Arthur Mendonca
spring/summer 2004

There was a palpable buzz surrounding the Arthur Mendonça Spring 2004 show, and the Toronto crowd wasn't let down by their new unsung hero.

Mendonça's blatant play on 80's chic was met with a couple of screams. For women, flute pants touch the floor courtesy of the razor pleat. Off-the-shoulder glory has its moment under the halogens as well-batwing crepe is the lucky victim in this collection. The glittery black evening dresses sport the same web strapping that pops up in several of the outfits.

A lace-up batwing sleeve blouse was paired with a zippered double-dirndl skirt, proving that anything can be reinvented with a smidgen of imagination. The laces are a prominent feature in the collection, and we see them creeping up and down pant legs. Gold zippers glam things up, but thankfully the coda of one zipper per outfit is maintained…

Treated leather, the tactile luxury that the designer made converts with in his debut collection, here makes a statement on purple Capri pants cut off at the knee. Chocolate leather skirts raise the hemline as high as they are in Montreal for Spring 2004.

The Johnny-come-lately look for men would have been convincing had the finish not been so impeccable. I don't remember celluloid rebels wearing Nehru collar leather jackets, gold zipper of course. But hey, I like being surprised.

There was a killer ensemble-spider strap silk bustier in midnight black, slinking just above the collection's leather showpiece, a pencil skirt that descends into a festive double frill.

Daniel Cox
Fashion Editor
Marek Wlazlo
Photographer


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