FASHION Magazine

See the Bellavance Fall 2014 collection »

By the way Bellavance designers Nolan Bellavance and Ava Hama described the rigorous military education inspiration behind their latest collection, you could almost be led to believe they themselves had been sent away to the school of hard knocks as kids (for the record, they met studying at Parsons in New York). Tough elements such as stiff raw denim with hand-distressed seams cut into a structured dress, trench and matching skirt and jacket combo, and a graphic chain link pointillist pattern screen printed on silks alluded to the severity and rigidity of learning institutions. Swooping fabric panels also made the grade, a smart play on graduation sashes. But while strictness may have been the initial jumping off point, rules are made to be broken, and rebellion is inevitable under such restraint. The chain link became fragmented when the volume and movement in the pleated pieces broke their continuity. Mohair on merino had a tattooed effect, several hems were left unfinished and peekaboo flashes of skin under apron-like shapes gave way to a little sex appeal. It may be several years since these two have been out of school, but they’re certainly on the honour roll for fall 2014.

Next Friday, all eyes will focus on New York for the latest onslaught of fashion week shows. For those attending Fall 2014 fashion week, that means T-minus 7 days to get your sartorial sh*t together. For those designing, it’s probably high time for panic. As most creative types would find easy to empathize with, one week till takeoff is the time when everything goes wrong. Model castings, seating charts and beauty briefs—they’re all going down right about now. We reached out to a few of our favourite Canadian designers to see how they were doing and to our shock, they all seem pretty cool and collected. Meanwhile, they gave us a peek at what they’ve got on slow burn for their upcoming shows during New York Fashion Week.

See the Bellavance Spring 2014 collection »

Since its launch fresh out of Parsons less than two years ago, Bellavance has been doing the fashion version of kicking ass and taking names. The New York-based label with an all-important Can Con connection (co-designer Nolan Bellavance grew up on a farm near Red Deer, Alberta) won MADE’s first young designer award in 2012, which amped the duo with support of Parsons alum like Antonio Berardi and Roopal Patel. Currently, Bellavance is stocked at cool kid haven Opening Ceremony, which is a feat in and of itself.

For their sophomore collection, Bellavance and co-designer Ava Hama went classic sportswear, naming Claire McCardell, founder of the all American look, as their muse. It was all about elevated simplicity, from the humble cotton dobby used on a peach and cornflower blue day dress to the classic robe, elevated for night with the use of ribbed silk and black trimming. The understated pieces benefited from last night’s intimate presentation, which capped off with a fabrication drilldown by Dr. Alexandra Palmer of the ROM. So too, did the duo’s mention of stripes, a repeated motif in the collection also rooted in sportswear history and perfect for another spin come Spring 2014.