Comrags
The show opens with the sound of thunder. Models wrapped in dresses the color of Corten steel teeter out, glowing against the pale yellow backdrop. Rusted prints add shade and texture while mocking traditional plaids. The hemlines are modest but seductive – the models’ knobby knees peek out from underneath.
Simple silhouettes, purposeful symmetry, and vertical unity convey a purity of the form.
Of the TFW collections so far, Comrags appeals to the stereotype of gritty urban life, but with a reserved sensibility and a streamlined shape.
These outfits are for the grown-up version of your dark-eyed kid sister, locked up in her room during Thanksgiving Hampton Holidays reading Burroughs, not Kerouac.
Perhaps this measure of authenticity comes from the label’s principals, Judy Cornish and Joyce Gunhouse, who met through Ryerson’s Fashion Arts Programme. The duo worked day jobs to support their aspirations and return to exclusive in-house production with a little bit of the city’s grime embedded underneath the fabric.
Andy Thé-Anh
In the future, the entire human race will be derived from the genetic code of Tilda Swinton: the distinction between male and female will be erased and replaced with a singular androgynous hybrid.
Thé-Anh has presented his collection for this species. The grim, powder-faced models displayed a total uniformity that matched the consistency of colours and materials. Subdued beiges, greens, and blacks gave the impression of tactile and visual softness, as if slightly out of focus. The glowing fabric was at once luminous and subtle.
Although the stark uniformity was tempered by abruptly cut straps and sleeves, applique ornaments and disparate, pseudo-sequin elements were distracting and unfocused.
Pink Tartan
Pink Tartan designed this collection for going into battle, with Grace Jones leading the platoon. Hot pinks electro-clash with blacks and whites in a violent, vibrant struggle.
Although the clothes don’t look or feel militant, the show conveys aggression, assaulting the senses with a siege of bold blasts of colour. With definite playfulness and pop sensibility, the clothing channels a young girl covertly trying on her mother’s clothes.
The clothes are cheerful and lighthearted but still functional. The slender outlines aren’t constraining – slacks fit more like slim denim.
Images courtesy of the Fashion Spot forums.
