FASHION Magazine

We’re still in love with the teal eye Gucci Westman created for Oscar De La Renta’s Spring 2011 collection. So when we ventured backstage at VAWK, we were pumped to find L’Oréal Paris Lead Makeup Artist Eddie Malter applying the cerulean hue on a model’s lids. “Sunny wanted a strong eye,” explained Malter. Fong gave him a swatch from the collection and asked him to match the shade. The fabric’s cosmetic equivalent? HIP Shadow Duo in Showy. Malter circled it around the eyes and minutes before show time, dabbed a clear lip gloss over top for a hit of shine. To bring more attention to the upper part of the face, he buffed a tawny blush high on cheekbones and kept the mouth muted, pressing a pale coral into the lips.

Grab your passports! This fall, VAWK designer Sunny Fong is taking us on a trip to Tibet. What’s on his itinerary? Chic n’ shaggy Mongolian coats, wool and knit shawl collars, glam wide-leg trousers and wine-soaked capes with coyote fur trim. Overall, Fong’s collection was strong, polished and directional. Oh, and did I forget to mention wearable? (A smart move for this young designer given that several of his spring 2011 pieces were snapped up by The Room). City sophisticates will love his double-breasted teal jackets and trenches, It girls will swoon over his maxi cable dresses (it’s all about that oversized cowl neck) and femme fatales will covet his sheer tuxedo shirt with fierce leather bib. Despite the show’s late start time, the collection proved to be well worth the wait (and the under-eye concealer the following morning).

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It’s all about the details, isn’t it? Our street photog, Lewis Mirrett, seems to think so. Check out our latest batch of street style photos… bits and pieces of some of our favourite wardrobes this week!

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Another day, another black legging… that’s the way it seems to go in the never-ending saga of the skin-tight trend we thought had disappeared along with La Lohan’s popularity. In her LG debut yesterday, New York-based designer, Heather Lawton brought an all-black collection of you guessed it… leggings, as well as a series of crinkled tees, silk button-downs and goat hair vests. A far cry from what we imagine Lawton’s picturesque Prince Edward Island upbringing must have looked like, the designer seemed hell bent on recreating the darkness of basement bars and back alleys of her current home. Aside from several tepid takes on these downtown staples, Lawton did show a few beautifully slung bag dresses with rope and goat hair entangled throughout.

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Perhaps the designers were crafting their collections while staring out their studio windows into the snowy landscape of the last few months, but this seems to be the week of great Canadian outerwear. And from a brand known for their iconic parka, we would expect no less. At last night’s Lundström Collection, that very parka⎯done up in ivory with a fur-trimmed hood and paired with a tone-on-tone ribbed woolen dress⎯hit the right note on the sophistication scale. Coloured fur collars, sleeves and scarves were a welcome addition to the repertoire, especially a tres trendy grape stole. The major blip on an otherwise ladylike radar (skirt suits, metallic-flecked tweeds and bathrobe shapes a-plenty) were the velvet kaleidoscopic pants. A parade of Audrey-approved little black dresses, including a couple of special order gowns (a first I believe for the collection), closed the show but opened the door to a world beyond cold winter wear.

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Given the number of new designers on the schedule each season, it’s clear that we’re big supporters of emerging talent. Fresh off of Seneca’s Textile Design and Fashion Arts Awards, newbie Choryin Choi may already have a devoted fan base. Exhibit A: uproarious applause by the student-filled crowd. A kooky capsule collection of complicated pieces (I heard more than one whispered Tim Burton reference) included big-buttoned bubble hem coats, lace blazers, rippling ribboned bottoms and moth hole skirts that upon closer inspection revealed a collage of masked faces. “Out-there” designers are a great part of Toronto’s fashion fabric, but those wishing to enter the fray will also have to learn to distill their vision and build a following beyond their peers to attract buyers. There may be a steep learning curve ahead, but isn’t that what fashion week’s all about?

By Renee Reardin

As soon as my gaze fell upon the first model at the Rudsak fall 2011 show, I instantly thought of the ultimate city-chic icon Andy Sachs of The Devil Wears Prada hailing cabs in one coveted outdoor look after another while and breezing through the brisk streets of New York City. Like Rudsak designer Evik Asatoorian’s collections from seasons past, the look is one of metropolis-inspired style, with sleek leather jackets, shoes, and handbags, touches of fur, wool and down-filling, paired with long flowing hair. Favoured must-have items include the black minimalist leather jacket with a tie cinching the waist, the cognac leather jacket with endless trim of caramel-coloured fur lining the jacket and hood and one of the neon-bright motorcycle helmets that will get no more use from me than it did on the runway, it’ll merely act as my handbag!

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By Renee Reardin

Although the midi is said to be the hemline of the summer, Brandon R. Dwyer brought hemlines back up and then some. Bums the word for the Basch by Brandon fall 2011 collection, as hems on mini dresses were cut just under the tush, and asymmetrical dresses and gowns had sexy slits gracing the upper thigh. Bodycon sheer and jersey LBDs, and a floral palette of silk draped dresses were adorned with lime green thick or wrap-around belts and strappy heels. The show however wasn’t all a walk in the garden. We cringed in sympathy with having to watch the models tug their dresses down before striking a pose, and one girl having the sleeves of her dress glide down her shoulders, and having several cameras flash before she realized the wardrobe malfunction. Our nerves began to settle when we were wowed by a silk cobalt gown showing off the model’s full leg and a black sheer gown with silver beading in just the right spots, which have definitely fallen into our mental shopping basket!

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Wesley Badanjak’s Wednesday night show—an ode to his mother and aunt—gave us forgiving fashion with modest cuts and conservative suiting, a choice that certainly reflects the dedication to two “real” women. The young Bay St. banker looking for a little femininity will be a fan of suiting with subtle pleats, peplums and out-of-the-ordinary zipper detailing, and while the more formal dresses were a fashion flop, Badanjak’s bitsy fall floral prints, capes, and oversized knits will keep us cute and cozy come the cool winter months.

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“This hair is chaotic⎯it’s an organized mess,” said Paul Pereira, Schwarzkopf Essential Looks Stylist who enlisted OSiS Dust It mattifying powder and OSiS Freeze hairspray to achieve the big volume and tumbleweed-like textured updos that reminded us of the lopsided beehives at Vera Wang’s Spring 2011 show. The organized part revealed itself when the models turned around. “Lucian wanted the nape of the neck to show,” said Pereira, so he created a tight and tiny French braid that ran up the back of the head to meet the messy portion.

On the third day of shows, it seemed to be all about Loubs, Wangs and plenty of YSL for our photog Lewis Mirrett. Spotted in the crowd? Designer Heather Lawton, love-her-or-hate-her fashion newbie and star of the web show The Avenue, Arta Ghanbari and our very own fashion intern, Corinne Perez-Abergel! Peep the stylish folks now!

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