My last show during LG Fashion Week was by veteran designer, David Dixon. I enjoy attending Dixon’s runway shows because he presents confident designs and is very secure in his presentation and work.

Design inspiration: for spring 2012, Dixon titled his latest collection “Malcolm McLaren” after the British performer and former manager of the Sex Pistols. McLaren’s ability to mix classical and modern music prompted Dixon to relish in fabrics with character and “that have voices... to create a ‘song,’ that captures the essence of” the season.

What I liked: Dixon’s sporadic use of colour to inject vibrancy and a sense of youthfulness into his designs, as seen in a floor length yellow gown that opened the runway show and separates in the form of a cotton skirt with silk laser cut flowers. Hand-painted chiffon and a butterfly print jersey dress evoked feelings of lightness and breathability.

What I disliked: a lot of black and white dresses designed in similar silhouettes were used throughout Dixon’s ss2012 collection, and although he has become known for this signature style I can’t help but wish more colour and experimental cuts were incorporated into his work for this season.

Footwear: Town Shoes provided footwear for Dixon’s runway show that night and the models had a pretty precarious time walking down the runway in them; they all wore the same pair of black glitter platforms with an ankle strap.

Joe Fresh is always a hotly anticipated runway show at LG Fashion Week, not only because of its powerhouse backing as a subsidiary of Loblaw Companies Limited, but of the ever affordable and chic wears they produce season-after-season, and the increasing availability of its runway pieces to the everyday consumer.

Design inspiration: the spring/summer 2012 collection is described as, “BRIGHT with ‘60s pop-inspired, holiday beach pieces for him and her.”

What I liked: bright colours balanced with fresh whites woven throughout the collection; as seen in several white tuxedo shirts with bright collars such as orange and yellow, as well as a white and yellow sleeveless top with matching skirt. The long maxi skirts were my favourite pieces of all.

What I disliked: unanimously, the audience and fashion reviews were not fond of two pleat shift-style dresses in yellow and blue. The silhouettes were boxy, lacked shape and out-of-place in a collection that is inspired by 60s holiday-chic.

Footwear: the footwear in Joe Fresh’s collection emphasized lower heels. Models wore white kitten heel shoes and the men also wore white dress shoes fashioned with bright soles – inspired by Jil Sander’s ss2011 collection.

Images from Fashion Design Council of Canada (FDCC)

Day three of LG Fashion Week closed with several high-profile runway shows that always guarantee a packed house. At 8:00 p.m. Kimberley Newport-Mimran’s label, Pink Tartan presented its wears for spring/summer 2012, followed by her husband, Joe Fresh Founder, Joe Mimran at 9:00 p.m.

Read my review of Pink Tartan’s spring/summer 2012 collection below.

Design inspiration: none that I’m aware of but the spring/summer 2012 collection was classic Pink Tartan, focused on creating chic clothes for women with a modern feel. At times, the collection had me imagining the models (or preferably or me) strolling down an avenue lined with cafes in Paris, France, in these clothes.

What I liked: there were several pieces from Pink Tartan’s collection I really liked and that stood out from the rest, most were the colourful garments. Three looks in red: a sheer button-down shirt paired with an A-line skirt, a red knit top paired with skinny pants, and a shift dress instilled feelings of vibrancy and passion. The use of dark blue on several print dresses (strips and polka dots) balanced out the high energy ignited by the colours red and orange on the runway.

What I disliked: the vision for this collection differed a lot from Pink Tartan’s garments shown in ss2011 which experimented with ultra bright colours, various patterns and silhouettes. Last season’s clothes stretched the brand into different and more forward looking territory and I can’t help but wish that Newport-Mimran pushed the envelope even more with her latest designs.

Footwear: strappy sandals in gold and silver comprised Pink Tartan’s footwear for the evening. My favourite feature – the heels on these shoes shone like a well polished coin as models walked down the runway.

Images from the Fashion Design Council of Canada (FDCC)

Another season of LG Fashion Week has come and gone until next spring, but until then I have several designer collections to review on The Souls of My Shoes. Chronologically, the entries will be out of order, but it’s always interesting to see the creations developed for spring/summer 2012.

I’m jumping back to last Monday, the first night of LG Fashion Week. The last show of the evening was Lala Berlin’s ss2012 collection. This was designer, Leyla Piedasyeh’s first time showing in Toronto and from my initial perusal of her work online I wondered how her very modern and almost androgynous designs would fair under the Canadian eye.

Design inspiration: none provided.

What I liked: the ultra modern silhouettes and soft coloured prints created a romantic feel, some hung loosely from the body and flowed effortlessly, such as a white and black shirt dresses cut to the knee or fashioned into a long maxi, while others were cut close to the body like a pair of pink pleated shorts. One piece that really caught my eye was a simple, white knit sleeveless top.

I really liked Lala Berlin’s ss2012 collection because it provided a designer’s point-of-view wholly different from other collections presented on a Canadian runway during fashion week.

What I disliked: some pieces were a little too sheer for my liking, but then again it’s all about how you take a piece of clothing and style it to fit your taste.

Footwear: Lala Berlin presented the most futuristic footwear of the entire week. Boots and sandals in white, black and mustard paraded down the runway. Sections were cut-out and replaced with clear plastic; when applied to a pair of boots I felt the beginnings of a futuristic 1960s dance club.

Images from Lala Berlin

Monday night, I attended Arthur Mendonça’s spring/summer 2012 runway show and I couldn’t think of a better way to start off the season.

 

This is Mendonça’s second season back on the Canadian runway after a few years away and I’m so happy I had the chance to see his design talent in action. To say I’m a huge admirer of Mendonça is an understatement as you can read here and in my review below.

Design inspiration: Mendonça’s design inspiration for his ss2012 collection looks to the Egyptian ruler, Cleopatra, as characterized by the legendary Hollywood actress, Elizabeth Taylor in the iconic 1963 film.

What I liked: well, to start, I loved it all! There is a sense of togetherness as I watched Mendonça’s collection on the runway from start to finish. Drawing back to his inspiration of the movie, Cleopatra, Mendonça tells a story through the ordered presentation of his clothes; a woman who is distant and strong, but who later softens becoming more vibrant and full of life.

 

He opened the show with a series of sleek white garments; a white sheath dress with black piping around the neck and shoulders, as well as separates that echo the use of this design element in a suit jacket and skirt. This is followed by a brown, button-down chiffon dress and several structured black dresses and suits.

 

Pattern and colour are two elements which delight the visual senses mid-way through the runway show with the use of tie-dye like patterns and a number of custom-designed prints made by the designer himself. In addition, Mendonça uses lots of natural fabrics such as silk, cotton and linen to enhance the earthy feel of his garments.

 

The models wore jewellery by Dean Davidson and had quite a few of us admiring it in our seats. I really love the collar necklaces with yellow and aqua enamel centre pieces that created a tribal feel.

 

What I disliked: nothing.

 

Footwear: unfortunately, I wasn’t able to snap an up-close shot of the footwear and didn’t find out who supplied the heels. However, the shoes were glamorous and rhinestones dotted various heeled sandals and an entire pair of wedges. Surprisingly, the heavy use of rhinestones didn’t detract from the clothes nor did it look over-the-top.

Images courtesy of FDCC

For the second season in a row, I’ll be working with the online team at Globalnews.ca to help cover the spring/summer 2012 runway shows at LG Fashion Week.

The first time I worked with Global News’ online team was back in March where they chose a select group of fashion insiders to bring audiences up-to-the minute tweets from the runway. This time around, I’ll be writing a few blog entries for them to cover some of the shows for the ss2012 season; click here to see my very own profile page on Globalnews.ca!

I always find it a great compliment when respected new outlets approach me to do a bit of writing for them and it’s great to partner backup with Globalnews.ca.

To read my blog entries and see some of the coverage of LG Fashion week visit Global Fashion.

This blog entry is my last LG Fashion Week review for the fall/winter 2011 season – whew, I made it!

I ended off my week of fashion by attending VAWK’s runway show. This was the first time designer, Sunny Fong presented within the grounds of LG Fashion Week and the evening timeslot packed the crowds into the stands. This was also my first time attending Fong’s show; I’ve been invited in the past, but then VAWK’s presentations were held at the Art Gallery of Ontario in the middle of the day, which made it difficult to escape from work at that time.

In addition to attending the runway show, I had the opportunity to go backstage to take in Fong’s latest designs. My images capture a brief insider look into the preparations pre-show.

Backstage at VAWK’s fall/winter 2011 runway show

Design inspiration: VAWK had the most interesting design inspiration of the season titling its fall/winter 2011 collection, “Lhasa Row...a collection of outerwear and dresses inspired by the menswear silhouette of Savile Row and texture of a Himalayan mountain climber.” The originality of such a concept, combining two opposite elements, receives two stilettos heels up from me.

What I liked: Fong’s creativity flourishes season-after-season extracting organic components from the earth and human civilizations. He translates Lhasa Row into a collection that makes sense, merging two design elements without exaggerating one over another. Leopard prints and fur are used strategically in a knee length skirt and a trench coat combined with cream leather. Knits and pops of colour such as a teal jacket, made from wool, and a burgundy chevron trench inserts vibrancy and character.

I favour all of these things from VAWK, but my eyes are particularly drawn to the leopard prints, as well as the tailored pieces such as a black sheer tuxedo shirt with teal flare trouser.

What I disliked: nothing to critique about.

Footwear: the footwear provider for VAWK was Nine West. The shoes used in the runway show were, again, your basic black or a nude heel with little variation in the style. However, this time having similar shoes was appropriate for VAWK’s runway show, the simplicity provided balance when paired with the clothes.

Images gallery #2 provided by VAWK via Faulhaber PR

Since Eleventh Floor Apparel Ltd. took over the Lundström brand in 2009 they’ve made sure to carefully craft and build on the origins of its founder, Linda Lundström, by targeting women who look for mature elegance in their clothing.

Design inspiration: no description provided.

What I liked: the show’s opening packed a strong punch beginning with six models wearing black and ivory who paraded down the catwalk like an infantry of soldiers. This was followed by unexpected and impressive runway choreography as these models showed off variations of the faux Mongolian lamb vests with wool knit collars that they wore. Lundström’s fall/winter 2011 collection is very polished, targeting sophisticated women with a taste for clean silhouettes, staple wardrobe pieces and luxurious fur in various colours and compositions.

What I disliked: the latter half of the Lundström runway show focused on the little black dress. Although rich textiles such as silk and tulle were used in these pieces it proved to be a little too prom-like in comparison to the mature and colourful use of fur and outwear in the remainder of the collection.

Footwear: I had the opportunity to quickly stick my head backstage pre-show to snap a few images of the shoes; Lundström’s footwear provider for the evening was Town Shoes. Nude and black coloured ankle boots and stiletto heels in leather were worn in the runway show. The use of these similar styles of shoes, again, shows consistency in the runway presentation but lacked in variety.

Images courtesy of Lundström. Photos taken by George Pimentel