Katrina Tuttle
[FAT] is a four-day event of fashion, photography, and music. In its fourth year, [FAT] is filled with exhibits varying from 50s glam to environmental challenges to post-apocalyptic fashion. This year’s event is broken into 4 different themes: home, planet, gutter, and beyond. With something for every person, [FAT] is the perfect showcase of up-and-coming designers.
Review and photos by Helen Fylactou
Tuesday night’s fashion, art and music were dedicated to celebrating home: where we come from and what it took for us to get here. Halifax-based designer Katrina Tuttle clinched the whole position of beginnings, introducing the audience to an earth-inspired collection. While Tuttle’s designs are often focused on dresses, her fall 2009 collection includes perfectly tailored fall coats. She juxtaposed sculpted design while playing with proportions, making the models seem like statuesque trees.
“I think in the state that the world is in, it is natural for us to go back to our roots. To return to a connection with nature,” Tuttle says. “I’m inspired by everything in nature. The future of fashion for Toronto, [I believe] will continue on a journey to discovering its roots.” Emphasizing the most theme, nature, Tuttle worked with untamed textures, and earthy tones. Her collection is dramatic but wearable. Whether Tuttle is creating an A-line dress or tulip skirt hinted with drapery, the execution of her pieces was flawless and perfectly accessorized with stilettos.
Yang Yang
In keeping with the continuity of the night, Yang Yang reinvents the tradition of Asian-inspired designs by keeping her collection youthful and modern. The collection is campy and cartoonish, paying homage to anime-style icons, sometimes reminiscent of Astroboy and Sailor Moon. Yang Yang is not afraid to use colours, layering or asymmetrical designs to take the audience in different directions. Not quite as over-the-top as some of the teen street fashion of Tokyo, Yang Yang designs are integrated with domestic influences. The collection balances between the demure, lady-like silhouettes, and comfortable, tomboyish designs. The garment lines are architectural and interesting, but the designs remain practical.
Toronto Alternative Arts and Fashion Week is running April 21-24, 2009 in the Distillery District.
Great looking dresses