Toronto fashion week’s big finale (unless you’re attending the Survivor Brunch and post-catwalk pow wow taking place this afternoon at the Drake) was the Kid Robot show at CiRCA. The toy brand launched its fluorescent clothing collection with the question “What would you wear if you were climbing Mount Everest in 1982 listening to Kraftwerk and you were a Kidrobot toy?”
The answer was graphically illustrated T-shirts in bold pops of canary yellow and hot pink, hoodies with angled stripes and sweaters in oversized acid green camo or repeating leaf prints. You would also finish off your look with colourful Hunter boots, shiny raver wigs and a Sharpie marker which you would use to scribble and tag a Munny doll at the end of your upper atmosphere runway.
After the show, guests climbed the escalator to the club’s second floor Kidrobot room to preview custom Munny dolls by Canadian designers including Greta Constantine, Northbound and Damzels in this Dress. Preloved’s Munny was wrapped in a tweed topper while the Fashion Crimes doll was a fallen prom queen complete with her own pool of vomit. Susie Love suspended her character from a wire hanger swing and the head of Oligarchy’s golden Munny opened to reveal a brain made of bling. All dolls will be auctioned off on eBay to benefit War Child Canada.
And now, because every end-of-fashion week report deserves a concise (and quip filled) list of all we saw, here is our Fall 2008 catwalk compendium:
The collection: Denis Gagnon exceeded all expectations with a sexy, smart and modern lineup of wrap around knits and svelte leather looks.
The other collection: Comrags sprinkled sidewalk salt on its finale gowns and created the most authentic and contemporary Canadian fashion statement we’ve ever seen on a Toronto runway.
The flop: Evan Biddell. It wasn’t fashion week’s worst collection by far but throwing away $100,000 has never looked less glamourous.
The trends: BLACK! Most of it to the point of blah but a few standout collections like Nadya Toto and Lucian Matis added enough volume and detail to give tonal some taste. The darkness was exaggerated by an eager-for-spring audience wearing tons of colour. Also, lots of neck detailing, tone-on-tone iridescence and muffs.
The accessory: Hats. Susie Love created mini plastic top hats for Matis while Mellinda-Mae Harlingten used pint sized, felt chapeaux. Joe Fresh topped things off with sweet felt berets and Wildhagen hats finishing touched looks by Preloved and David Dixon.
The swag: Orangina is the new Cadbury Thins. There was rarely a catwalk break when fashion week guests weren’t gulping back the sudsy citrus.
The character: The foreign press was made up of a chic-to-quirky cast of front row personalities but it was door man Chung who kept entering and exiting the tents ten times a day interesting with wardrobe commentary for every done up guest that flashed their invite his way.
The scam: Tomato paste-sized cans of tart, Paris Hilton endorsed RICH prosecco swindled the crowd (many who forked over $50+ for passes) out of $12 a pop.
Tents: Yes or No? Yes but the bathroom situation needs to be fixed. Special thanks to the Sheraton Hotel for not shooing away fashionistas searching out better loos than the flooded toilets next to the Nathan Phillips Square rink.
Now go buy something Canadian.
Above: The Kidrobot clothing collection.
