Caitlin Power’s SS2011 show at The Drake Hotel
This LGFW I got to meet many talented Canadian designers who presented their SS2011 collections off-site. Albeit, Toronto is no Milan, and yet our local designers still have to flirt with bankruptcy every time they put together a collection and gulp, a runway show. Meanwhile, the designers who can actually afford to present at LGFW are often uninspiring, too mainstream and just feeding into that pret-a-HOLT RENFEW look that unfortunately stands for “fashion” to the majority of our uneducated, unstylish population. It’s no wonder a girl walking in heels gets chastised at every turn for clearly being too “materialistic” and/or a “fashion snob”. It’s because people think that you can only buy fashion at HOLTS, that nothing costs less than $500 and that only rich people know the difference between Missoni and Etro.
Misconceptions. Did you know that you can buy handcrafted, one-of-a-kind, novel pieces designed by our local talent for about the same price of a runway knock-off from Zara or H&M? (Minus the uneven zippers, random threads pulling, and the ‘one wash only’ rule before it comes out holed-up like a Balmain gone awry or shrinks to midget-sized apparel). Stores such as RAC, Shopgirls, IDO, Robber and online sites like Ukamaku.com are all places where you can find things like a beautiful leather belt by Matt&Nat for $35 or a Caitlin Power corset for $80 or a t-shirt by Ashley Rowe for $20. It’s just about being smart with your money and effing brilliant with your style.
The blue wool bustier I bought from Caitlin Power was under $100, but the attention to detail, craftsmanship and just overall beauty of the piece could easily bear a price tag reading triple the price. Not that we should be exploiting Canadian designers, but in order to make it in the industry their pieces have to be top quality – and in order to sell and let’s face it, eat, their prices have to be competitively low. I call it supporting Canadian designers. Taking them out for dinner, even. Why would I buy a flimsy dress at ZARA when I can get an insanely unique, 100% silk creation for the same price from someone like Paris Li or Carrie Hayes, who I can have direct contact with when buying her very design; talk to; she can tell me how her dress is supposed to look; I can go home and have something hang in my closet that has a story and that no one else will own. And what’s this? My bank account was barely nicked more than a night out on the town. And what’s that? I don’t look like some slave-to-fashion-copy-cat-trying-to-look-oh-so-cool in a MIU MIU replica.
These are just some things I’ve had to think about the more I delve into the heart of T.O.’s fashion scene…
