Toronto Fashion Week: Jessica Jensen with Alexander Berardi

Was it deja vu?  I had already seen Alexander Berardi's presentation for Spring 2011 during New York Fashion Week last month.  What was I supposed to see at Heritage Court in Toronto?  This runway show showed a tight, highly edited collection focusing on the collaboration between Canadian handbag designer Jessica Jensen with the designer of NYC.  

The clothing had a nautical-inspired palette of cream, navy and beige.  Fabrics included Swiss dots and dainty prints.  There were a few pieces with a fountain-like embroidery.  The silhouettes were ladylike, but understated.  

The handbags included over sized carryalls, embellished envelope clutches and large hobos.  The main theme of the purses was woven texture.  The leathers or fabrics were woven, or other trims woven into the body of the bag as embellishment.  

Shoe heels were perilously high for most of the daywear looks.  However, the very last look was a glittering gold sequin gown that was at odds with the rest of the collection.  Inexplicably, the shoes for that dress were flat sandals...

Photographed by Ritika Wahal

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Alexander Berardi Spring 2011

At 24, he was the youngest designer to show at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week this season.  His youth, however, did not hamper him in presenting a nice solid collection that also shows the promise of what is to come.

Inspired by Jean Seberg in the Goddard film "Breathless", Berardi took the nouvelle vague look and translated it to Hamptons chic, naming his presentation "Breathless is a Tribe Called Hamptons". Having grown up on the Upper East Side, the Hamptons is a subject this Parsons grad knows all too well.  There was a definite nautical influence in his daywear, derived from plays on the marinière shirts worn by Segerg in "Breathless" in the form of shirts, dresses, and chiffon capelets.  Trenches, both long and short were big, including a stunner with the bottom half of the trench all in pleats.  Light and breezy chiffon dresses, shorts, cargo pants and even harem pants helped round out the collection which I expect to see pop up all over the Hamptons next Summer with a color palette focused on navy, white, khaki, black and gold.

For evening, Mr. Berardi presented separates and gowns that while still being "Hamptons" relaxed and wearable, were also chicly elegant with a touch of 1930's glamour to them.  From gold sequined shorts and skirts and sexy gold sequined gown to sleekly draped black gowns, Berardi shows that he can bring it on.

Having grown up in the world he is catering to, Mr. Berardi  knows exactly what they want and is giving it to them in his own style.

Reported by Mdivani Monroe of Ladies Who Lunch Travel

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