Last week, designers Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong of Greta Constantine re-defined the meaning of “fashionably late”. Showing their Spring 2013 collection outside the official Toronto Fashion Week schedule, and almost a month later, they couldn’t have made a better decision. The Distillery District’s Fermenting Cellar was packed with enthusiastic attendees, no longer hungover from those long fashion week days, and jonesing to get a peek at Greta’s spring frocks. No one was in a rush, and no one was complaining, or tired, or cranky. It was…refreshing.
Seeing the first model walk down the catwalk, I knew that we were in for a treat. With impeccable styling, beautiful dresses, jumpsuits, and gowns, Spring 2013 was one of Greta Constantine’s strongest collections, but also a departure from the jersey aesthetic for which they are most known. With only a handful of jersey pieces sent down the runway, the majority of the collection was crafted from a microfibre fabric. “We call it the Holy Grail of fabrics; you can drape it in its lightweight form, and we are doing much more sculptural work with the heavier weights,” shared Wong with the Toronto Star.
Also noticeably missing were the colourful pieces. Monochrome was the name of the game, with the colour palette ranging from navy to black to white. Simple and chic. And while the dark portion of the collection was sexy and elegant, the white pieces oozed playful innocence with full skirts, use of eyelet, tulle, pleats, and ruffles. Models wore custom-made rose bracelets in black and white, showing that “every woman has an edge, but only some have thorns”, as the show notes stated…and making me want some thorns of my very own.
Overall, this was probably my favourite Greta Constantine collection that I’ve seen so far, with many glamorous gowns that I wish filled my closet, but also more than a few day dresses that I could imagine myself wearing (sans the headpiece I’m afraid) out and about. And with the collection only weeks away from actually hitting the stores, this show will surely be fresh in my mind when I start hunting some of my favourite pieces down.
So what do you think of Greta Constantine’s Spring 2013 collection? Any favourites? Share in the comments!
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