WANDERING SOULS TRAVERSE A NEW PATH AT THE MEN’S & WOMEN’S PRESENTATION
Story by Odessa Paloma Parker
Photos by Jenna Marie Wakani
In a cavernous Audi dealership far from the usual haunts of fashion week shows, Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong presented their F/W collections to a large and eager group. Setting out to challenge the crowd’s expectations of the label, few and far between were the draped jersey dresses Greta Constantine is known for. In their place, tailored jackets, tiered layers, bustled belts and coccon-like coats appeared in fabrics like velvet and thick wools.
The Greta Constantine woman became hidden behind nomadic layers and outsized silhouettes (to the confusion/dismay of many of the line’s devotees). But fashion is about evolution, and as the designer’s noted, this collection reflects the idea that “The pace with which we are confronted by new ideas demands daily adaptation.” The transient range of references, from Victorian silhouettes to Peruvian patches of colour, to the Chinoiserie footwear provided by ALDO, were well-suited to this notion.
For their menswear line, Ezra Constantine, the fare was far more familiar, with angular cuts and strong lines in fall-worthy fabrics like melton wool and leather. A post-apocalyptic feeling pervaded, with hoods cloaking faces and swallowing the models’ figures whole.
We needn’t take a departure from the talented duo’s trademark pieces as a doomsday signal, though, and should embrace it for the chances many Canadian designers aren’t willing to take.
