Toronto L'Oreal Fashion Week Day One

John Coburn, Canadian artist, paints for charity

Down at the Muzik building on the CNE grounds Toronto's L'Oreal Fashion Week got kickstarted with a collection of clothing and style spanning the decades called "Fragmented Time". I managed to get down to the building a few hours before hand to walk the area and familiarize myself with the new location. Last season fashion week took place across the street at the Liberty Grand. I'm not really sure why the location changed but this new location seemed pretty good.


One of the many lounge areas


A face doily

A few hours before the catwalk started the models were being made up. Yes, hours. It's amazing what can be taken for granted when we watch fashion TV or see a catwalk with all the models coming out so effortlessly. The amount of preparation that goes into these shows is phenomenal. The Fragmented Time show was no exception. Look at the following pictures and notice all the work that went into the hair alone.


That's pretty long hair


Curling?


Make up


Models getting prepped by team L'Oreal


Cotton candy?

My only complaint as a photographer was that during the Fragmented Time show there was this window frame hanging in the middle of the runway. I suppose someone thought this would be a nice theatrical piece, but for us photographers it got in the way of shooting the models (and the clothing). What's more important a frame or the clothing? We're at a fashion show after all.


The frame works here but gets in the way for every other photo

The window frame at the angle from the photo pit doesn't even look like a window frame especially if you are standing right in the middle. It might as well be a plank. If they had to put something up I would have used a piece of plexi with white borders painted on. That way the audience would still know it's a frame and would be less intrusive with the cameras because of it's thinness.


Part of the "Fragmented Time" collection


It's difficult to not think of the Glad man when you see guys dressed up in white suits.


From the collection of Marie Saint Pierre