Gotstyle Brings Out the Hunky Guys, Plus Ben Mulroney and Jian Gomeshi on the Runway at Toronto Fashion Week

Gotstyle menswear owner Melissa Austria is the female Mel Gibson - she knows what men want. Her second story store, located on King West, is a shopping oasis for men and even includes a grooming salon. The male Fashion Week audience (who were inundated with women's lines throughout the week) finally got an interesting treat yesterday with Gotstyle's showcase of many of the Canadian designers they carry in the store.

The designer line-up was divided into four scenes (or the four Canadian seasons albeit all of them showing Spring/Summer lines) and included collections by Christopher Bates, Costa Pavlou, Bustle, Skmpeez, Red Canoe, Juelz Rok, Gregory Allen, Juzd, 1921 jeans, 18 waits, Maison St. Pierre, Kwasi, Lipson, Trepaul and Empire Clothing.

The hot and heavy runway show also featured some Canadian celebrities as models including Ben Mulroney, Michael Landsberg, Nico Archambault (oh did the girls swoon), Jian Gomeshi, Zane Meghi, David Clemmer and Bruce Turner, and Marcello Cabezas.

Blazers came in soft colours like powder blue, baby pink and white and poppy colours like yellow, purple, blue and pink courtesy of Kwasi. The denim was dark. Fitted suits came in plaid and pin stripe. Bow ties had prints or solid colours. Bathing suits were square cut and skimpy, and bags came in every shape and size.

I was particularly impressed with Red Canoe. The brand screamed Canadian (never thought I'd be able to say that) - leather bags, plaid scarves, fleur de lys printed on t-shirts and various RCMP branded gear.

All photos by Paul Flynn. Video by Istoica.