To know Oka Masako is to love her. The Japanese designer is a fixture in sustainable eco-friendly fashion. She’s used bamboo and silk, corn and soybeans before it was the “in-thing” to do and she’s done it very well. Her fabrics have been the talk of the runway since 2003 and since the creation of the ECOMACO line’s launch, her push towards biodegradable fashion has been a staple everywhere.

Masako held a show at Mexico Fashion Week last Friday and it was the talk of the industry. She’s pioneered a new thread using fermented corn syrup. Naturally one would think that her collection is edible since most of her products are used in food, but the point to this as she describes it is to truly make clothing a “second skin”.

ECOMACO may not hit critical mass just yet, but it may be on the road to that. Masako states the pricepoints for eco-friendly fabrics may be high, but this is definitely the wave of the future.

Visit ECOMACO online here.

Nathalie Atkinson of The National Post today looked at Joeffer Caoc’s show during Toronto Fashion Week and was simply too happy to share the comings and goings of the models on the catwalk. The one thing that you get walking away from this review is that the designer knows what he is doing when it comes to minimalism. Atkinson states that Caoc works with abstract shapes in his geometric print dresses and there’s an African feel some of the pieces. Caoc also uses “sequined fabric on minidresses, shifts and skirts”. Overall the show was a winner as you can see from the photo above.

Toronto Fashion week is proving to be one of the top notch series in the season. Read her entire article here.

The talk of Toronto fashion Week is Alfred Sung’s Grace Kelly inspired bridal collection. The designer kicked off L’Oreal fashion week on a high note with 32 gowns and 32 models. The collection was an wonderland in white as most of the dresses were long flowing breathtaking pieces in that color.

Sung adorned the collection Swarovski crystals and intricate detailing on the buttons, necklines, and bodices. The gowns fell gracefully to the floor and appeared easy to wear (at least in the photos coming out of the event. Sung talked to the Canadian Press after the show and said that he wanted them to look “really feminine, glamorous, elegant, and a little bit sexy with the off-the-shoulder”.

Sung is not straying from bridal wear either. After designing for 15 years in the space, he’s looking to get into even more entrenched in the space. Can’t wait to see these in the stores.

Bollywood fashion was on display during Lakme India Fashion Week and I’ve got to say that this was definitely a colorful affair. The plainly named movie Fashion by Bollywood director Madhur Bhandarkar appeared front and center during the showing of the collections. Already set for tons of controversy because Bhandarkar addressed homosexuality in the fashion industry in a traditionally conservative country, Fashion, reveals the inner workings of the industry according to Bhandarkar.

Actresses from his movie appeared at the show in pieces from Indian designer Narendra Kumar. The colors were vibrant and dresses creatively and ornately put together. The promotion of Fashion was pronounced as Lakme India Fashion week is one of the biggest fashion events in the country. Women are already crowding theaters and talking it up online. A friend of mine stateside actually called me to see if she could get a copy of the movie…Not yet I said, we may be known for piracy here in Hong Kong, but we take our Bollywood movies seriously.

Seoul fashion week is going to kick off this Saturday with a bit of fanfare. Now granted it is already duking it out with Los Angeles Fashion Week which, incidentally, won’t be at Smashbox studios any longer; this fashion week promises to give Hollywood’s fashion week a run for its money. Think about it, Eley Kishimoto might be there. That’s a really big might, but some of the women’s designers slated to be showing their collections include Song Jain, Gee Choon-hee, Lee Young-hee, An Yoon-jung and Cho Sung-kyong.

There is some backstory to Seoul Fashion week in terms of drama. According to the Korea Times, some major top designers like Rubina Lie Sang-bong, Son Jung-wan are going to be no-shows for the event because tehre was a rift between organizers and the Seoul Fashion Artists Association. Apparently, we all can’t just get along.

Though not participating in the SETEC fashion show, I am particularly looking forward to Rubina Lie Sang-bong. In my next series of posts, I’ll elaborate on this Paris based designers genius, but Korea fashion week still looks to have great collections on display.

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Luisa Beccaria’s been dogged by lukewarm reviews of her previous shows in Milan. By no means were they bad or were her collections simply written off as unwearable. The designer was simply a victim of indifference. In many instances that may be seen as worse than a bad review. The thought process is, at least the reviewer thinks something either good or bad about the about the collection. Indifference is akin to not even meriting a review of substance. Nicole Phelps at Style cleared that up by providing a laudatory review of the show and from the photos, it’s apparent that the designer has done her classwork and homework. Phelps gushes in her review on Style that:

For some, Beccaria’s party dresses are the very essence of romance; for others, they’re just too sweet. But there’s no arguing that this was one of her most accomplished shows. It was cohesive, well-made (although she’ll have to address the sheerness issue before retail), and utterly charming.

What’s this? A black model on a Milan runway? Is the end of the world nigh? Apparently it is not, what’s happening is that Milan designers were almost shamed into using black models for fashion week. What’s the big deal you say? The big deal is that fashion needs to be somewhat representative of the public at large. There are all shades of women that purchase Italian designer pieces a glaring omission of the client base was immediately noticed and called out by models like Naomi Campbell. Italian Vogue picked it up with their nearly all black issue and the return of the black model to the Milan Runways is a welcome sight to say the least. The question now is will the floodgates open up to Asian models, latin models and …gasp Indian models? We may have to answer that question in the coming seasons.

Rick Owens had laid the gauntlet down. No one could get into his show during Paris fashion week. The numbers just did not add up. There was no room. So when Lenny Kravitz sauntered by thinking that because he’s, well, Lenny Kravitz, the celebrity was unceremoniously told in no uncertain terms that he could not get into Owen’s fashion show. As a matter of fact, most people couldn’t get into Owen’s show. Vogue’s Style File blog alluded to as much when they stated that only headmistress of Paris Vogue, Carine Roitfeld was provided entry. Eventually Kravitz did make his way in, but not without a certain amount of acrimony and tension and chicanery (he snuck in).

If government’s want to learn how to stop terrorists, they should talk to designer’s about security.

No one can tell me that Dolce and Gabbana’s Milan show had little to do with the far east. I may be biased because of my close proximity to Honk Kong, but there was a noticeable tinge of Asian inspired fashion to the show. The point of bringing this up is because there is genius in not the fact that they did it, but how they did it. A lot of the pieces in the collection seem to be a mix of 20s styling and asian inspired kimonos, robes and dresses. The melange of era and region makes the effort of the designers that much more pronounced. My money for Spring in terms of Italian collections is on the Docle and Gabbana collection.

Sorry for my absence of late. I was asked recently to work with a designer for Hong Kong Fashion Week as a stylist which caused me to be severely occupied and stressed, but I am back. You’ll love some of the coverage I have for Milan and this week’s collections in Paris.

-Cam Ling