Marabou feathers, capes and more quirk — here are the top trends from Toronto Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2020

This week, Toronto's glitterati descended upon Yorkville for three days worth of nonstop action. The event? Toronto Fashion Week. Taking place at a gutted former outpost of Anthropologie and the Royal Ontario Museum, which served as Toronto's version of the Grand Palais, there were thrills, chills and…dogs on the runway? (The canines occurred at Wuxly Movement, a parka brand who chose to host a gimmicky dog show in lieu of a traditional runway presentation.)

Though it can be difficult to find a cohesive thread running through the collections at Toronto Fashion Week, where there was everything from Adrian Arnieri's campy Spice Girls-inspired collection to the post-apocalyptic Mad Max fantasy showcased by The Feral, 'quirky glamour' feels about right. Overall, the collections exuded a fun, freaky energy that felt right at home in the city where diversity is our greatest strength. Here are the top trends of the Spring 2020 season, as shown at Toronto Fashion Week.

Schiaparelli pink 

Shocking pink, or fuchsia, was one of the signature colours of 1930s designer Elsa Schiaparelli, an eccentric Italian who designed hats shaped like lobsters and palled around with Salvador Dali. This season, plenty of designers seemed to glean inspiration from Schiap, appropriating her namesake garish hue and readying it for the S/S 2020 runways.

Up-and-coming eveningwear designer Steven Lejambe kicked off his debut collection at Toronto Fashion Week with a candy-coloured tulle number, newcomer Adrian Arnieri's high-energy show included a fuchsia fun fur coat, and RVNG designed an Oscar-worthy evening dress in the shocking shade. The searing hue was also spotted in Farley Chatto and Kim Newport's collections.

Cape town 

Capes add a swish of drama to any outfit, and this season's runways were filled with as much showmanship as a Broadway production of CATS.  A sheer mesh cape added a theatrical edge to a black jumpsuit at RVNG, while evening dresses at Kim Newport featured floor-length cascading capes for an added statement. Tome showcased two different lengths of cape: a floor-length cape for those craving Phantom of the Opera-level glamour, and a shorter version for anyone more partial to adapting Jo March in Little Women's history book-chic.

Sheer extravagance 

The message was delivered loud and, ahem, clear: as of S/S 2020, only the most diaphanous frocks will do. Sheer fabrics were spotted everywhere from Trigere, where a transparent tunic dress was covered in what looked like shimmering gold coins, to RVNG, where a sheer pussy-bow blouse turned heads. In addition, Anisa Kumar, Farley Chatto and Steven Lejambe all delivered filmy gowns that were modest in length but not in visibility. This trend is not for the faint of heart but as the saying goes: if you've got it, flaunt it.

Marabou Barbie

Marabou feathers exude a certain kind of sex appeal — think vintage negligees or Elle Woods in Legally Blonde — but this season they lost their coquettish appeal and transcended into the realm of straight-up glamour. At Narces, Steven Lejambe and Catherine Curtis, transformed feathers into eveningwear by affixing them to structured bustiers. Feathers floated from sparkly transparent jumpsuits like cilia from a cell at Lesley Hampton, whose collection was dedicated to the memory of missing and murdered Indigenous women. The winner of 'most innovative use of marabou' goes to Kim Newport, who decorated stiletto heels with the feathery fringe.

Shimmer and shine

Judging by all of the sequins, crystal embellishments and eye-catching shiny fabrics seen this week, it would seem that Toronto designers have all come down with a collective case of disco fever. Tome Dress Salon used a shiny organza fabric to create a gown that resembled Water Lilies by Claude Monet. Narces didn't shy away from using sequins on their scintillating party girl dresses and Lesley Hampton showed a gleaming bronze dress that looked like a high-fashion suit of armour. The knockout look of the week? An all-over sequin jumpsuit in a maritime shade of teal by Adrian Arnieri. 

Isabel B. Slone has written for T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Playboy, Toronto Life and the Globe and Mail. She was most recently the fashion features editor at FASHION Magazine.