COMFORTABLY INDIFFERENT
Restrained designs in local spotlight
Finally, in the penultimate show of Fashion Preview, held in stately Tudor Hall at Ogilvy’s last week, there was a show that fit the setting.
Ladies, and I use that word deliberately, perambulated and lounged around the hall’s grand piano, in sack coats pinned with brooches, day dresses, slingback heels, and hair up in buns at Leinad Beaudet’s fall- winter 2015 show.
Titled The Comfort of Indifference, and inspired by Denys Arcand’s 1981 similarly named film, Confort et l’indifference, the show was also inspired by the Yvettes — the so- called docile women who voted “No” in the sovereignty referendum of 1980 — and by the current ageism debate surrounding Annie Lennox and Madonna, Beaudet said.
Those classy, languorous models, one with Joan Collins hair and a molten gold silk dress, are a reaction to the “bling bling ” of women like Beyoncé and Rihanna, Beaudet said. “Women can be so beautiful,’’ he said. “There are other ways to intrigue than exposing the body.”
Ironic? Yes, replied Beaudet, who studied at Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts and worked with furrier Zuki and designer Mélissa Nepton, among others, before launching his own line in 2013.
Fashion needs a story, and Beaudet supplied one of the more compelling ones during the two evenings of shows from nine designers, most of them new to the scene. The event, in its third season, is emerging as the most prominent showcase for Montreal designers in the absence of an official fashion week. Also absent: top Montreal names like Marie Saint Pierre and Denis Gagnon ( both of whom attended a few shows the first evening) and buyers.
In its aspiration to be an innovative event, full creative rein was given to the designers, organizer Emanuela Lolli said. That meant seating — changed for every show to allow for different staging and moods — was often less than ideal for viewing. Worse, lighting was spotty, as in models backlit by three spots, blinding not only the viewers but, sadly for everyone, the photographers whose job it is to record not just a mood, but the clothing.
On the plus side, the shows ran on time, quite the feat for all those set changes. And hats off to Ogilvy’s for offering its space to young designers. It’s a tough world out there, with the big brands, from luxe Dior to can’t- beat- the- price Zara and H& M, becoming more powerful by the moment. But there is an alternative fashion universe, and it needs — and deserves — all the help it can get.
Like Beaudet, Elisa C- Rossow understood the strengths and restraints of the setting and her collection, staging an installation with several models in the woodpanelled, grandly chandeliered hall. And like last season, she placed racks of clothing — with price tags — around the room for guests to touch and even try on. There, on one rack, was Catherine Sève’s black tube bubble dress, in stretch cotton, worn at the Jutra awards, for $ 225. The contemporary urban collection, all in black, would lack drama on the catwalk.
Women can be so beautiful. There are other ways to intrigue than exposing the body. Leinad Beaudet
V- Franz chose to go for models moving quickly — usually the right choice for a runway show — but the dim lighting was a problem. The designer’s program notes said the collection was a dialogue between hard and soft, sensuality and restraint, reality and lies. Indeed, there was at least one well- realized fluid gown in a nice shade between blush and marsala ( Pantone colour of the year), but many pieces sported the message Basic Bitch and were slashed with cut- outs or had strips of fabric, too wide to be called fringe, so more like vertical blinds.
On the staging issue, the finale of one show, WRKDEPT, had the models standing for a full five minutes or more like an army of monks but basically out of view of about three- quarters of the audience.
WRKDEPT’s Andy Loang Hong said he was inspired by the Renaissance for his fall collection, although the feeling was more of his spring Japanese collection, with a touch of bondage, as male and female models in unisex garb walked the walk, very slowly. The palette was oatmeal, charcoal, taupe, white and black, the silhouette loose with tunics, wrap vests and coats and wide pants. Models wore stocking caps, the women’s hair in topknots, while in a recurring detail at the shows, some faces were obscured with rope, knits or other material. In fact, at another show one viewer ( though it’s hard to imagine that she saw much) wore grey pantyhose over her face, with the legs flopping like bunny ears from her head. The theatre of fashion, in Montreal as in Paris, Milan and Beijing, often happens off the catwalk.
It is said that three’s a trend, and the ascetic esthetic was also present at Les Incompétents and Pedram Karimi.
Between Tudor Hall shows, Karimi was invited to present his collection to a small group in the plush boardroom of Ogilvy’s. His signature piece was a cashmere coat, transformable into a cape. Karimi, like Montrealer Rad
It is said that three’s a trend, and the ascetic esthetic was also present at Les Incompétents and Pedram Karimi.
Hourani — who shows at haute couture in Paris — has a unisex vision for clothes that are angular and devoid of adornment. Karimi said he focused on tailored pieces, “on things rather sensible for the urban man or woman.”
Les Incompétents made it a trio for the monastic mood. Again, there was a muted colour palette, of grey, khaki and black for bouclé mohair smocks, ponchos and jackets, and quilted tunics and pant ensembles. Injected into the mix, sheer black tunics and snoods, covering the face of the models, who wore socks and sandals. Again, many of the designs were unisex. Take them out of the styled context, and many would fit quite easily into a fall wardrobe, like a mohair zip coat in oatmeal, with one black sleeve and black back.
The collection is the work of French couple Stephen Smith and Émeline Morellet, who call themselves the incompetents because they have no training in fashion design. They said they play with forms, and design on the body.
They were inspired by minerals and images of vast landscapes, Morellet said, whose hair, like that of at least one model, was a monk- like bowl cut.
“We don’t look at trends or fashion,’’ added Smith. “We just want to make clothes that are comfortable.”
Also on offer were contemporary collections from Vaiken, Naïké and KQK, with competent clothes fit for modern life.