Minimidimaxi Magazine

”Beauty in Calamity.” The theme for Joeffer Caoc’s fall/winter 2006 collection was as beautiful as was foreboded, though thankfully, there was little in the way of disaster.

The sober black ensembles in crinkled crepe manifests what I suspect is a war-time austerity, and it is not without moments of glinting optimism. An A-line cream coatdress with peau-de-soie lining shimmers just enough to suggest a rising from the ashes. There is also some delicate chinoiserie embroidering that dares to be playful amid this demureness.

Joeffer Caoc does a good job at modernizing the houndstooth check, either using it to fashion slender pants or as accent patches. The two-tone grey pleated pencil skirt shows how much effort and attention to detail can be put into one of his delectable pieces, and it contrasts well with the organza top. The double tone was also used on a suit jacket, though the effect was too “zebra” to be thematically palatable.

It’s fitting that this Canadian designer, best known for his subtlety, didn’t need colour except for shades of blue. Dusty-blue banker striped tops and sinful blue velvet, steel blue and cobalt losing themselves in shades of charcoal. And one dash of red hiding beneath a mesh overlay for good measure.

Daniel Cox, Fashion Editor
Marek Wlazlo, Photographer