Fashion comme Toronto?

With catwalk buzz starting to generate in New York, London and Milan, Toronto's fashionistas are starting to wonder what this years World MasterCard Fashion Week has in store!

Although the smallest of the fashion weeks, when compared to its worldwide counterparts, a newly minted name may be just the beginning for this years lineup in Toronto. As eyes fall on the strategically lighted runways, my eyes will be firmly focused on the Chloe comme Parris collection.

As city natives, the Gordon sisters are well versed in Canadian tastes, and despite having only a few years experience in the industry (post graduation from NSCAD), they were named "The Ones to Watch" of the up-and-coming designers you need to know by Fashion Magazine.

With Parris' jewelery designs coupled with Chole's inventiveness focused on garments, their has been growing anticipation for the F/W 2012 collection since the lights went down last October. 90's inspired prints paired with body wrap pearl strands, were just some of the highlights.

Cited as "ruggedly pretty" with designs for the "true downtown girl", will you be following the girls this March?

- Laura Patriquin

Orange Ya Glad!?

by Derek Dotto

Finally! Menswear designers are learning to say "no!" to black and grey, and pick up a new colour palette, emphasis on colour.

While achromatic looks still ruled the runways in Paris and Milan, the collections were uncharacteristically bright this season. The stand out for Fall 2011: Orange! From tangerine to burnt sunrise, designers experimented with shades and hues more typically seen during the warmer months.

Almost 20 collections featured pieces in orange. For some it was an accent only seen on one or two garments, like at Burberry and Georgio Armani. Others used the warm hue to carry the collection. At Jil Sander, it looked as though someone spilled a bag of Doritos all over the runway. Creative director Raf Simons incorporated orange into more than half a dozen looks in the form of knit tops, as well as a blazer and trousers.

My pick for the best handling of this often-tricky colour would be at Mugler. For his debut collection with the legendary fashion house, Lady Gaga’s stylist, Nicola Formichetti, countered intense, black, sharp-shouldered, latex-laden looks with an equally intense shade that can be most closely compared to that of a traffic cone. Applied to a slim suit (left), cropped jacket, and baggy, pleated trousers, this colour provided a much-needed lightness to the show.

Alas, you won’t see me wearing any of this anytime soon. No it’s not just the price tag on these labels that scares me off. As a self-confessed semi-ginger, orange just isn’t my colour.

Burberry Fall 2011

Georgio Armani Fall 2011

Jil Sander Fall 2011

Mugler Fall 2011

(All photos courtesy of Style.com)