FASHION Magazine

See the top 10 moments from Montreal Fashion Week Spring 2014 »

Montreal Fashion Week has wrapped its 25^th season with Spring 2014. On the heels of an official statement announcing major structural changes (read: budget cuts) to the biannual event as soon as February 2014, there was a wistful “end of an era” wind in the air. Will we say goodbye to Arsenal as our MFW headquarters? Will there be runway presentations next year? Only time will tell. But before we look ahead and contemplate the future, let’s look back at spring 2014 top 10 moments. Be ready for the return of black and white and sheer fabrics next spring and summer.

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The Montreal Fashion Week party s’est terminé. Edition 24 of this four-day event celebrated its second instalment at the massive Arsenal Gallery in Griffintown. Here, in chronological order, were the ten most Instagram-worthy moments:

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It’s a sweltering summer day, but in a cavernous (and thankfully, cool) Montreal loft studio a model is glammed up like a hostess at a holiday fete. The shoot is for a capsule collection that brings together 365-store-strong Canadian retailer Reitmans and two-year-old fashion label Martin Lim, designed by Montreal-based husband and wife team Pao Lim and Danielle Martin, who won last year’s Mercedes-Benz Start Up competition. But these designers aren’t exactly new kids on the block. After both completing a master of arts in fashion at London’s prestigious Central Saint Martins, Martin and Lim honed their design skills in Paris: she worked at Christian Lacroix; both put in time at Roland Mouret. In 2004, they returned to Canada, and launched their own line in 2010.

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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:

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After last year’s impressive show in Montreal, 2012 saw the Mercedes-Benz Start Up semi-finals set up shop in Quebec City. And so it was at the fairy tale-esque Château Frontenac where I was reunited with the permanent panel from last year’s inaugural edition, plus two new local fashion experts.

JoAnne Caza, the captain of Mercedes-Benz Canada, wowed me with her perfect bilingualism (she’s from the West Island). Local Twitter fashion fans were ecstatic about photogenic Aussie-native Jarrad Clark who heads IMG Fashion—and who was also a judge on Project Runway Australia. Then, of course, there was Hans Koechling, president of The Image Is (who just got back from working on Next Top Model in Britain), and, the Simon Cowell of the group, Robin Kay, president of the FDCC. Joining me in guest judge duties were Christiane Garant of Myco Anna and Louise Maheux from Simons.

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The heavens certainly behaved themselves for the second day of Toronto Fashion Week, allowing attendees to show off their no doubt newly purchased (or borrowed) spring styles sans typically cumbersome March outerwear. There was Ainsley Kerr, in a mega-printed dress from the Chloé Comme Parris spring collection, Amanda Lew Kee in her printed T-shirt, and our very own Bernadette Morra, who debuted a look from Martin Lim‘s latest collection. And what about that dude in the neon? That’s our camera genius stepping out to play. Hi Lewis!

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Bringing in a packed house for their 6 p.m. show, the husband-and-wife team behind Martin Lim is clearly onto something. Winners of last season’s Mercedes-Benz Start Up competition, they’ve already managed to carve a space in the crowded Canadian marketplace and construct garments that are instantly recognizable as their own.

The flyaway details across shoulders and down back seams were all there along with new tricks including sliced car wash swishes of silk, boxy leather tops, a metalicized chinoiserie print (best worn front row by our editor-in-chief, Bernadette Morra) and piped mesh leggings under everything from tunics to dresses. As if that weren’t enough, their bold colour blocking and playful palette are sure to get the cash registers ringing.

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How to survive Montreal Fashion Week? A roll of Mentos; it’s like breath-freshening gum that you can swallow. And breathe! I don’t mean simply inhale, but breathe in the moment. Season after season as I watch the evolution of designers maturing with each collection, I feel like I’m learning and growing too.

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He’s no lady. Boy wonder Andrej Pejic brings his dry wit and supermodel moves to the top Canadian designs for spring.

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Read our interview »

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If there’s one main takeaway message from fashion week, it’s that we must recognize, foster, and promote our home-grown talent so that it can grow both here and abroad. With this in mind, the inaugural Mercedes-Benz Start Up competition was held last night, and up for grabs was a year of mentorship from industry leaders (including us at FASHION!) to kick-start a fledgling collection. After a rigorous selection process (preliminary competitions, meetings, tense deliberations) the short list was whittled down to Cassie Dee, Martin Lim, Travis Taddeo, Triarchy, and UNTTLD, and united in Toronto for a runway showdown. Short video montages introduced each designer, their vision, and their inspiration for the coming season. We saw a dark, leather-laced collection (UNTTLD), a western-inspired line (Cassie Dee), a denim parade (Triarchy), some disheveled streetwear (Travis Taddeo), and bright billowy silks (Martin Lim). After a brief designer bow, a surprisingly flustered Jessica Stam took to the podium to announce the winner. Drumroll please… Husband and wife team Pao Lim and Danielle Martin of Martin Lim! Now comes the real hard work—keeping our promises and making sure they get the attention they deserve! Stay tuned for the duo’s wears in an upcoming issue of FASHION.

There’s less than a week to go before the five Mercedes-Benz Start Up finalists hit the runway at LG Fashion Week to show their Spring 2012 collections. Ready to see what Cassie Dee, Martin Lim, Travis Taddeo, Triarchy, and UNTTLD have been working on? As the official media sponsor, FASHION Magazine will be live streaming the entire event. But before the grand reveal, find out more about each of the finalists and what inspired their collections.

As the Montreal and Vancouver Mercedes-Benz Start Up finalists are busy at work on their upcoming Spring 2012 collections, to be shown during LG Fashion Week, we take a look back at how it all got whittled down to the final five: Martin Lim, Travis Taddeo, UNTTLD, Triarchy, and Cassie Dee.

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