The shOws Bellavance and Steven Tai - Fall 2014 Collections

Toronto’s fashionable elite gathered in full force on Tuesday, March 11 at the Storys Building downtown for the presentation of the fall collections from Bellavance and Steven Tai.

It was the third collection from both designers, and though they couldn’t have been more different, it was interesting to see how the common theme of rebelliousness translated into the clothes and unique textiles.

Bellavance kicked off the night with a great interpretation of old school uniforms and military garb. The idea of finding creativity and rebelling within the confines of a structured system came through nicely in the clothes. I loved the “garbage bag” pleated fine jersey featured in many of the pieces, the cut-up argyle sweaters, and the chain link tattoo-style pattern created by an illustrator friend.

Bellavance uses denim in all their collections and this was no exception – the designers hand-distressed all the seams with sandpaper to give them an impressive glowing effect, and said that because so much can be done with raw denim as it ages, it allows each person to decide how they want to wear it and make the piece their own – in other words, the rules are meant to be broken.

Next I got to head into the chaos backstage to watch Steven Tai getting his models ready for what was a truly excellent performance. I absolutely loved the story he created (and couldn't help laughing because it is a little too close to my own life right now!) about an effortlessly cool girl who breaks up with her boyfriend and keeps all his clothes - then cuts them up to make new clothes.

Steven Tai is known for the beautiful textiles he creates by deconstructing and combining different fabrics, so I thought this was a really fun way for him to go about it. The stand-out for me were all the beautiful coats in this collection, especially one gorgeous midnight blue piece with a killer fringe made from a base of sparkling tweed - single or attached, I think any girl would feel pretty cool wearing it this Fall.

contributor:  Sidonie Wybourn

photography: Michael Ho courtesy of Brill Communications

(originally posted: March 17, 2014)