Montreal fashion week diary: Day 3 with Denis Gagnon, Mulcair, and DUY | Hollywood yohana
For his Spring 2012 presentation, Montreal’s fetish designer Denis Gagnon switched gears from his usual stoic strut to a playful prance. Creative mise-en-scene by master Dick Walsh in the ultra-luxe environs of Birks jewellery store saw exuberant smiling models whizzing through a rotating doorway and parading before the camera pit before dramatically shimmying up and down the aisles as if searching for a runaway Pomeranian. All the while, a vintage French soundtrack added a retro feel to the “Marlene Dietrich meets Laura Ashley” look. One model looked ready for a game of tennis in her white sneakers and strapless drop-waisted silk jumper that was belted just above the chest—tennis, that is, in Gagnon’s universe. Despite the show’s Holly Golightly-like optimism, Gagnon’s cutesy floral separates never strayed too from his familiar avant-garde vibe, which surfaced here and there in black and white dominatrix detailing. After the gender-bending finale where the bride and groom shared a sweet kiss, nobody argued that 11 a.m. was too early for Champagne!
Back at the Marché Bonsecours ranch, drinks went from bubbly to beer. Mulcair’s Juliana Bennett told me as she casually sipped a Heineken: “I just love being able to chill out and actually see my own show.” Her afternoon cocktail staging featured a dozen or so sweet-faced models, each perched on their own wooden crate. “It’s so embarrassing,” Bennett said of her theme, “but it all really came to me in a dream.” This season her signature tomboy-chic turned “fashionista at sea”—with pet cheetah in tow. (Hey, it’s a dream. Cheetahs are allowed.) The nocturnal vision resulted in a mix-and-match galore, all anchored in nautical detailing. A sea of navy and white flirty tops and bottoms gave way to gold studs, thin marine stripes, and glimpses of sheer black. Interesting details included a high buttoned-up collar shirt with epaulettes, an asymmetrical butterfly-sleeve jersey top, and touches of animal print—that’s where the cheetah came in. Meow.
Finally, DUY by Duy Nguyen executed a welcoming return to the Montreal runway, which hasn’t seen him since 2004. A potpourri of “nature-inspired colours,” which he interpreted as white, black, navy, and a pastel mint green marked his comeback. Some more “Madame” pieces, such as the black shift dress with white frontal panelling and black lace overlay, or the white leather version with black croc detailing, contrasted with more street wear styles. Duy’s notion of “Futuristic Desert Rose” still escapes me, but I admit individual pieces stood out like superstars. The opening, for example, was a true showstopper: a fitted white skirt just barely grazing the knee, topped by an intricate rosebush bodice. Oh, ok. Maybe now I see the connection.
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