EFW07: Hey Jude, My Sister’s Closet, TildArt, Twigg and Hottie

The final day of Eco Fashion Week this year was mostly focused on tried and true Vancouver institutions, with Hey Jude, My Sister’s Closet, and Twigg and Hottie all showcasing strong collections, and Hungarian designer Matild Janosi with her stunning recycled art.

Hey Jude
First established in 2010, Lauren Clark & Lyndsey Chow’s vintage collaboration has been a staple of the Vancouver fashion scene ever since, and this collection really drove home exactly why they’ve been so successful at breaking the conventional ideas of thrift store shopping. Clean lines and boxy silhouettes were toned down with floaty sheer fabrics and feminine silks. Reminiscent of effortless the It Girl chic of the 90′s, Hey Jude threw back to platform sandals, chunky knits, midi length crushed velvet dresses and cheeky happy face prints but never failed to pull together a final look that was decidedly modern and feminine.

My Sister’s Closet
My Sister’s Closet is a community store devoted to raising funds for Battered Women’s Support Services, and the collection they showcased on Wednesday was fittingly empowering. Blasting Joan Jett and Pink, the show oozed confidence. Again, the collection strongly nodded at decades gone by, but if Hey Jude was about the It Girls of the 90′s, My Sister’s Closet was about the opposite end of the 90′s cool spectrum, edgy and sometimes grungy, like if Cher Horowitz (of Clueless fame) had listened to Nirvana and didn’t care what you thought. From layering pieces in unexpected ways to accessorizing creatively, My Sister’s Closet managed to pull of a lot of slightly unconventional outfits that really worked. Their closing outfit was the epitome of this: a gorgeous vintage wedding gown layered with body chains and a matching headpiece that I would never have put together in a million years, but somehow all came together and made me fall in love.

TildArt
When I first saw this collection on the rack in the show room I was intrigued and confused, to be completely honest it looked like Hungarian designer Matild Janosi had just hung a bunch of junk up and left it. The eco designer’s collection is made up of recycled materials that wouldn’t normally be used in fashion, such as old records, film strips, and bike parts. Her show was split into two, one focused on bicycle parts (gears, rubber tires, horns etc.) and the second on film strips. The bicycle show styling was strong and fierce, the models looked like post apocalyptic biker warriors but it was the second film inspired show that knocked me off my feet. Matild manipulated film strips into peplums and trains, and show stopping hats. The film strips moved with the models and made for a surprisingly amazing medium for fashion, it was unexpected and playful and it was just art, there’s no other way to say it.

Twigg and Hottie
Twigg and Hottie turns 10! This Main St. institution celebrated by closing out Eco Fashion Week with their house brand We3 supplemented with other Canadian designers carried at their boutique. We3 focuses on using materials that’s socially and environmentally conscience and produces all of their clothing locally. The show opened with one of Christine’s pieces from her graduation show 10 years ago before following up with their newest collection. Starting off, the clothes featured lots of beautiful draping and pattern heavy fabrics, including a We3 signature, their beautiful handkerchief skirt. As the show went on the looks evolved to sleeker fabrics that were tailored more closely to the body, but throughout the entire collection the brand never strays from the West Coast sensibility that we’ve come to know and love from Twigg and Hottie.