FASHION Magazine

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By Leah Semple

Take a digital backdrop streaming scenes of waves and sand, add swag bags with beach towels, parade out the scantily-clad bods, and you’ve got Tosca Delfino‘s Spring 2012 lesson in island chic. Basic bathers everywhere were put to swimsuit shame with models walking down the runway in accessorized bikini combos and high cut one-piece suits. Bracelets, belts, and woven hats accompanied sheer gauzy cover-ups, transforming the notion of swimwear into a complete head-to-toe look. Printed whales on navy bottoms, elephants on a faded yellow top, and—in the name of CanadaCool—a one-piece adorned with a print of the Toronto cityscape. (Where’s Drake when you need him…)

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Laura Siegel’s barefooted models looked as if they belonged very far away from October in Toronto yesterday—a Mediterranean beach was certainly more their speed. But in ultra-drapey, soft-hued pieces with a worn-in, slightly deconstructed touch, they looked more shipwrecked than beach vacationing. I was thrilled to see a return of Siegel’s coveted knitwear—lighter than last spring’s collection, considering the season, but perfectly executed with a casual, purposefully undone look. Printed, full length body suits and separates walked down the runway, and were followed by gauze-like wide-leg pants and whisper-thin maxi skirts, fringed arm and leg bands, and athletic-inspired shoulder-less henleys—each outfit had in common a ubiquitous white scarf-like headband tied around each head. Lord of the Flies at its best, and with easy warm-weather wearability, a step in the right direction for this LG Fashion Week newbie.

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DIY: We teach you how to tie a turban, Jay Manuel style »
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The intense dry-ice spectacle at last night’s Attitude Jay Manuel show may have blurred the sight of some, case in point, the gorgeous Yasmin Warsame’s disoriented runway tumble, but Jay Manuel’s vision for his collection is crystal clear. For spring, it’s all about jet-setting ‘70s style. After a 30-minute delay, the antsy crowd settled their sights on the Missoni-inspired runway, to a parade of slick jersey jumpsuits, off-the-shoulder open knits, breezy cotton tunics and brightly coloured Palm Springs prints. On my personal can’t-live-without list is the chic two-tone denim trench. A shout-out must be given to our go-to guy, George Antonopoulos, for an amazing job styling—the headscarves, raffia fedoras, and oversized sunnies secured a care-free cool factor and added the perfect finishing touch.

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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.

Judging by the action outside the tents at LG Fashion Week yesterday, a few definitive trends have carried on from the international shows, namely candy coloured hair, brights, a bit of Pradarama, and the addition of a new and weather-appropriate one: fur!

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When a brightly packaged macaron invite to Amanda Lew Kee’s Spring 2012 show appeared on our desks last week, we knew we were in for something sunny. And it was so sunny that models wore visors, while several suited onlookers peered in to watch through the King Street West-facing glass wall. In contrast to last season’s sometimes over-embellished outing, this season was a light and airy ode to hip sportswear, featuring sheer-white button downs, panelled leggings, shorts with oversized and exposed pockets, and a beautiful pair of beige silk wide legs that were slit along the sides. Two graphic prints—one with distinctly early ‘90s hippy wall-hanging flare—appeared as panels, yokes, and stripes added some serious cool-factor that we’re sure to be seeing on many a cool girl come spring.

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Going benchless a la Balenciaga, the FASHION team took to the studio room at LGFW last night to catch a glimpse of the crowded Juma Spring 2012 collection. We can say for certain that the hair was fairy-dusted in gold, copper, and silver glitter (we really ought to think about bringing our statuesque copy editor, Emilie Dingfield, to the shows for height advantage) and through some stellar hockey-style decking past the mob of fashion folk blocking our view, we came away with 3 must-haves, and an unexpected calf workout from our en pointe posture:

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Next up in our studio invasion series, we stopped by the temporary studio belonging to sister designers Chloé and Parris Gordon (they rented the space from photographer Francisco Garcia) while they were busy putting the last touches on their Spring 2012 collection. While Chloé whipped some selects off the rack to show us, Parris was busy in the jewellery studio crafting more splendid silver pieces for the collection. Check out our slideshow for a hint of the Victorian-inspired wears as well as the inspiration behind the Chloé Comme Parris collection that the duo will be showing tonight during LG Fashion Week.

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Is there a better inspiration than Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra? We thought not, until Arthur Mendonça set the vision for beauty at his Spring 2012 show: Cleopatra emerging from water. Eddie Malter, official makeup artist for L’Oreal Paris, used H.I.P. High Intensity Pigment Eyeshadow Duos “224” and “207,” blending layers of blue, turquoise, and silver to achieve the effect of water reflecting on the face—a look certainly worthy of modern Egyptian goddesses. Brows were left natural and lips subtle, done in a beige Infallible Le Rouge lip colour (“814”) and covered with gloss.

Back from a whirlwind of shooting in New York, Milan, and Paris, our boy Lewis Mirrett is back on his home turf spotting the styles for LG Fashion Week. Peep our first batch here, spot your stylish self?

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Set to a remix of my current song obsession, Flight Facilities’ “Crave You,” last night’s Arthur Mendonça show had me in great spirits before the first model even took to the runway. My smile stayed put as the girls marched out in Cleopatra-inspired (albeit, subtly) structured linen pieces adorned with zip-off peplums and exposed hardware, paired with feminine crème draped silks. Continuing to play with texture, as we spotted in his studio last week, Arthur experimented (with success) with a ladylike black leather trench, a sophisticated waxed-linen safari suit, and a subtle metallic–tweed drawstring-waist blazer, all FASHION favourites. While I could have done without the bold geometric metallic suiting, animal prints, and the flashback to Lanvin’s Spring 2011 collection, Arthur’s string of silk looks in highly saturated hues—including tangerine and fuchsia Japanese florals, a radio wave–print sheath with a slash of magenta, and a deep sky blue blouse on standout Serbian Australian model Andrej Pejic—kept my smile holding strong into the night.