March 10, 2017 marked a significant date in the Canadian fashion calendar as Toronto Women’s Fashion Week (TW) made its debut on the Canadian fashion scene while featuring the country’s several iconic designers.
Lead by founder and executive director, Jeff Rustia, TW provided a modern, relevant and high tech fashion week platform, creating more opportunity for Canadian designers to showcase their talent. Held at the historical Waterworks building in downtown Toronto, the raw and industrial space gave an underground yet fashionable vibe for the inaugural event.
Here are my favourite collections from the first day of Toronto Women’s Fashion Week:
DI CARLO COUTURE
Di Carlo Couture is an haute couture label created by Antoinette Di Carlo in the heart of Montreal’s Little Italy. With a passion for haute couture dressmaking, Di Carlo Couture’s newest collection captured the essence of elegance and femininity that women seek.
“A romantic and feminine collection with elegant and timeless silhouettes, while still maintaining a modern day appeal by using a combination of sheer textures and fabric layering. The detailing of each piece is elevated by the use of intricate beading and exemplary seam detailing giving the garments an ethereal touch,” Antoinette herself describes this collection.
SHELLI OH
Toronto fashion designer Shelli Oh showcased her collection titled “Le Redécouverte” (meaning: the rediscovery) on the runway. The new line expressed a renewed passion for handmade details and embellishments with a hint of romance. The line’s elegant dresses, skirts and jackets were unified with extraordinary surface details: sculpted brocades, french lace and hand-sewn feather clusters in wool cashmere come together to emit a sense of luxurious femininity. Additional details like fine handcrafted silver chain added an extra refined touch that make the pieces so distinctive.
JOSEPH TASSONI
Joseph Tassoni‘s FW17 collection, titled “The Queen of the North”, was inspired by the mythical nobility of the Northern Realms preparing for battle, otherwise known as Canadian winters. The presentation transitioned through a colour story, from black, a kaleidoscope of colour, to white – from darkness to sleekness. With a love of country, the designer displayed in each piece how one could dress for various temperatures throughout each province. In addition, Tassoni showcased a unique design approach through the use of down-filled, high-performance novelty fabrics – his use of textiles range from nylon to wool and cashmere to Mongolian furs. His all-made-in-Canada collection combined high-end, unique, tailored styles with a signature fit.
