Martin Lim proves its worthiness to Mercedes-Benz and the crowd at Toronto Fashion Week

The sun was still shining during the Martin Lim show yesterday evening, but the heart-stopping bass inside the tent made us feel like we were several hours into a night of party hopping. Still, the beats didn’t deter model Stacey Mckenzie, front-row regular Suzanne Boyd, Real Housewife of Vancouver Mary Zilba and In Fashion’s Glen Baxter from sticking around to see the latest collection from the duo who won last year’s Mercedes-Benz Start-up Program. From a jaunty ’60s-tinged intro video to a couple of breathtaking evening gowns, designers Danielle Martin and Pao Lim offered more evidence that they deserved the win.

Check out Martin Lim’s fall/winter 2012 collection »

The pair added visual interest through colour blocking, black seams and some necklace-scarf hybrids made of pieced-together strips of fabric, which we weren’t too sure about. Several short jackets with wide motocross tabs were standouts, as were every single one of the skillfully draped evening dresses. We liked the seamed tights underneath nearly every outfit, but we were distracted by the bulky effect they seemed to have—making models look bulky is never a good sign. Bunchy tights aside, the simple shapes—combined with an easy-to-wear palette of black, salmon, fuchsia, mauve and teal—made for pieces we can imagine working women (or housewives) wanting to put on in the morning.