Fall 2008 L’Oreal Fashion Week Wrap-Up

Believe it or not, Fall 2008 L’Oreal Fashion Week can be succinctly described as “slick”. Or at the very least, “slick”-er. For starters, the massive 30,000 square foot tents, borrowed from the week’s New York counterpart, were streamlined and aired out; the interior panorama booths and rope stands reorganized to funnel the increasingly larger, and international crowd straight to the main event. Parts of the exterior white tarp had been replaced with large glass panes, which when reflecting the Nathan Phillips Square ice rink, recalled the mirrored runways seen at Dolce & Gabbana and Versace.
Photos: www.lorealfashionweek.ca

And despite being homegrown, the catwalk talent was of decidedly European caliber. Last season’s first face at Joe Fresh, Heather Marks, was upgraded for the gaping pout of Coco Rocha, whose walk can only be described as a sashay - a study in lateral movement and thoroughbred spirit. Meanwhile, Jeoffer Coac enlisted Peterborough’s Taryn Davidson and Orillia’s Amanda Laine, both likely jetlagged from impressive stints at the Paris collections, to model his moody-hued sheaths.

As for the clothes, designers interpreted the unofficial motif from two very different camps. In one corner stood the street-inspired, inky-stained offerings from Montreal’s comeback kid Denis Gagnon, Pink Tartan’s Kimberley Newport-Mimran, Project Runway Canada’s inaugural winner Evan Biddell (and the unofficial bad boy of Canuck fashion), and Canada’s artisan Zoran Dobric; the standout being Gagnon’s spiral knit capes and ponchos, which seemed an unintended homage to Olivier Theyskens, then (gothic colouring) and now (Nina Ricci’s L’Air du temps bottle). Honourable mentions are awarded to the more serviceable pieces of Dobric’s show, including a watercolour wood grain-like print, and Greta Constantine’s first foray into neoprene.

But even the Doc Martens at Pink Tartan, intended to endow some grit upon the typically saccharine offerings of Newport-Mimran, were noticeably fresh from the box, unscathed and un-grunge. Perhaps scuffed footwear would’ve been inappropriate in the presence of our international guests.

In the other corner, designers recalled the glossy looks of the late seventies/early eighties with retro-looking colour combos (think ochre and chocolate), rib cage-grazing waists, and sleek, articulated shoulders. The trend’s baton-waver, Nada, drew inspiration from the nonpareil of eighties fashion – American TV show Dynasty - complete with a campy montage kicking off the show. Unfortunately, the result, like namesake Nada Yousif’s riff on Parisian chic, was a colour-by-numbers effort.

Even the menswear designers picked up on the theme’s dual interpretations. Bustle delivered their typically-showy brand of fashion, including a less-than-modest tonal stripe print. Philip Sparks explored the sartorial elegance of vintage mug shuts, even if the clothes looked more suited for the hard-hitting Dick Tracy than the petty thieves he chased. The collection’s piece de resistance? A herringbone jacket with fur beaver collar and matching mittens (Although last season’s standout piece, an electric blue tarp windbreaker, still looked uber-sharp, as seen front row on Sparks’ unofficial face, NOW Magazine editor Andrew Sardone).

But the week was not without its share of bumps and scratches marring the week’s high-gloss finish. There were the inconvenient dashes to the City Hall toilets (or for the more tactful, the Sheraton Hotel across the street), FDCC president Robin Kay’s glitched speech before the Rusdak show, as well as a throng of lackluster shows. The usually impressive Paul Hardy showed what one attendee called “half a collection” - his underwear-as-outwear narrative unarguably timely, more so because it was a pastiche of recent Prada, Lanvin, and Marni. As for Project Runway Canada runner-up, Lucian Matis, you’d expect he would’ve streamlined his aesthetic after being publicly scolded for his more-is-more tendencies. And yet, what should have been a bouquet of impressive technique became a nimiety of ruffles, draping, feathers, and shiny baguettes. Thank heavens he restricted himself to an exhaustively back palette.

Despite the obvious upgrades, this is, after all, Toronto. As a city, we are many things – slick is not one of them.