If you’ve been around the PARK circuit for a while, you’re likely already familiar with Anneke Forbes. The Calgary-based designer has appeared at numerous PARK fashion shows and events through the years, marking her official PARK debut at PARKSHOW 2015.

After the scorching temperatures (by Alberta standards at least) we’ve been experiencing as of late, it’s hard not to imagine ourselves lounging poolside in a cute new swimsuit. So where do we get this cute new swimsuit, you ask? With a saturated swimsuit market, it can be overwhelming to find that perfect new suit, but Canadian brands are here to make the process a little easier.

We’re not sure about you, but we love a beauty refresh when a new season rolls around. And while we restock our beauty cabinets this spring, we’re skipping the big box retailers and turning to local beauty and body businesses instead. To help you with your spring beauty revitalization efforts, we’ve rounded up just a few of the local stops we’ll be hitting up. Although let’s be clear, there are so many more amazing local and Canadian businesses out there. Be sure to check out our Instagram where we’ll continue to feature local businesses in beauty, home, fashion and food all month long!

This month, we’ve shared some of our must-shop local and Canadian businesses in fashion and dining. This week's theme: everything home! Calgary has so many great places to shop when it comes to home goods - from ceramics, apothecary, textiles, plants, and more. Whether you’re looking to revamp your home for the new season ahead, or you want to pick up a few finishing touches for your home office, here are three of our picks for local stops when it comes to your home.

With so many large fast fashion companies and big time retailers like Amazon at our fingertips, sometimes we overlook the incredible smaller businesses making a splash right here in Canada. This is especially true when it comes to the fashion industry which seems to have an endless stream of factory produced garments coming from all ends of the world. But as we’ve said before, supporting our local and Canadian creators is more important than ever.

As we’ve learned throughout the past year, supporting our local businesses is more important than ever - which isn’t all that hard to do when it comes to enjoying delicious food and beverages in welcoming spaces! Calgary is loaded with unique, locally owned restaurants and cafes, with even more having opened their doors recently. Although in-person dining will be shut down for the next few weeks due to the new COVID-19 restrictions, many restaurants will still be serving takeout and deserve every bit of support we can give them. Here are just a few new food and drink stops that you need to check out ASAP!

We are just 2 weeks away from Mother's Day - aka the day to celebrate the powerful boss women we know as our mothers. In reality, we should be celebrating the mothers in our lives every day for everything they've done and continue to do. These are the women who raised us and showed the world the true meaning of a masterful juggling act after all. So when Mother's Day comes, it's our turn to spoil them! To give you a head start, we've gathered a few gift ideas from Calgary businesses and artisans that she'll be sure to love - from subscription boxes to pampering essentials. Happy shopping!

If you missed out on our previous floral pop-up in Kensington (or perhaps you loved it so much you want to experience it again), now is your chance to check it out! For this weekend only, the old phone booth along Kensington Road will be decked out in vibrant springtime florals thanks to our talented friends at Foxglove Studio. No strangers to bringing the flower power to YYC, Tasha and Lauren of Foxglove Studio also happened to be the artists behind our popular floral pop-up during Chinook Blast.

Spring has (technically) arrived! And despite the chance of possible snow that's yet to come in YYC, we're looking forward to warmer days and, perhaps, the most exciting part of it all - Spring fashion.

It was the fall of 2019 and PARKLUXE was bustling backstage with models, designers and the PARK team preparing for the whirlwind annual night of Canadian fashion. Awar Odhiang of Mode Models was one of the stunning models making her way down the runway that night. Little did everyone know that just months later she'd be making her Milan Fashion Week debut in Jil Sander's FW 2020 show, and has since gone on to walk countless more runways for major designers in Milan and Paris.

In case you missed it, we recently celebrated all of the incredible women across the world on International Women's Day - which got us thinking about the powerhouse women killing the game right here in YYC. Being a female-founded company ourselves, we have an immense appreciation for our fellow local women out there helping to make the city the unique place that it is. And there are plenty of them, so read on as we round up just a few of the many amazing female-run businesses in our own backyard!