by Daniel Wilson

Photos from the Deandra Buckley show

Student fashion shows are awesome: there’s usually a ton of creativity and eye candy to take in! But one of the best is Ryerson School of Fashion’s Mass Exodus – it’s a fantastic, high-budget presentation of the Ryerson Fashion Program’s graduating student work. The production of the show is stellar, with the theatre, tech and fashion students all working together. The venue, the theatre at Ryerson, is not the best for a runway show, but fortunately I sat in the front row and caught some spectacular student work.

Overall, its great to see the transition from student into professional in the presentation and to get a peek at what tomorrow’s tastemakers will have in store for us.

Highlights:
There were so many great mini-collections and although most of them were presentable and professional (due of course to strict editing standards), these were some of my favorites:

Chassandre Lavictoire
TorontoStreetFashion can admit to being a little bias towards our friend Chassandre, but even still, her MassEx collection met and exceeded our expectations! She deftly handled some strong Victorian influences while incorporated styling and some unique twists to make the pieces thoroughly modern, (the bowler hats were a great touch, very Comme des Garcon). The exquisite attention to detail made the quality of the pieces obvious even from afar.

Walk Tall
This totally blew my mind. Amazing Edward Gorey dresses as imagined by Tim Burton on acid. One model came out in stilts which was terrific and set the show apart.

Amanda Rose
Virginia Woolf goes a little glam in this collection with a fantastic long tiered dress paired with a cropped leather jacket and a great belted chunky cardigan. Perfect for the modern poet.

Also loved:
Paper Plane
Amazing skirt and hoodie in this simple, elegant, Japanese inspired collection. Love the barefoot models!

WHAT IS YOUR COLLECTION CALLED: c.helsea c.laridge
SEASON: Spring/Summer 2009
INFLUENCES: For my collection I was influenced by looking through old family photo albums of the 1940′s and 70′s.
FABRICS: I used all natural fabrics, such as silks and cottons, which are great for the summer.
FAVOURITE PIECE: My favourite piece from the collection has to be the navy blue tulip skirt. The overall silhouette is dramatic, yet still very wearable.
WHO DO YOU DESIGN FOR: I design for young, urban women who want to look girly yet sexy, feminine yet masculine, quirky yet professional and so on.
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY: I love taking contrasting elements and mixing them together. I’m attracted to unusual combinations of fabrics and colors, which ordinarily wouldn’t be paired together.
FAVORITE PEICE IN MY CLOSET: My hat collection
CAN FASHION BE POLITICAL: Yes, I think fashion can be political. Fashion is definitely influenced by what is going on in the world, and that includes politics.
WHAT HAS FOUR YEARS AT RYERSON TAUGHT YOU: Four years at Ryerson has taught me that you really have to love what you’re doing, otherwise all the hours of hard work, and the constant stress will catch up with you.
FAVORITE CANADIAN DESIGNER: Jeremy Laing
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS: Successfully running my own clothing company.
WHAT DOES CANADIAN DESIGN MEAN TO YOU: Canadian design is new, and up and coming.

What is your collection called? INFUNDIBULUM – named after a term coined by Kurt Vonnegut in his novel The Sirens of Titan, meaning “those places in the universe where the different types of truths fit together”

Season? 3010

What/who are your influences? Dear Kurt Vonnegut: Thank you for your words. You have scratched my retinas clean and I can truly see the world from the outside looking in. I dedicate to you, Infundibulum, my vision of the world you put to paper.

What fabric(s) did you use? The majority of this collection is made with plastic, and a few sequins here and there.

Favorite piece from your collection? My favorite piece is the character named Instructor Bee. She is a teacher at the Schliemann School for Breathing for Martian Recruits. She’s fully dressed in sequins. She is my sick 80’s obsession.

Who did you have in mind when you designed it? I must have been dreaming of the women from Dynasty and those wicked costumes they wore. I would love to live in a world where that costume’s advanced to the year 3010. I think it’s obvious that I love shoulder pads.

What is your design philosophy? “Fuck it, I’m doing it.” My desire is simply to obtain an emotional reaction from the viewer of my work. I like it when people question my reasons.

Favorite piece from your closet? Men’s Tuxedo shoes found at the value village. I like to feel my feet swimming while I walk.

Can fashion be political? Fashion can be made political by the context to which it is used. Anti-fur fashion or sustainable fashion definitely has a political message for the world.

What has four years at Ryerson taught you? I’ve realized that sometimes one has to ignore what is being taught and as Fleetwood Mac says, “go your own way”. But I would like to thank S.T.P for the bag of shoulder pads she gave me in second year. I believe that influenced the rest of my time at Ryerson.

Where do you see yourself in five years? I will be welding metal together in my studio loft in Antwerp, Belgium. After having graduated from The Royal Academy in Antwerp, I think it would be safe to say I just want to make things, show people, and understand their responses. I also will be attempting to create a new mathematical theorem.

What does Canadian Design mean to you? Staying true to who you are as a designer, saying fuck it to anyone who thinks it should have been done another way. I’m proud to be a Canadian designer.