Toronto L'Oreal Fashion Week
Spring 2006
Designers and Fashion Shows
Irene Stickney - Saltwater Clothing
Photo credit: James McFaull
Beckerman's
dreamy "Diary of a Dali Girl" paints a colorful picture
The Beckerman sisters are everything you wanted to be when you grew up.
Blonde triplet fashion designers who went to school in New York, and then
made it big in their home town. It reminds you so much of Sweet Valley
High it’s almost a cliche. It’s forgivable, though - they
make bright, sunny, and very ‘of-the-moment’ knits, and have
pioneered a signature look of brightly coloured woven yarn which is unmistakably
Beckerman.
The collection, entitled “Diary of a Dali Girl” capitalized
on the handmade look that’s been making a comeback from the pages
of Bust magazine all the way to the aisles of Holt Renfrew. From beach
hats encrusted with tiny plastic birds, to crocheted summer minidresses
and playful knits sprouting rainbow coloured pompoms, Beckerman’s
Spring ‘06 collection was an experiment into kitchsy childhood craftiness.
The best outfit of the collection, a woven wool corset randomly stitched
into with yellow, mint and bubblegum pink yarn, topped with an aviator
hat and signature necklace embodied everything great about Beckerman:
off the cuff styling, experimental and original textiles topped with a
heaping spoonful of DIY attitude.
But the Beckerman sisters may have proved the old adage right - too many
cooks spoil the soup. Random became the theme of the collection with floor
sweeping chiffon dresses appearing out of nowhere and a few too many ‘bicycle
streamer’ satin ribbon tops to keep the collection coherent. One
couldn’t help but get the impression that while Chloe, a textiles
major was pushing the boundaries of knitwear design, her sister would
prefer to be designing for Oscar de la Renta, a designer for whom she
worked while in New York. After a brilliant and much lauded first collection,
there was speculation that Canada had found it’s next big thing.
But if the Beckerman sisters are to live up to that prediction, they’ll
need to refine their vision and find a new focus before Fall 2006.
