What: Lucian Matis, Autumn/Winter Collection 2011 Where: Design Exchange, Toronto When: March 30, 2011 The Art Deco ballroom of the Design Exchange, and the designer’s name in lights, provided a dramatic backdrop for the introduction of Lucian Matis’s Autumn/Winter 2011 collection. As usual the backstage chaos was as interesting as the show. The atmosphere in the hair and make-up room was jovial and relaxed – probably because the hairdressers seemed to be having the most fun. The models looked somewhere between bored and half asleep. While the rest of the crew ran around frantically, Matis was perfectly calm. He’s been showing at Fashion Week since 2007 and was recently a runner-up in Project Runway Canada. I suppose by now he’s used to dealing with high stress situations. As for the clothes, there was attention to detail in every garment, but the knitwear were the most successful pieces. The tights were pretty cool, too. At times the collection did feel slightly overworked and verged on costume but that’s only a minor quibble. Matis deserves every bit of attention coming his way.