Montreal.Fashion.Week.Spring.Summer.2012: Day.4

Day 4, final day of Montreal Fashion Week (MFW), was a revelation for me. Unfortunately, I had to wait until the last day of Montreal.Fashion.Week to finally be wowed by a show. Lets see who and why.

I attended 2 shows: Nu.I by Vickie and Iris Setlakwe.

-Nu.I by Vickie

(pictures courtesy: Jimmy Hamelin)

Again, I didn't know what to expect from this show as last season's presentation at fashion week was a bit all over the place I must admit. With a new approach & concept established with the help of a clear and clever artistic direction from Montreal fashion blogger Candice from MontrealInFashion, the show was a great tale of beautiful and modern ethnicity. The show was staged in the lounge area instead of the traditional catwalk which allowed the clothes to shine through. Tribal & wild animal patterns were mixed with leather fringing at hems of skirts, shorts, dresses and long capes. Designer Vickie Joseph experimented with different types of design elements; volume and shape, mixing many patterns, colors and fabrics, interesting details like the fringes, keyholes on shoulders, sleeves and knees, and the over-sized and pop-colored jewelery which all seem to tie in and work well together in creating a world of wild yet very contemporary dressing. My favorite piece from a great collection was without a doubt the stunning tribal print dress with an asymmetrical front collar opening and leather fringing. And, finally, we got a show with someone who understood that it wasn't necessary to send out 45 looks to get a message across! Amazingly surprised, this show was by far my favorite of MFW21. A real revelation.

-Iris Setlakwe

(pictures courtesy: Jimmy Hamelin)

A newcomer to MFW, I was discovering Iris Setlakwe's work for the very first time. Fluidity, movement and the many different array of colors are essentially the elements of Setlakwe's Spring.2012 collection. I loved the run through the safari segment with the lovely and rich looking caramel leather. However, the show needed some good chopping and editing as it was a bit too long, and had too many segments which felt like I was going through an entire lookbook. However, I must say, it is hard to follow a show that had a clear message & that blew away everyone who was in attendance. A clearer vision and theme will showcase better the talent & good pieces of this collection.

Stay tuned for my final entry on MFW21 coming up shortly reviewing the whole week.

-The.Shoe.Freak

(source: jimmyhamelin.com/sensationmode.com)