By: Jill Klausen
Another season of Toronto Fashion Week has come and gone. The tent has been dismantled, our tired feet are resting and the designers are hard at work on their Spring ‘10 collections. ADORNED takes a look back at some of the most memorable moments from Fall ’09, from comfy-cozy winter coats to disco-fabulous partywear.
Gaudet
I’m the kind of gal who tosses her mittens into storage at the first sign of spring sun, so the last thing I wanted to see on such an unseasonably warm day like Wednesday was heavy wool coats. (Seriously, I had to layer down as I was walking to the tent at Nathan Phillips Square. So warm.) But I made an exception to my ‘winter is but a distant memory’ philosophy for Gaudet.
Dashing duo Norm and Gio Gaudet presented their first collection of outerwear at LG Fashion Week in Toronto this season.
Their mission is an admirable one: to get women to forgo the boring black and step out in one of their eye-catching creations.
And as someone who is a sucker for a bold, stand-out winter coat, that’s something I’m excited to see.
But not yet. I’m ready for summer.
Cheri Milaney
There are certain things I expect at Fashion Week: fashionistas stomping around in impractically wonderful heels, scuffles over front-row seating, PR girls barking orders in their headsets.
But the one thing that I can always count on at Fashion Week are the models.
I was backstage just before the Cheri Milaney show, and whenever I’m behind the velvet curtain I’m always on the lookout for the models. I suppose it’s jealousy that makes me hope to find them looking hungry and miserable or blotchy and puffy. (Although I think I’d actually feel worse if I saw the girls roll in looking refreshed and dewy and eating a Baconator with fries.) But this time around I found no models, only regular women.
Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with regular women (I happen to be a regular woman, thank you very much). But I don’t expect to see them on the runway.
I go to fashion shows to see twig-y, Amazonian 15-year-old Eastern Euopean children. I want to see gorgeous giants with long lean limbs and striking eyes. Girls who stomp down the catwalk like they were born in stilettos.
As much as we may complain about models and the unattainable standard of beauty they represent, they are as important to the spectacle of Fashion Week as the clothes themselves. I mean, I can see a Cheri Milaney suit on a regular woman any day of the week. I’m here for a show, dammit.
Long live the models.
Evan Biddell
Friday night was a veritable Project Runway explosion at LG Fashion Week. Between Carlie, Biddell and Lucian and the season two finale the day before, the tent was crawling with PR alums. Sadly, Iman was nowhere to be found.
So the Biddell show was a bit of a madhouse. I took a seat in the front row with some people from work and we immediately dug into our gift bags. I know last season Biddell gave all his front-rowers sneakers (I was actually hoping our gifts wouldn’t be shoes because there’s no way they’d ever fit my teeny-tiny feet) and this year we all got white bathrobes from Winners. (True story: I was irrationally happy about my free robe. So happy in fact that I managed to spill half my Starbucks into the open bag on the way into my apartment. So now my snow white robe has some very punk rock coffee stains on it. C’est la vie.)
As we waited for the show to start, a PR girl handed us each a packet of orange earplugs. It was mildly frightening. Was I going to go deaf at a fashion show? That was something I hadn’t really planned for. Moments before the lights went dark the two girls next to me were banished to the second row to make room for Jully Black and her guest.
The room went dark and the music started (it was certainly not loud enough to warrant earplugs, so that mini-panic attack was all for naught) and then Stacy Mackenzie was stomping down the runway. Just as she passed in front of me, she stumbled in her studded black pumps and for a split second I thought I was going to see a top model faceplant.
The collection was very robotic and mechanical. There were zippers on everything from drop-crotch pants to cropped bomber jackets. Hoods abounded, as did chunky knit scarves and super-skinny pants. The makeup was extreme and harsh with metallic lips and streaks of black blush on the girls’ cheeks.
Carlie Wong
Carlie Wong loves the nightlife
I have to admit I was really looking forward to Carlie Wong’s show on Friday. Her Spring ’09 collection was one of my favs, so I was excited to see what she had up her sleeve for Fall.
Apparently Carlie has a case of Disco Fever. And any girl who loves gold lamé is a girl after my own heart. (Seriously, if it’s gold and shiny, I’m all over it. I nearly had a stroke at the Spice Girls reunion tour last year because of how much glitter there was!)
What I loved about the show was how Carlie tried to dress her customer for every moment in her week. There were great boyfriend jackets and slim pencil skirts for work (although some of the skirts were so slim the models didn’t so much stomp down the runway as they shuffled). She brought out the rock ‘n’ roll guns with skinny black pants and drapey tanks that would be perfect for going out for drinks and there was an emerald floorlength gown that was screaming for a red carpet. Okay, so maybe not every woman needs a paparazzi-proof gown, but at least now you have the option!
If I’m being perfectly honest, not everything really worked. There was a short silver lamé sheath dress that wouldn’t look out of place on one of the more demure contestants on Rock of Love Bus (I realize that ‘demure’ and ROL don’t really belong in the same sentence). And I’ve already mentioned the super-skimpy, model-hobbling skirts.
But the majority of the collection was straight up gorgeous. The wide-leg silk PJ pants were exquisite and the black and gold brocade pieces were unexpected in a good way.
Can’t wait until fall for these boogie nights!
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