At another fashion after party last Monday, an editor asked me if I was excited about the fashion week ahead.
“I’m definitely excited about certain shows,” I responded, probably predictably, diplomatically. I meant it though.
Whenever the opportunity to shoot the shit with another style journalist over fashion week’s shortcomings comes up, I stop myself and think about Comrags. Specifically, the label’s Fall 2008 presentation and its finale of wool maxi coats with hems caked in salt. That catwalk crescendo is my quintessential Canadian fashion moment for its contemporary and urban expression of how some of us creatively attempt to endure Toronto’s harsh winter without surrendering our sense of style.
“We still haven’t found our little something for this season yet,” said Comrags designer Joyce Gunhouse last week (in the middle of an early spring blizzard no less) referring to the clever twist that always elevates her and partner Judy Cornish’s presentations. What they do have is racks of dresses, coats and blouses in multicoloured mohair, shimmering jacquard and patterns they call “second hand store prints”, florals and abstract plaids in saturated yellows and teals, that will be mixed and matched for their LG Fashion Week debut tonight.
Statement textiles, whether earthy prints or technical crush taffetas, are a Comrags signature but Gunhouse knows that shoppers experimenting with fabric have a higher expectation of fit. That’s the kind of insight the duo gleans from private shopping nights at their Queen West boutique when a sheet goes up in the window so customers can flick through racks of new deliveries in their slips.
“After those events, we know right away which bodies to abandon and what to move forward with,” said Gunhouse.
Opening the shop and scaling back wholesale accounts 14 years ago forced Gunhouse and Cornish to focus on their Toronto fan base. Everything is still sampled and produced in their King and Bathurst studio, which employs a full time staff of eight.
“People said we were crazy for turning away business,” said Cornish. “But it’s a better quality of life for everybody.”
