Yesterday evening (April 12) much of the city’s fashion folk headed to Ryerson University to take in Mass Exodus 2012: LUCID. Held at the Ryerson Theatre, the student-run event presented a runway collection of young designers — 25 of them in all — who are graduating from the university’s fashion design program. With past graduates including Amanda Lew Kee, Sunny Fong, Cara Cheung and David Dixon (who was in attendance with Suzanne Rogers), the show is a great place to check out up-and-coming designers.
Guest curator and MuchMusic VJ Liz Trinnear kicked things off. An avid supporter of young designers, Trinnear had selected looks from the graduating class that she felt best showcased the breadth and depth of the designers’ collections. Having previously worn garments by both Lew Kee and Cheung to the MMVAs, Trinnear also let it be known that she still needs a dress for this year’s event.
As the show began, a series of four or five looks from each selected designer were paraded down the runway. Modeled by students with real bodies, collections ran the gamut from lingerie to wedding dresses and included a set devoted to bondage gear (much to the delight of the audience). The designers who stood out most to us were Alyssa Alikpala, Andrea Dineen, Kendra Pegg, Monica Saraguro and Yvonne Lin.
Alyssa Alikpala’s collection (see gallery below) drew its inspiration from a motif of paradox and played with the ideas of innocence and evil, dark and light, hard and soft. Using a palette of black and white, her clothes were urban and darkly romantic, featuring asymmetrical hems and sheer inserts. We loved a leather vest with cutout details.
Inspired by Canada’s northern landscapes, Andrea Dineen (left) used hand-dyed textiles, matching wool jersey knits with leather garments. We liked a grey and black leather jacket with softly folded lapels.
In her designer statement Kendra Pegg (see gallery) noted, “clothing should function as clothing,” explaining that her collection is designed to fulfill basic human needs. Her garments possessed a minimalism, showcasing simple lines and a boxier silhouette. A chunky cardigan paired with leather shorts felt fresh, while a quilted coat felt like the ideal addition to any woman (or man’s) wardrobe.
Monica Saraguro (see gallery) played with various textiles including black lamb leather, roasted silk charmeuse and black fur. An off-white hand-crocheted dress was absolutely breathtaking.
Our favourite designer of the night was Yvonne Lin (see gallery). Executed with great precision, Lim based her collection on intricate paper works of Michael Hansmeyer, an architect-slash-programmer who creates architectural forms using algorithms and subdivision processes. While this may sound like it translates to non-wearable art, much of the cream-coloured collection was easy to envision incorporating into a wardrobe. A woven-effect sweater would pair easily with jeans; a cap-sleeved dress with a series of delicate folds would be an elegant choice for a night out. Although a dress featuring wave-like leather protrusions would require an event like, say, the MMVAs. We know just the person to pull it off.
