Toronto Fashion Week: IZMA debuts their fresh take on furs

Those who trudged out in the rain to catch the opening show at Toronto Fashion Week with an impeccably-done presentation from IZMA, Izzy Camilleri and Adrian Mainella‘s new line of fur pieces. Camilleri, a leather and fur specialist, and Mainella, a fashion journalist best known for his hosting duties on the now-defunct Fashion File, are positioning their line as green and sustainable, in both their use of wild furs and the material’s inherent heirloom qualities. (If you’re anti-fur, none of this matters, of course.)

The IZMA team clearly wants to break away from your grandma’s fur coat, offering up unexpected pieces such as a beaver tunic with a deep V-neck, hoods in bleached coyote and red fox, a skirt in inky black coyote that doubles as a cape and a fox fur purse with a multi-chain strap flips up onto the shoulder to become a bandeau. Coolest was a vest strung with chains and strips of sheared beaver. There were plenty of coats and capes too, like a swing coat done in muskrat, a slouchy sheared beaver wrap and a cropped hooded bomber in silver fox. The leather--a creamy double-breasted suit, or black trousers, for starters--was Emma Peel tight, though Camilleri promises that the pieces will be real-world wearable when they hit stores. The final three looks showed examples of the custom work IZMA will be offering, and show Camilleri’s skills as a red-carpet designer. A full skirt flounced as if it were made of ostrich feathers and a short see-through dress was covered with tufts of fur and a luxe black capelet. It was a strong debut for Mainella and Camilleri’s collaboration and an equally strong start to LG Fashion Week.

Click the images below to see the full collection and follow all our coverage at fashionmagazine.com/attheshows.