Cluc
fall/winter 2006

There was no way anyone was going to walk out of Cluc's fall/winter 2006-07 fashion show at Montreal Fashion Week without the distinct feeling of having been to the Land of Oz and back.

Rocker Lulu Hughes opened a couture show that demonstrated the futility of living life the ordinary way, that is to say, not made-to-measure.

For women, the lines are tight only where they need to be. The leather pencil skirt for women has hip-hugging sauciness, aptly paired with a balloon-sleeved wraparound blouse cinched at the shoulders. The boat-necked pinstriped smock makes for a faux-academia look, awkward in a sexy way. Cluc's version of the little black dress is unforgiving in how it demands the perfect waist, and magnanimous in how it allows for the freedom of a scooped back.

The couture lets fly with the leopard-print muumuu and the opera coats. The Russian Ballet theme on the whole is rather smothering, but boundless creativity can excuse almost anything, can't it?

The men's couture is tailored razor-sharp, though it would have been nice to see better pairings in this department-the idea of black leather pants with a gun-metal blue blazer sounds less clunky than it looks. And the loose-crotch jeans can only be flattering…when they're adequately filled.

The resounding strength of the collection is the outerwear. For women, the leather sling coat with exaggerated pockets is what's probably going to score Cluc big points with stylists. Gotta love the eggplant suede coat and its collar that pouts like lips, as well as the candy-apple red floor duster with features as exaggerated as you'd expect in the land of Oz.

Daniel Cox
Fashion Editor
Marek Wlazlo
Photographer


Copyright ©2006 MINIMIDIMAXI LTD.
The Canadian Fashion Stage
All Rights Reserved