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Lucire fall-winter 2004

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   Ontario native Eryn Reid is a former award winning, competitive figure skater whose tailoring skills, training from the Ryerson School of Fashion, experience, discipline, and her vivid imagination have all come together to make her a formidable force to be reckoned with on the Canadian fashion landscape. She doesn’t design clothing for the woman hoping to blend into the background. Instead, through her creations, she celebrates life, a spirit of fantasy, flair, and
‘I wear the coat in Paris and stop traffic more than once a day. People keep asking me where they can get one. Next time, I’ll bring the order book!’
fun, with pieces that marry funky and classic. Ms Reid hand-paints many of her fabrics, and her designs are natural head-turners. She received one memorable telephone call from an exuberant customer in one of the world's top fashion capitals says it all: ‘I wear the coat in Paris and stop traffic more than once a day. People keep asking me where they can get one. Next time, I’ll bring the order book!’
   Ms Reid commandeered the elegant boiler House Restaurant in Toronto’s Distillery District to début her fall–winter 2004–5 collection, Cracker, to a most appreciative crowd. Inspired by the luxury and decadence of the beloved ballet, The Nutcracker, her vision of the Cracker Woman has her models as ethereal ice nymphs wearing Victorian corset tops and other designs in pink plaids, hand-painted silk and lace, rich baby blue velvets, herringbone and ornate black lace. Far from being boring, I truly enjoyed this subversive take-off on mixing the old with the new. I adore her red velvet skirt suit with black trim detailing and her pairing of a baby blue velvet mid-rift top (with black lace detailing on the neck line and sleeves) with a tartan mini-skirt. The Cracker Man sees Reid's impeccable style for men expressed with sharp lines, intersecting stripes and hints of colour. Taken one step further, her men’s wear designs have that whiff of ’70s–Ziggy Stardust mystique that set her apart from all other designers showing that week. From the two-tone, low-slung pants to the white tuxedo shirt with black lace columns down the front (which wasn’t the least bit feminine, mark you), she hit all the right notes. She is yet another star on the horizon, waiting for her moment, which isn’t too far off in our eyes.
    When Kendra Francis of Franke (right) opened her boutique (at 920 Queen Street West at Shaw Street) two years ago, her initial design offerings consisted of body-hugging pants, bust-baring, skimpy tops and assorted dance club ensembles for young women with bodies worth showing off. But over time, she refined her skills and branched out into other design areas including beaded chiffon cocktail dresses in pastel blue, grey and silver, clingy off-the-shoulder and scoop-neck pieces in black, grey, silver and fuchsia that she sold for $225–$650. As well as her satin and chiffon skirts cut in three different lengths: full, to the knee and super-short ($175–$250). She has prospered from the very beginning and her fall 2004 collection is proof that she is destined for further greatness and future expansion outside of the Toronto area.
   Instead of dressing the models backstage, she and her set designers created tableaux where the models in matching bras and panties in solid, rich colours dress themselves. The audience then was privy to the sight of women in their individual “dressing rooms” going through the process of getting ready for a night out on the town. And what beautiful creations they were putting on! Ms Francis’s ability to design these dreamy outfits and the models’ seeming unawareness of the audience worked to give the pieces that extra something. I liked everything she designed. Each piece flowed effortlessly and clung to the women’s bodies in all the right places. Ms Francis has found the right formula for success in the fashion industry.

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ABOVE: From the C’est Chic presentation. REMAINING PHOTOGRAPHS: Franke by Kendra Francis. INSET: Kendra Francis.

 

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