FASHION Magazine

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We’re back to the style-spotting game with Lewis Mirrett’s first batch of shots from outside Toronto Fashion Week. Taken outside of two of last night’s biggest shows, Lucian Matis and Holt Renfrew’s Canadian showcase. As luck would have it, the skies opened for the night, leaving attendees to shield themselves from the elements in various ways. From headscarves to uncomfortable glances, see the best cover-ups (and outfits) here.

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A grand ballroom festooned with gilded details at the Fairmont Royal York is very fitting for Toronto’s king of embellishment, Lucian Matis. But this fall, the Romanian-born designer ditched his signature crystal palace pieces for a more grown-up approach (think streamlined silhouettes and gorgeous lace) to dressing.

Inspired by details found in nature–butterfly markings, volcanic shapes–Matis centered his Fall 2012 collection around intricate lacework, texture-mixing and sharp, tailored lines. Standouts included the glam lace gown with the plunging neckline and Angelina Jolie–approved slit, the sweeping maxi coat (we’re still crushing on those detailed cuffs) and the mini dress with lacey side panels. Toward the show’s end, Matis did indulge his maximalist side with a small grouping of fine, feathered frocks, including one strapless version with a plumed train fit for any bird of paradise. The one misstep of the night? The paper-white pasties used to cover up the models which shone a little too brightly from underneath the sheer lace.

2012 marks FASHION Magazine’s 35th Anniversary! To celebrate, each issue, we’re pairing up with a different Canadian who is also celebrating a milestone. We invite our readers to enter for their chance to WIN the designers’ featured show pieces. First up, we’re giving away the frothy Lucian Matis dress featured above as well as on […]

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2012 marks FASHION Magazine’s 35th Anniversary! To celebrate, each issue, we’re pairing up with a different Canadian who is also celebrating a milestone. We invite our readers to enter for their chance to WIN the designers’ featured show pieces. Good luck!

Enter to win this dress by Lucian Matis »
Read our interview with the designer »

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Last night’s Lucian Matis show was an exhibition of super-bright embellishments worn atop sheer champagne bases but, if you ask us, the bona-fide delights were in the digits. Spotted on the runway was yet another certifiably insane—as in amazing—nail art design by Leeanne Colley from Tips Nail Bar, Toronto’s infamous cool zone for manicures. Before the show started, we snuck backstage to preview the custom almond-shaped nails decorated in a vibrant watercolour pattern. “We did a base of Revlon‘s “White on White” nail enamel, then CND‘s “Anchor Blue” and “Electric Orange” and Hard Candy‘s “Yellow and Splendid.” We dabbed a pin-sized amount of each colour onto the nail using a tiny brush, then dropped a smidgen of acetone on top to make it disperse and look transparent. Basically, we made all the colours run into each other,” Colley explained. Well, basically, Colley just inspired us to ornament our nails with similar show-stopping designs.

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Last night’s social schedule was jam-packed. Puddle jumping from Tiffany & Co.’s Lambertson Truex leather collab fete to the new Joe Fresh store opening at Queen and Portland (sadly missing the SPiN ping-pong club opening with investor and celeb guest Susan Sarandon—so many parties, so little time), we caught up with the fashion crowd for the second night of this pre-fashion week. Last on the list was Lucian Matis. Despite the rain, 99 Gallery was packed and the standing crowd was elbowing for a prime spot. The designer stood by his signature embellished aesthetic, decorating everything from watercolour nails to over-the-top drop earrings and copper paillette–encrusted bodysuits. Matis’s skill lies in stretching his technical muscles, employing those abilities to further his creative vision, resulting in bright woven bodices, tufted tulle, and sheer panels. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it had us flashing back to last week’s episode of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. With an awe-inspired audience, however, he’s clearly garnered a devoted following on the Canadian scene.

“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.

At the Lucian Matis show on Wednesday evening, the first word that came to mind was big: big shoulders, big knits, big hair, big embellishments. And yes, there was even a big marquee sign that spelled out “Lucian Matis” in bright lights, should you happen to forget where you were. Held off-site at the Design Exchange in Toronto’s financial district, the show continued in the vein of Matis’s signature ornate style. Black bodysuits with oversized shoulders and exquisite bronze beading held their own against bulbous chunky knit sweaters. Stunning beading adorned Balmain-style, pointy-shouldered blazers and bedazzled the derrières of a few onesies. Matis’s streamlined gowns stole the show, including one with a floor-length skirt covered in ombré tassels, as well as a gold teacup dress with black beaded shoulders. While the collection was at once exquisite, extravagant and elegant, its saturated looks could have used a bit more of one thing: editing.

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Check out the goods by young, talented Canadian designers at this upcoming sample sale for up to 80% off. Sort through eveningwear by Project Runway Canada runner-up Lucian Matis, funky printed dresses by Zoran Dobric and earthy day dresses by Carrie Hayes. Plus, adorn yourself with elaborate, vintage glam pieces from Jewellery by Karen. 300 […]

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Lucian Matis told Ryerson’s weekly student paper, The Eye Opener, that it’s time to move on from LG Fashion Week and that he plans to show his next collection in New York. [The Eyeopener via Toronto Life] See the full Lucian Matis Fall 2010 collection

People are whispering because Yves Saint Laurent’s creative director Stefano Pilati was absent from the Metropolitan Opera Gala in New York–a big YSL-sponsored event–but the company CEO  said at the dinner that the designer is simply busy working on the next collection in Paris. We know, right? Getting work done instead of going to a party? Scandale.  [Grazia]

The models at Lucian Matis‘s Fall 2010 show sported oversized Victorian bouffants (à la Road to Avonlea). Photographer Angela Y. Martin went backstage to snap portraits of the models as they got prepped for the show. Click the images below to see just how much backcombing was required to create the look. View the full […]

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We caught up with Lucian Matis after his Fall 2010 show to talk prints, jewellery and why he loves to make dresses. Read the review and see the full collection.

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