Saturday, September 19, 2009

Round two at Edmonton Fashion Week

The variety in today's shows was immense. In fact, today alone I’ve seen butterfly prints, floral prints, lace, paisley prints, every colour possible, and even Nazila Couture's signature Indian-inspired looks. Once again, the designers showed a lot of creativity and skill tonight and they deserve Edmonton’s praise for their hard work.


Carla Miranda started the show off strong with a small collection of loose-fitting garments in a very warm colour palette. Each piece was accessorized with gold chains and platform gladiator stilettos. The collection was full of lustre and definitely did not disappoint. Also, there were a few pieces with similar low, or cutaway backs that were present in last evening's college showcase.

Lisa-Marie Sciroli's line Hotsy Totsy came on next with a total of 20 girls wearing fabulous cocktail dresses great for any occasion apart from one risky number that showed a little too much butt for my liking. Most of the dresses used a fitted bodice style on top and volume in the skirt. The colour palette was much cooler in this collection as it used some deep purples, reds, and blues. Once again, a lot of shine was incorporated by using silks and satins in the design. Overall, I thought the dresses were very well put together, and there was a dress to suit every figure. I was alone with this opinion though; the crowd around me couldn't stop chatting about their favourite pieces from this line all night.

Andeo Hats and Sabrina Butterfly paired up and presented a very modest runway show with an interesting concept. The girls looked like they were fresh off the boat (so-to-speak) luggage still in hand after a long trip from England to America in the 1930's. The silhouettes were timeless and the colours used like black, grey maroon, and even a pale lime green will never go out of style. All the garments looked soft and appeared to be warm, but only time and our Edmontonian winters will determine their ability to hold in heat for the next 5-6 months. The hats followed the same sort of theme, and also included a few bows and feathers.

(*Here is a blog post I found written by Sabrina about her first runway experience at EFW... pretty neat!)

My Secret by Rebecka Pichoch stormed the runway immediately after and was the polar opposite of Sabrina Butterfly's designs. The best way to describe her collection was a hot mess. There were quite a few backless numbers and a bit of play with patterns and colour. The amount of fray (intentional... I hope) became distracting at points and left me wondering with some pieces were actually designed to have such an abundance of loose threads hanging out in various places. At the same time, this added to the sort-of grunge appeal that the collection had in my opinion.

Nazila Couture then opened their show with a Bollywood dance routine which I think we all can appreciate more thanks to the production of Slumdog Millionaire and So You Think You Can Dance. I have to say the two young girls who walked out onto the runway to join the Bollywood dancer who wearing traditional Indian swag must have felt like little Princess Jasmines. The show continued with some fun BCBG outfits, including an amazing grey metallic maxi dress cinched at the waist with an embellished gold belt. The show also included some tailored suits which accentuated a woman’s natural curves, along with a few traditional Indian gowns which breathed tons of colour into the show.

Wanted was the next collection to walk the runway. This line used solid colours, and gold accents to draw in focus. Every colour from green to tan to orange to pink was used in this collection alone.

Joeffer Caoc from Toronto was the last to show his collection today, and perhaps was the most modest of all the collections shown all evening. His collection included metallic jackets, tailored calf-length dress pants, and draped jersey dresses. Most of the jackets, and skirts fell past the knees left a lot to the imagination. His line was centred around simplicity and managed to be effortlessly chic. The only pieces I probably won’t see being worn around were the ones made out of a plastic-type material and sounded kind-of like a walking around wearing a garbage bag. Beautiful pieces, but they made horrible sounds. Caoc’s line is available at My Filosophy located on Whyte Avenue.

So, keep your eyes out for these trends in upcoming shows:

  • Gold: Gold chains, gold fabrics, gold accents, etc... I’ve seen it all already and the question of its prominence in this season’s EFW has yet to be determined.
  • Shine: Whether it is a metallic jacket or the use of silks and satins EFW is lusting over lustre.
  • Backless: I’m thrilled to see this style popping up 2 nights in a row now, and I have a strong suspicion that its presence will continue in the coming week.

Be sure to check out www.edmontonjournal.com/EFW for other articles related to Edmonton Fashion Week and galleries from the week’s events.
As always, let me know if you have been noticing any other repeating trends at EFW this season!

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