Backstage at Toronto LG Fashion Week!

Would it surprise you to know that up to last week, I was a fashion show virgin?  Being the beauty side of Beauty Crazed, I don't attend them - but Christelle was out of town so I got pressed into duty!  My show pick was BASCH by Brandon, I liked him on Project Runway Canada so I figured if nothing else, it would be entertaining. From the opening beat of Rhianna's S&M and the first model who came strutting down the runway in a sheer black dress complete with lime green underwear it was quite the kinky ride! There were a lot of dresses, most of them black, some of them very tight and almost all of them really short!  I'll be posting the collection soon, I actually really like it, but for the sake of the show, they really sexed the hell out of it!

The real reason that I agreed to fill in though, was I was given the opportunity to go backstage and see the hair and makeup people in action, which was too good to resist!

I was expecting it to be a bit of a crazy circus, but it was actually pretty calm and civilized.  No screaming, no freak-outs and no half naked models running around (sorry Erin).  Just a lot of very focused people turning ordinary looking models into catwalk goddesses!

Eddie Malter, Artistic Director for LG Fashion Week and Official Makeup Artist for L'Oréal Paris welcomed me backstage and let me watch him and his assistant Vivi get model Marla runway ready for the Lundström show and very patiently put up with my peppering him with questions. It's amazing how much work goes into a deceptively simple looking smokey eye and pale lip! Eddie was very generous in letting me get in close to see his technique and I have already been able to create his look at home!  I was hoping for some brush secrets but he uses a french brand that are discontinued so no luck there!  What I was really wowed by was the mascara he used.  I was told it was super secret but I'm a bad secret keeper -L'Oréal Architect 4D - only in Europe right now but coming to Canada at some point - Eddie is a fan because it gives the lashes a super matte look - I would have sworn that Marla was wearing false lashes under the mascara, but she assured me she wasn't - I can't wait for this mascara to make it's way here!

Eddie and Marla - don't those eyes look amazing?!

After makeup, I was passed over to Eric Del Monco, Lead Hair Artist for LG Fashion Week and Official Hair Artist and Colourist for L'Oréal Paris. He was busy supervising the hair for the Lundström show but he took some time to give me a rundown on what was going on.  He had just finished the hair for the Cydelic show seen above.  That's designer Choryin Choi in the background, you can tell he also thinks the hair is a feat of gravity!

The Lundstrom hair had a very sleek, shiny look and Eric let me in on the secret - L'Oréal Elnett UV Protect Hairspray - the more you spray, the shiner it looks - unlike other hairsprays that just make the hair stiff and sticky, Elnett still lets the hair move and makes it shine like crazy!  He also filled me in on some other fall trends heading our way including feathered hair, updos and loose twists as well as the hot haircolour for fall which is black!

Eric and his model -it's hard to appreciate just how much work goes into the hair until you get back there and see it for yourself! 

Thanks again to Eddie, Eric and to everyone backstage for letting me come hang out! Same time next year?

- Lisamarie -

Brian Bailey is looking to simplify your makeup routine - if you like that kind of thing!

I have been hearing some crazy buzz going around - did you know that some woman don't enjoy having 5 million products and a makeup routine that takes up most of their waking hours?  I know, crazy right!?!  While I have been trying to wrap my brain around this concept, designer and Project Runway Canada mentor Brian Bailey has been taking it seriously and come out with a streamlined makeup collection for women in a hurry - 5 Easy Pieces - it consists of a foundation duo (available in 6 shades from fair to deep), a blush duo, eyeshadow duo, lipgloss and eyebrow pencil all for $129.  You can also buy the products separately because of course no one runs out of foundation and blush at the same time!

Exclusively at The Shopping Channel and you can find it at wwwtheshoppingchannel.com/baileycosmetics

- Lisamarie -

Hot Pick: Carlie Wong Designs a Modern, Yet Feminine, Collection for Spring 2010

I discovered Carlie Wong on the first season of Project Runway Canada: I liked her designs and I've always thought she had left the show way too early. Fortunately, her reality TV days are now far behind, and Carlie has definitely matured in her Spring 2010 collection. This collection is very architectural with sharp, geometrical lines. The designs are modern but still feminine: dresses in lace and silk soften her collection.

Carlie's collection is available in a few boutiques in her hometown, Vancouver, as well as in a couple of boutiques in Montreal and Toronto. Check her website to see where you can get yourself one of these pretty dresses.

$520 - Prices are in Canadian Dollars

$740

$780

$380

$700

$400

-Christelle-

Blah. Toronto Fashion Week. Blah. Yawn.

Oh Dear.

Are you excited by the Toronto Fashion Week yet? No? Yeah, I didn't think so. When half the runway shows are presented by Project Runway Canada contestants, it's hard to feel excited. It's a bit like buying frozen food and pretending it's fine dining. Don't get me wrong, some of these designers are talented (Evan Biddell, Sunny Fong) and I did enjoy the show (Iman is awesome) but is there any other way to get discovered than Reality TV?

Surely, not all the designers worthy of Fashion Week in Canada end up on Project Runway. So where is the rest?

The LG Fashion Week has also exciting events such as "VIA Rail announcement", runway shows from SEARS and unknown Romanian designers. Wow. I don't know about you, guys, but I would totally buy tickets to see SEARS crappy clothes on display in a fashion show, instead of going to the mall. The lights, the music, it makes it all worthwhile.

My favorite Project Runway Canada contestant was showing his latest collection too. You know the "designer" who had never heard of YVES SAINT-LAURENT, the one and only: Brandon R. Dwyer. Pouffy skirts, boring designs and ugliness galore. He's definitely not the next Yves Saint-Laurent.

I'm sure there are many talented designers out there who could show at this Fashion Week, but by looking at the sorry state of this event, there is a lot of work to do in terms of training and promoting Canadian designers. The LG Toronto Fashion Week ends tonight.

-Christelle-