Fashion Week started with a bang last night. While it officially wasn't the first event of the week (that honour went to VAWK by Sunny Fong at the AGO), the opening night gala at the tents at King and Shaw was a major statement and hopefully a sign of the glamour, grace and good times yet to come.

Perhaps in the mood to celebrate both its 21st consecutive Fashion Week and its larger venue (capacity has increased from 600 to 1,000 seats compared to last year), the FDCC along with L'Oreal Paris and many of this year's designers put on quite a show for a near capacity crowd that included familiar faces like Susur Lee, Leah Miller and the Dragon Den's Kevin O'Leary.

After a brief introduction by Robin Kay, the team of Eddie Maleterre and Eric del Monoco from L'Oreal Paris delivered on the theme 100 Years of Beauty by trotting out model after model, each with a look inspired from a moment in time between 1910 and present day.

Once that was over, there was a brief timeout as Lucian Matis was announced as the winner of the new FDCC Development Fund. As part of the prize, Matis gets $10,000 plus a sponsored runway fee (which starts at $15,000) at the next Fashion Week.

Matis didn't feel up for a thank you speech so the lights dimmed and on the gala went with a Shakespearean influenced sequence in which designs were contributed by many of the designers scheduled to appear on the runway later this week.

Finally, to wrap things up, a parade of FDCC ballerinas graced the stage to impart this year's theme of Wear Love.

Robin Kay and some token crowd shots.

With contributions from Tim Shore. All photos by Paul Flynn