T.O. Roundup - One

It's officially fashion week in Toronto. Meanwhile, I'm in Winnipeg, and thus definitely not enjoying the festivities in person, but I have enjoyed perusing the images of some of the offerings thus far. Not many of our more well known Canadian lines have shown just yet (Joe Fresh is live-streaming on Wednesday - can't wait!), although my preference thus far is garnered towards the fresher faces, at this point at least.

Greta Constantine is definitely one of the better known Canadian labels and usually I enjoy their collections but this season the highlight for me was seeing an actually recognizable Canadian model (usually only seen on the Joe Fresh runway) - the fabulous Coco Rocha. Her three appearances were the shows highlights, even in 2D on my laptop screen.

Nada is another label which I generally enjoy. My trusty Fashion Magazine doesn't have quite as many photos of this collection up yet, so I can't really assess the collection fairly, however I will say that I love this simple but beautiful blue dress on the lovely Tara Gill.

With regards to Ashley Rowe. I will begin with a disclaimer that yes, these garments look essentially like big billowy nightgowns, although they are certainly meant as ready-to-wear (trust me, I chose the least sleepy-time looks of the bunch - see the rest here). Pajama-esque characteristics aside, I really liked the colours. At least they'd be comfortable?

Next, Evan Biddell. A Project Runway Canada winner who has (gasp) continued to show at fashion week. Unlike the US show, the Canadian PR Alum seem to actually get careers, at least in Canada, and even with some success south of the border (See: Greta Constantine alum Stephen Wong). But I digress.

Mr. Biddell's collection, to me, seemed somewhat disjointed and was not, in my opinion, very cohesive. It was in dire need of some wise words from one Tim Gunn (who sadly is not part of PR Canada). Case in point - the relatively pretty little frock on the left, juxtaposed with this leopard print monstrosity on the right. Does this make sense? Really? According to our friends at Fashion, Biddell's collection included some "fashion works of art" - I'm not convinced.

Last but certainly not least, Juma! A brother sister team, these two put forth some fabulous basics with some African themed prints that I personally loved. These three looks were the only ones to make it into the coverage of the show that I was able to find, but I really like all of them.


All photos from Fashion Magazine