Designers show off their wares

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Toronto Fashion Week 2004 had its official launch on March 22 at the Liberty Grand entertainment complex at Exhibition Place with a group show by six Aboriginal fashion designers and design houses. Pam Baker, Tammy Beauvais, Angela DeMontigny, Dene Fur Clouds, Ronald Everett, and D'Arcy Moses showcased their fall 2004 collections under the Fashion Nation banner with a gala runway show.

Fashion Week is a yearly event that brings designers together with media and buyers for major retail stores. Now in its seventh edition, this year's Fashion Week unfolded under the theme "Canadian Chic."

The interior of the Liberty Grand was draped with luxurious cloth to create a curtained "room" for the half-hour Fashion Nation runway show. The four rows of runway-side seating were filled quickly, creating a standing-room-only crush that contributed to the evening's air of excitement.

Moses, a South Slave Dene from the Northwest Territories, is one of Canada's best-known designers.

Comfortable in the worlds of haute couture and mall culture, his designs have sold to major U.S. retailers, such as Mark's Work Warehouse, and have been commissioned by everyone from Governor General Adrienne Clarkson to violinist Tara-Louise Montour.

For his fall 2004 collection, Moses presented men's and women's wear in fur and leather. His men's sweaters, pants, and thigh-length coats came in rich grays, blacks, and browns. Many of the coats were open at the front, showcasing fur pullovers, and most had clean lines with well-placed details (such as wide, fuzzy collars). Although much of it was fairly conventional, Moses also displayed some bravado: he outfitted several shirtless male models in huge sets of antlers, which they wore threaded through backpacks.

Musician Derek Miller, who was seated in the front row for the Fashion Nation runway show-and who provided the entertainment at the invitation-only pre-show reception-liked the avante-garde touch.

"It's great to see a sense of humour," he said.

No one in the crowd showed any visible discomfort with the show's opening, which featured non-Native models wearing faux headdresses and a slash of face paint on their left cheekbones.

Everett, a Tsimshian from the community of Lax KwaLaams in northern B.C., has sold his designs around the world, from North America to Germany to the Philippines. At Fashion Nation, Everett presented a stunning collection of day-into-evening wear, featuring bold West Coast-style applique on monochrome backgrounds. Everett's well-cut dresses, throws and capes illustrated the beauty of simplicity: one of the best pieces was a plain black floor-length dress with a thigh-high slit and an elliptical band of rich red applique at the waist, cut in a West Coast motif. Some of the dresses were backless, and perfectly accented with wispy scarves or stoles. Others showcased Everett's facility with detail (especially on sleeves) and his genius with collars (which often had subtle, softening folds). Everett's fall 2004 collection is a triumph that celebrates the female body.

Dene Fur Clouds, a group of Dene women from Fort Providence, N.W.T., make high-fashion pieces using fur from the Mackenzie Valley. Traditionally, the Dene made "knitted" fur clothing by sewing together rectangular panels created from strips of fur from the white snowshoe hare.

Dene Fur Clouds updates that technique by hand knitting double-knit washable wool, fox fur, and sheared beaver pelts together to create a washable fur "fabric." The items they create from that fabric sell in boutiques across Canada and the U.S.

The Dene Fur Clouds fall 2004 collection showcased luxurious pullovers, jackets, and capes for men and women in intricate geometric patterns. The group's line of ready-to-wear fur accessories also includes mittens, hats, scarves, shawls, sweaters, vests and shoulder bags for men and women.

Pam Baker, whose studio and production facility is located on the Capilano reerve in North Vancouver, presented after-five evening wear in rich fabrics and colors. Standout items in Baker's fall 2004 collection included a black-and-white cape with West Coast-style applique, and a fuzzy black coat-dress that looked like the plumage of an ostrich.

Mohawk designer Tammy Beauvais, from Kahnawake, Que., presented a series of blanket-style wraps and coats with angular lines and wide, short fringe. The fall 2004 collection included a fitted blanket-style dress with gray and blue applique and a fitted black dress with a shimmering veil-like overlay front.

Angela DeMontigny, who is from the Six Nations reserve in southwestern Ontario, showcased ready-to-wear hand-painted leather dresses, coats, and separates. Her fall 2004 collection highlighted street culture: mini-dresses, mini-skirts, and men's jackets with biker-style artwork, such as skulls and eagles with outstretched talons.

According to Robin Kay, president of the Toronto-based Fashion Design Council of Canada, Fashion Nation was the first collaboration of Aboriginal designers in a group show in Canada.

It was an important event for designer Ronald Everett.

"As a group, I felt our voice was stronger in getting the word out that there are Aboriginal designers leading the way in Canada," Everett said. "We're from different areas, which creates challenges, so it was great to be able to get together and make the impact that we did. We've been able to support each other and share ideas and information."

Fashion Nation was co-sponsored by the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres and the Miziwe Biik Employment and Training Centre as a way to promote Aboriginal fashion as an "emerging market in the Aboriginal business sector."

The event "will help bring our art and culture to a wider audience," Everett said.