Interactive Art Installations at [FAT] 2011
April 26, 2011 – April 29, 2011 from 6PM-12AM DAILY
99 Sudbury Street, Toronto



If you don’t know, the Dressing Room Projects during the four nights of [FAT] are interactive rooms of art – or performance – or a social experiment of some sort. And usually loads of fun! For 2011, there are seven rooms and the following artists will be participating:

ANDREW OWEN A01
http://www.A01creative.com

BEBHINN JENNINGS

ERIC CHEUNG
http://www.at-aw.com

JOANNE JIN & LENA CHUN
http://www.lenaccc.com

JOHANNES ZITS
http://www.johanneszits.com

KELLY HENDERSON

SLAVICA PANIC & DAVID ANDERSON
http://www.hellogorgeous2010.com

ZORICA VASIC
http://www.zoricavasic.com

ADVANCE TICKETS
$25/ Day Pass
$70/ Week Pass
@
Slinky/MOOG Audio: 442 Queen St West, 416-603-2600
Nathalie-Roze & Co.: 1015 Queen Street East, 416-792-1699
Method Lab: 148 Augusta, 416-875-6781 (Wed-Sunday)
Shop Girls: 1342 Queen Street West, 416-534-7467

$30 at the door/Day Pass
$70/ Week Pass

Heidi Ackerman + Lindsay Sinclair

Known for her avant-garde collections, Heidi has become known in Toronto for her otherworldly designs that combine fashion forward style with the concepts and principles of sustainability. Using hand and machine knitting techniques Heidi is able to create unique textiles and prints using high end eco materials.

She’s received numerous awards for innovative design and have done several collaborations with companies including the National Ballet of Canada, Opera Erratica, Lindsay Sinclair, and NDEUR & Le Creative Sweatshop.

Zoran Dobric

Zoran Dobric established his label in 2005 after completing fashion design studies in Milan. His detailed, hand-finished pieces have been published in magazines and books all over the world.

Most known for his exclusive art inspired prints that are hand-screened and painted on both men’s and women’s wear, Dobric comes up with painstakingly constructed collections every season.

Toxic Vision

Rock, goth or pin-up designers are rarely taken seriously – but it takes a lot of creative vision and dedication to continually think-up new ways to shape, drape and customize classic creations.

Sharon “Toxic”, the hardworking gal behind her super glam rock, one-of-a-kind line Toxic Vision, handmakes and sells studded, embellished, ripped up and deconstructed custom pieces on her Etsy site. And while most of her stuff isn’t for the everyday – it’s glam rock fashion at its finest!

[Fashion | Art | Photography | Music - FAT 2011, April 26-29, 2011. Check out dozens of amazing Toronto artists. www.getfat.com]

Submerged Elegance Underwater Series – Sustainable Fashion Photography by Toronto photographer Meaghan Ogilivie.

See Meaghan and her work at [FAT] – Toronto’s Alternative Arts & Fashion Week featuring fashion, art, photography and music, April 26-29, 2011.

Get your heels on and be part of Toronto’s most exciting fashion and arts festival!

DATE: Sunday, March 27, 2011
LOCATION: 60 Atlantic Avenue – 2nd Floor (Liberty Village)
TIME: 12pm-6pm (anytime in between)
BRING: 2 recent photos, personality and a killer walk!We are looking for models to walk in runway shows from over 50 designers during 4 days of events!!

About |FAT|

|FAT| Toronto Alternative Arts and Fashion Week is four days of inventive, pioneering and contemporary arts expression in Toronto. This annual multi-arts festival showcases over 200 fashion designers, visual artists and performers from across the country and beyond.

+ Looking for men and women of all shapes and sizes and ethnic varieties who have unique and striking looks, charisma, confident walks and attractive personalities!

Must be available on one of all days – April 26-29, 2011.

Questions: cds.crew@gmail.com

See [FAT] Coverage Here! http://www.torontostreetfashion.com/category/fat/

[FAT] Toronto Alternative Arts & Fashion Week closed with a ‘Mad Maus’ After Party – conceived/inspired by artist Gibran Ramos who’s leading an ‘international movement where fashion, art, design and electronic music collide with our fascination for pop culture”. At occasional Mad Maus parties, guests are asked to ‘re-interpret the era’s aesthetic and to make a hat with mouse’s ears.’
All photos either John Lee or Stan Olkha for Digitalfabrik

by Liza Zawadzka

The fourth and final night of FAT burns with creative energy.  The entrance is a whir of camera clicks as Carolee Custus, Sai Sivanesan, and Susie Love turn a live photo shoot into performance art with “Joy is My Muse”.  Take a few more steps into the event and catch a glimpse of b-boys are rocking out in the middle of the bar.  There is a collective cringe as heads spin on the concrete floor, but they bounce back as b-boys do.

The cringe continues as some designers show vision and wit, but a want of basic sewing skills.  (A hint to young designers – if your sewing isn’t up to snuff, seek out the expertise of the Portugese, Vietnamese and Eritrian ladies who used to press the pedal to the treadle when our upscale condos used to be clothing factories).   As a last resort, one can always throw a real pig’s heart into the hands of a model on point….  (We never said [FAT] was for the faint of heart!).

Most of the designers are more fabulous than filmsy, however.  Felicia Burke (above) reminds us no fashion show is complete without a live MC who raps to an origami odyssey in poppy red and cerulean blue, the work has a wonderfully de Stijl edge.

Fiore pushes the performance envelope, abandoning music almost entirely, as models in a copper froth of meticulously feathered detail flit down the runway to the simple sounds of birdsong.  Brazilian artist Baby Steinberg (below) indulges in a hedonistic garden of joyous florals – tulips, hibiscus and peonies run riot in a frenzy of femininity.  For those who want a piece of FAT to take home, many of the designers are carried by the better boutiques in Toronto, and  for the first time, FAT offers a market for those who can make it out of bed on Sunday.

Cheers to Vanja Vasic and all the artists who make FAT the most dynamic event on the continent.

www.getfat.ca

by Rachel Schwab

Designer Dianna DiNoble of Starkers with model friends (l) Gail McInnes and (r) Ainsley Kerr

For the second night of Toronto’s Alternative Arts & Fashion Week 2010 - the theme was LUST and included hours of sheer, boned, feathered and silky wearables; along with miles of PVC, full-body make-up and even ‘Crotch Studies’, a photo exhibit by Benjamin Larose.

Starkers Corsetry by Dianna DiNoble led the fashion pack with an elaborate showing of gothic gals tied up in Edwardian blouses and 18th century corsets; decorated with feathers and ribbons; all set to a live rock opera by award-winning dramatic coloratura soprano Patrizia.

Diepo followed, showing a glamourous line of vintage-inspired underwear – bustiers, silk jumpers, camisoles -meant as outerwear for more the more feminine ladies among us. Next, One of Us Swimwear – love the one pieces that look like two with crisscrosses up the torso but you can design your own on their website. Pink Lady Fashion closed the first set with an “Anvil” collection, clothes adorned with chains and metal – and even more skin!

Even among painted ladies, leather and lace, Evan Biddell managed to steal the spotlight with his ‘refined’ collection of hyper-studded vests and full-body pop art prints. He handpicked his model friends that included Pastel Supernova, Leesa Butler of the FList, stylist Sarah J, Kealan Sullivan of 69 Vintage and Magnet Creative’s Gail McInnes, to name a few. After the show, the pack took their seats in the front row for the rest of the set.

Cherry Dewar of Dewar Couture (who previously worked with Evan Biddell) showed equally fierce warrior-like swimsuits (metallic-look), and leather-accented knickers and tops – all one-of-a-kind ‘street couture’ pieces.

digitalfabrik photos by Stan Olkha

Jessica Clayton showed another fabulously moody black and white collection of tiered-skirts, lacy shirts and classic-styled sassy cocktail dresses, some embellished with a hint of sparkle from mini studs.

Unfortunately I missed the last set of Pippa, Fashion Whore and Artifice – and all the yards and yards of PVC in every color (even pastels), sewn into the most creative and playful (and of course lustful) looks for every inner-domanatrix.

Judging from the photos I saw, ImagoZine, as always, put on an over the top extravaganza of make-up, costume and performance – really, really elaborate and time-consuming. Check out some ImagoZine on YouTube >>

construct(this) is Heidi Ackermanʼs third collection presented at Alternative Arts and Fashion Week. This Spring/Summer 2010 collection explores and expands upon Heidiʼs obsession with architecture, futurism and abstraction.

Pulling inspiration from the Russian avant garde movements of the early 20th century construct(this) combines contradictory materials and patterns to create controlled chaos on the body. Experimentation with vegetable tanned leather, thin curved metal and deconstructed knits will create a provocative tension for the wearer and observer.

I won’t be attending the third nite of [FAT] Friday, April 23, 2010 and will be missing some amazing fashion shows including:

David Wigley
Youth.InAsia by Joshua Shier
Heidi Ackerman
Romandin by Cristina Sabaiduc

Anna Smutny will be doing a performance piece; DJ Discrete will make a rare appearance; and Christabel will be performing!

Liberty Village, 1 Pardee Ave. 6 p.m. to 1 p.m. Licensed! $30 at the door

by Liza Zawadzka

photo ‘Jasper Garvida’ by Stan Olkha

In it’s fifth year,  [FAT] celebrates Toronto’s alternative art and fashion scene in a lavish celebration of style. With over 200 participants and 50 designers, FAT has become one of North America’s premier fashion events, yet director Vanja Vasic maintains her integrity and committment to a divergent vision.

Set in a film studio in Liberty Village, the venue is reminiscent of a Sonic Youth concert in a New York underpass circa 1984.  The sprawling industrial site is turned into a hedonistic labrynth of installation, video, performance and photography.  True to Toronto’s reputation as an opera nation, the week kicks off with a contemporary ballet accompanied by an aria that would make Maria Callas shiver with envy. As it happens the work was choreographed by none other than styling bad boy, Marq Frerichs, who turns out to be a trendsetter in dance as much as in fashion.  Who knew?

As I make my way through the various installations in the back rooms, I come across a fantasy set complete with a scantily clad lad in a sailor outfit that looks like it’s seen the better days of a Rotweiller attack massaging another man.  The scene would make Quentin Crisp look butch, and I immediately protest – what about me and my heterosexual rights to a great massage?  Quicker  than I can bat a fake eyelash, two gay gentlemen have discreetly disrobed me and I find myself on the table with every knotted muscle soothed and kneaded. I descend into heavenly bliss…… only to open my eyes to the sound of the clicks and whirs of cameras which remind me I have become part of the performance.  Oh well, the sacrifices we make for art.

Much relaxed and with my bones crunched back into their proper place, I enjoy another round of exceptional style.  Filipino-Canadian Jasper Garvida, recently crowned winner of Project Catwalk, showed an exceptional collection of sheared beaver coats in Art Deco malachite green and black.  True to [FAT] philosophy, the runway glitters with designers sharpening the cutting edge of style while maintaining aesthetic and creative integrity. The models are reflective of the gorgeous diversity of our city – a welcome break from the aenemic coathangers that plague LG Fashion Week.  The crowd is packed to the walls, and the vibe is celebratory, relaxed and most important – fabulously fun.

Square Root of Two – Netherlands

Sheridan College Textile Studio

Part of the driving force: (l)  Vessna Perunovich, Wesley Badanjak and Vanja Vasic