Toronto Fashion Week Day 1 - Chloe comme Parris, Pink Tartan and a few drinks

Now that it's all over, I can finally sit down and write about my Toronto Fashion Week F/W 2013 adventures! Even though I'm still working on runway recaps and so on I've decided to put some time aside for the blog. Yay blogging!

Here goes nothing...

Day 1 of Toronto's World MasterCard Fashion week opened up with yet another amazing collection by Chloe comme Parris. The Gordon sisters sent a 90s-grunge inspired line down their fall 2013 runway and yet again I wanted to own every single piece of it. Every little detail, down to the punk-rock braids in the models' hair, was perfect. If for some reason you have no idea what I'm talking about and you have yet to set your eyes on the beauty that is the Chloe comme Parris fall line, please do so now. KayThanksBye.

The Gordon Sister
Photos: Elayne Millar

After the CCP show, I took to my front row seat and enjoyed Kimberley Newport-Mimran's Pink Tartan collection. Interested in 1950's bombshell housewives? Good! Check out the article I wrote for the Post. Here are some photos I took backstage.

pale nails for Pink Tartan F/W 2013 

Big dark eyebrows. Don't got 'em? Sucks to be you.
(KARMA! the kids who made fun of mine in elementary school can SUCK IT NOW HA!)

When Day 1 came to an end, I headed over to the Holts Opening Night Party on the third floor of the Bloor and Bay Street flagship store. At first, I didn't want to go. I thought I'd be out of place. I was wrong! Hint: if you're ever invited to cocktail party hosted by a billion dollar department store like Holts just GO! Yes, the crowd was slightly older (the Toronto fashion industry's main people..UM HI!) but EVERYTHING WAS FREE.

Being social in a leopard high-low dress
photo: shedoesthecity

Older people have money. Young noobies like myself don't. So? Get in on the free food, drinks and networking opportunities! The Holts Opening Night Party was so fun and I made a ton of new friends while stuffing my face with pastries, oysters, mini grilled cheeses, and free cocktails!

Afterwards, I headed over to yet another fashion party at the Mercer to dance around to A$AP Rocky, the celebrity DJ of the night, and continued to get my drink on with some of the biggest names in fashion press. GREAT NIGHT. (don't be jealous).

A print piece, finally. Momma's proud!

MY WORK WAS ACTUALLY PUBLISHED IN PRINT THIS WEEEEK!

There. I got it all out. I'll stop yelling now. IT'S JUST SO EXCITING! After years of writing articles for student papers and magazines, and magazine websites, I finally got an feature story published in an actual national newspaper. One of my favourite university profs once told me that your first print piece should be something you treasure and that it's totally not a loser thing to frame it and put it up on your wall as inspiration. I might just do that. I'd need to find a big frame though. It's kind of a full page spread (bahahhahahh!!!).

Prep a Porter, a designer rundown by Elayne Teixeira-Millar
published in the Tuesday March 19 2013 edition of the National Post.

If you had the pleasure of stumbling upon my article in Tuesday's edition of the National Post you may ignore the remainder of this post. For everyone else, please give my designer cheat sheet a read. It's a rundown of what shows to look out for at Toronto Fashion Week and I'm pretty proud of it.

I had originally wanted to post this announcement with a Spring 2013 trend recap but since I'm drowning in Fall 2013 stuff (fashion calendars are so annoying...it's almost spring and they have me studying turtle necks, leather pants and wool coats..) I just simply don't have the time. Maybe next week?

The online edition, for those who think papers are dead.
nationalpost.com

The Collections Day 1: Laura Siegal, Chloe comme Parris

Day 1 of The Collections was amazing. I got to see the three best lines of last season all in one day. It was a great intro to what ended up being almost a full month of fashion. The hard-hitting lines were sent down the runway first and all I could think was : dessert before dinner? Amazing.

Laura Siegel
First to hit that hardwood runway of the gorgeous loft space, were the models of Laura Siegel, all of whom were Bohemianed-out in drapey earthy fabrics and large beaded statement jewelry. The S/S2013 line kept its LS pattern-loving, flowy-fabric, layering-love flare and there was not one piece that I didn't want to immediately have in my possession. The desert-inspired pallet of neutrals and greens was paired with overzied straw hats, beautiful wood beaded jewelry and some super cute backpacks. This collection is for anyone who loves layering, crochet pieces, and flowy maxi skirts and dresses. My very favourite piece of the Siegel collection is the pair of drop-crotch crochet pants. So perfect for the beach. (What a terrible thing to say...It's currently 5 degrees outside... Damn you Toronto.)

Photos: Elayne

Chloe comme Parris

The Gordon sisters kill me. I sat front row with my mouth open the entire time and if you were in my position you would have had the same loser expression. The line was just as gorgeous as ALWAYS. The girls kept the CCP edge with long flowy silky maki pieces and badass jewelry and accessories. There were also a few mansuit-inspired pieces that were fierce beyond words and accessorized with chains to give them that extra little grungy detail. The collection highlights were most definitely the print pieces (the patterns at CCP are always next level. Think dark, Victorian-meets-kaleidoscope tapestry) and the use of blush pink leather. A show-stopper : the pink biker jacket. As soon as that thing came down the runway, phones went flying up and Instagram, Twitter and Facebook suffered from a major seizures

Here's a little runway video clip I snagged from the front row. (yay IPhone!)

Parris and Chloe Gordon of Chloe comme Parris
Photos: Elayne

Backstage at The Collections - pre-Fashion Week S/S2013

This season Toronto's Fashion Week went a little mental. With all the commotion about IMG Fashion Worldwide buying TFW, several designers and people of the Toronto fashion industry got a little freaked and decided to do their own thing as to not get all corrupted by the big business man.

IMG owns and runs 10 of the biggest Fashion Weeks in the world, the most important being New York Fashion Week. According to an article in The Toronto Star, the vice-president of IMG, Peter Levy, says the company bought TFW so they can transform it into a huge fashion event recognized world wide. That would be pretty cool I guess...I'd have an 'in' already! hahaha. 

Anyway, the point of all this is: last year's TFW headliners bailed on World MasterCard Fashion Week and signed up for what the industry is now calling the "Rogue Shows" aka The Collections and The ShOws. Both runway events were two-days long, running from Oct.16 - 17, and were 100% cooler than WMCFW just because they were THAT much more ALTERNATIVE. (lol so hipster though. gotta love those creative-types, always trying to stick it to the man.) 

The Collections played host to edgier labels like Laura Siegel, Chloe Comme Parris, Label, Klaxon Howl, Sid Neigum and Cara Cheung while The ShOws presented the more "couture" lines like Jean-Pierre Braganza, Antonio Azzuolo and Jeremy Laing. Due to my crazy amount of school work (yay university mid-term season...) I couldn't make it to any of lines at The ShOws, but I did get to attend The Collections. I was given an all-access backstage pass! I got to run around backstage with all the models, makeup artists, and hair people, and I got to sit in front row. FUNZIES! 

Because I'm so behind on life, I still haven't gotten my runway reviews done for Dress to KILL yet..but I'm getting there I promise... For now please enjoy some of the backstage photos I took! 

Models in Chloe Comme Parris S/S 2013

Black talon nails for Cara Cheung 

Pink eyelashes for Laura Siegel

Caveman breads for Cara Cheung

Bright eyes for S/S 2013!

Chloe Comme Parris prep braids for big curly hair 

Aveda products! love this stuff.

Chloe and I being shits. As usual.

Model of Laura Siegel 

Last minute pre-runway huddle before Laura Siegel show

6 stylists for 1 model backstage at Label

Dark eyes for Sid Neigum

MAC makeup backstage 

Nylon caps and dark eyes for Sid Neigum

Charcuterie table for all those hungry fashion people. I think I survived on almonds... Damn you vege-unfriendly people

Model after Cara Cheung show with her fashion dog Ella.

Toronto Fashion Week F/W 2012 Day 2 - Chloe Comme Parris (iwantsiwantsiwants!!)

Sisters Chloe and Parris Gordon showed an amazing collection this season during the Chloe Comme Parris runway show on March 13, Day 2 of Fashion Week. The collection was all about mixing girly floral wallpaper prints in muted colours with grunge looks in khaki, grey, and black. Everything that came down the runway was gorgeous and made me want to run back stage after the show and steal every single piece of it. The floral wallpaper print chiffon maxi dress, skirt, and blouse, in muted and subtle colours like blues and earth tones were absolutely gorgeous and no doubt the best pieces of the collection.

Full house at the Chloe Comme Parris show
photo: Elayne

Photo: Dress To Kill magazine

Photo: Elayne

Photo: Dress To Kill magazine

  

Photo: Elayne

These prints were paired with knit sweaters and oversized jackets adorned with distressed metal studs and exposed zippers. There was also a lot of leather on the runway in the form of leather trims, and stud embellished leather tops in khaki and black. The designers also showed a number of accessories such as big fur shrugs and gorgeous distressed jewelry designed by Parris Gordon. The balance between the feminine flowy dresses and the edgy jackets and leather pieces can only be describe as 'Beautiful Badass' - the name of the Chloe Comme Parris f/w 2012 collection. The girls really hit the nail on the head with that title.

Photo: Elayne

Photo: Dress To Kill magazine

Photo: Dress To Kill magazine

Photo: Dress To Kill magazine

Overall my favourite look (I'm definitely not the only one who liked it -- it's graced the pages of almost every review of the CCP runway show this month) is the floral dress paired with a gorgeous orange-tone fur shrug and Parris Gordon's distressed metal brace cuffs.

Photo: Elayne

Photo: Elayne