Glamour in the Hammer for a good cause
An expected 800 fashionistas and foodies are expected to gather at the Hamilton Convention Centre for an evening of Hamilton-made runway fashion and gourmet treats, one week from today.
In its fourth year, Glamour in the Hammer showcases a broad range of homegrown talent on the runway in support of Good Shepherd, featuring 14 local designers, 10 local celebrity models and food from 11 local restaurants.
“My whole raison d’être was to make sure that it’s community helping community,” says event chair Patti Leonard. “So the local designers who have a hard time getting their names out … this is another venue for them to get their names out there. And then they, in turn, help to get the Good Shepherd’s name out there. So, to me it’s all about win-win and how Hamilton co-operates and works together.”
Not sure whose designs you’ll see heading down the runway? We’ve highlighted a few of the designers for you here.
Mallory Gosselin
Mallory Gosselin was two years out of Cathedral High School, working in a fabric store and toying with the idea of putting together her own design collection when opportunity pounded on her door: an invitation to participate in a fashion show in Toronto. That’s when everything changed.
Gosselin got to work designing her first collection, a brand name and logo. And because she hails from a family of artists, grew up surrounded by art and making art, it should come as no surprise that when it came time to create her own designs, she looked to art for inspiration.
“This first one, I really wanted to go graphic with it,” says Gosselin, 25, of the first collection she designed for Glamour in the Hammer, three years ago. “I was really inspired by pop art. Hence a lot of the polka dots and the bright colours. So Andy Warhol was definitely a big inspiration.”
The following year, a Japanese painting of waterfowl and lotus flowers served as muse for a collection rife with browns, creams and swishes of green. Pink lotuses, similar to the flowers in the painting and handpainted by Gosselin, graced the hems of some of the full, flared skirts.
So what can we expect this year, from Gosselin’s third collection for Glamour in the Hammer? Roses are Red is about passion, she says, about her relationship with fashion, about where she is right now as an artist. The collection is layered with texture like lace, brocade, organza flowers, in a monochromatic palette punctuated with splashes of red.
“To me, passion can be scary and there’s a lot of pain that can come from it but then at the same time, there’s so much good that can come from it,” says Gosselin, who also works at Blackbird Studios. “And I kind of like that contrast and how close they are together, so that’s kind of why I went with the dark tones, the black, the white and the red to show this sort of power.”
The Eye of Faith
Aaron Duarte was working the counter at Booster Juice in Lime Ridge Mall seven years ago when a tall drink of water by the name of Paul Heaton approached with a friend. Their eyes met, something clicked. But it wasn’t until another chance meeting at a nightclub later that evening that they exchanged numbers and the rest, as they say, is history.
Because on Nov. 11, 2011 (11-11-11), soon after embarking on a romantic relationship, Duarte and Heaton formed the brand The Eye of Faith for blogging, selling unaltered and upcycled vintage from their Etsy shop and eventually transitioning into designing original pieces for stage productions and runway shows.
“We like to play off esoteric ideas and ideology,” Heaton says of the brand’s esthetic. “And just the idea of numerology and all those sort of almost secret society things, is where the idea came from.”
“(The Eye of Faith) is a symbol of the eye in the sky that you can look to that represents your destiny, and just having faith in that, so building on your dreams,” adds Duarte.
The pair have been with Glamour