Toronto Fashion Week
Starts with yet another prize for a Montreal designer.
AMontrealer Cécile Raizonville is the third from this city to win the Mercedes-Benz competition; Nepton, Taddeo, Mackage and Rudsak among others on packed schedule of spring shows
Montrealer scored a fashion hat trick in the early days of World MasterCard Fashion Week, which kicked off Monday in a tent pitched on Toronto’s David Pecaut Square.
Womenswear line Matière Noire by Cécile Raizonville shared the coveted Mercedes-Benz StartUp Tuesday night, a national competition to discover and mentor the next generation of Canadian design talent. She follows Montreal’s Duy and Martin Lim, the previous winners of the initiative, now in its third year.
“We love that she’s working with Quebec weavers to develop her fabrics and necklaces that you can also wear as visors,” said Fashion magazine editor Bernadette Morra, one of the judges. “Her pieces were different. She’s using craft, but it doesn’t look arts-and- craftsy. It looks cool and refined and world class.”
Raizonville says her spring 2014 line was inspired by American artist Georgia O’Keeffe and the migrant workers in John Steinbeck’s Depression-era novel The Grapes of Wrath. Nipped-waist dresses and jackets, kimono sleeves, thick, natural fabrics and a band of horizontal blanket stripes were the visual touch-points of her capsule collection.
For the first time, the stalemated judges honoured a second winner, Edmonton’s Malorie Urbanovitch.
“It was really tough for us,” Morra said of the judges’ deliberations. “The calibre of the talent was outstanding.”
Urbanovitch showed on-trend, fuzzy grunge sweaters with washed, sueded-silk shift dresses and asymmetric-panelled skirts.
Despite being the last city on the circuit, the buzz was high for the spring 2014 collections, and celebrities including actor Elisha Cuthbert and singer-songwriter Fefe Dobson lined the front row.
Most shows filled the 800 seats in the main runway room, including Montrealer Travis Taddeo’s at 5 p.m. Tuesday, not traditionally the best time slot.
“I like what he’s doing. It’s fresh but not pretentious,” said Elle Canada and Elle Québec fashion editor Denis Desro.
Modern and minimalist, Taddeo’s layered looks included flowing sheer silk chiffon over fitted viscose jersey tank dresses for women, and shorts made of Japanese leather over fitted pants, with linen jersey tank tops for men, all in shades of black, white, grey or faded blue. Baseball caps and socks with sandals completed his just-rolled-out-of-bed, don’t-Ilook-great theme.
Fellow Montrealer Mélissa Nepton also showed Tuesday. Asian styling and pixelated black-andwhite patterns and prints punctuated her collection. Wide mini shorts in silk graphic prints, mixed with shiny Lurex, resem- bled flirty miniskirts. Her quilted cropped tops and palazzo pants are already favourites with buyers.
On Monday, highlights of the ’50s and ’60s again inspired Kimberley Newport-Mimran of Pink Tartan. Navy jacquard swing coats with oversized dots, race-flag checkered skirts and a cream blouse with strategic vertical slits along the back and sleeves were notable.
Toronto designer David Dixon closed Monday’s opening night with his signature pretty dresses. “All the girls will want these dresses,” Desro said. “They’re simple, but there’s always a little twist.”
The packed schedule includes more than 30 designers from across the country. In addition to Taddeo and Nepton, Montreal labels in the lineup include Mackage, Rudsak, Soïa & Kyo and Mikael D.
The week culminates in Saturday’s consumer-only day of fashion shows, featuring highlights of the week and a designer pop-up market where you can buy fall 2013 wares.