Some of our favourite new players in the nearly impossible game known as “Trying to Be a Canadian Fashion Designer” have come out to show. Three hopefuls were part of Ryerson’s Mass Exodus show for fashion grads earlier this month, three showed at the circus-like alternative fashion fest thrown by [FAT] (“Fashion Art Toronto”) last week and one hyper-achieving designer did both.
CRISTINA SABAIDUC“I don’t do the whole androgynous thing,” says Cristina Sabaiduc, a little apologetically. No need. With her art-to-wear garments, the Ryerson grad — and Jeremy Laing apprentice — is already making the fashion hungry a little hysterical. The line, Romandin, is named for both its sides: “Romantic,” she says, “because I want women to feel feminine and empowered. Industrial, because I’m using materials you can get at Canadian Tire.” Sabaiduc’s [FAT] show was her second, and a variation of her Mass Exodus showing.
HEIDI ACKERMANWhen you call fashion “avant-garde,” you usually just mean “hard to wear.” But in the case of Heidi Ackerman, whose designs are borderline cubist and sustainably fabricated, the it-term may actually apply. “To me, avant-garde means you’re not just making clothes,” says Ackerman, who graduated from Ryerson two years ago and showed her third collection at FAT last Friday. “You’re expressing and creating a larger vision.” Football shoulders are exaggerated to the point of parody; bodysuits are graphic and retro-futurist. Locally, pieces will be sold at Thieves Boutique.
DAVID C. WIGLEY“My new collection is full of fiery passion and energy,” says the designer, who, after a “huge breakup,” lives and works alone in a Church and Jarvis brownstone. Last Friday, he showed Worth, a men’s and women’s collection, at [FAT]: romantic and glam — in a Greta Constantine kind of way — and splashed liberally with crimson among his usual white, grey, and black. Wigley, who designed his first pieces for a drag queen, may soon see his work trickle down to society princesses.
AIMEE TOBOLKATo the tune of Ice-T’s “Colors,” Tobolka paraded her clean-lined or parachute-like pieces, most in mesh or chiffon, all in (ha!) black at [FAT]. “I started with a reconstruction of typical streetwear, like jogging pants and hooded sweatshirts,” she says, “but I wouldn’t dare to sweat in them.” Tobolka quit her CBC communications job to study fashion at Ryerson — she graduated last year — and yet, she doesn’t seem crazy. Her price range is a super-reasonable $100 to $400. Now, won’t a local retailer pick up her vibe?
DÉSIRÉ BARA-ASSIFor his Mass Exodus show at Ryerson, Désiré “Dez” Bara-Assi drew inspiration from Nicolas Henri Jacob’s
medical anatomy illustrations and the colours of the British military, having taken a trip to London in the summer of ’09. Five evening looks are built, interchangeably, from tissue-white goddess gowns, blood red silk sashes, and harnesses like leather lungs. He hopes to return to London and work for a fashion label or creative company: “I have a couple opportunities,” he says, “and the energy there runs wild.”
BIANCA LIUSimple, fluid shapes. Pretty, pale hues. So? Look closer: Ryerson-graduating Bianca Liu hand-paints her silks in a delicate wax-and-dye batik method for a shimmering, inimitable effect. The line’s called Blythe, and I bet a pair of scuba leggings alone would pay the rent. But quiet, Taiwan-born Liu plans to work in big-label design (think Aritzia) to bone up on “processes and production and the serious stuff” before going solo. Her prints are fantastic, but she’s a realist.
ADELAIDE KIMWhile Kim was interning in Belgium last summer, the designer Veronique Braquinho went bankrupt and had a fire sale. She bought all the fabrics she could, and her collection rose phoenix-like from the heap: sheer nylon became a trench, lined in organza; ribbon-plaid curtains became pajama-like pants. Kim, a Dries Van Noten fangirl (and it shows) says she likes to design for slightly older women because “they don’t need to be cool or trendy anymore — they dress themselves like themselves.”
PROJECT: OFF-RUNWAYNot every new designer is showing wares at the indie fashion weeks. Accessorize your fashion crimes with the work of these three locals.
SHIRIN FATHIFOR: Bags and t-shirts
Fathi needed a good use for her miles of Suzani fabric, scavenged from flea markets on trips to Iran. First, the OCAD grad made handbags for herself and a flock of friends. Then, she called it a line:
Birds Are Not For Sale. Having sold out the first batch, she’s releasing more next month — plus t-shirts, capriciously illustrated.
LARA VINCENTFOR: Headpieces and hats
Already clique-beloved for her suede floral wreaths and Basquiat-like crowns, sold at
Magic Pony, Vincent now plans to add proper hats. First was this liberty-print boater, made in collab with me (but really, it was all her) for good-cause auction at the recent Buy Design for Windfall gala. Place orders at
info@laravincent.com.
ELIZA KOZURNOFOR: Jewellery
Kozurno has been quietly crafting jewellery since 2005, but of late, it feels like everyone wants an intricate, texture-heavy piece. Two Thursdays ago, her film noir-inspired fall ‘10 collection was feted at the shoe boutique Chasse Gardee. Last Thursday, it was flaunted in the Refined by Biddell show at [FAT]. Today, Kozurno is weaving scarves from salvaged leather and dreaming up handbags. Stay tuned at
www.elizakozurno.com.