Photography by Irina Luca.
It is my strong belief that the once closing-night staple of our modest schedule, Montreal’s Denis Gagnon, wanted to be the first to show and get the hell out of town.
Maybe he got tired of this whole Toronto mess. Maybe he’s tired of fashion. But it seems that he didn’t put much effort into his fall/winter 2011 collection as one would hope. But even with minimal effort, Gagnon is still a true pro and delivers, well, high results. When he once attracted my eye with Rag & Bone-ish silhouettes and complex geometries, he replaced this season with tulle and nu-goth influences. Indeed, this season was a mastery of fabrics and texture – with perfect pops of accent colours in black, pink and turquoise.
There were delicate, but chunky, layers, with tulle and pleated full skirts that make you think of Mona Lisa Smile. There was also a perfectly cropped leather jacket with a punk princess-worthy tulle obi-like gathering at the back, only half way up the back. And, of course, as will be expected in Canadian fall/winter 2011 trend reporting, there were chiffon wrap dresses, cutout tops, tuxedo collars. Oh, and of course nipples.
What had all the fashion gals raving, though were his colour-blocked wedges to match the palette, a custom collab with shoe giant Aldo. I was more curious about the two female models walking out hand-in-hand to close in the show.
As for Gagnon, he did something rare and walked all the way to end of the runway for his bow. And he couldn’t have run back and due East any faster.
