The ‘70’s beat rolled on at World MasterCard Fashion Week yesterday, with Edmonton’s Malorie Urbanovitch presenting a vintage-inspired Fall/Winter 2015 collection, heavy in suede, tassels and hand-knits – We can easily picture Jane Birken in these pieces. The saturated earth tones are perfectly balanced with the most beautiful turquoise sky blue, what you would expect to see on a crisp, clear Fall day. With her clever play of old-meets-new, this Mercedes-Benz Start Up alumni reinforces that she has hit her stride.
After that was Toronto Fashion Week vetern Klaxon Howl. The signatures of this local design house are classic silhouettes, timeless colour palettes, and impeccable tailoring. Fall/Winter 2015 was no different, but this season designer Matt Robinson adds a 1940’s film noir air to his latest collection – can’t you picture some bad-ass gangsters in these looks? Details such as full cuffs on trousers and wide lapels on pin striped suits transport us to another time, while styling choices such as pairing an athletic baseball jersey with wool trousers and sneakers kept the collection securely in the now.
Next up was Hayley Elsaesser, with her second collection after making quite the splash with her spring summer 2015 collection last season. After the final Fall/Winter 2015 look exited the WMCFW runway, there was one word echoed around the runway – FUN. The positive energy from the diverse models, who were obviously having a blast, combined with the quirky day-glo conversational prints (an eight ball wearing a cowboy hat, a macro-sized cheetah print), PLUS a soundtrack that had me dancing in my seat – all in all, Hayley Elsaesser’s show felt like the best house party of the year. All of this fun could lead to some serious dollars and cents – the prints are loud but incredibly wearable in the easy silhouettes and fabrics Elsaesser chose. This brand has the kind of youthful energy many labels wish they could capture.
For the final show of the evening, the expectations were high, as always, as we settled in to view Mackage’s fall winter presentation. The brand has been killing it at retail – you saw their parkas EVERYWHERE this past winter, even if you didn’t know it. For Fall/Winter 2015, Mackage blew those high expectations out of the water, and then put them in the coolest quilted snow pants. Mackage managed to be safe – so many sellable jackets, their bread and butter – but add in the raddest flair, like a leather jacket with mile long fringe from the shoulders, mimicking wings. The accessories were killer, as usual – WE NEED the wool scarf with the leather fringe, and the backpacks, and the fringed belt…
Watch all the runway presentation’s below now and stay tuned for our coverage from today at the tents!
Malorie Urbanovitch:
Klaxon Howl:
Hayley Elsaesser:
Mackage: