Toronto’s LG Fashion Week got off to a rather slow start. Held in tents at David Pecaut Square instead of out in the boondocks, Monday began with an introductory speech from FDCC head Robin Kay (who spoke of Canada, coolness, and the ways in which Canada is cool) followed by the Holt Renfrew show. Drawing seemingly endless big names — we spotted Jay Manuel, Tommy Ton, Jian Ghomeshi and Suzanne Rogers, to name but a few — the runway was soon filled with garb from some of HR’s top Canuck designers.
Dodging huge letters spelling out H-O-L-T-S (we were expecting a capital disaster, but were fortunately mistaken), models strutted their stuff in select looks from Jeremy Laing, Smythe, Naked & Famous, TwentyCluny, Denis Gagnon, Dennis Merotto, Wings + Horns and Lida Baday. Our favourite looks by far were the ones from Laing, who showed some gorgeous sheer dresses in earthy tones, and a preview for Friday night’s show from Gagnon, who paired dark florals with sneakers — a perfect look for this week.
The other collections had some highlights, but overall fell short of the mark, with many of the looks seeming outdated or overdone (harem pants, exposed zippers). With a tired soundtrack doing little to help, the overall reception was lukewarm: one patron was overheard exclaiming, “I’m officially disenchanted with Fashion Week.”
The second big-ticket event of the night was the Arthur Mendonça show. After being shoved around by so-called ladies in fur, we finally made it into the runway room, working our way past the likes of Jully Black in a floppy mauve hat, Yasmin Warsame (who had what was presumably her daughter in tow), a sparkly Keshia Chanté, a not-so-sparkly Fefe Dobson and Stacey McKenzie, who was dressed in sheer-meets-fur frock, if that makes any sense.
After taking a bit of a leave from fashion following the recession, Mendonça returned to the runway last season, a feat accomplished without losing a step, as witnessed by his many devotees at the show. His inspiration for the spring/summer season was the Liz Taylor version of Cleopatra, spotted in his flowing silhouettes, bold jewellery and use of gold.
Highlights included a gorgeous rust-coloured sheer dress (which caused McKenzie to exclaim “I love that!”); a fuchsia dress with an asymmetrical neckline and teardrop cutout — worn by local style maven Naro Lokuruka — and an illusory jumpsuit look in a black and hot pink floral print.
The surprise of the night was an appearance by it-model Andrej Pejic, a male model known for his stunning androgynous looks. While we felt that the collection wasn’t quite as cohesive as it could have been (it included florals, zebra-print and colour blocking), and the jewellery lacked substance, the cheering at the show’s end left little room for discussion.