Despite the threat of more rain, a large group of style-minded Haligonians gathered this afternoon at Historic Properties for the Off the Cuff fashion competition and show. After the outdoor runway was wiped off (thank god—MC Eureka Love was sporting a pair of mile-high heels), the show kicked off with a collection by Brandt Eisner. I’m really not sure how he did it: Eisner organized the shows for Argyle Fine Art, and also found enough time to develop a line using one-of-a-kind designer textiles, recycled materials and clothing. It was sexy, a little naughty, with a lot of different colours and textures, from coarse to shiny, lace to heavy weave.
Next up were the three finalists: Louanna Murphy, Heather Rappard and Akshay Tyagi. Each showed their pieces from the competition as well as new designs they’ve been working on for the last month. The judges—Gary Markle (NSCAD), Wendy Friedman (Biscuit General Store) and Lisa Drader-Murphy (Turbine)—seemed consistent in their praise for each contestant. Murphy’s ready-to-sell tailoring and finishing is impeccable; Rappard’s creativity and awareness of street fashion is a joy; and Tyagi’s fusion of conceptual and architectural, with the structural makes for an interesting cohesive collection.
I had a weird technical problem (blame the Mercury Retrograde) so I didn’t get as much footage as I wanted, including a gorgeous green coat by Murphy, but I think you get the idea of how talented everyone is…
Congratulations Louanna!
If you missed today, you also missed an opportunity to bid on reconstructed clothing created from old Coast t-shirts. Thanks to Kim Munson (Orphanage), Fancy Pants (Sherry Jollymore), Handy Girl (Anne Pickard) and Cranky (Pamela McInnis) for their amazing designs. All the proceeds went to Adsum House, as did partial proceeds from today’s event.
- (L-R) Designs from Sherry Jollymore, Anne Pickard and Pamela McInnis,
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Fashion designers compete in Off the Cuff competition
This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2009.