For their unisex collection, the brother and sister team Alia & Jamil JUMA, traveled to India, Tibet, Thailand & Shenzhen to research local tapestry work and wildlife.
They infused those elements into their newest prints, making them more dark and moody by distorting and adding gradients of color including midnight blue, burnt corals, olive, tangerine, nude and black.
Go to the JUMA website to see the Fall 2011 collection video >
All that glitters is not gold and the decor of the 24th Toronto Fashion Week looks like Liberace covered in crystal. Light glitters from white walls and couches, the VIP tent is draped with white voile, ladies flock to the style area to have their hair and makeup done in a shimmer of mirror and metal, and the media room is an ode to transparency, wide open with Lucite chairs and lamps. Above the sea of whiteness a mysterious black room complete with a black chandelier towers silently above the maddening crowds. And the crowds are maddening. Beautiful, elegant, to be sure, but this is not the place for the claustrophobic.
Ezra Constantine @ the Holt Renfrew Presents “Can’t Live Without Canadian Fashion” Show
Izzy Camilleri and Adrian Mainella’s IZMA (via Brill Communications)
We get down to business with the Holts show. Ezra Constantine’s snug pants and snuggly cowl sweaters in rainy greys are gorgeous on diverse male models (why did it take designers this long to figure out we need more First Nations men on the runway? Yum!), and the Greta Constantine boys use black to springboard lush amethyst and garnet. Izzy Camilleri and Adrian Mainella marry wit and wisdom in their ultra-luxe IZMA collection of acid cut velvets in burgundy and chocolate, shot with gold and layered with fur (note: it’s definitely a bad year to be a fox).
This is just a taste of what’s to come – the rest of the week offers collections by the likes of Denis Gagnon and David Dixon, and as always, it’s exciting to watch for young designers.
Toronto Fashion Week
Fall Collections 2011
Featuring Canada’s TOP fashion designers including my faves Denis Gagnon, Lovas, Comrags, Line Knitwear….always love to see international trends come alive on Toronto runways from Pink Tartan and Joe Fresh…looking forward to Amanda Lew Kee, Klaxon Howl, diepo, Chloe Comme Parris….
March 28, 2011 to April 1, 2011
Fall/Winter 2011 Collections – http://lgfashionweek.ca
Attitude by Jay Manuel: Wow, Sears must’ve offered up a lot of cash for this project! It’s a new – affordable – private label womens collection that includes clothes, shoes and handbags. The Fall/Winter 2011 color palette – inspired by Morocco – consists of slate, cognac, peacock, marine, raspberry and black, accented by stylized animal prints. I’m really interested to see it!
Heritage Court at the Canadian National Exhibition is this year’s venue for LG Fashion Week. The building is roomy and festooned with towering green mannequins which remind us of this season’s theme – ‘The Style of Power.”
Staff are stylish, kind and competent, and I am forgiven for forgetting to pick up my pass last week – no issues, no attitude, no hassles, just like-minded fashionistas ready to smooth the road to the runway, and I am off to the races!
We are all relieved by the spacious facilities – complete with several bathrooms for primping in peace, a beauty salon and several bars. While sipping a little red wine in my little black dress, I notice a look of shock and awe cross fashion illustrator Danielle Meder’s face. I turn to find myself confronted with a virtual army of men dressed as Ken dolls, who insist I take a photo with them. I am laughing to hard to consent, so one of them hands me a Barbie postcard complete with an electrictrified heart, that states “You’re the only doll for me”.
We make our way to the runway room which is much more spacious than usual, and those in the front row are able to stretch out their gams without being afraid of getting a scolding from the photographers, or sending models sprawing. Steel bleachers provide a hip, industrial feel, but as I watch women in five inch heels negotiate these slippery slopes. I’m both a little afraid, and at the same time inspired by the determination of the human spirit. One fashion mavern of a certain age actually trips and falls over the Pink Tartan platforms. There is a collective gasp of horror, then a sigh of relief as the gentleman gets back on his feet with grace – not a hair out of place.
Trends for Spring 2011: Color, Jumpsuits, Ethnic Prints, Stripes
Kimberley Newport-Mimran’s Pink Tartan flashbacks to the 70′s with pantsuits and bell bottoms in electric blue, fuchsia pink, and neon yellow.
Joe Fresh Spring 2011
People pack into the Joe Mimram show, which looks more like Pink Tartan than Joe Fresh, with sweet, clean croquet dresses and skirts, and sequined shorts.
Also Tuesday: Sears shows Attitude with their crew of young designers, and several fashion fans give them credit for breathing new life into the company. If only all their clothes were made in Canada….
(Images via Toronto Life by Jenna Marie Wakani)
photo: Pink Cobra (exclusive womens line of Carte Blanche & the other half of Cult de Laissez Faire – the new mens line at Carte Blanche)
Much Love and Kudos to the FDCC – Toronto’s Fashion Week Organizers, however,
The big news this fashion season in Toronto is that:
1. a handful of talented, functional Canadian fashion designers chose to show their fall collections off-site and before the scheduled Toronto’s LG Fashion Week (Philip Sparks, Greta Constantine, Evan Biddell, Nada, etc…).
2. Robin Kay and her slew of feisty volunteers at the FDCC, the small group that organizes LG Fashion Week, had many location issues, but eventually secured a new fashion week landing spot at the Allstream Centre – which naturally is criticized.
3. LG Fashion Week has become a fashion circus (which I think we sometimes like). It is not only held after the fashion buying season, but is increasingly becoming a platform for general public fashion junkies – which makes local media feeling unhappily squished and claustrophobic.
On this rainy Monday – a little pessimism:
1. Why We Didn’t Go To Toronto Fashion Week, Courduroy Magazine
http://www.corduroymag.com/fashion/why-we-didnt-go-to-toronto-fashion-week
2. Fold The Tents, Eye Magazine
http://www.eyeweekly.com/blog/post/86967
3. Toronto’s Fashion Week Needs to Work It, Amy Verner, Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-verner/torontos-fashion-week-nee_b_522486.html
i was thinking, if they were handing out Canadian beer to everyone in the audience, that would actually be hilarious – and the international media would say, ‘canadians drink beer at fashion shows’ (but only if it was cdn brew)…
however, Peroni (italian beer) is the official sponsor, so everyone – and I mean all like 1700 people, got a beer mid-David Dixon at fashion week yesterday. so i guess, yes Canadians drink beer at fashion shows. kinda fun.
