NXNE is a hard fest to navigate. Imagine being told you could eat 1,000 meals over seven days for a menial ticket price. Several options would arise: 1) get really picky (involves a lot of research); 2) shrug and gorge yourself until you're burnt out on food for weeks by day three; 3) nibble and wander noncommittally; 4) eat what your foodie friends tell you to eat (possible indigestion); 5) get stressed and don't end up eating anything: read reviews and feel bad about what you missed.

Hey, if you're in category five, don't feel too bad. The truth is thousands of bands perform in Toronto every month or so anyway, and they usually have time to soundcheck. If you're really into beating yourself up, though, here are some (mostly visual) highlights of the fest, from the fans to the bands to surprising aesthetics of Toronto's lack of bike parking.

This Week in Fashion rounds up the week's style news, store openings and closings, pop-up shops, sales and upcoming fashion and design events in Toronto. Find it here every Wednesday morning.

NEWS

This Friday (June 21), the Design Exchange's long-awaited Christian Louboutin exhibition is opening to the public. Until September 15, the Historic Trading Floor of Canada's Design Museum (234 Bay St) will be filled to the brim with over 250 of the celebrated designer's shoes, sketches, and personal artefacts, presented via visual installation and thematic display. Tickets for the opening party, happening tomorrow (June 20), are available online now.

Residents of the Dixon Rd. housing complex at the centre of a sweeping series of raids last week are alleging Toronto police engaged in brutality and racial profiling. Operation Traveller, carried out in the early hours of the 13th June, netted 44 arrests, $570,000 in cash, 42 firearms and 175 kilograms of drugs. Mahad Yusuf, the executive director of Midaynta Community Services, claimed the Somali had been targeted because of reports related to mayor Rob Ford.

The lawyer for a woman who allegedly threw a drink at Rob Ford last weekend says it's "most unfortunate" the mayor would discuss the case on his radio show. Ford wondered whether there was alcohol in the drink, reportedly a slushie, it's alleged Shannon Everett threw. Everett hasn't discussed the case publicly since the incident.

Toronto events on June 17th, 2013

DANCE | Luminato Presents: Evening Illuminations - A Conversation with Mark Morris
The Luminato Festival continues its Evening Illuminations series tonight with a special live conversation with Mark Morris. Morris is an American choreographer and director who began his career as a dancer, and has received a Leonard Bernstein Lifetime Achievement Award, a New York City Mayor's Award for Arts & Culture, and many other accolades. He has collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma, and created many works for different ballet companies, most notably the San Francisco Ballet. He will discuss the different productions he is bringing to Luminato this year: L'Allegro il Penseroso ed il Moderato, and L'Allegro Movement Project with an old colleague from early in his career, Gerard Mortier.
TIFF Bell Lightbox (350 King Street West) $20

Photo by ~EvidencE~ in the blogTO Flickr pool

Ontario wines have now long outlived the bad reputation that they had a decade ago for being overly priced and decidedly vegetal in character. Pair that with the growing push toward locally sourced products, and you now see a far more pronounced Ontario presence on wine lists at Toronto restaurants. I suspect, however, that not everybody's been won over. And, in fairness, there's still a lot of crap out there at shudder-worthy prices. But if you know a few wineries to look for, there's a lot to like about drinking local(ish) wine this summer.

Here's a list of some of my recommendations, based mostly on taste but also to some extent on availability. It's completely subjective, of course, but a good place to start if you're looking to try out wines made in Toronto's proverbial backyard. If you're a fan, it's probably worth considering a trip to visit the wineries themselves.