FASHION Magazine

See all the films in our series » In this week’s fashion film, director Wesley Stringer puts the wears of Edmonton-born and New York–based designer Sid Neigum on a slow burn. The action in this film takes place over a mere 7.2 seconds, but the movements have been stretched as if to escape from visual reality and emphasize form, […]

The post Wesley Stringer + Sid Neigum Present: Nihilism appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

With his distinct talent and penchant for performance art, it comes as no surprise that small-town Alberta designer Sid Neigum (sidneigum.com) once created a 300-pound dress from old tires and screws. He’s currently studying at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York as well as producing full collections for women and men, which he’s shown at Toronto’s LG Fashion Week for the past two seasons. Neigum is lighting up Canadian runways, but with an exceptionally dark appeal.

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By Jessica Borchiver

Let’s forget about brights, colours, and patterns for a moment—it’s not on Sid Neigum’s spring agenda. Just like his LG debut for Fall 2011, the Edmonton-born and New York–based designer stuck to his strengths on Wednesday, making yet another strong statement collection with black pieces (a select few with a hint of dark teal polka dots and burnt orange), as well as exaggerated black felt eyebrows and overstated chunky—yet barely walkable—opened toed heels.

Word: Trantastic

Meaning: A word to describe someone (of either gender, but usually boyz) who looks tranny-ish, and also fantastic. But you could have deduced that.

Usage: “Did you love that Sid Neigum show? I thought it was trantastic.”

While most of us have embraced the sunny side, it seems that some are still clinging to the darker than dark androgyny made staple by the likes of Gareth Pugh and Rad Hourani for dear life. That being said, some do it better than others and Sid Neigum definitely fell into the “better” category in his LG debut. Whereas Heather Lawton⎯who showed later on the same day⎯didn’t do much to expand on downtown staples of black leather leggings and beat up motocross, Neigum breathed new life into the skin with his shark-finlike triangles built into the backsides of jackets and sleekly defined shoulders on blazers. Currently studying at New York’s F.I.T, Neigum already has a kind of reputation in the works after showing at fashion weeks in Edmonton and Vancouver. With his strong eye for the details, we’ll place bets on this designer growing leaps and bounds by next season.

View the Sid Neigum photo gallery »

Last October, a breath of fresh air breezed through the grounds at Heritage Court⎯the home to “official” Toronto fashion week⎯in the form of an über hip group of young fashionites called The Fashion Collective. A sort of mélange of hype-making and style setting, PR maven Kate Mullin, stylist Dwayne Kennedy and producer Brian A. Richards brought the likes of Rita Liefhebber, Thomas, Amanda Lew Kee and Chloé Comme Parris to the official schedule. Whereas the edgy designers such as these would have previously stayed as far away from the official schedule as possible, the group bridged the gap between the established and the upstarts making the official week a hub for all. For the fall 2011 season starting on March 28^th, the Collective’s got a whole new bag of tricks up their sleeve, introducing LABEL, Heather Lawton, Sid Neigum, and diepo into the Toronto fashion week womenswear stratosphere. Here’s our sneak peek of what these hot young things have got in store: