“This dress filled the front page of the New York Times Style section, where it must have caught the attention of Topshop. They copied it, or tried to, but I doubt they captured the volume in quite the same way – I remember it took many tries to perfect. Nathalie Atkinson wrote a great story about blatant high-street copying after coming across the imposter version.” spring/summer ’07 collection
“As in fashion, illusion here is everything. The jacket is a blouse and the pant is a skirt from the back. Subtle on the runway, complicated as a pattern, but so easy to wear.” fall/winter ’08
“Sew two gigantic circles together, pick up the combined piece from a point slightly off centre, cut holes for legs and waist and, voila, a ‘Lantern’ skirt with a nod to Madeleine Vionnet, a particular idol of mine. The top is silk satin and hand-embroidered with horizontal linear channels. Each channel is slit, causing it to open up and the top to grow in length. spring/summer ’09
“Capitol, a boutique I sold to in Charlotte, N.C. (and one of the best in the USA), brought me down for the opening of their new store. The visit included a tour of Hendrick Motorsports, one of the leading NASCAR teams, where I was amazed by the precision and craftsmanship that went into making their cars. NASCAR, speed … fire print.” fall/winter ’09
“This dress is made in one piece, has four armholes and no seams other than at the shoulders; getting into it requires some practice. Constructed as a cone, tapering to literally nothing at the hem, the dress wraps and distorts itself around the body, acquiring shape in the process. The print was created with architectural rendering software and represents a modern-day “folly,” with a vanishing point placed deliberately at the left hip. spring/summer ’10
“Calla Haynes, a friend and fellow designer, helped me with this print, riffing on a mid-century Haida graphic sensibility.” fall/winter ’10
“Inspired by the Canadian wilderness, this collection included wild-trapped fur. We took this jacket to Vogue as part of our preview. It was tried on around the office and appeared on their blog that day. The neck piece is silk organza covered in a multitude of hand-sewn leather paillettes, reminiscent of West Coast native basket work.” fall/winter ’10
“I had always considered florals a bit banal, but I like breaking my own rules. This print is a direct scan of a rose from my grandmother Berendina’s coffin, the first and last floral I felt the need to do.” spring/summer ’11
“Collaboration, as a form of artistic practice, not as a marketing vehicle, is deeply important to me. I developed this T-shirt from an artwork by my friend the artist Scott Treleaven. Here it's modelled by Tali Lennox (daughter of Annie), which is as close as I'm likely to get to one of my all-time favourite style icons.” fall/winter ’11
“Spring/summer 2012 was the only season I ever used a mood board, as it was a prerequisite for the ANDAM Fashion Prize, for which I had been nominated that year. The board featured photos from a trip to Joshua Tree National Park in California, stills from the film Picnic at Hanging Rock, and an image of Emmylou Harris from the back of her record Evangeline. This look somehow synthesizes all those elements.” spring/summer ’12
“We were fortunate that Daiane Conterato, one of my favourite models, was available for our show, which made this opening look such a no-brainer. In particular, the bleach-printed velvet pants were so popular that it’s safe to call them one of my greatest hits.” fall/winter ’12
“This was my nod to the couture tradition of closing the show with a bride – mine wears pants.” fall/winter ’12
“An airboat swamp tour in Louisiana, where I fed marshmallows to alligators – they love sugar, too – inspired this collection. The jacket pictured is my version of a Hawaiian shirt, another personal taboo I enjoyed facing head-on and working through.” spring/summer ’13
“Why not a gold-foil-stamped seersucker snowboarder jacket? The necklaces’ and the top’s print are part of a collaboration with the artist Vanessa Maltese. The painting they were based on still hangs in my studio.” fall/winter ’13
“By this season, I had a hunch there might not be another – let’s say my sense of engagement was suffering – so I decided to do some men’s looks for my own enjoyment as well as shoes in collaboration with LD Tuttle. The sheer shorts are a joke of course, but the rest of the look I’ve worn.” spring/summer ’14
“This optimistically colourful dress-plus-cape features a print by Julia Dault, one of my favourite more-than-emerging artists, who happens to have a show opening at The Power Plant in Toronto (where I am a board member) on Sept. 19. It’s a beautiful dress for elegantly strolling into the sunset.” spring/summer ’14