Fall 2014 preview: What 5 Canadian designers have planned for New York Fashion Week
Next Friday, all eyes will focus on New York for the latest onslaught of fashion week shows. For those attending Fall 2014 fashion week, that means T-minus 7 days to get your sartorial sh*t together. For those designing, it’s probably high time for panic. As most creative types would find easy to empathize with, one week till takeoff is the time when everything goes wrong. Model castings, seating charts and beauty briefs—they’re all going down right about now. We reached out to a few of our favourite Canadian designers to see how they were doing and to our shock, they all seem pretty cool and collected. Meanwhile, they gave us a peek at what they’ve got on slow burn for their upcoming shows during New York Fashion Week.
Calla
Designer: Calla Haynes
The inspiration: “The collection started from a dark place about a fantasy of a heart-broken Parisian girl that moves to Nashville to become a Country Music Star but gradually got happier as I combined Memphis style graphic design and a new logo inspired by my dog Lilybear the Chow Chow.”
The making of: “I finally decided to officially make my dog the mascot of Calla. Lilybear is quite the local celebrity here in Paris so I have no doubt that people will love it! I had a lot of fun researching the Memphis movement in graphic design and developing prints with the new Lilybear logo.”
Bellavance
Designers: Nolan Bellavance and Ava Hama
The inspiration: “This season we were inspired by the bondage of institution; a feeling of rebellion bound to the necessity of learning and training. Specifically looking to historical uniforms of boarding schools, and the military, as well as touching on outcast cultures such as beatniks and grunge. We wanted the collection to have dueling notions of restraint and playfulness, emphasizing the dichotomy between repression and liberation.”
The making of: “We were so happy to collaborate with our friend Sonja Dissin, who created our chain-link print. She painstakingly hand drew it using a pointilization technique. It encompasses perfectly our inspiration and gives a new graphic element to the collection.”
Kaelen
Designer: Kaelen Haworth
Inspiration: “There are a few photos that I referenced while designing: one is a photo I took of trees on a hike in Colorado, one is a scan of a fabric that we’re using this season that inspired the use of more vibrant color, and the third is an image of Daria Werbowy by Ryan McGinley. Daria is my dream woman and the natural, romantic feel of this photo really resonated. There was less fun and more drama while designing as we got closer to deadline, snow storms and strikes caused a lot of fabric delays and guesswork so I’m thrilled with the final result because for a moment it didn’t seem like we’d get there!”
The fabrics: “We created a print this season that is meant to feel both digital and natural at the same time. Taking inspiration from Mohair textiles and mossy texture to create something pixelated and abstract that still retained a natural feel. We also have some really vibrant reds and pinks in the collections that are definitely outside the box for me but still feel very true to the brand. As always there is a lot of interesting texture, everything feels distinctive in fabrication.”
Tanya Taylor
Designer: Tanya Taylor
The inspiration: “Fall 2014 was inspired by the feeling of being both in and out of focus: where color melts, edges bleed, and sharpness is blurred. The color palette is grounded in a strong black and cream story and highlights both a soft pink and dark green narrative.”
The making of: “I was searching Instagram for inspirational images and came across this really cool illustration by Daphne Van Den Heuvel, a Dutch artist and student. I was drawn to her retro, feminine style and reached out to have her draw a girl with a camera. We weren’t entirely sure how the illustration would sneak its way into the collection but we ended up developing a custom silver lurex jacquard with a London based mill that hires Central Saint Martins students to work on their fabrics for their co-op programs. Central Saint Martins was the first school I ever studied fashion at and I love incorporating young talent into our work each season—what a perfect collaboration!”
Markoo
Designers: Tania Martins and Mona Koochek
Inspiration: “The fall collection is a homage to the culture of Portugal’s fishing villages. With many elements of continuity in their attire throughout the twentieth century, the Portuguese fisherman and the women of the communities encapsulate an era where people worked tirelessly, things were not disposable and life was simple and solid at the core. “
The making of: “we traveled to Portugal a couple times last year looking for manufacturers and fabrics which was the initial inspiration. We had a grand time while there, drinking cheap Portuguese wine, eating at small local restaurants while going around the country meeting different people in the industry. That’s the fun part.”
Markoo will debut Fall 2014 at Capsule New York.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://fashionmagazine.com/style/fall-2014-preview-canadian-designers/&title=Fall 2014 preview: What 5 Canadian designers have planned for New York Fashion Week&picture=https://fashionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Markoo-Fall-2014-Inspiration.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_170380" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Markoo studio, photography by Dave Todon[/caption]
Next Friday, all eyes will focus on New York for the latest onslaught of fashion week shows. For those attending Fall 2014 fashion week, that means T-minus 7 days to get your sartorial sh*t together. For those designing, it’s probably high time for panic. As most creative types would find easy to empathize with, one week till takeoff is the time when everything goes wrong. Model castings, seating charts and beauty briefs---they’re all going down right about now. We reached out to a few of our favourite Canadian designers to see how they were doing and to our shock, they all seem pretty cool and collected. Meanwhile, they gave us a peek at what they’ve got on slow burn for their upcoming shows during New York Fashion Week.
Calla
Designer: Calla Haynes
The inspiration: “The collection started from a dark place about a fantasy of a heart-broken Parisian girl that moves to Nashville to become a Country Music Star but gradually got happier as I combined Memphis style graphic design and a new logo inspired by my dog Lilybear the Chow Chow.”
The making of: “I finally decided to officially make my dog the mascot of Calla. Lilybear is quite the local celebrity here in Paris so I have no doubt that people will love it! I had a lot of fun researching the Memphis movement in graphic design and developing prints with the new Lilybear logo.”
Bellavance
Designers: Nolan Bellavance and Ava Hama
The inspiration: "This season we were inspired by the bondage of institution; a feeling of rebellion bound to the necessity of learning and training. Specifically looking to historical uniforms of boarding schools, and the military, as well as touching on outcast cultures such as beatniks and grunge. We wanted the collection to have dueling notions of restraint and playfulness, emphasizing the dichotomy between repression and liberation."
The making of: "We were so happy to collaborate with our friend Sonja Dissin, who created our chain-link print. She painstakingly hand drew it using a pointilization technique. It encompasses perfectly our inspiration and gives a new graphic element to the collection."
Kaelen
Designer: Kaelen Haworth
Inspiration: “There are a few photos that I referenced while designing: one is a photo I took of trees on a hike in Colorado, one is a scan of a fabric that we’re using this season that inspired the use of more vibrant color, and the third is an image of Daria Werbowy by Ryan McGinley. Daria is my dream woman and the natural, romantic feel of this photo really resonated. There was less fun and more drama while designing as we got closer to deadline, snow storms and strikes caused a lot of fabric delays and guesswork so I’m thrilled with the final result because for a moment it didn’t seem like we’d get there!”
The fabrics: “We created a print this season that is meant to feel both digital and natural at the same time. Taking inspiration from Mohair textiles and mossy texture to create something pixelated and abstract that still retained a natural feel. We also have some really vibrant reds and pinks in the collections that are definitely outside the box for me but still feel very true to the brand. As always there is a lot of interesting texture, everything feels distinctive in fabrication.”
Tanya Taylor
Designer: Tanya Taylor
The inspiration: “Fall 2014 was inspired by the feeling of being both in and out of focus: where color melts, edges bleed, and sharpness is blurred. The color palette is grounded in a strong black and cream story and highlights both a soft pink and dark green narrative.”
The making of: “I was searching Instagram for inspirational images and came across this really cool illustration by Daphne Van Den Heuvel, a Dutch artist and student. I was drawn to her retro, feminine style and reached out to have her draw a girl with a camera. We weren't entirely sure how the illustration would sneak its way into the collection but we ended up developing a custom silver lurex jacquard with a London based mill that hires Central Saint Martins students to work on their fabrics for their co-op programs. Central Saint Martins was the first school I ever studied fashion at and I love incorporating young talent into our work each season---what a perfect collaboration!”
[caption id="attachment_170380" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Markoo studio, photography by Dave Todon[/caption]
Markoo
Designers: Tania Martins and Mona Koochek
Inspiration: “The fall collection is a homage to the culture of Portugal’s fishing villages. With many elements of continuity in their attire throughout the twentieth century, the Portuguese fisherman and the women of the communities encapsulate an era where people worked tirelessly, things were not disposable and life was simple and solid at the core. “
The making of: “we traveled to Portugal a couple times last year looking for manufacturers and fabrics which was the initial inspiration. We had a grand time while there, drinking cheap Portuguese wine, eating at small local restaurants while going around the country meeting different people in the industry. That’s the fun part.”
Markoo will debut Fall 2014 at Capsule New York.){kind=link}