Toronto Fashion Week S/S 2012 - Trend report

Now that I've had a chance to look back on what the big designers showed at fashion week, I managed to come up with somewhat of a must-have list for Spring/Summer 2012. I know it's November and it may hurt your heart to think of the wonderfulness of warmth, sun, and summer vacation, but bare with me. When spring comes back, you'll be ready!

Clothing:

1. Satin bottoms. Especially cropped cigarette pants and below-the-knee pencil skirts. The main colours are red, orange (anything warm and bright) and black and white of course.

Pink Tartan- red satin cigarette pants
torontolife.com

zara cigarette trousers in red
zara.com

David Dixon- white satin pencil skirt
photo by me

2. Leather. Neon leather cropped trousers are amazing. If you can find them BUY THEM! Leather pencil skirts or mini skirts are also super important

The Row- Black leather pants
net-a-porter.com

Joe Fresh - neon green leather pants
torontolife.com

Chloe leather pencil skirt
net-a-porter.com

3. Mesh/ chiffon blouse. Whether its button-up, long-sleeved, sleeveless, or military-inspired, mesh or chiffon tops are still going strong. It's a good idea to have one in black (it goes with everything), but white, tan, and red are also pretty great.

Elizabeth and James - chiffon blouse in taupe
net-a-porter.com

Pink Tartan- red mesh button-up blouse
torontosun.com

Maje- silk and chiffon blouse in white
net-a-porter.com

Alexander Wang- black mesh blouse, super sheer
vogue.com

4. Mod dress. If you don't know what a mod dress is... go look it up because if that's the case, I've lost all faith in humanity. (urghh... a shift dress that ends above the knee. sleeveless, three quarter, or long sleeves)

Sandro- white shift dress
net-a-porter.com

Zara - yellow mod dress
zara.com

DKNY- red sleeveless shift dress
net-a-porter.com

H&M- black sequin shift
hm.com

Hair:

1. Long hair,  natural-coloured. The middle part is still going strong

Pink Tartan
torontolife.com

2. Messy low pony tail

photo: poshbeauty.com

Makeup:

1. Clean face - (obviously...) I mean match your skin tone and keep it clean looking. Example: if your white, keep it white. Don't go crazy with bronzer. Cake-faces are not fun.

2. Red lips

3. Black eyeliner - minimal super 40's style eye make-up. Black eyeliner on top lid, none on bottom and black mascara.

natural face, 40s eyes, red lips
ellecanada.com

Shoes:

1. Black wedges. Super important. If you don't have a pair GO SHOPPING NOW! Wedges with ankle straps are great but so are wedged booties. I suggest getting one of each (oh baby!)

Steve Madden- black wedge bootie
stevemadden.com

Theyskens' Theory- Black leather wedges with white panel and ankle strap
net-a-porter.com

TFW S/S12 Day 5: Denis Gagnon- the big finale, Montreal-style (artsy and ridiculous)

When Montreal designer Denis Gagnon marched into the backstage dressing area in a storm of "câlice" and "tabarnac", I felt right at home. Wearing his signature oversized black glasses, he pushed rolling racks and curtains out of the way in a fit of Montreal-style impatience and stress ( think Quebec drivers if you don't get what I mean) all the while scaring the living shiz out of the timid Toronto volunteers. His collection this season showed a lot of edgy pieces, but that comes as no surprise, the man's job is to prove his edginess.

the man and his glasses... 

The collection, entitled Denis in the Garden!, is his take on spring time cuteness and garden parties. Much like his collection last years, Gagnon played with the idea of a man's suit. The pieces were all very masculine - black and white tux pieces, black mesh shirts with white tux-fronts and cuffs, tailored blazers and trousers - but with a feminine flare.

black mesh tux shirt with white pleats and cuffs 

Another idea he worked off of, other then the "tux", was the floral suit. He used a great floral pattern on black fabric for several jacket and pant suits in the collection. The pattern went really well with his "in the garden" theme and gave the audience something new to think about for spring and summer. He was the only one, if I'm not mistaken, to show wallpaper patterns during Toronto Fashion week for next year. The floral trend was huge in New York and Paris, with designers like Miu Miu and Givenchy sending out models in what looked like their gramma's chopped up curtains.

right- floral trousers, left- patchwork suit

the show-stopper-- the floral blazer and trousers

Anyway I love the patterned suit, the mesh man-tux shirt, and the great little white and black oxford shoes. I didn't love, however, the 20 minute artsy and superbly lame intro video. How Montreal do you have to be to start your runway show with a ridiculous video of models running around a forest in slow-motion? Not only was the video never-ending, Gagnon made sure his freaking glasses had at least 10 minutes of screen time... not impressed.

frontal satin pleats - the 'tux' look

TFW S/S12 Day 5: David Dixon- black and white classics with a hint of yellow

The David Dixon show was packed. Canadian fashion people flooded the runway room as soon as security opened the doors. Among them were Fashion Television's Jeanne Beker, and former model and judge on Canada's Next Top Model, Stacey Mckenzie. The collection was feminine to say the least. Dixon showed mostly black and white, but threw in a bit of yellow to give his otherwise monochromatic collection a bit of spring colour. There was a big emphasis on female curves, with form fitted satin pencil skirts in both black and white (all below the knee), and several black evening dresses. Dixon also showed black lace and mesh button-ups (in black and white). The yellow accents came in the form of a sheath dress with plugging back, and below-the-knee laser-cut skirts. The one piece that really stood out to me was a white pencil skirt with black panels. It's a new take on the always popular pencil shirt.

the highly anticipated David Dixon runway show 

yellow accent- form-fitted sheath dress

plugging back

yellow laser-cut skirt  

white mesh top with white satin pencil skirt

black mesh button-up with white satin pencil skirt

black and white dress with black lace overlay

black mesh button-up, white pencil skirt with black side  panels 

TFW S/S12 Day 5: Lauren Bagliore- what a knotty girl

After giggling over the Cydelic by Choryin toothy whaley bag, (previous blog post) I ran over to the runway room and snagged a great spot at the front of the runway and waited for the Lauren Bagliore ( or Lulu B) show to begin. Keep in mind I was a volunteer and um....should have been doing volunteer things....but wasn't. *COUGH*

Anywayyy, the Lauren Bagliore collection was all about long cotton spandex dresses with low backs and exposed knots. She definitely got the maxi skirt and the badass layered looks down. As the models strutted theses black, white, and gray, edgy but laid-back wrap and knot dresses down the catwalk, I couldn't help but think - American Apparel....urgh..

While the monochromatic collection looked great as a whole on the runway I don't think it really did anything spectacular. I personally didn't have any "ohhh amazing!" moments. She did show great metal cuffs that looked kind of like a modern/hardcore version of Wonder Woman's wrist guards. Those were kinda different.. Otherwise, the show consisted of  the usual suspects; black harum pants, black and white wrap pencil dresses, one-shoulder dresses, asymmetrical hemlines, draped cardigans, etc. Urgh she also put out this unfortunate 60's inspire black and white checkered mini wrap dress - something you would have seen on Twiggy. It was short and awkward and it made me cringe.

However, I do want to give her thumbs up for the low back and length on some of the dresses, they looked great on the models and I would definitely consider buying one for myself.

black and white asymmetrical hemline one-shoulder dress with metal cuffs

another one-shoulder dress in black 

pencil wrap dress in black - so AA... 

black harum pants  

more harum pants and draped cardigan in silver 

super unfortunate Twiggy mini dress

white bag dress - front

white bag dress- low back

white wrap dress

TFW S/S12 Day 5: Cydelic by Choryin - little purse creatures!

Day 5 - the big finale of Toronto Fashion Week and one of the most exciting nights (in my opinion). The FDCC definitely tried to save the best for last. I can't say whether or not it was the best night of Fashion Week because I couldn't make it to all the shows, but the one thing I can say is that it was definitely the most artsy and creative. When I started my shift the Cydelic by Choryin studio runway show had just ended. I managed to run back stage, pretend to have been one of the dressers, and snap a few photos of the collection's amazing bags. They were literally pieces of art. Each purse had the same seashell-like shape but were all  decorated differently- making each one incredibly unique. The purses were exploding with crazy things like shells, huge feathers, rocks, colour animal hides, patent leather, tree bark, etc. They all had these really great chain straps with either; a horn, or stick of bamboo, as a handle.

Cydelic by Choryin bags backstage - just as they were being packed up

gray wool purse with shells and a horn handle

the mossy purse- millions of teeny feathers trimmed with green moss and a bamboo handle

the cow purse - black and white cow hide,  two brown horns,  and a horn handle

 Some of the purses looked like little Japanese cartoons! My favourite one was the little whale bag. It looked like something you would find at a Hello Kitty store or on one of Gwen Stefani's Harajuku girls. The clothes were also really creative and somewhat futuristic looking. I didn't actually get to see them on the runway but I did get a chance to quickly look through the rack as the assistants were packing up. Choryin showed a lot of whiteish pieces with large protruding plastic angles (shoulders, hips, etc). I just looked up the title of the show... and you will never guess what it was...Alien. How fitting. Phew! I totally get it now. Ha!

the whale bag!! - (I have no idea what it's made of) with a black horn handle

the butterfly bag- made of feathers, wood, and creepy insect legs

TFW S/S12 Day 3: Joe Fresh loves NEON

I love the word neon and if it were up to me it would always be capitalized. NEON is in your face, bright, bold and out there and that was exactly what the Joe Fresh s/s collection was going for. The collection was all about the NEON leather cropped pants in orange, yellow, bright green, and baby blue. The 70's-inspired designs were modern, simple, clean and fresh (haha....). There were long flared pants, white turtle necks and lots of bright colours. The models wore amazing white platform sandals - right out of the 70s.

Fred from Scooby Doo- white turtle neck and neon orange trousers

neon leather cropped pants (also shown in neon green)

TFW S/S12 Day 3: Pink Tartan - hot day out at sea

The Pink Tartan S/S 2012 show was one of Fashion Week's most anticipated and I snuck into the front row! (the only perk of being a volunteer). The collection featured a nautical theme, with creme and navy striped tube dresses, navy mesh tops paired with satin cigarette pants (a look that was also shown in red and in black), and white trench coats.

nautical tube dress

navy satin cigarette pants

bright RED satin cigarette pants with mesh top

white trench dress

There were great 60's- inspired silhouettes- shift dresses and a-line skirts - in hot colours like red and bright orange. My favourite piece of the collection was the red satin shift dress with the exposed gold zipper down the back. It's simple but elegant and the colour was gorgeous. Too bad my crappy blackberry made it look pink....

red mesh top paired with high-waisted satin a-line skirt

bright orange satin a-line dress with white leather high-waisted belt

gorgeous red satin shift with exposed gold zipper along back (also shown in bright orange and black)