Toronto designers dominate opening of city’s Fashion Week
TORONTO – It was fitting that, on the first night of Toronto Fashion Week, two popular hometown designers dominated the scene at the graceful old Liberty Grand entertainment complex: last season’s bright young star, Arthur Mendonca and veteran designer David Dixon.
Mendonca’s sexy satins and trim suitings were the surprise hit of the Fall 2004 shows in March.
His one-time mentor, Dixon, who is celebrating his 10th anniversary this year, is as close to fashion royalty as Canada has: none other than Holt Renfrew’s hugely influential fashion director Barb Atkin calls him “a legend.”
Monday evening started with Robin Kay, president of the Fashion Design Council of Canada, promising the crowd “a very strong fashion week.”
“I believe we are at a very important time in our fashion history,” she said. If that is indeed the case, much of it is her doing.
The FDCC, which organizes the twice-yearly collections, has made a number of changes to improve the quality of the event. This year sees fewer and shorter shows. The clothes were all judged by a jury before being accepted, so the fashions maintain a higher standard. The off-site shows have been scheduled so they don’t conflict with the on-site ones.
And once again, “stylist to the stars” Phillip Bloch is here as a consultant, as is Fern Mallis, executive director of 7th on Sixth, which organizes New York Fashion Week.
(Unfortunately, unlike New York, few celebrities were in attendance Monday _ actress Sandra Oh and the Designer Guys were the night’s biggest non-fashion stars.)
The first designer of the evening was Quebec’s Andy The-Anh’s POW label.
Although this is the Vietnam-born The-Anh’s eighth season as a designer, it was his first at Toronto Fashion Week. For Spring 2005, The-Anh was transported by Gauguin’s Tahiti to create a sunny collection in stretch silk, jersey, linen and raw denim. The pieces summoned all the colours of the South Pacific _ the bright reds and yellows of tropical flowers, the blue of the ocean, the green of the palm trees.
It was a chicly urban collection, and a sexy one, too, enhanced by careful seaming, ruching and other body-enhancing details.
Also going with a sexy beach theme was the Toronto duo known as Bustle.
Shawn Hewson and Ruth Promislow, the husband-and-wife team of lawyers by day, fashion designers by choice, sent out a collection of shorts, bathing suits and other beach wear that adhered to a Miami Vice meets Beach Blanket Bingo esthetic.
Light and fun and packed with eye candy _ though what was up with the toothpicks the guys were all chomping on? _ the show added a bit of light relief to the evening.
Mendonca’s show was packed, and the excitement shimmered in the air.
Expectations were high for Mendonca, who was raised in Portugal and trained in Toronto and New York, and has been named “a rising star” by Vogue and “one to watch” by Elle.
His Spring 2005 was a beautiful, wearable collection that was just a bit too similar to his fall 2004 collection, “just in different colours,” one woman grumbled.
He sent out pretty, urban suits in shades of putty, black, lilac and white, and loads of dresses: shirt-dresses in patterned chiffon, Diane Von Furstenberg-style wrap dresses and evening dresses in flowing satin with clever fabric twists and elegant draping. His big hit was a gorgeous flame-coloured evening dress with a swirl of handkerchief hems.
Dixon closed the evening with a show that brought the fashionistas, despite toes aching from standing for hours in pointy shoes, to their feet in an enthusiastic standing ovation.
The theme was finding peace among chaos, like a garden in the midst of the urban jungle, and his collection truly epitomized that.
His first group featured tailored pants and skirts in cotton twill with sheer handkerchief linen tops and jackets. He used metallic suiting to add a bit of shimmer. It was all very trim and ladylike, but with a decidedly urban edge.
His second grouping introduced a bit of exotica, thanks to the lovely fabrics, which included a Chinese silk embroidered with birds and trees and a soft, cappuccino-coloured lace. The shapes were all very feminine: jackets were cropped or had nipped waists, with three-quarter-length or pretty bell sleeves; skirts had a bit of ruffle or a flare.
The third grouping was a dreamy vision of graceful crepe dresses and pants in black and white with a touch of feathered organza. Black lace peeked out from beneath a full black skirt, a strapless dress was enhanced by clever ruching. His final piece was a fairytale gown worthy of the Snow Queen _ a full-length white dress with spaghetti straps and an over dress of feathered organza that shivered in the slight breeze.
In introducing his brother, local TV personality Glenn Dixon described David’s clothes as “illuminating” a woman. “It’s like a lightbulb goes off inside,” he said.
After Monday night’s show, those lightbulbs will be going off all over Canada.
Calgary Herald
Credit: CanWest News Service
(Copyright CanWest News Service 2004)