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.

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