FASHION Magazine

Ever run into a friend’s younger sibling, after years, and spend the whole time grinning at how much they’ve grown and who they’ve become? That was the second Atlantic Fashion Week designer showcase for me—an evening of cheek pinches and head pats, or at least the seated, acceptable equivalent: much-deserved applause.

Katie Tuttle never went to design school—and she’s proud of it. For this 20-year-old designer—half of Halifax-based fashion label Tuttle & Leonardo (tuttleandleonardo.com)—all the technical training of a classroom would just slow her down.

For a city you can hide in the palm of your hand, it’s mysteriously possible for its citizens to be right in the thick of citywide event and not have a clue. Halifax’s first dance with fashion week was no exception, passing by without stirring up much more than a light breeze. An event needs deafening buzz to catch this city’s attention and it seems this time around, the vibrations were at just the right pitch.