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Review: La Musique Show Sees Art Institute Grads Off

October 29th, 2008 | Published in Event Report

Words and Photos by Maria

The graduating students at the Art Institute of Vancouver were given a quality farewell as they were introduced to fashionistas in the industry and the media alike. The show was amazingly put together–from the program to the venue to the musical theme put to work. Flipping through the glossy program not unlike the pristine copies of a Holt Renfrew catalogue, hands fluttered to take the first look at the students’ mini-collections. Each page featured one design from each student, a preview of what was to come.

ai-show-pic-1 In accordance with the theme, the audience was welcomed into each segment with a music video projected onto the whole of the stage backdrop. After about 4 segments the videos seemed a tad long, stretching the show to a lengthy 2 hours, but they kept the show consistent and interesting nonetheless. Some of the designs that stepped onto the runway unfortunately were forgotten as soon as they left it, but plenty stood out on their own accord. Danielle Magnusson sent out models with deer horns on their heads sporting her creations which combined fine fabric fit for a lord with fur and leather. The result was really quite an elegant look that Magnusson referenced to a hunting party. Of the idea, she suggests that “things just aren’t the same anytime the hunter gets captured by the game.” She made her collection into something that was classic—hourglass silhouettes with A-line skirts—and added fur and leather to give it that extra stroke of modernity.

Paloma Renaud put together for her collection a line of some very cheeky mini dresses and skirts in a style reminiscent of some of the English legend Vivienne Westwood’s designs. Renaud paired plaid weaves taken from long forgotten men’s button up shirts with an also recycled denim material. The finished pieces had a nice mix of feminine flair and edgy confidence that Renaud described as “Victorian Grunge”. It would take a very unique type of personality to pull these outfits off successfully on a daily basis–their almost avant-garde quality would make Renaud’s pieces very hard to resist, but once obtained one would have to wait some time for the perfect opportunity to show off their brand-new Renaud piece.

ai-show-pic-3 A fresh look at hanbok dress was brought onto the catwalk by Amy La—a line of elegant cocktail dresses and gowns with references to the traditional Korean dress. It is often that one sees reinventions of Asian traditional dress like the Chinese cheongsam or the Japanese kimono, but the Korean hanbok has not gotten its share on the catwalk much before, at least not in the “Western World”. The hanbok’s design foundation was clear in La’s designs, but her spin was novel and enchanting. In her dresses she kept with the hanbok’s usual empire waistline and used luxurious fabrics in neutral an bold colours combined with white. She included the essential tassel known as the norigae to add to her designs—much as the original dress would—acting as the centre piece of the whole ensemble.

The students proved to be adept at creating collections that were well put together in the sense that each piece complemented the other pleasingly. Yet, as good as plenty of the designs were, the creativity wasn’t at a high level in a number of other instances. Quality construction also seemed to be an issue, with some pieces lacking sensitivity towards line and fit, bunching up at the wrong places and pulling at others. Nevertheless, the Art Institute produced a group of outstanding graduates—their dedication and love of fashion clear as glass. And even though the collections weren’t perfect, it is only the beginning. Where these budding designers will be in 2 or 5 years’ time is exciting even just to think about.

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