Toronto Men’s Fashion Week presents the SS16 Collections

Toronto Men’s Fashion Week (TOMFW)  kicked off August 17 with the official opening party at the Audi Dealership in downtown Toronto.  Being only the third edition of TOMFW, the opening party was a lot more packed than last year and it continues to grow as each year goes by. Being able to hardly move inside the venue, we are hoping next year they move the opening party to an even bigger venue.

The following day, TOMFW kicked off its international Press Party at the headquarters on College Street. This event was a lot less busier, and it was a lot easier to mingle with other guests. One disappointment was that they closed off the open bar very early.

On August 19, the official runway shows kicked off with Canadian and international designers showcasing menswear for the spring/summer 2016 collections.

Day One:

Day one of TOMFW opened with Parloque, a more edgier urban street fashion. Some pieces had the kimono look to it and some were very hippy. Very diverse from the rest.

Next up was Nuvango. Based in downtown Toronto, Nunvango‘s line is also directed towards the urban street style. Most of the collection had tons of bright colours that gave off a summer beach feel.

Montreal based Philippe Dubuc was up next. His collection seemed to give off the “older European” vibe look. It’s a great look for evening, weekends, or casual events. A lot of darker colours were portrayed such as grey and black. It fell in really nicely for the spring/summer collection.

The last runway we checked out for the day was Kenneth Barlis. This collection had an uptown funk vibe, and ironically, “Uptown Funk” was playing during the runway. Most of the models were wearing bright and colourful suits, and this definitely showed that men can wear bright colours and still look sexy.

Day Two:

The second day of TOMFW began with Shanon Pamaong. Very casual and colourful as seen in the photo below.

The next runway was Hip & Bone. Hip & Bone revives any man’s wardrobe with an array of redefined basics. Starting the show off with an intro video, almost all the male models were in sunglasses, strutting down the runway to some R&B music.  The style is very hip and mixes casual styled pants with lots of leather. Ending with an all black outfit with a long leather piece jacket, everyone at the sold out show got up and applauded.

Day Three:

The highly anticipated Finezza show opened up with Paul Mason walking the runway. Supported with European Men’s formal and casual wear that can look on outdoors, fine dining or for a elegant evening. Imported from fabric mills in Italy and Scotland, French music was the perfect theme to play throughout the show. To end the show, all the male models walked out with white masks with the exception of Paul Mason.

The next runway, Just Ta was opened with female models walking out with rose pedals then proceeded by male models walking out with flower crowns on their head. They were all wearing long and see-through material but the hip hop music and beats made it a good combination for this line.

Another great successful season for TOMFW. Can’t wait too see what’s in store next year!

[Photography by Shayne Gray]

[Reviews assisted by Brendan Daniel and Thorsten Suljic]