FASHION Magazine

View our Montreal Fashion Week Spring 2013 photo gallery! »

It sure wasn’t easy getting into the groove of fashion week the day after Labour Day weekend, but this season’s Semaine de la mode was a success on many levels. A brand new venue, the return of practically all of Montreal’s cult fave designers and the city’s first ever participation in the global event of Fashion’s Night Out made for four fabulous days that will be hard to forget—and difficult to outdo next year. Here’s our round up of the top moments from Montreal Fashion Week Spring 2013:

Summertime in Montreal is festival season. The city is one party after another with jazz, comedy, French music and, just in time for back-to-school, the Montreal Fashion & Design Festival. Now in its 11th instalment, the MFDF once again takes over McGill College Avenue. From August 1 to 4, the downtown artery will be blocked off to traffic from de Maisonneuve Boulevard to Ste-Catherine Street. Here are five reasons the fashion fest rocks:

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While London Fashion Week just ended and the shows in Milan started this morning, we’re going back to revisit the fourth and final day of Montreal Fashion Week. This year Groupe Sensation Mode launched a new event, Exhibit 22, that showcased up-and-coming designers. Most of the invitees were from Montreal, including Betina Lou by Marie-Ève Émond. New discoveries included knitwear designer Maude Nibelungen and accessories line Aime by W. by Bertrand W. Delancourt. I’ve also been personally following fellow local ladies Evelyne Fay from White Label and Hayley Gibson from Birds of North America, but I must send out a special shout-out to B.C.-boy Earl Luigi from LLUI—we’re both from the Philippines and I love how he incorporates Filipino textiles into his work.

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I really can’t think of a better way to start Day 2 of Montreal Fashion Week than at a cocktail. This year, instead of a traditional runway show, design sisters Claudia and Sabrina Barilà showcased their Spring 2012 collection by inviting media peeps to watch their look book photo shoot, styled by Cary Tauben. Models posed at each side of a triangular backdrop, flipping their crimped bouffantes from time to time. Each year, Sabrina, the design half of the duo, seems to venture into new territory, and this time around the look was sultry-preppy princess. The shirt dress was key, with the same cut appearing in different fabrics and patterns such as silk, chambray, Laura Ashley-like floral, and multi-hued pinstripes; as well as variations including a bare-shoulder cut-out style and a loose tunic version with a Mao collar.

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As we reported back in early June, Mercedes-Benz and IMG have introduced Start Up, their internationally lauded joint competition and mentorship program for up-and-coming designers to Canada. Well, here we go!

Early Wednesday, the first Start Up step was put into place, as I—along with a slew of notables including designer Marie Saint Pierre and FDCC president Robin Kay—judged the Montreal semi-final applicants. As a fan and avid supporter of Canadian fashion, I was thrilled to be a guest judge. Especially since FASHION Magazine is the official magazine sponsor!

On a recent Friday night, I sat with designer Anastasia Lomonova (anastasialomonova.com) in her LABoratoire Créatif studio to chat a little about life, fashion and what to do with clothing from past collections. (Answer: She sells them at charity events such as “Au Coeur de la Mode,” which benefits AIDS research. Not bad, right?)