September is an exciting time in Toronto. Between TIFF and Toronto Fashion Week, the city is full of life as Canadian visionaries and international icons step out to showcase and celebrate their work.
Last week was the first season of the reimagined Toronto Fashion Week, where a selection of Canadas's top designers displayed their collections alongside panels and special presentations with internationally renowned fashion minds such as Jean-Paul Gaultier, Arianne Phillips, and Petra Collins. It was easily one of the best Toronto Fashion Weeks of recent memory for me and having such impressive international players involved really shines a light around the world on the Canadian fashion industry.
Some Highlights:
The week kicked off with L'Enfant Terrible of fashion himself, Jean-Paul Gaultier, who sat down with Derek Blasberg to discuss his early years as a designer, breaking boundaries in the fashion industry, and working with Madonna. It was surreal to see him in my city; I grew up watching his runway presentations on Fashion Television!
Next - Lucian Matis' Spring 18 presentation. Lucian has long been one of my favorite Canadian couturiers - his pieces are super glamorous and they are created with incredible attention to detail (everything is hand-sewn/hand-crafted). The new collection, entitled "Flight", focuses on light-weight, airy pieces, with beautiful embellishing in true Lucian Matis style.
As always, I am in awe.
Another highlight was 'Dali X Yorkville Village', an art exhibit and installation celebrating Salvador Dali's work with a focus on his influence on the world of fashion. The show features 6 designer dresses inspired by Dali, 3 of Dali's surrealist covers for Vogue and over 30 original pieces.
Photos by George Pimentel, along with a few of my own snaps.