Toronto Fashion Week: Joe Fresh brings earthy knits and wildlife prints to the fall 2014 runway

Toronto Fashion Week: Joe Fresh brings earthy knits and wildlife prints to the fall 2014 runway

Toronto Fashion Week: Joe Fresh

DESIGNER

Loblaw’s ever-popular clothing brand Joe Fresh, designed by Joe Mimran

THE SCENE

The crowds jockeyed for seats close to the action, but the vaunted front row remained reserved for Mimran’s high-society friends (and, in Galen Weston’s case, backers), like Catherine Nugent, PR pro Suzanne Cohon and a very boisterious W. Bruce C. Bailey, who brought some sort of horn to herald Mimran’s closing walk (clapping is so over). Also spotted front-and-centre were the next generation of social royalty: The Bay’s Jenna Naumovitch, stylist Carey Tauben, The Coveteur’s Stephanie Mark and photographer Liam Goslett. At the after-party at Lee, the crowd let loose with cocktail-fueled dance-offs.

THE COLLECTION

Mimran called this season “an homage to the beauty of the mountains, wilderness and the earthly elements.” Fur was a big feature, with fuzzy embellishments seen on hoodies, vests and winter caps, where strips of fur looked a bit like mohawks. If it wasn’t furry, it looked cozy: for guys, mohair sweaters and shearling coats; for women, car coats and sweaters, all in earthy shades like olive, brown and taupe. Kaleidoscopic landscape prints added touches of whimsy.

BEST PIECES

The pretty autumnal scenery on these printed silk dresses looked like something from a Group of Seven canvas. We also loved all the cozy, over-sized scarves (our favourite was this speckled green one).