Photo: George Pimentel
As my coworkers, housemates, and lovers will no doubt confirm, I’m not a morning person. My usual effervescent personality is replaced with stony silence until my first cup of coffee enters my belly. It may not be your fault I had to wake up before I was ready, but if you’re in close proximity I retain the right to take it out on you via my death stare, especially if you do something stupid like try to talk to me. Once one and a half cups of coffee are in my system, I’m ready to take on the world (or at least take on Twitter). I am what I am.
So why on earth was I heading down to King Street, Venti Starbucks cup firmly clutched in hand, at eight in the morning? Because the designer Izzy Camilleri was presenting a preview of her Miz by Izzy Camilleri collection. Camilleri has more than thirty years of experience dressing real women, celebrities, and movie characters (including The Devil Wears Prada‘s Miranda Priestly) in chic, modern looks. I admired her IZ Adaptive Clothing line, clothing specifically designed for people with disabilities. But I had never seen one of her presentations, so I thought Izzy Camilleri was worth crawling out of bed for. (Also, I may have neglected to notice the starting time when my editor sent me the invitation.)
Speaking of timing, after I arrived at the elegant Grand Banking Room at 1 King Street West, I did a double take at the program–the preview was for Spring/Summer 2014. Now I realize the weather has turned prematurely cool, but mid-August seemed absurdly early to be planning what we’ll be wearing a year from now. It may be too early for you or I, but it’s not too early for the buyers who used previews to determine what items should be stocked in stores. The timing of World Mastercard Fashion Week in November makes sense for journalists and interested consumers (pushed back so as to not compete for attention with New York or Paris fashion weeks), but it’s too late for buyers, most of whom made their orders much earlier.
The designer said as much when she took the podium. Such an early preview was meant to give buyers plenty of opportunity to plan. Fashion Week is for media, intimate previews are for those in the business. “You need to know how to reach your audience, and when,” Camilleri said.
She then set out to describe the audience for the collection. Miz is aimed at the fashionable ‘Boomer’ who has specific needs for comfort and fit but isn’t willing to forego style. For women in their forties, fifties, and sixties, “shopping can be difficult.” Camilleri sought to create easy-fitting clothes that were non-binding, but sharp rather than sloppy.
This translated on the runway as simple, waist-less A-line, tunic, and block dresses, or skirt, jacket and top combos in black, white, and grey. When colour was added, in was in blocks of orange, cerulean, and fuchsia. The only pattern was a watery floral design in black and white or kaleidoscopic rainbow. A “Newport colour block dress” in pink and orange recalled a 1960’s Abstract painting, while a slouchy white suit, with pants almost as wide as pajamas, recalled the disco seventies, but these were timeless pieces which will no doubt continue to look fresh in 2014.
A stand-out was a black top cut so long as to create an asymmetrical panel over a fuchsia pencil skirt. It’s a good look for any age.
I was happy to see the models reflected not just ethnic diversity, but a diversity of ages as well. A few of the beautiful models appeared to be in their fifties or sixties, with cropped grey and white hair, demonstrating how the clothes would actually look on their target market. Seeing them on the runway reminded me of how seldom the industry acknowledges the buying power and influence of mature women. Fashion’s obsession with youth is shortsighted–not only do women ‘of a certain age’ hold prominent positions in the industry, and have more money to spend on clothes than women in their twenties, but they are now the majority of the population. The ‘Baby Boomers’ have hit their sixties, but they’re not about to fade into the background. Miz by Izzy Camilleri is perfectly timed.
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Max Mosher writes about style for Toronto Standard. You can follow him on Twitter at @max_mosher_.
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