The best of [FAT]: We recap Toronto’s Arts & Fashion Week with the 5 talents we predict will be making waves

Is it just me, or are we all still recovering from the whirlwind that is fashion month? From constantly refreshing the home pages of my favorite fashion sites to trekking down to the tents of David Pecaut Square for Toronto’s own collections, it seems that this so-called “month” is years long! Before we close our books on the Fall 2013 collections season, there is one more week to get excited about in Toronto–that is of course–[FAT] Arts & Fashion Week which took place last week in a beautiful warehouse in the up-and-coming arts neighborhood off Sterling Road in the west end.

Industry insiders, fashion fans and fellow designers all piled in to check out the burgeoning talent coming out of Toronto, Montreal and new partners Focus Mexico in a week-long extravaganza of runway shows, photography exhibits (Toronto ex-pat Hannah Sider‘s portraits were stand out), art installations, live performances and fashion films (a particular favorite from the always incredible Diego Armand at Perfecto Magazine)

Founder Vanja Vasic first put together an alternative fashion week while a student in Ryerson University’s Fashion Design program. I remember attending one of the first presentations, as my big sis happened to be showing alongside Vasic and her fellow students. The evening was a haphazard collection of musical performances, runway shows and modern dance–needless to say, FAT has come a long way since then.

Attending shows at Arts & Fashion Week reminds me why I love fashion. Vasic and her colleagues have created an incredible platform for unknown designers to present their collections in front of the fashion community, media outlets and supporters. I’ll admit to getting a bit misty-eyed as a group of high-school and first-year university students presented their designs as part of PACT Fashion, an organization founded by Make Den owner Irene Stickney which gives under-privileged youths practical skills and creative outlets. It’s organizations like PACT that make FAT what it is today–a community of creative minds working together to make fashion and design accessible to those who otherwise are forced to sit on the sidelines.

Here’s a look at some of my favorite collections from the week.

The post The best of [FAT]: We recap Toronto’s Arts & Fashion Week with the 5 talents we predict will be making waves appeared first on FASHION Magazine.