Designer Debut - spring/summer 2003 - Montreal Designer
Maillagogo, the design and business partnership of Carine Châtelais and Françoise Bruand, breathes new life into knitwear by exploiting all the qualities of this highly versatile fabric. From the opening piece, an off-the-shoulder, distressed wool sweater with asymmetric sleeves, it was apparent that Maillagogo was bent on skewing our romantic notions of knitwear. A purple and white variegated dress with slashed leather detailing falls as gracefully as the light-grey knit sport pants. Why not throw some bias-cut into the mix, for an urban gypsy look? Maillagogo does just that with a two-tone aquamarine skirt and lace-stitched matching top. In short, Maillagogo rocks.
Betty Hermoza of Miranda Fashion designs from a more serious place, honing her skills in the form of the women’s business suit. The camel and taupe suits with three-quarter length jackets are elegant yet to the point, while both the white linen and mauve A-line mini-suits are for those looking for something a little lighter.
Julie Desmarais gives us nothing short of a creative breakthrough with a certain feminine spark in her spring/summer 2003 collection. The poppy dress, wrap top and bolero in red and white with sinuous prints clarifies perfectly what Desmarais is attempting–daring asymmetry used with perfect control. The lemon dress interspersed with diaphanous maize chiffon creates a striking effect while maintaining the simplicity of the garment. String attachments abound, and they are used to create caché in the many variations of the open-front Capri, as well as in making great shoulder straps. Desmarais takes a bold leap into new silhouettes and high-impact colour combinations and emerges not only as the feature presentation of the Designer Debut, but also as a label we will be watching ravenously in the coming seasons.
Daniel Cox, Fashion Editor
Marek Wlazlo, Photographer
