The top 10 looks from Toronto Fashion Week Spring 2015
This week, World MasterCard Fashion Week's spring/summer 2015 season brought us plenty of showstopping gowns (sure to eventually show up on a Genies or Junos red carpet), moody, avant-garde looks, and a few surprise celebrity appearances. (Forget Solange Knowles' DJ set at the Joe Fresh party Monday night - Laurence Fishburne was at Huntress!)
Some of the week's best looks took a turn for the futuristic - Brit Wacher sent models to the moon, Sid Neigum and Mikhael Kale made liberal use of industrial-chic materials, and Bowie-esque jumpsuits showed up in multiple collections. That seems especially appropriate, given soul-searching and state-of-the-unioning that's surrounded this Fashion Week about the future of the Canadian style industry. With this much design talent crammed into a week's worth of shows, I'd say the outlook is pretty bright (and space-age sexy).
From the quietly sophisticated to the showstopping, here, in no particular order, are 10 of my favourite looks from World MasterCard Fashion Week spring/summer 2015.
Hayley Elsaesser
WMCFW's regular designers tend to come up short on the whimsy and fun (unless it's Target, who are aware that happier people tend to buy more things), and Elsaesser's show of riotously bold prints rendered in neons and sequins, worn by models crowned in a craft store's worth of silver glitter, was a huge breath of fresh air. I would happily wear this sparkling hand-print dress - and I'll bet the Beckerman sisters, who were sitting front row, would too.
Beaufille
Beaufille's designers always draw inspiration from one historical era and one modern-day subculture for each show. The Beaufille girl always looks like she listens to Sonic Youth on her way to and from fencing lessons, and is generally not the kind of person you'd want to meet in a dark alley. This year's show was no different, featuring floaty pieces slashed with cutouts and anchored with their signature hardware.
Brit Wacher
Up-and-comer Wacher is already earning some famous fans (including St. Vincent) for her futuristic-yet-feminine designs. The designer delivered this week with a collection inspired by a journey to the moon and back: Asymmetric hemlines, Jane Jetson collars, structured shoulders and feminine, flowing skirts.
Hilary MacMillan
MacMillan's aesthetic revolves around classic, feminine shapes with painterly, attention-grabbing prints. She outdid herself again with her beachy spring 2015 collection - when the mercury breaks 33 C next summer, I hope at least one Toronto woman will be swanning about town in this sunset-orange maxi and crop top combo.
Mackage
Mackage's show was a perfect mix of classic pieces - trenches, pencil skirts - with the sporty-tech feel currently taking the fashion world by storm. Perforated, grid-like leather and shots of lemon, magenta and cobalt came together with sheer white fabric and khaki-green; it's the perfect wardrobe for the girl in charge on the go. This all-blue look wins my vote for its perfect skinny-slouchy cut.
Mikael D
As one-half of the former design duo Pavoni, Mikael D makes glittering, red carpet-ready frocks (Genies-bound Canadian actresses and Rosedale gala-attending types, hope you're paying attention). There were plenty of beaded, Art Deco-inspired showstoppers, but I'm partial to this Ziggy Stardust-inspired piece.
Mikhael Kale
Kale's shows are always a Fashion Week highlight - his designs are sleek, sexy and powerful, but with brilliantly left-field approaches to colour and materials. This season was no different - he layered a white-and-pastel lineup of usual moto jackets, pencil skirts and sheath dresses with clear vinyl, glittering brocades and shimmering silver fabrics.
Pink Tartan
Kim Newport-Mimran's been doing '50s and '60s-tinged, work-appropriate glamour for so many seasons, it came as a pleasant shock to see her send out bodysuits and fringed suede vests, followed by look after look of American Hustle-meets-Almost Famous '70s glam. The big closer was this fringed jumpsuit, which, admittedly, looks a bit Muppety in photos - but created some stunning movement on the runway,
Sid Neigum
The undisputed man of the week was Neigum, who won two design competitions back to back (and, in the process, managed to make incorporating Minnie Mouse heads into a dress look like haute couture). His usual trademarks, including heavy fabrics arranged into draped and sculptural shapes, gave way to origami-like creations like this look.
Thomas Balint
The gloomy looks and slack-rock tunes at Thomas Balint created a moody, sombre vibe, but I was struck by the cut, pattern-matching and finishing on his striped jackets (check out the pockets) - a clear peek into Balint's skill as a designer.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments.
Photos courtesy George Pimentel / WMCFW.
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