Let's End This on a High Note

Tonight's show embodied what Edmonton Fashion Week is all about, showcasing raw design skill and innovation. Pam Mbanga started the show with a collection with lace, checkered patterns, and a black and white colour scheme. Like in many collections in the past week, purple was used as a rich accent colour. An interesting touch was Mbenga's addition of lace over all the models' eyes to tie everything together.
Kelsey Macintyre, a Marvel College grad, showed a very sophisticated collection. It was perfect for any fashion-forward business woman who favours high waisted trousers and pencil skirts. Her collection was another that used a lot of blacks, greys, and off-whites. She used splashes of green to liven up her collection. McIntyre also showed her Spring 2010 collection which used a pastel colour palette and tons of sheer fabrics. The high-waited theme continued into this show as well. Her line is currently available for purchase at Nokomis.
Laura Dredger used leopard prints, and exaggerated collars to separate herself on the runway and did so quite well. Many of the jackets in her collection were built with a cape. This addition was a modern touch and worked well within her line. After the intermission, real magic happened on the runway.
Lani Van Rooyen showed a collection of stunning gowns with ruffles, lace, corsets and tie-up backs. Most of the dresses were in black and white except for one full skirted gown which was a vibrant red, and an obvious crowd pleaser. My favourite dress was a short white dress with a long almost sheer train which floated behind the model as if it were suspended in the air as the model walked the runway. This collection was also a fan of the backless, or cut-out backed dress. More information about Rooyan is available online on her website http://www.rooycouture.com/.
Jason Matlo finished the show, and after last season's stunning presence he had to deal with a lot of high expectations. My dealing with them, I mean exceeding them. Firstly, Matlo showed his Babe line which is a little bit more credit card friendly. I saw a lot of one shouldered dresses, and solid prints. This part of his collection was sassy, yet simple. When he began to send out the models sporting his Spring 2010 collection, my jaw nearly dropped. With plunging necklines, pencil skirts, and LOTS of sequence, there was surely good reason .Linsay from Canada's Next Top Model also made an appearance in the collection. A few pieced that stuck out in my head were a zebra-print blazer a Tina- Turner inspired short black fully-sequenced garment, and a beautiful silver fully-sequenced floor-length gown. The entire line was simple, sophisticated, and sexy. Evidently, it was for women who like to be noticed; scratch that...who LOVE being noticed. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next! Well that's all folks! Thank you for checking out my blog and keeping up with me as I ventured to all of Edmonton Fashion Week's shows. I really do hope, you have enjoyed it as much as I have. On another note, I’d like to congratulate all of the participating designers and most importantly Edmonton local designers. They've really been making an effort to enhance Edmonton's fashion industry and create events like this one. Designers are vital to the show and they deserve a HUGE thank you. Keep checking back for more fashion updates in the future.

Golden Night at EFW

Gold was a clear favourite in tonight's showcase at Edmonton Fashion Week. Andy Jones with his line Viciously Delicious was the first of the night to use the colour - it was also his first runway show altogether. Jones created beautiful garments which really were feminine and flirty. Many of his piices used draping techniques, and appeared as though the dress was being accessorized with a scarf when in fact it was simply the dress itself. This show was followed by Lauren McDonald whose garments usually included ruffles, fringe, and/or sheer components. The ruffles, for example, were on sleeves of blouses, and even once on the hemline of a chic little black dress. I must admit though, I was not a personal fan of the velour tights, but I can definately see their appeal to other consumers.

Next, a very pregnant Cherie Cruz sent out her models wearing her neutrally or earthy toned clothing line. Something is to be said for beauty in simplicity. Cruz's line was anything but boring, but the craftsmanship and construction of the clothing was impeccable, and made the line truly stand out regardless of colour.

"Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity"- Charles Mingus - Jazz bassist, composer, bandleader, and pianist in the the 60's and 70's

Derek Jagodzinsky's first showcase was a complete success and a few people even to stood up to congratulate the Edmontonian designer through a standing ovation. His line used a lot of checkered patterns and a lot of houndstooth. His designs were architectural and symmetrical (for the most part). He did a royally fantastic job for a first-timer.

The last show of the night and my personal favourite, Patricia Glanville's line Padraigin. It seemed quite clear that Glanville was inspired by the falling leaves of the season. Her line was presented with another neutral toned collection and even included a well designed maternity dress. This was my personal fsavorite of the night!

Night SIX at Edmonton Fashion Week

A crowd slightly bigger than last night's 60-ish came out to see today's designers rock the runway, and as a special added bonus, Linsay Willier runner-up from Canada's Next Top Model. She was in Shahidah's collection, Posta Couture, wearing a sleek purple dress . One year ago, Shahidah won the Emerging Designer contest and today proved her ability to sew and design. The line was clean, chic, urban and had a hip-hop feel. Many of the garments were structured in a way to accentuate natural curves, and the tailoring and fit was phenomenal on all the models. The line was dominated by denim, big pockets, and oversized hoods.

Another great designer tonight was Elisa Troung with her collection of corsetry Sweet Carousel. The corsets were so tight and well-fitted they looked like body armour. There was a corset for every occasion and fantasy from French maids, to dominatrix, and everything in between. The show felt like 'Moulin Rouge' but with Kat Von D from Miami Ink modelling. A surprising afterthought was announced after the show, mentioning that the models did their own make-up for the event. Way to go ladies!

Mystery Girl by Amber Leask also had a well put together collection. She used a lot of plaids, a lot of colour and a lot of collar. The collars were often emphasized in her modern punk schoolgirl style. One particular detail I was intrigued by was Leask's use of a standard yellow measuring tape as a belt. It was innovative and definitely noticeable. Her line is currently available for purchase at Planet Ze Design Centre off Whyte Avenue.

Natasha Lazarovic showed her Temna Fialka collection again tonight at EFW. The pieces in this collection differed from Saturday night's show. This collection was Indian-inspired and played with a lot of pleating, tiering, and draping. The line was interesting because of its fine details and embellishments. It was truly a beautiful collection.

Cherie Howard, and Kassy Theisen also showed their collections this evening and both did a wonderful job. Howard's line was quite gothic in my opinion and very racy with all the sheer fabrics and sky-high slits. Theisen's emphasized shine in her collection, using a lot of silks, and what looked like a taffeta-type material.

www.edmontonjournal.com/EFW has updated it's photo galleries and now everyone can SEE the collections and garments I've been writing about for the past 6 days! Definitely check out the Joeffer Coac gallery, Fantasy hair and make-up gallery, and Michael Kaye's gown gallery!

Sweet Fantasy

Students and professionals alike flooded Trans Alta Arts Barns on Whyte Ave, for the Fantasy hair and make-up competitions Monday night. Nineteen year-old Purely Inspired student Cayley Moncrieff was the winner of the Fantasy hair competition and received 2nd overall in the fantasy make-up competition. Her model was painted a glittery white with blue accents from her chest up. Her hair was painted white and it was styled in a way that looked like icicles were forcing their way up and out of the model's head which makes complete sense knowing that Cayley was inspired by icicles and a fictional ice queen. She won $200 from International Beauty Services, two tickets to Robert Lobetta's hair show put on by Eveline Charles Academy valued at $100, and $125 cash as well as a photo shoot valued at $1000 with supplied models. Moncrieff says the makeup alone took her approximately five hours to complete. Janelle Fort was the overall winner of the Fantasy make-up competition for her blue, purple, and green peacock inspired look. This was one of my favourite looks of the night; I specifically loved the peacock feathers attached to the model's eyebrows.

Phoenix Renewal Spa also put on a little make-up show of their own, and thought they would include a lesson in skin care, and skin cancer while they were at it. This production was aimed to show the progression of skin cancer until the patient dies. The show was entitled 'Dying for Beauty'.

(Left: This was stage 4 of the progression, and it is evident that the model has been tanning excessively and is well on her way to full-fledged skin cancer)

(Below: Model Agnieszka Wajda-Plytta is stage 6 of 7 of the progression of skin cancer, she has legions and cancerous moles on her face. The last stage after this was death.)

Below is a picture of Agnieszka and I after theshow (note the detail of makeup that was layered onto her skin).

I love that Phoenix Renewal Spa took this opportunity to show their talent with make-up as well as spread the word about proper skin care that has the potential to save lives. It was a wonderfully thought out concept and the models did the show plenty of justice.

Overall, the night was a success, even with the small 50-some person crowd. Tomorrow evening will be back to traditional runway with clothing designers like Shahidah's Posta Couture, and Amber Leask's Mystery Girl.