50 sepia-toned silver gelatin photographs mark fifteen years since the devastating earthquake and tsunami of 2011, and stand as...

Helen Siwak – Issue #43 – Publisher’s Message

I am always impatient for the arrival of fall. Swapping out my summer blacks for my cozy fall blacks is so exciting: the substance of a cable knit, the architecture of a proper coat, jewellery with enough weight to draw a lens before I do. British Columbia goes through its own version of that shift...

west coast luxury resale, vancouver resale, luxury lifestyle, vancouver, bc, yvr, the contour concierge

Pre-Loved & Perfectly Placed: Your Guide to Vancouver Luxury Resale

Hey Beauties! Let us talk about the smartest flex in your closet. Buying pre-owned luxury is kinder to the planet, far gentler on the pocketbook, and, frankly, more fun than paying full retail for something everyone else is already carrying. Why settle for one new Louis when three pre-owned Louis could be sharing your shelf...

kostuik gallery, michael kenna, press release, vancouver art scene, yaletown, helen siwak, folioyvr, yvr, bc, fine art gallery

Finding Beauty in Fukushima: Michael Kenna’s Quiet Act of Regeneration

A photograph taken at dawn, in near silence, with the shutter open for minutes rather than a fraction of a second. That is how Michael Kenna has made his living for fifty years — and it is how he approached a place most of the world still associates with catastrophe. Kostuik Gallery presents Beautiful Fukushima,...

blasted church, town hall brands, helen siwak, folioyvr, canadian wine, okanagan wine, wine tasting, vancouver, bc, yvr

‘BC Sips & Stories’ The Irreverent Artistry of Blasted Church Vineyards

Towering above the shimmering waters of Skaha Lake in Okanagan Falls, Blasted Church Vineyards has long been one of British Columbia’s most recognizable and beloved wineries. Named after the legendary 1929 origin story, in which controlled dynamite was used to dismantle a historic wooden church in Okanagan Falls so it could be moved to nearby...

viff, viff 2026, film festival, west coast film, ritchie po, helen siwak, folioyvr, vancouver, bc, west coast luxury, ecoluxlury lifestyle, arts and culture

VIFF 2026 Raises the Curtain on Its 45th Year

It is September, which means no rest for the serious cineaste! We have just returned from the Toronto International Film Festival, and the fall festival calendar still includes London, New York, Busan, Tokyo, and Zurich. Yet one festival remains nearest and dearest to our hearts: the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF). Now in its 45th...

kostuik gallery, sculpture, west coast lifestyle, art world, canadian fine art gallery, helen siwak, folioyvr, yvr, bc

Against the Grain: A Gallery, Two Sculptors, and a Shared Material

Wood does not lie. Every ring, every knot, every uneven grain records exactly how long it took to grow — and at Kostuik Gallery, that honesty is precisely the point. Against the Grain puts two women in a material still widely assumed to belong to men, and lets the wood itself argue the case for...