If the Barbie by David Dixon collection was sweet and youthful then the David Dixon Signature collection was anything but. For his namesake line, the designer began the second half of his runway show introducing clothing that is powerful, strong and sure-footed in its aesthetic.
Dixon describes the inspiration for his signature line as tribal based this season. In the line sheet for the show, he attributes this to the multiculturalism of Toronto and global events, such as natural disasters (earthquakes in Haiti and Chile) and a rebirth of Canadian pride from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games therefore envisioning a “Global Tribe.”
Clothing on the runway is reminiscent of the movie Avatar with cultural references and mostly dark colour palette. Fabrics such as hand woven Raffia from Spain, leather strips symbolic of African basket weaving, Asian cloth, Canadian fur and Indian mirror beading add to this notion of blending tribes. Tiny braids woven throughout the models’ hair and tribal jewellery like collar necklaces and thick cuffs serve as additional armour to this race of warrior women.
My favourite pieces from this line is knee-length, woven leather and fan print organza dress. The second is a mirror and wool silk shift dress made of organza; the mirror pieces on the dress remind me of ancient Byzantine mosaic tile art from the 15th century.
Seeing the Barbie by David Dixon and the David Dixon Signature collections back-to-back is always something to look forward. Despite prominent corporate backing Dixon receives from Mattel and Town Shoes (his footwear provider and one of the main sponsors for LG Fashion Week) he still maintains his signature look of functional elegance.
It’s been just over a week since LG Fashion Week ended and I’m closing my reviews of its fall/winter 2010 runways shows (on day five) with two collections designed by veteran Canadian designer, David Dixon who always turns out a well focused, tailored and sophisticated clothing.
For several seasons, Dixon has been collaborating with Mattel commemorating Barbie’s 50th anniversary by developing a collection that is a youthful and flirty, using the iconic doll as his muse. This season, for fall/winter 2010 Dixon was inspired by his visits to London, England, particularly the period of the 1960s when it was “a place of great social and cultural change” and where Carnaby Street was and still is the place to go.
Appropriately titled Carnaby Street Barbie, Dixon presents 35 looks that take you back in time with shift dresses, vibrant colours and floral prints. The models were styled to appear cute and fresh with sweetly curled side ponytails and jewellery that makes a statement, such as the heavy industrial shaped necklaces, or delicate earrings catering to the popular minimalistic style during this era.
A sleeveless double knit shift dress in pink and black, a mini floral silk charmeuse dress and a red tweed shift dress were clean cut, but also provides a groovy twist evoking visions of young women breaking out of their demur selves and dancing to music by the Beetles.
The two finale looks, both black bubble jacquard dresses were edgier than the rest of the collection and are militaristic in appearance.
This holiday season designer pop-up stores are all the rage throughout the City of Toronto. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, a “pop-up retail space is a venue that is temporary... (it) allows a company to create a unique environment that engages their customers, as well as generates a feeling of relevance and interactivity,” buzz and exposure (Wikipedia).
I haven’t been able to attend most of the pop-up stores, but I did go to the Bijouxbead Holiday Pop-Up Interactive Store held at the Fair Trade Jewellery Company and had the pleasure of meeting the charming Darlene Martin, jewellery designer and creative mind behind Bijouxbead.
For Martin’s holiday pop-up store she created an eight piece collection inspired by the spring/summer 2010 creations by Canadian designers, such as Evan Biddell, David Dixon, Brandon Dwyer and Sonny Fong. Each necklace had eight strands and was composed of sterling silver and glass crystal pieces – they were quite beautiful and well made.
You still have a few days to drop by, see Martin’s creations and do a little holiday shopping. Here are the details:
Date: December 1 – 14, 2009 Location: The Atelier of The Fair Trade Jewellery Company 523 Parliament Street, Toronto Phone: (647) 430-8741
Hours: Monday – Tuesday by appointment only Wednesday – Friday 12:30pm-8:00pm Saturday – Sunday 11:30am-6:00pm
Day two at LG Fashion Week was much lighter in terms of covering actual shows for my blog. I was mainly onsite to review Jason Meyers’s S/S 2010 collection and afterward take the opportunity to sit and enjoy the evening’s shows by David Dixon.
Overly hot (in terms of temperature) and overly crowded is how I would characterize the night. Crudely constructed paper fans were made from the shows’ program handouts as people tried to cool themselves off. Crowd control was non-existent as attendees squeezed and pressed into the seats, aisles and everywhere else in between.
5:00 p.m. Jason Meyers
I heard 680News interview Meyers over the radio who said the inspiration from his latest collection came from the 1955 film Summertime; a love story that takes places in Italy and stars Katherine Hepburn, a unhappily married woman on vacation who engages in a love affair with a handsome Italian shopkeeper.
Upon hearing this what came to mind is chic Italian style, tailored garments, clean cuts, accessories and soft colours. Meyers said “I wanted to make this very accessible, very wearable, very versatile and very affordable” (Lauren La Rose, CP).
He stayed true to his statement by presenting a variety of colours, cuts and shapes across the board. The collection bounced back and forth between the styles of the 1950s, 1980s and today’s form fitting trends. Models were outfitted in shorts, high waist pants, exaggerated ruffled dresses and abstract prints. At one point the show got a little R-rated when a model’s nipple peaked out of her dress – remember folks this is fashion and nipples popping out do tend to happen (see picture eight).
One garment that stood out for me was a knee length, silver and cobalt blue over the shoulder dress made out of muccia taffeta. I like its geometric shape and how it encircled the model’s left shoulder and back (see image nine).
Tweets from Canada’s fashion editors and journalists provided constructive feedback for Meyers’s collection. Lisa Tant, editor-in-chief of FLARE magazine tweeted the following during the show:
“Prints are always tricky. Pick them carefully and use as an accent not an afterthought.”
“Lesson 2: hire a stylist. An experienced eye acts as a designer's compass. New talents always benefit from training wheels.”
What I appreciate about Meyers’s presentation is he has a bevy of creative ideas and he distributed pamphlets to the audience outlining the price tag and fabrics used for each piece of clothing – rarely seen at any of the shows I’ve attended thus far. This helped me to get a better understanding of his product, the fabrics used to construct each garment and the customers targeted.
I made a brief stop to check out the Barbie reception where models wore David Dixon creations to celebrate the iconic doll’s 50th anniversary. Iced cupcakes were stacked for media to munch on and models coyly smiled and posed for pictures.
6:00 p.m. Barbie by David Dixon
My friend Renee and I managed to squeeze into the stands to see the Barbie by David Dixon S/S 2010 collection. Transitioning from Dixon’s own line to the Barbie show the song “Think Pink” played from the American musical Funny Face(1957) to set the mood for the crowd, a precursor to the collection that followed. Everything was very pink, very girlie and thus extremely well focused and true to the Barbie line.
