Inside Toronto Men’s Fashion Week 2015

Now in its third season, TOM played host to a number of creative collections, some exciting announcements for Canadian designers and saw the return of the Emerging Menswear Designer Award (EMDA) competition. Our editors were on the scene to take in the SS16 shows. Here are some of the highlights.

Photo courtesy of Shayne Gray

 

Day 1

Celebrated Canadian designer Philipe Dubuc continued the reestablishment of his namesake label and was a welcome addition to TOM this season. Showing a streamlined collection in pale shades of cream and grey, we noticed lots of sharp tailoring paired with light, practical outerwear.

 

 

In a somewhat unexpected moved, Will Poho, founder of Moose Knuckles, introduced his new swimwear label, Swam. Definitely a departure from his winter outerwear background, the vintage-inspired swimsuits are designed by Poho and Joseph Tassoni, made in Canada and perfect for lazy summers spent lakeside.

 

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Day 2

Sharp’s Editorial and Creative Director, Michael LaFave took to the runway, along with a number of successful and recognizable Canadian men (like former heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis and Saad Rafi, CEO of Pan Am/Para Pan Am Games) for MensFashion4Hope, a charity runway show that benefits the Kol Hope Foundation at SickKids. Dressed to the nines by Toronto’s own GotStyle (celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year), all of the men looked dapper and helped to raise money for an amazing cause.

 

 

HD Homme may have been renamed DALLA for SS16, after its designer Hussein Dhalla, but you can still turn to the label for strong suiting and separates, as well as a welcome use of patterns — like this season’s opposing yet complimentary duo of pinstripes and camouflage that were on the runway. The label also scored a recognizable face by having noted Canadian model Nick Bateman close the show.

 

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Day 3

Christopher Bates has a lot to celebrate: an ongoing footwear collaboration with Browns (the first collection is out this fall), the just-announced news that he will be designing Air Canada’s new uniforms (taking to the skies in 2017), and now, a covetable SS16 collection. The designer said he was inspired by “the lifestyle on the Italian and French Riviera, a kind of nonchalant elegance.” On the runway, this translates to light, textured knits, relaxed tailoring and colours like lavender, navy blue and white, which lend a nautical feel to the collection.

 

 

The EMDA competition returned to TOM for the second time, now with sponsorship from the World Financial Group (WFG), to award a young Canadian designer $10,000 to help them grow his or her brand. Five brands from across Canada were selected to show their collection on the runway: Ante Meridiem, Nowhere, 3.Paradis, Common Grounds and (the crowd’s favourite) Thomas Henry Made. Cool and minimalist 3.Paradis (designed by Emeric Tchatchoua and Raymond Cheung) walked away with the grand prize for their collection, which featured a mash-up of modern takes on military staples (flight jackets) and Japanese cultural dress (kimonos), in a muted colour palate of green, white and black with a splash of metallic silver for good measure.