Fashion with compassion: Cashmere Bathroom Tissue’s annual runway show
For the past eight years, Canada’s top designers have joined forces with Cashmere Bathroom Tissue to put together what may very well be the most unique fashion show on the planet: the White Cashmere Collection. Presented this past Wednesday at Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario, the Collection of bathroom-tissue outfits supports the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, heralds the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and boggles the mind (how is that made out of toilet paper?!).
The inspiration for the 2011 collection, curated by Farley Chatto, was retro-rococo-meets-vintage-baroque on a trip to Versailles. Chandeliers glittered overhead as models strut to Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “Hong Kong Garden.” This year’s show featured looks by 15 Canadian designers including Philip Sparks, Marika Brose, and Franco Mirabelli. Hoax Couture and José-Manuel Saint-Jacques created extra-poofy dresses that gave playful nods to the material at hand and had even the most jaded fashion editors giggling in the front row. The chainmail-esque dress by L’Autre Couture showed just what a diverse material bathroom tissue can be.
You can check out the designs in person at the Bay’s flagship locations on Queen Street in Toronto and Ste-Catherine Street in Montreal where they’ll be on display throughout the month of October (believe me when I say it’s worth it). Visit cashmere.ca to vote for your favourite piece of Cashmere couture and the company will donate $10,000 to the CBCF in the winning designer’s name. Be sure to pick up a pack of the limited edition Pink Cashmere tissue to spice up your powder room or to try your hand at crafting your own tissue outfit. Twenty-five cents from the sale of every package goes directly to the CBCF.