Line Knitwear couldn’t have been a more fitting choice to end Toronto’s Fashion Week. The collection, a heady mix of patterns and textures, set the appropriate tone for fall – a Canadian fall to boot.
The collection’s woodsy, hippie-chic vibe was an ode to the outdoors (inspired by European settlers, it was titled Migrant Muse). It also took a dip in currants, plums, indigos and browns; rich, romantic colours that were sombre but impactful.
Designers John Muscat and Jennifer Wells also continued to prove they aren’t one-trick ponies, moving beyond knitwear to dabble in velvet, herringbone and fur to deliver a an assortment of textures and patterns. The mismatched patterns were of the Etro variety —furs on knits on florals — working in unison. And like Etro, there was beauty in the messiness.
The loose silhouette of the sixties was also captured in the collection with flowing maxi skirts and dresses with longer hemlines. These girls watched old footage from Woodstock. They listened to Joni Mitchell. They smoked pot, or, at the very least, cigarettes.
The joy of watching the show was peeling the layers as the models came down the runway. It was a velvet skirt. No, it was crochet and velvet. Wait, there was more — there was also a sheer, wispy scarf.
The collection was sometimes, only sometimes, heavy handed. The best pieces were often the ones that looked as though the models had just thrown on before heading out the door. The crochet dresses, for example, or the blushing apricot dress draped with a grey knit shawl. But it was also cohesive, complete and a reminder of why fall—before the foliage is stripped bare—is so beautiful in Canada.
