This is super cool – and totally a step forward for Canadian fashion when one of our leading shoe manufacturer/retailers – ALDO – provides an opportunity for some of our best fashion designers – Greta Constantine and DUY – to self design the footwear for their show and then have them made! Unfortunately the shoes are NOT available for purchase – but are available for editorial.

Of course this happens all over the world for many international designers, but as we all know, it’s been a struggle year after year to get mega sponsorship dollars for fashion in Canada (although Greta Constantine seems to be doing quite well!).

Greta Constantine

“Inspired by their constantly evolving world, Greta Constantine’s FW 2011 collection by Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong opens up a universe without any time and space constraints.

To create the FW 2011 ALDO collection for  GRETA CONSTANTINE, Kirk and Stephen drew their inspiration from the Russian Ballet Company and its rich Asian heritage. This invitation to travel features a collection of cosmopolitan and colourful shoes and boots, daring prints and elaborate ornaments. Wedge heel shoes, boots and ankle boots make up this deep-coloured collection (in shades of slate, anthracite, purple, cobalt blue, aubergine and black), highlighted by intricate ornaments (leather, knit, fur and melton). An opulent and precious collection, which emphasizes the talent of its designers.”

DUY

Daphne Guiness: couture collector and muse

“Titled «Long Live Daphne», Duy Nguyen’s Fall-Winter 2011 collection is a tribute to this aristocratic world figure of fashion and her eclectic and refined tastes.

This collection of elegant and slightly rebel shoes and accessories pays homage to his Muse, her sophistication and distinctive sense of aesthetics. Faithful to her vision, the various pieces of this collection integrate the elements that made Daphne Guinness famous: leather, textured materials (python, lace), prints (leopard) and fur (pony), caramel hues and dark shades (grey and black). The FW 2011 ALDO collection of shoes and accessories for DUY is an stunning blend of radical chic, flexibility and accessibility. A collection which truly combines modernism, sophistication and elegance.”

LG Fashion Week in Toronto
Day 2 | March 29, 2011:
Denis Gagnon | LABEL | SHAN | Chloe comme Parris | Korhani Home Rug Runway Show | Pink Tartan |
Joe Fresh Style | BUSTLE

It’s the second day of fashion week, and the crowds have thinned considerably as we start off with Montreal legend Denis Gagnon, whose genius never fails to astonish. A sea of dystopian black is punctuated with vibrant pink, tangerine and cerulean.

Next, we move through a dark hallway gleaming with blue lights to the “studio”, a cramped space to preview the LABEL collection – “reinvented basics” perfect for those days when you need to roll out of bed, throw on your jeans and t-shirt and drag yourself out of the house.

The SHAN show is magnificent (memories of sun, beach and tanned bodies); the runway is book-ended by two models in lifeguard chairs, and the collection reminds us that winter is also a time to head south. Big floppy hats worthy of Cannes top off smart and sensual beachwear.

The crowds arrive with the masses, leaving breathing room only for Pink Tartan and Joe Fresh. Ms. Newport-Mimran marries olive drab, and desert ochre with ballerina tulle – kind of Desert Storm meets Swan Lake, simple, a little melancholy, but elegant. Husband Joe Mimran goes for broke with metallic interpretations of flapper fringe in adorable miniskirts.

The Bustle show starts with a sleek black and white video of a gentleman of the city driving up north for a day of dogsledding, and audience members are treated to a gift certificate to the spa at Deerhurst. The collection is much more casual than usual for Shawn Hewson and Ruth Promislow, but their trademark plaid on jackets and trousers accessorized with glasses of brandy add elegance to simplicity. The runway is outfitted with dogsleds and the sound of barking and howling huskies almost make me feel sad to say goodbye to winter. Almost.

(OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER for LG Fashion Week: GEORGE PIMENTEL – More photos by Kevin Gonsalves via http://peronimodafiles.com)

When Canadian fashion designer Denis Gagnon premiered his fall collection in 2008, we were stunned by his luscious use of leather and oversized sweaters. But I admit, I wondered if this was a designer who would join the ranks of Gaultier, Lacroix and McQueen, or if I was witnessing a one-hit-wonder go supernova. Would he be able to sustain such an intense level of creativity, or would this star die out in a brief burst of glory?

After countless profiles in leading magazines, and his line being carried by premiere retailer Holt Renfrew, Gagnon had been given the rare honour of being profiled at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art.

A quick look at his newest collection leaves no doubt that Gagnon is breaking new ground in Canadian fashion. His fearless approach to colour, layering and impeccable virtuosity in tailoring is nothing short of genius. His interpretations of old styles makes the original look pathetic – while countless designers accessorize with leather gloves, Gagnon uses opera length leather mittens. Cringe-worthy Uggs make girls look like they’re expressing a rare Sasquatch gene, but Gagnon finely tailors false fur to the wedge heel, or up the back of the boot like a delicious perversion of a seamed stocking. He understands a girl’s heart yearns for summer dresses in the middle of winter, and generously accents black with bubblegum pink, fushia and cerulean blue – tulip kisses for the frozen winter.

The Fashion Design Council of Canada must have a lot of confidence in both Gagnon and the quality of the other collections to put the likes of Gagnon at the beginning of the week and right after lunch – I for one, would not want to follow a show like that.

(Images: Jenna Marie Wakani for Toronto Life)

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.