Wednesday – Day two of Montreal Fashion Week saw two of the most anticipated, “I-might-pee-my-pants-I’m-so-excited” acts take to the stage.
And yes, the shows offered by Denis Gagnon and UNTTLD were bonafide acts and thus, the runway became the setting for theatrics of the most grandiose fashion (I mean that literally and sartorially), truly internalizing and proliferating the whole “All the world’s a stage” Shakespearian doodad.
First Up to bat: Denis Gagnon. (You will understand the relevancy of this sports-themed metaphor in due time.) Not only was the world of Denis Gagnon put on stage, but all its people were most definitely “players.”
What seemed like a regular, run-of-the-mill (note: sports metaphor #2!) kind of fashion show, was pleasantly thwarted when the audience suddenly realized that one of the first womens-wear models, was of the very manly variety.
And the gender-bending continued until the entertaining end with several of Denis’ close male friends strutting down the catwalk, cleopatra-inspired makeup, hairy man-thighs and all.
The audience said sayonara to the fourth wall as well as any expected rules of etiquette as the hootin’ and hollerin’ began and the normally inappropriate cat-calls rang out.
Amongst the unparalleled level of design was a message: Be who you want, dress how you want, and don’t take fashion too seriously. L-E-G-I-T.
And though my insides grew warm and fuzzy in the process, the clothing on the runway was anything but. If my tweeting gives any indication, the architectural cuts diverged from their structured base with an injection of Egyptian, androgynous sportswear.
(Add into the mix one very pronounced and infamous man-thigh and you get the picture.) Shall we call it Sexy Sporty Spice? Cleo-Patrick Goes to the Ballgame? King TutenKarmen Hits a Home Run? Maybe not. (I am currently accepting less immature tag lines in the comments section.)
The UNTTLD show, on the contrary, set to stage a darker drama, whose dramatis personnae took their fashion cues from the unpredictable likes of Memoirs of a Geisha, Christmas with the Cranks (see metallic orange wrapping-paper skirts) and most notably, Batman.
Yep, the holiday season in Gotham City is turning Japanese, (I really think so).
The show opened to a sheer black maxi-tube dress cloaked in a billowing black cape à la Bruce Wayne and was finalized with another maxi-tube dress in scintillating metallic burnt orange which you may remember seeing underneath your Christmas tree last year.
But far-reaching if not totally ludicrous cultural references aside, this show was just that, a show, if not a spectacle.
By the time the night was over, I realized that Denis Gagnon and UNTTLD had taught us that fashion can tell a very dynamic story and that men’s upper legs are still ABSOLUTELY terrifying.
Stay tuned for more summary from Montreal Fashion week.
Share and Enjoy
