We were among the delightful lot last night at LG Fashion Week‘s invite-only opening night featuring the most coveted Canadian brands showing their latest collections to help us bundle up in style yet again when the snow comes round next winter.
On the roster for the evening was Holt Renfrew‘s pick of Canadian designers including Wings + Horns, Pink Tartan, Twenty Cluny, Smythe, Todd Lynn, Denis Gagnon, Greta & Ezra Constantine, Lida Baday, Canada Goose, and Jeremy Laing, along with IZMA‘s fashionably furry show, and JUMA‘s stunning intimate studio presentation.
After Jeanne Beker and Robin Kay’s heartfelt introductions and a cutesy little video featuring the entire Holts staff lip-syncing Bachman–Turner Overdrive’s 1973 throwback “Takin’ Care of Business”, the models, separated by designer, went calmly down the runway, styled specifically to suit each design aesthetic.
IZMA was up next with a sparkling array of garments utilizing chiffon, velvet, and of course the fluffiest most lux wild Canadian fur. This being our first personal introduction to Izzy Camilleri and Adrian Mainella’s luscious collection, we were a little bit in awe and left especially digging the dramatic shimmering floor length gowns paired perfectly with a fluffy fox fur coat as well as the metallic blocked fur dresses and coats.
Last, but definitely at the top of our books was Alia and Jamil JUMA’s fall 2011 collection which we’ve been obsessing over ever since we saw this teaser video last month. Presented in a new studio area this time around, we filtered around the rectangular runway, finding our seats to the tune of Twin Shadow. Following last seasons informal presentation at the Spoke Club, we were delighted to see they decided to show the collection, inspired by exotic travels to Tibet, Thailand, and Shenzhento, in a more formal light.
After the show we bumped shoulders backstage with Isis Salam of Thunderheist before briefly gushing with the designers about their current collection before they prepare to head back to China in a few weeks. Definite hits of the collection were the black lit multi-coloured knit pieces drawn from those used for centuries in winter by Tibetan mountain people, worn by the men with black lace up Red Wing Boots and layered on the girls intermittently amongst the distorted silk tapestry that’s become the signature JUMA look.
