03. My Big, Fat, FAT Recap [FW24]
The weirdest, wildest, and most wonderful highlights from Fashion Art Toronto [FAT] Fall/Winter 2024 📸📸
“Are you a designer?”
The question burned my ears all Fashion Week.
And here I was, just days prior, wondering if I’d be able to dress to impress even the most stylish fashionistas of the GTA.
These four looks prompted the repetitive inquiry:
I can’t help but think my handmade Disco Leg lent a big helping hand in pushing my outfits over the edge too.
What did I actually do all week?
For me, Fashion Weeks are business trips.
They’re opportunities to stay in the style know, conduct trend research, and — most importantly — grow my contacts list by networking, fervently.
In the case of FAT — Toronto’s one and only fashion week that runs bi-annually, for the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter seasons — the shows invite artistic expression to their runway as much as ready-to-wear fashion.
Each day had a structured layout of which designer would be on the runway at what time — with upwards of 40 artists in total. Outside the Runway Room, there was an interactive photo-op space surrounded by art installments and activations called the Fashion Playground, where some designers chose to showcase their work instead.
Night one (Thursday), doors didn’t open until 5pm, but Friday to Sunday doors opened at 2pm and went till late. So for the most part, I became semi-nocturnal. My days went from leaving my sister-in-law’s place in York around 3pm to arriving back around midnight.
On site, I attended as many runways as possible and circled the highly shoppable boutique of vendors many times. At every turn, I was telling someone I loved their outfit (or thanking them for complimenting mine), swapping Instagram handles, and engaging in deep conversation about the fashion world.
It was a stylist’s dream atmosphere.
One such conversation I had was with Kateryna Nechyporenko, the super sweet owner of Repulos Atelier — a high-end, quality-made brand of well-structured pieces that instantly made my wish list.
Venturing deeper into the boutique space, I met Karine, the vivacious owner of eclectic accessories brand MizDragonfly.
Outside the boutique, I met an actual dragon! Well… bearded dragon.
Across the hall was headliner sponsor 1664’s photo booth, where I posed for pics 3 out of 4 nights (night 1 was so overwhelming I didn’t even realize the booth was there until the next day).
TLDR: I watched fashion shows for hours on-end. I studied every style — from guest looks to runway creations. I gathered an overflow of new ideas for my business and for styling DIYs. I posed for many photos. Best of all, I met so many new people — many of whom with the shared interest of working together.
In fact, I’m already planning a collab with a designer mentioned in this blog… Stay tuned 👀
What People Are Wearing
Last week, I started a new series on my Instagram page: What People Are Wearing.
I’m not the only fashionista to do this and I certainly won’t be the last — did you know there’s actually an entire account with 1.3 million followers dedicated to this simple statement? The good news is, there’s enough individual style to go around.
Toronto Fashion Week being no exception. I’ve highlighted some of my favourite guest looks in this Instagram post:
And half a dozen runway looks in this reel:
With more to come!
Time to vote: the weird, the wild, the wonderful
Remember last week when I was referencing The Grinch in my TFW styling efforts?? This designer must have had the same dilemma-turned-inspiration because I’m not exaggerating when I say EVERY model who walked the runway donned these slippers...
In favour of all things green, Brat-summer-green is back, apparently?? Or maybe it never left… That is, according to fashion brand sixnineosix, Check out their final walk below.
But not all designers were so heavy on the green (honestly, I saw a lot of it).
Silk fashion brand designer Portia J. Alight brought a fresh take to 1920s electro swing style with gorgeous tailor-made garments and unique styling. Here’s a post-runway pic of her collection posing together on the red carpet.
What’s next?
Well, wow. How do you come down from a week like this?
Toronto’s fashion community is a vibrant one, welcoming and encouraging of highly creative and deeply meaningful style.
I can’t say that four days downtown made me want to move there — I’m a country girl at heart — but it did encourage me to visit more frequently and raise my expectations for my career. I truly believe God has appointed and anointed me to walk with boldness and grace in this industry and I can’t wait to see what else He has in store.
Till next week,
💌 Tess