FASHION Magazine

{FASHION WEEK SPRING 2009 TORONTO}

By Sarah Casselman

Spotted: Editors looking chic despite the cold wicked wind of the west: lots of fur, chunky knits, coloured ribbed tights, croc-print boots, trenchcoats, skinny jeans tucked into boots, bejewelled flats and elbow-length leather gloves.

Now, on to the shows…

{FASHION WEEK SPRING 2009 TORONTO}

By Sarah Casselman

Alfred Sung‘s bridal collection officially kicked off L’Oréal Fashion Week at the Nathan Phillips Square tents. Models walked down the aisle, er, runway, swathed in countless variations of white gowns. Tons of tulle, delicate lace, light-as-air chiffon, strings of pearls and rhinestones that shimmered like fireflies in an evening sky.

{FASHION WEEK SPRING 2009 TORONTO}

By Sarah Nicole Prickett

Opening the new-this-season Studio at L’Oréal Fashion Week—an intimate space to showcase up-and-coming designers—Katya Revenko presented the Spring 2009 installment of her blossoming brand, Desperately Different.

It’s been a dizzying and hectic week at the Marché Bonsecours: shows, champagne cocktails (champs + raspberry puree = ecstasy!), and more shows.

{FASHION WEEK SPRING 2009 TORONTO}

By Sarah Casselman

The Greta Constantine Spring 2009 show brought a packed house to Circa nightclub for a glimpse of the duo’s gorge, goddess-inspired gowns. The beefcake male models (think Speedos and less than one percent body fat) are just the icing on this no-cal cake.

By Rebecca Voight

Wow, it’s Sunday and it’s almost time to say ‘That’s all folks!’

Marc Jacobs had Edith Piaf singing her heart out for one of the best Louis Vuitton collections ever. The mood was titi Parisienne and the models with poodle dos did have what the French call “du chien.” But by the end of the show it was clear Jacobs had set Parisian cheeky chic to an African beat.

By Rebecca Voight

Paris is noisy, but Australian designer Martin Grant is so calm, cool and collected you might miss him. This is a man who knows where a woman’s waist is and he manages to highlight it in almost every silky dress.

By Rebecca Voight

Requiem’s design duo, Italian Rafaele Boriello and French/English Julien Desselle, are, along with Christophe Decarnin at Balmain and Giambattista Valli, Paris’s next big things. Inspired by christening dresses and Truman Capote’s 1966 Black and White Ball—in other words couture and dressy baby clothes—the show was full of desirables. Requiem’s elegant little dresses, especially the first one they showed featuring ruffles, mini pleats and puffy sleeves in white with a trompe l’oeil black vest, has just the right amount of delicacy.

By Rebecca Voight

Thursday began with Stella McCartney, and she has fantastic friends. The artists Dinos and Jake Chapman painted a bright collage of children and animals as the backdrop for her show. She also has three young children. I mention that because she doesn’t seem to be trailing nannies 24/7 and you have to wonder how she does it.

By Rebecca Voight

Pixelated prints, cinched waists and thigh high skirts are de rigueur in Paris for spring. Say what you will about morosity dictating a more sombre stance, fashion is marching to its own saucy beat.

By Rebecca Voight

Who needs colors when you have great lighting? At Nicolas Ghesquière’s futuristic show for Balenciaga, fabrics changed color as they were hit by overhead light beams. The shimmering collection of sequin tube dresses, metallic fringe and tiers of iridescent, crinkled ribbons sewn together for a bubbly effect, had a chic Barbarella quality in simple shifts with space-uniform seaming and drop-waist tank dresses. The glitter factor was balanced by narrow, matte trousers with intricate insets in an intriguing mix of fabrics. And Ghesquière has seen the future of the handbag as well. Balenciaga’s square clutches in shiny croc and lizard spell the end of the big, messy bag.

By Rebecca Voight

It was a birthday special in Paris on Monday with Cacharel celebrating it’s 50th and Martin Margiela looking back on his 20-year design career.