After a one-night showcase, Evan Biddell’s new capsule collection, Brethren, is almost sold out

After a one-night showcase, Evan Biddell’s new capsule collection, Brethren, is almost sold out

Evan Biddell was all smiles on his return to Toronto to showcase Brethren by Evan Biddell (Image: Jenna Marie Wakani)

Last night at Yorkville’s UPC Boutique, Evan Biddell showcased his new capsule collection, Brethren, to waves of clients, media and fans who still seem very much addicted to Biddell. We loved a long, blowsy mesh tank top ($60), dresses with long skirts and sheer panels, and vintage-inspired, short-hemmed cocktail dresses ($120 and up). The outcome was a commercial success, which is a direction we saw at Biddell’s last Toronto show before he headed back to Vancouver; this time around, he has made his collection more affordable, relying less on custom orders and more on what women want.

It also seems Toronto womenincluding editor Briony Smith, blogger Anita Clarke, PR gal Gail McInnes, vintage boutique owner Sarah Magwood and model Sarah Miles— are clamouring for Biddell’s easy-to-wear pieces: it was overheard that UPC Boutique had already sold 50 per cent of Biddell’s inventory as of last night. See images of the Brethren collection after the jump.

What we know about Biddell: he was the winner of Project Runway Canada’s first season, he admitted to smoking pot (shocking) on television, and he has reached critical success in Toronto for providing fashion lovers with conceptual garments that, while they may not sell, give us something exciting (and different) to look at. What we didn’t know: Biddell is looking to reinvent the way most people shop. “I am trying to reconnect customers with boutiques, to show them they don’t have to rely on department stores who only seem to carry what is written about in magazines,” he says. “It is a return to how we used to shop, before big department stores gained their appeal after a big designer boom.” During his stay in Toronto, he plans to reconnect with old friends and mentors and discuss his new capsule collection with several boutiques in the city. Sarah Magwood, owner of Magwood on Dundas Street West, said she would be carrying the dress she was wearing by Biddell; during her short trip to Yorkville last night, several women asked where she had purchased it. Vintage boutique owners are the new Starbucks cup or branded tote.