Chloe Comme Parris final walk. Photo by George Pimentel
Update: Toronto Standard apologizes for any damage or embarrassment caused to Mr. Graham or the Toronto Star’s reputation as a result of this article.
I’ve always found ‘Fashion Week Survival Guides’ to be a little bit silly in Toronto. Let’s be real: there are fewer than 30 shows on the schedule, and an even smaller number worth covering in any sort of detail. And they’re all under one big, centrally located tent. But the myth of the hustling fashionista persists, even if the closest she comes to hustling is tumbling down the media lounge stairs.
Assuming the tents — which have been making increasingly disturbing noises in their attempt to withstand the last huffs of winter — don’t collapse, no one is likely to actually perish at the shows.
And one might have a particularly easy week if they chose to pre-write all their reviews, a time saver to be sure, but also a practice I can’t help but feel insulted by on behalf of the designers.
As I waited for the Chloe Comme Parris show to begin, I was a little shocked when, a couple seats down, the Toronto Star‘s ‘critic’ for the week, David Graham, boasted to a friend that he had “pre-written every one.”
“I have 26 reviews in the can,” he chuckled.
A deceptively large amount of time, money, and hard work goes into each and every collection presented at World MasterCard Fashion Week. The very least we can do as media is take the time to properly consider and evaluate their shows. For one of the city’s largest publications to care so little about what actually comes down the runways – to have most of their coverage complete before the week even begins – is not only disheartening, but offensive. It’s not like these ‘reviews’ are even full-length pieces where some pre-writing might be understandable; they’re rarely more than one or two paragraphs.
The Star is one of the few outlets with the readership and broad reach to make a difference for Canadian designers. If we can’t even get them to care, to make a real effort to support our industry, what hope is there really?
Update: I was approached at Fashion Week yesterday evening by David Graham, who sought to clarify the comments he made the prior night. Mr. Graham was adamant that his statements were said jokingly to a friend, and that, beyond some basic research, he did not pre-write his reviews. He seemed quite sincere and distraught over the whole thing, and I thought it both fair and in good practice to present his side of events. That said, when I overheard the comments, they did not seem to be clear ‘jokes,’ and there were actually a couple more lines spoken that went into more detail about the pre-writing (I did not print these extra lines because I was not able to write them down in their exact form quickly enough, and wanted to ensure that I did not misquote Mr. Graham). The Toronto Star’s executive editor has also been in touch to assure me that they take these assertions seriously and that Mr. Graham’s coverage was not pre-written. I have great respect for both the Toronto Star and Mr. Graham, and do hope that, for the sake of the industry, the comments were just in jest. In any event, I was pleased to notice that Mr. Graham’s coverage of Day 2 seemed much more thorough and well-considered than it was for Day 1.
Diversity Stumbles
MIZ by Izzy Camilleri made an impression last night with an on-trend line for “mature, boomer age women.” You can read Isabel Slone’s full show review here, but for all the clothes’ merits, I couldn’t help but cringe every time one of the ‘older’ models teetered down the runway. They were gorgeous, but constantly looked to be in clear and present danger of falling over in their stilettos. At one point, a good portion of the audience started clapping for no apparent reason other than that a mature model had successfully made it up and down the runway. It was patronizing and embarrassing. These aren’t baby’s first steps, these are grown women.
Last season’s Allistyle show encountered some of the same difficulties. While the plus-size models looked great, they had noticeable trouble walking (save for former ANTM contestant Whitney Thompson). Surely there must be mature and plus-size models than can strut their stuff in heels? So, where are they?
Ultimately this comes down to casting choices. And while I applaud designers who are brave enough to put varying ages and sizes on their runways, it does little to advance the cause when these models often stand out so sorely. It’s not just about having non-traditional models on the runway; it’s about having them look good there, like they belong.
If diversity is ever going to become the norm, we have to move beyond the token diverse model — the one that we don’t really care if she can walk or not, as long as she’s there — and expect more.
Chloe Comme Parris Goes Grunge
The sister duo behind Chloe Comme Parris put Saint Laurent to shame with their remix of 90s grunge and French Rococo for F/W 2013. Whereas much of Hedi Slimane’s collection looked quite literally dug out of a thrift bin, CCP’s spin on the genre used rich fabrics, intricate prints, and their signature hardware embellishments to elevate the original street style into something more. Stand out pieces included neon-splashed penny loafer creepers, printed knee-high stockings, and metallic chokers. Velvet mini dresses with shoulder-to-hip slashes held together by small metal clasps brought back memories of high school rebels with strategically ripped and safety-pinned clothes. While some of the pieces wouldn’t hold up against a Canadian winter on their own, as always with CCP, it’s about the layers.
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Sabrina Maddeaux is Toronto Standard’s managing editor. Follow her on Twitter at @sabrinamaddeaux.
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