It was hard not to notice this year Toronto’s Pride seemed to have a lot more paid events than any other year. No, I’m not talking the Prism Festival events but the two hosted by the new party impresario Joesph Patrick and his Epic Weekend Splash Bash. Now I’m a pretty jaded party guy. I’ve been to big circuit parties all over North America so when I got notice of a  Foam Party in Dundas Square I had to go. So I did. Now, before you shriek, “there was a foam party in Dundas Square?!!!” Yes there was and as this was a new event so there was good and some things need to be tweaked.

The Splash Bash In Dundas Square

As I walked to Dundas Square it took me a actually 10-minutes to find my way in. In fact, I was lost with Sofonda who had to call Joseph to say, “um, how do I get in?’ Sofonda and I both laughed at that. Once you found your way in you were greeted by a woman at a desk who took my ticket and gave me a wrist band. The first thing I asked was, “is there a clothes check?” This ticket woman looked at me, screwing up her face, and huffed, “clothes check?! No there isn’t one here?” When I asked her what do I do with my bag and clothes she shrugged her shoulders and said, “I don’t know.” Translation: I don’t care.

The Splash Bash In Dundas Square

Once you were inside it was actually an interesting set up. The main stage was up front and the entire area was blocked off by a blue metal fence with see-through holes which was a little unnerving at first. As parade was turning two blocks up on Gerrard, curious on-lookers where gawking through the fence to see, as I heard one man say, “the strange men dancing in dish water.” At the end of the of the space, there standing 60 feet high was foam machine. This machine with four making devices cranked out enough foam to  cover one area, which was closest to Yonge Street,  and not the rest. When I heard about this party, I expected to be knee-deep in foam and not having to walk to one area to get my foam action. However, there was a lot of good to this event.

Toronto’s Pride party scene needed a little shaking up. Yes the Prism Events are good but they are the same events I was attending almost nine years go. Patrick brought an event, which got it starts in Europe back in the 90s, updated it for gay boys and took a huge risk by plopping it right in Dundas Square. So I’ll answer the question you most want to know, was it worth the ticket price? Well here’s my honest review, it brought a smile to my face and I witness people laughing and playing with each other, so I would say “yes”. However with a few caveats.

As this event is new I hope next year Patrick adds another foam machine and clothing check. I can’t tell you how dismayed a few people were about attending a foam event without a clothing check. The signage was lacking and it was hard to find you way in. Though, when people did get in they enjoyed posing in the for onlookers who were flashing their cameras way. I look at this way, how many people can say they got to play with hot boys and in foam on Pride Day? That alone made this event a conversation started for months. Oh and if you are wondering, the foam is not wet so you won’t go “slip, sliding, away” should you be rubbing against a hot boy while dancing. I can’t wait to see how this evolves in 2011.

When you think of fashion schools which automatically comes to mind? If you are a Torontonian, Ryerson. A fashion follower, Parsons in New York City. Or for the true style junkie, St. Martin’s in London who’s most famous graduate – Alexander McQueen was discovered in their graduate fashion show. However most think of Humber College  (http://www.humber.ca) (or Slumber College as some people refer to it, hey I’m a Centennial grad.) as a second choice. They are out to change that this Thursday, April 15th at 6:30 p.m.

Students of the Fashion Arts Program will showcase the Grand Opening of the Humber Spa featuring“Walk It Out…Style Me A Future”.  It will be taking place at Humber College, North Campus in the “A” building, directly across from the new Humber Spa. The event will be showcasing three fashion shows, starting at 11:30am for local high school students, as well as two evening shows at 6:30pm and 8:30pm. Humber College has expanded their Fashion Institute to include the Cosmetic Management, Esthetician/Spa Management, and Fashion Arts programs.

The fashion show will be showcasing clothes from various up-and-coming Toronto designers, and it is sure to be an unforgettable evening. Pauline Ashworth, Program Coordinator for the Fashion Arts Program at Humber College says, “This event is a pivotal moment for the graduating class, who have spent the last two years diligently focusing on their studies. “Walk It Out” marks a final transition and an opportunity for the students to highlight their skills as they enter the fashion work force.” Because fashion is such an international business, the Humber Fashion program places an emphasis on retail operations from both domestic and international perspectives.

At attend the show RSVP via the invitation below:

The invite.

After the rumours, whispering and gossips had their way LG Fashion Week (http://www.lgfashionweek.ca) finally illuminated the runway in their new home the Allstream Centre on the CNE Grounds. Wearing John Galliano (after a muchly debated post of what I should wear on Facebook) I clicked into the Allstream Centre ready synical as all hell. Like many of the fashion press, my patience with the FDCC  was wearing thin overthe constantly changing locations. If you haven’t heard here is the list, yes you read that right list, of attempted locations: the Travelodge demolition site at King/Bathurst, Liberty Village, the former location of the Chrysler dealership on King West and now the Allstream Centre.  Robin Kay, President of the FDCC, once justified the constant change of locations as being “fashion nomads”.  However I question if the word “nomand” is covering up for other shortcomings which are not being made public?

The opening night itself was pretty much  standard with usual fashion pack in attendance: Suzanne Boyd from Zoomer Magazine, David Livingstone Fashion Journalist extraordinaire, Andrew Sardine from NOW, the fabulous Bernadette Mora Acting Editor-in-Chief of Fashion Magazine,  Jeanne Beker  designers: Farley Chatto, Marty Rotman (of North Bound Leather) and Joesph Mimran (of Joe Fresh) .The returning sponsors Shick, L’Oreal, Rowentta, Woolite and Holt Renfrew all had respected booths and such. However the feature of the night was the IZMA collection from Izzy Camilleri and Adrian Mainella. Camilleri and Mainella (who you may remember as former host of Fashion File) collborated on the line of furs under IZMA.

As the lights went up the collection has Izzy signature all over it with very little of Mainella’s style blended in. Camilleri over the years as developed a style for sleek, elegant and drool inducing women’s clothes which are, no word of a lie, traffic stopping. However, I was straining to see where Mainella’s, who is now billing himself as an Image Consultant, influence was. Though there were some menswear, it was token and as I found not very practical. For women’s clothes this collection had some awesome pieces and if you can sift through some of the mesh pieces for Fall 10, it would be worth it.

Here are some pictures from opening night:

The Shick Razor Girls at LG Fashion Week

FDCC President, Robin Kay Opening Night of LG Fashion Week

Designer Farley Chatto at Opening Night

My seat at the IZMA Show