Over the weekend, I had a neat opportunity to get my photo taken with a pinhole camera, and then I was shown how to develop the negative into a positive myself. This was the first time I had ever been in a darkroom. The process is surprisingly simple, and I had never realized how chemical photography is a medium with illustrative possibilities before.

The halo around my head is an accidental water stain that looks like a deliberate highlight.

Thanks to Sebastian Sussmann and Guy Paterson at Double Negative Darkroom.

I went to the book launch for friend and fellow fashion school graduate, Caitlin Cronenberg.  Poser is a collection of nude photographs, full front view, from the knees up.  A few years ago, after we graduated from fashion school, Caitlin told me about the project she was working on and asked me to pose.  I didn’t think very hard about it – I said yes.  I guess I figured that if I was ever going to do it, I might as well do it while I’m young. I also used the opportunity to get Caitlin to photograph a school project which seemed to call for a nude body.

The night of the launch, I hadn’t revisited the photo and still wasn’t sure if I was ready to. After a few years since I had done it, it had fallen out of mind, and then suddenly stories about Caitlin’s book were in the blogs and all the newspapers, and it was a little bit nervous-making.  I dawdled on the RSVP. When I did show up, in a weirdly pensive mood, and bought my book and opened it up, I felt a sense of revelation. The picture of me and my body was not as strange to look at as I thought.

Caitlin says that the project makes more sense as a collection and it is true. She named the book “Poser“, but in fact, she didn’t pose us at all.  She clicked the shutter before the pose, which results in these candid, unintentional, revealing moments.  In me, I see a sense of trepidation, maybe a little bit of pride, as I try and “fix” my hair. I was not alone, there were many in the crowd who were captured by Caitlin, fellow fashion school students, people of all walks of life, many with higher profiles than me.

At the party I briefly reconnected with a few fellow fashion school graduates. It was neat to find them still in the heat of pursuing what they want. Fashion school was tough, but living a life as a creative individual is incredibly competitive, demanding awesome amounts of determination and sacrifice.  Not only are some of my fellow graduates still living the dream, we’re also supportive of each other’s projects and ambitions. Which made me leave the party with a very real sense of gratitude.

This is my Dad.  This past weekend, in the National Post, this photo was featured among photos of other cool dads (including Nathalie Atkinson‘s and Nolan Bryant‘s), as a little tribute for Father’s day.

In this picture Dad is around the same age I am now.  He is a wonderful Dad – every bit as fun and active as he is in this picture, the kind of guy who finds it amusing that his daughter called him “goofy” in a national paper. I love my Dad. Thanks Dad, for everything.

Evan Biddell is a designer with a flair for showmanship, and he is a designer who excels at notice-me clothes being worn by beautiful, confident women.  For his show at FAT, he teamed up with vintage dealer Refinery to notch the volume up using vintage clothing as materials – and better yet, he got his most outgoing friends to model the clothes. Pastel Supernova opened the show, and set the tone for a cast ready to steal the spotlight.

This is the kind of show that FAT does best – the models are fiercely unique, cartwheeling for the cameras.

Usually Biddell’s friends sit front row at his shows, and this time they had assigned seats too – mind you assigned with playful nicknames – which they strutted past.

“Sunny with a chance of Gail” had the most wonderful outrageous outfit, and turned the cameras on the audience for a change.

For the curtain call the enthusiastic models all took their seats and applauded their outfitters.

… and they stayed in their seats to watch the next show.  Somehow Biddell managed to pack the most memorable runway moments into a short fashion show that I have ever seen.  Cheers to all the lovely models for a job well done.

Today I saw the 2009 Cashmere bathroom tissue fashion collection presented on the runway.  I’d like to say it isn’t often that you see a dress made out of toilet paper – but with so many toilet paper dresses out there, it just isn’t true.  Considering how mature the toilet paper fashion industry is, I am glad to see that Canadian designers are still pushing the envelope and delivering new shapes and techniques for a fragile, if no longer unconventional, material.  And it is nice to see Kruger, who makes the Cashmere brand, supporting Canadian fashion as well as the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Here are some of the more interesting dresses from the show – you can see the complete set of photos on my flickr if you’re interested.

Anastasia Lomonova from Montreal made what must have been hundreds of little rolls (sort of like roses) for a dress with a spectacular shape.

That’s not a dress, Greta Constantine, but it sure is freaking cool.  No, the panties were not made of toilet paper.

Kudos to curator Peter Papapetrou for selecting some under-the-radar designers from outside of Toronto.  I have never heard of Patrice Soku, who did this dress with a peculiar pointed bodice.  I guess it is about protecting breasts from cancer?

Calgary designer Paul Hardy‘s designs always seem to me to have a “thrown-together-at-the-last-minute” look – of all the designs, his pantsuit looked the most haphazard and about-to-disintegrate.  Sometimes this signature style doesn’t work in Hardy’s favour, but in this case, visually his design stands apart from the rest in a way that is interesting.

Project Runway Canada winner Sunny Fong‘s design was the most fragile-looking – in a spectacularly precise way.  Those careful cutouts look like they are about the be torn by a heel at every step but his stunning model kept his design intact, and looked incredible.  The bodice overlay appeared to have been laminated, which is a technique I haven’t seen used before on a toilet paper dress.

I am not familiar with Tavan & Mitto, they created a truly wearable looking parka (if this had been inserted in a regular fashion show I might have guessed it was actually cashmere).  They were also the only designers who did not use the pink accents.

Farley Chatto, who has made a name for himself creating one-offs for corporations instead of collections, delivered the showstopper of the afternoon.  The level of execution on every detail of this complex dress is tremendous.

My good friend Gail Mcinnes and her bestie Amanda Brugel launched their new venture, The Style Box, last week with a very intimate fashion show event and cocktail.  It was also the inaugural event for brand-new (and internet savvy) PR outfit Knot PR.  Of course all of these ladies are total pros with tons of experience, so for a first event it was impressive and assured.

The Style Box‘s mandate is to bring together entertainment and fashion folks in Toronto to create a more mutually supportive scene.  Buzz is the bottom line – and if a front row full of assorted media and accessorized muses is any indication, the Box delivers.

Here are a few of my “arty” (ok, unprofessional) photos… for some really stellar shots (including ones of me) check out the ones Raymund Galsim took for knot PR and the ones Paul Baik took for I want – I got.

Getting a big welcome smile from Gail… she looks so saucy in her Fashion Crimes dress.

Gail and Amanda informally (and a little giddily) introduce the fashion show.

A model strikes a contrived pose in a Brazen Hussy sequinned number.

Little black and white cupcakes by Cake or Death.  Beware the black ones if you’re smiling for the photographers later!

Anita of I want – I got in a yellow Starkers! corset does a television interview.

After seeing 30 plus shows at [FAT], I got to see four more at the TFI New Labels Gala show.  It was held in the Carlu, and this is what the runway looked like before the show.

While all the gala-goers were eating their dinner, I checked out the tail end of the ELLE Show.  I got to try the YSL Touche Eclat, which I am told is their best selling product and really does give a brightness to the eyes.

There was a silent auction going on with lots of fancy things in a room overlooking Yonge Street.

Rapp Optical had a booth at the show too and they let me try on some of their locally made artisan frames.  Rapp does really cool, eccentric glasses with loads of character.

The show was hosted by Anne-Marie Mediwake, who is an anchor at Global News.  She looked so beautiful in a David Dixon dress.  Before each designer showed, they did an interview on the runway – here is Sonja den Elzen of Thieves being interviewed.

The questions asked included one about which international designers they admired (three out of four designers said Rick Owens, his recent media blitz must be working well), and another about what they would be if they weren’t fashion designers.  The latter is a bit of a bitter-sweet question I think.  It was obviously a great challenge for the designers to be interviewed on the runway but it was also an interesting way to learn a bit more about them.

I didn’t do a lot of shooting of the outfits but caught a few details, including the ruched tights in the nomadic, tundra inspired Thieves collection.

Here you can see the TFI’s Susan Langdon and the judges watching Jody Leigh‘s World War Two inspired collection.

Gushue Swim opened with some Rio-style carnival girls dancing on the stage.  It was fun and bright and gaudy which contrasted with the subdued colours and classic shapes of the swimwear.

Ideally you should get to see all the outfits for yourself.  You can see more (and better) pictures here and here.

At the end of the night, Rita Silvan, editor of ELLE Canada, announced the winning collection – Faren Tami for her futuristic, confident line with its distinctive draped shapes and deep blue colour with yellow accents.  Congratulations to all the finalists and the TFI for a terrific show.

Michelle Reagan did a terrific job getting everyone seated and introducing media to the designers between shows.  PR can be a very stressful, demanding job.  Michelle manages to do it all while still staying positive, kind and friendly.  She is off to New York for a terrific opportunity with Catherine Malandrino.  Plus she still has one year of school left!  So if you have an agency or PR department, I would recommend you start recruiting her now.

Ainsley Kerr and Kristin Booth get naughty in their Starkers corsets.

Models backstage all ready to walk for LOVAS by designer Wesley Badanjak.

Jennifer Allison, designer of Walking Tall, dresses her model backstage.

This is ELECTRA, a show by Genevieve Favre Petroff.  She sang some songs including my favourite, about cranberry juice, but I thought that it would turn into a cool light show with a lot of red lights representing the cranberries, then it did not.  At first we were captivated, but ELECTRA kind of lost the audience after the cranberry song when she sang some more serious numbers.  I think in a small, silent room the show would be a lot more effective.

Backstage, a model gets her makeup done for Matthew Donnelly’s show.

The night finished off with haute absurdity by CHRISTABEL.

I really enjoyed this year’s [FAT] – I felt the level of showmanship has never been higher, the collections reached a higher standard without sacrificing the variety and surprises that makes [FAT] so delightful.  The organization was tight this year and held the event together while keeping the informality and party atmosphere intact.  Thank you to Vanja Vasic and her incredible team for showing how exciting and fun fashion in Toronto can be.

[FAT] publicists Michelle Reagan and Alison Lawler-Dean had a surprise for us – we got seated in the front row with our crew.  Aw.  The front row seating was a little tighter on Day 3 because there were lots of celebrities in attendence – the girls at The Style Box were working hard.  Plus, Caitlin Cronenberg was there on assignment for Fashion Television.  What was she saying into her microphone during the shows?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Here Alison is texting hard for her clients – or maybe setting up a hot date?

You notice that each day at [FAT] the lighting changes?  The first day was pink, the second day was green, and the third day was an angry red.

Models amble and pose down the runway for Magpie.

Didn’t get to my seat in time for Tassoni Brasil but scored a place right by the backstage steps.  Caught this little diptych showing the front row and the back stage, both intently concentrating on the models.

Managed to get a few shots of Tassoni Brasil from the other end of the runway for a change.

Two very effervescent ladies in the business of connecting designers and performers – Amanda Brugel and Gail McInnes.

Three Pink Ladies in the business of providing design and production services for fashion companies.

Ariel Garten gets lifted during the collection/dance show/environmental message Too Hot Too Wet Too Dangerous.

Colleen Booth lounges on the runway wearing a dress by Paper People Clothing.  She assists the designer Jenn Fukishima and last night her job was to clean up the runway afterwards – yes it was that good.

A model wearing Romandin poses with designer Cristina Sabaiduc.  Romandin featured innovative re-used fabric and some spectacular, unexpected details involving magnets and iron filings.

A model wears Elizaveta Yankelovich‘s incredibly oversized found-object jewelry.

Two of the Deadly Nightshades, Kirsten and Irene, show me their fiercest moves after their high-energy runway debut.