TORONTO (djc) – On Monday night, fashionistas crowded the doorway underneath the glowing sign for Carlu – Toronto’s newest event theatre – smoking, chatting on cell phones and checking each other out. Inside the theatre, on the seventh floor, Toronto Fashion Week’s black-tie, invitation-only opening gala was about to begin. Media, designers, models and stylists paraded through the Art Deco space, cocktails and champagne flutes in hand.
Similar events are happening in fashionable cities around the world right now. The New York Spring 2004 shows wrapped last week, and shows in Milan start on Saturday followed by Paris Fashion Week in October.
And while Canadian designers may not be at the forefront of international attention, Fashion Design Council of Canada President Robin Kay hopes one day they will be. “This season we will propel Canadian fashion to the global stage and bring the world to Canada,” she wrote in an FDCC press release. Partnerships with designers in Milan – arguably the fashion capital of the world – will bring more Canadian talent to an international audience, and vice versa; Toronto Fashion Week showcased Italian designers and Canadians will be travelling to Milan this week to participate in their events. Toronto has also attracted designers from South Africa, Columbia, India and France this year.
But it was home-grown talent that filled seats. Carlu was packed for the opening night’s Fashion Appreciation Moments segment, presented by Fashion Television’s Jeanne Beker. Awards were presented to Canadian fashion moguls like Phillip Ing, organizer of the annual AIDS fundraiser Fashion Cares and Irish-born Pat McDonagh, one of Canada’s most innovative designers since the 1960s. The evening also featured fashions from Farley Chatto, Kendra Francis, Marie Saint Pierre and Jennifer Dares, plus music by Faithdown and In Essence.
Throughout the week, eager audiences crowded the doors before each show. The scene before the David Dixon show was complete chaos; so many people turned up for Arthur Mendonça’s show that a crowd remained outside even after the doors were closed. Both designers are graduates of Ryerson University’s fashion program, and Mendonça actually apprenticed with Dixon before launching his own collection.
Mendonça presented a collection of well-tailored sportswear for men and women, and a line of flirty, feminine dresses. At Dixon’s show the fountain in the centre of the room was surrounded by fresh bananas, and models dressed in 1940s-inspired cocktail dresses and separates wore neon yellow tights and ribbons. Another highlight was the Damzels in this Dress show, preceded by a very fashionable horror movie about bombshell zombies. Models struggled in the bathroom with ice-coloured contact lenses to complete the undead look for the runway.
At Thursday night’s closing gala, guests were treated to one last fashion show by Montreal native Catherine Brule. Also on stage was Canadian singer Glenn Lewis, and Toronto’s own songstress Ivana Santilli provided dance music for the fashionistas to close the week.
