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.