Fashion memories, obvious inspiration, familiar beats and local celebrity meet hardwork, talent and tremendous heart at the 60th showcase for Toronto’s Ryerson University, School of Fashion, featuring the work of the 25 most impressive students, curated by FASHION Magazine’s Sarah Casselman.

Feature contributor to This Is Worldtown, Danah Abdulla of The Yuppie Activist, reviews.

Photgraphs also by Danah Abdulla.

I remember the first fashion show I attended, I was 14 and it was the LaSalle College graduates fashion show in the Stade Olympique where my sister was showing. What I most fondly recall was that most of the students produced great work. A few years later, in grade 12, I was one of two Masters of ceremony (MC) for our high school fashion show. Ours was different however, I attended an art school so students that took part actually made their own clothes as opposed to other schools where clothing was provided by the local mall. My fellow MC and I, dressed in clothing by one of the student designers, wrote skits for every show where we made sure to include the designers theme and comedy to entertain. Of course, I never memorized my lines! Many years later, I sit in the Ryerson Theatre for the Mass Exodus show, and despite it being a much more serious event than my high school fashion show, it reminded me of it. The self taught became educated, and their hard work is compiled into a show that the likes of Robin Kay (FDCC President) and Fashion Television host Jeanne Beker attend. The 60th showcase for the Ryerson School of Fashion featured the work of the 25 most impressive students, curated by FASHION Magazine’s Sarah Casselman. Personally, I thought bringing in a curator diversified the show and based it on talent, as opposed to grades. If a student can draw but can’t sew, it doesn’t make them a bad designer.

The collections were very impressive, but I one suggestion I have for designers in general is to not let their inspiration get in the way by being too similar. Some collections were great, but I was distracted by similarity with more popular designers. The top portion of dresses in the collection “Inside Wants Out” looked too similar to the Sass&Bide collection, and despite the fact that I thought her outerwear was very well executed, Genevieve Pearson’s collection felt very Montreal, i.e. Mackage and Rudsak. Others, however, used inspiration well: Amanda Kew Lee seemed to have observed Queen Street West and some of her colleagues at Ryerson by featuring mostly black, zippers, headbands, leather, studding and pagoda shoulders (a.k.a. the Balmain shoulders). Cristina Sabaiduc from Romandin impressed me with her use of bold fabrics in her garments like chicken wire and silicone, which provided a change in texture from other lines.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

I was particularly entertained by the fantasy-costume portion, I thoroughly enjoyed the throwback to fables and children’s stories by the likes of Tiffany Kwok and Jennifer Woodall. I was also impressed by collections that targeted the middle aged women. While some designers had collections that felt a bit too Talbots, Anasstassia Bykova managed it and Adelaide Kim also, her collection felt quite Kaliyana and Shepherds Fashion because of the oversized pieces and I had mixed feelings about the collection, mainly because it takes a particular type of woman to wear those types of clothes. But some pieces were fantastic (ivory trench in particular). Emily Baker and Andrea Spano’s collection, which closed the show, featured an array of detailed gowns, peacock and cocktail dresses in bronze. Cute, feminine, and a lot of hard work.

Although a fashion show is mostly about the clothes, there are a few things I look for: branding and music. The soundtrack included many songs that were looping on my ipod the time I graduated university (2008), including “Into the galaxy” by Midnight Juggernauts, Chromeo’s “Needy Girl” Cut Copy’s “Hearts on Fire”, “Kelly” by Van She, “Blind” by Hercules and Love Affair and CSS’ “Music is my boyfriend”. Newer hits now playing included “The Reeling” by Passion Pit, “Take it in” by Hot Chip and of course, “Crystalized” by the XX, to name a few.

As I flipped through the guide, I picked out four logos that struck me and had great execution (note to designers: your name and logo are a big part of your brand and help me identify your creativity, choose wisely): Cristina Sabaidue’s “Romandin”, Ashleigh Molver’s “Boots & Hoots”, Lindsey Johnson’s “Monarch”, and Heather Constable’s “The End is There”.

Despite the evident clichés and some poor model choices, the show was entertaining, the set was wonderful (and sustainable) and the hard work evident. The invitees included the likes of fashion writers and personalities, Ryerson alumni like Fritz Helder who performed “Lagerfeld Lady” accompanied by two dancers (no Phantoms) and Ryerson board members (including Harry Rosen himself). Any fashion show is a fantastic test for students about to face the difficult [real] fashion world, where the professors that grade you are transformed into fashion writers and editors that can make or break you. To all the participants of Mass Exodus: chapeau!