L’Oreal Fashion Week was supposed to be "Fabulous." The white tents were back, with imposing black lacquered lion statues guarding the entrance and a gleaming white Lincoln MLS parked nearby. Inside, the wrangled sponsorship dollars were on further display: Restylane’s yellow orchid-filled booth, the omnipresence of LG Electronics’ flat screens streaming the live Fashion Television coverage.
But the pomp and circumstance couldn’t overshadow the sombre mood: the global economic meltdown, the latest victims of the local industry’s lacking infrastructure. Nor could it protect the increasingly public concern that FDCC President Robin Kay — the woman largely responsible for making an almost bankrupt organization flush — may not be able to keep her shit together any longer.
Indeed, it was Kay’s drunken introduction to Oct. 20’s Mango runway show that really kicked off the week (EYE WEEKLY was the first to break the story with a live Twitter update: “Robyn [sic] Kay introducing Mango. There is slurring, and yes, a gong. ‘Politefully’ is now a word. There was actual silence.”).
Kay’s erratic behavior isn’t new. It’s long been the fodder for fashion-insider gossip (everyone it seems has a crazy Kay story), which presumably was first hinted publicly with a summer 2000 FASHION magazine profile piece. But her leadership of L’Oreal Fashion Week and the lucrative gains made under her reign brushed under the rug any of those eccentricities that’d emerge during Fashion Week coverage.
Last year’s Spring/Summer collections were overshadowed by an anonymous email petition addressed to David Miller calling for her head; it was largely dismissed as a vendetta by the media at the time (“People who don't climb glass mountains shouldn't throw stones”). And earlier this year, an explosive Toronto Life profile by former EYE WEEKLY editor Bert Archer may have been the talk of the Fall/Winter collections, but for the most part, contributed to the insider pity for Kay’s drunken closing speech before the Rudsak collection (memorable for a half-zipped dress) that mainstream rags were mum on but the blogosphere tactfully mentioned.
So this year was memorable, because the gloves were off: it made the Toronto Star front page, it was gleefully ripped in the gossip columns. While there have been renewed calls for Kay’s head — a meeting has been called by the Board of Directors to discuss her future — there’s cynicism that it may all be for naught given the board’s long-time favouritism.
What’s even more disappointing, however is that even without the Kay opening night ramble, the lacklustre designs of Toronto-based labels would still be overshadowed by the far more sophisticated merits of Montreal designers: the soft confectionary-like pleated and ruched dresses of fash critics fav Renata Morales’ ’20s-inspired collection, Andy The-Anh’s sculptural lines, the cohesive eco chic of eugenia’s debut, and Denis Gagnon’s complex leather dresses with basket woven detail. (Vancouver’s Afshin Feiz also impressed the crowd.)
Unfortunately, Toronto-based designers simply "carried on." With the exception of Play Dead Cult and Damzels In This Dress' playful two-finger salute of brazen streetwear ensembles, Joeffer Caoc, David Dixon, Pink Tartan and Bustle all catered out lines that didn’t do much except maintain their customer-base (although Dixon’s craftsmanship should be noted).
Pink Tartan simply riffed on the Mad Men trend, whereas Bustle simply recycled their previous spring season motifs of tight-fitting blazers, trousers and pea coats. Does it say something that the biggest Toronto-centric hit (and most well-attended) was the Joe Fresh line? Who knows, but it did confirm the biggest S/S 08 it-pieces: everyone shall be in violet and aubergine, digging white leather brogues and wearing dhotis (though there are fears on fashion insiders’ parts on how successful the mass market will translate these pants for mainstream consumption).
So what does L’Oreal Fashion Week say about our local fashion industry? That the corporate sponsorship has given a very nice sheen to the festivities, but has not necessarily inspired the confidences of our designers to push boundaries and produce collections that aren’t just wearable pieces. And that the fashion media itself perhaps should open its mouth more — holding the FDCC accountable but also offering constructive criticism to designer collections that goes beyond pat-on-the-backs and trend forecasting descriptions. We’re only going to move beyond the backwater if we have the guts to say when something works or doesn’t.
Photography by Alyssa K. Faoro