Lucian Matis sparks pastie-gate at his fall/winter 2012 show

Lucian Matis kicked off Toronto Fashion Week last night with an offsite show in one of the Royal York Hotel’s cavernous halls, with guests like Corner Gas star Gabrielle Miller, actress Sarah Gadon, model Monika Schnarre, singer Kreesha Turner and MTV personality Aliya-Jasmine Sovani. The show was ostentatious and awe-inducing as usual, but there was a problem: models were too covered up, and it became very tiresome (and not for the reasons you think). Find out what we mean and check out Matis’s entire fall/winter 2012 collection after the jump.

Check out Lucian Matis’s fall/winter 2012 collection »

Matis is known for his daring styles, but this season he seemed on a mission to dilute his impact—model after model came out in revealing, beautifully crafted lace pieces, but the focus was unfortunately on the pasties and nipple tape peeking through the delicate, intricately cut fabric (we heard people yapping about pastie-gate). Sure, some models may have been underage, but if you’re going to make this fabrication a centrepiece of the collection, at least ensure that nothing takes away from the creations—use young models for less revealing ensembles and showcase the beauty of the form itself with the others. We found the sheer dresses—some long with hip-high slits and some pleated minis—were much sexier and more wearable, not just piles of criss-crossed string too delicate to wash or wear (socialites will still buy these things, obviously). Meticulous craftsmanship was apparent in Metis’s work with Black Swan–esque feather skirts, trains and animal ear headbands (which we loved), but our favourites were a column gown with a tiny cut-out at the collar bone, a floor-length coat with snakeskin detailing that dragged along the floor and a black evening gown with lilac-hued grey tulle. Matis has gone for the gusto in everything we’ve seen to date, so it was a shame to see him pull back in such a big way with such a minor detail.