Toronto designers go rogue; Montrealers go west

TORONTO — Funny thing about Toronto fashion week — aside from its name, World MasterCard Fashion Week — is that IMG, its powerful new owner, can’t seem to bring the Toronto fashion troops together.

A rogue contingent of 12 designers chose to show their spring 2013 collections a week earlier at two unofficial events. The ShOws feature Canadian designers like Montreal’s Jean-Pierre- Braganza, and Toronto’s Jeremy Laing, making names for themselves abroad, while the Collections features emerging designers.

But seven Montreal labels, many of which held previews at home in September, made the trip last week to WMCFW — just try tweeting that one — where sponsors from Mercedes-Benz to Maybelline, Essie to Target (also a sponsor in Montreal) lavished food, wine and makeup on media and guests.

And add to the lineup Duy Nguyen, whose Duy label won the MercedesBenz StartUp competition, the second time running a Montreal designer has taken the prize.

Mélissa Nepton, showing for her third time in Toronto, and with a sizable baby bump showing, repeated her play of stripes in a breezy collection of sheer, loose fabrics. (The transparent dresses and pants will be lined when up for sale.)

The big difference between the two cities, she said, is that Montreal is family, something of a love-in for the designers without very much design criticism. The Toronto critics can be tough, she added, which she says is a good thing because it helps one improve.

“We need to stay in Montreal because it’s creative, beautiful, young, but the market is in Toronto,’’ Nepton said.

Among the other Montrealers: Pavoni (see story this page); coat and leather specialists Mackage and Soïa and Kyo; newcomer Rachel Sin; UNTTLD with a breakthrough Japanese-inspired line; and Travis Taddeo, with edgy womens-wear after a fine menswear presentation in Montreal.

Among the Toronto label highlights are stalwarts Joe Mimran’s Joe Fresh, whose cheap chic line for Loblaws always looks trend-on fabulous on the catwalk and is taking New York by storm (no reference to Sandy intended) and his wife Kimberley Newport-Mimran’s Pink Tartan line, this season in pastel pinks, pistachio and silver brocades for softly pleated midi skirts and vanity swing coats. And it doesn’t hurt to cast top models like Pat Cleveland and Chantal Stafford Abbott. Irina Lazareanu, the Karl Lagerfeld muse from Montreal, walked Mackage and Holt Renfrew.

Arthur Mendonça was another to draw inspiration from Japanese style, in an uptown brilliant-hued incarnation — as opposed to UNTTLD’ s downtown vibe.

Toronto is not actually all that different from Montreal. The Canadian market is small by any measure, and homegrown designers and retailers face a barrage of competition from U.S. and international giants. Many Montreal designers don’t come on board for fashion week here, either.

The Toronto Star’s Derrick Chetty wrote an open letter to IMG Fashion, which runs fashion weeks from New York to Miami and Mumbai.

“The ideal scenario would be a one-week showcase packed with relevant offerings to highlight a strong Canadian fashion industry brimming with design talent,” he wrote.

“I feel the entire point of a fashion week should be to focus on the designers. The blood, sweat and hard-work of these people is often overshadowed by the dazzling names of the sponsors and endless thank yous in the inevitable speeches. Toronto is not even in the official name of your event — World MasterCard Fashion Week!’’

At least we call it Montreal Fashion Week.