David Dixon - fall/winter 2004
Capri pants of the same colour gave us a blast of effervescence for Fall 2004 before the collection stepped down to a sleekly elegant pose. A military cut Chanel-style suit with bands of bright colour lining the shoulders and the hems doused us with pomp, and from this point forward I suspect that Dixon went period piece on us. There’s also something vaguely emblematic in the baby blue little-miss-muffet overcoat. Maybe I didn’t see the fastenings, but how the hell do you get into that thing? You could hire Dixon as your personal stylist, of course, but would you have him custom design in these same pastels for the rest of your fall wardrobe?
The silver skirt, capri pants and trench coat flirt with pop futurism for one of Dixon’s more fun twists. The raw-cut wool dresses are more familiar to us, and it is to some extent comforting that at least one designer in this country can produce pieces consistently year after year that contain little or no element of ego, or at least in a way that is not grating or amateurish. The speckled wool seems to be a Toronto favourite that for some reason always seems to be appropriate.
The geo-floral is definitely vintage as a pattern, but the silhouette is thoroughly modern, and the clash of aesthetics doesn’t have the explosive quality that the designer probably had in mind. I’m glad to see that there are no cutout shapes this year, and disappointed to see that sound technicians think that they can be as cool as deejays even when they mess up the proceedings.
Daniel Cox, Fashion Editor
Marek Wlazlo, Photographer
