Just when you think you’re done with fashion (for a few weeks, at least), along come The ShOws.
The ShOws are organized by Paola Fullerton, who decided to create the event after noticing that she often met talented Canadian designers abroad, but hadn’t heard of them back home. Fullerton threw all her efforts into bringing collections to Canada, hoping to give her fellow citizens the opportunity to embrace the talent we didn’t necessarily know we had.
Now in its second season, the collections were presented at the Ritz-Carlton over a course of two days: David Szeto and Ruffian on Monday, and Jean-Pierre Braganza and Jeremy Laing Tuesday night. We’ve already given a run-down of Braganza and Laing’s collections, so we’ll keep the focus trained on the first day.
Currently residing in Brussels and showing in Paris, David Szeto’s designs have been spotted on the backs of Audrey Tautou and Gwen Stefani, though the designer himself chooses to keep a low profile. Szeto’s ladylike collection had a whiff of Victoriana to it, with details like ruffles and puffed sleeves. Our favourite looks were a forest green frock and a swing coat. The dress had a gold chain looped through gathers at the waist, while the cropped coat had some gold-edged lace peeking out from underneath. The show’s styling tended to distract from rather than enhance the garments; we liked the idea of the mussed-up two-tone hair, but it didn’t quite work.
At Ruffian we were transported to the English countryside (see gallery, below), with plenty of plaids, tweeds, corduroy and lots of large, black buttons. Designers Brian Wolk and Claude Morais, who are based in New York, accented the fabrics with leather; our favourite was a blue tweed jacket with a leather bib, sleeves and hip detailing. We liked a look that matched a double-breasted plaid jacket — shot with rich blues, greens and fuchsia — with a relaxed jodhpur. A series of softer looks were also thrown in the mix, with loose bows on the necks of some blouses and a dramatic set of ruffles on another.
Unfortunately, The ShOws were rather under-attended, clearly due to a case of fashion fatigue. And with that, an extended Fashion Week came to a close.
