The Canadian Fall/Winter 2002-03 collections saunter headlong into earthy tones of desert sand, cream, ecru and raw umber livened up with the muted sharpness of charcoal blue and the playful combination of red and black. The true colour lesson of the season is that black and white is enough, if used with healthy dollops of imagination.

	An army of stripes has captured the kingdom, with Dubuc bringing a bevy of irregular stripes to the table. I have to empathize with the thief that stole Kamkyl's racing stripe rebel aristocrat sport jacket - it really is a must-have. Perhaps it was a reaction to the conspicuous lack of menswear at both Fashion Weeks. (The thief was promptly caught in a Toronto nightclub when designer Doug Mandel spotted his own creation on the fashionable fink's back.) Squares jostle with stripes for pole position, best exemplified in Andy The-Ânh's brilliant square patchwork ode to Frida Khalo.
		Fur is clearly the fabric favorit of the season, standing alone as magnificent outerwear and accenting a whole range of pieces, with Marie Saint Pierre's raw-cut rabbit touches running ahead of the field. Everybody has a fur vest this season, but nobody does fur-accented luxury-casual like Nadya Toto, who delivers a cozy Inuit interpretation. more on fur collections >>

Rudsak plays the vintage card with sandblasted leather aviators while Response makes the trip back in dredging up a faded, sentimental glory. Denim is back its many incarnations to satisfy the remaining vintage thirst. Grunge collage plays out in overstated rock-your-socks-off Hoax while David Dixon uses distressed nylon to give a perfectly understated edge to his immaculate collection.

Fall/Winter 2002-03 is surprisingly multi-seasonal, with newcomers Eryn Reid and Mark Peros using British themes to justify a refreshing orange boost. The line between coat and shirt is blurred across the board, but not for Hilary Radley, whose full-length coats in 50's Burberry A-line issues an unmistakably winter decree. A common inclination in other women's outerwear is the big, shaggy coat. The season also sees designers treading on deceptively soft terrain. Victorian, gothic and engineered lace, along with embroidery and chiffon, is spelled out in black in the collections of Yso, David Dixon, Ula Zukowska, Nadya Toto, Thien LE, Tavan & Mitto, and many others.

A message rings out loud and clear in this vibrant fashion season. In the collections of Kamkyl and Misura, detailed inner lining and double-layered pieces with ornate design or gold inlay hiding just under the surface admits to sensuality's complex and personal nature. We are poignantly reminded that much of the pleasure of fashion can be for the wearer's eyes only.

Some clearly visionary collections distance themselves from the rest. Thien Le tempers his cut-and-fall mastery with abstracted minimalism to create satin patchwork dresses in inspired silhouettes. Yso uses the same restraint to imagine a feminine austerity (like this season's Comme Des Garçons but more erotic) in a masterpiece of pink and black that sees delicacy betrayed by tattered finish. Yso's height accentuating, low-cut pants flared on the outside and cropped on the inside are killer separates. Marie Saint Pierre's brilliant fusion of lace and technology fabrics in black and white genius keeps her on the cutting edge.

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Daniel Cox
Fashion Editor
Minimidimaxi LTD. - The Canadian Fashion Stage
Related Article: "Business of Fashion"

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