I first had the pleasure of meeting Canadian fashion designer Carrie Hayes at the Toronto Fashion Incubator New Labels show where she caught my eye wearing a lovely dress from her Fall collection. A week later during a spur-of-the-moment trip to Collingwood, I found Carrie’s label in Butter boutique. Shortly after that I ran into Marlene Shiff, owner of Boutique le Trou at a friend’s wedding wearing a beautiful black dress with the sexiest neckline I’ve ever seen. I asked who it was by. The answer, I should have seen it coming, CARRIE. These couldn’t have all been coincidences; the world was trying to tell me something. So I did the one thing short of hiding out in bushes outside of the budding designer’s house – I sent her an email proclaiming my newfound love for CARRIE.

A week later, I was seated in Carrie’s TFI nest alongside Ali de Bold, co-founder of girl-Mecca site ChickAdvisor. Over tea, we discussed everything from the Canadian fashion scene to Project Runway Canada winner Evan Biddell and the ridiculously intricate construction of the brassiere. (Perhaps that is why the boys have so much trouble…?)

The conversation and tea flowed freely while Ali and I became more and more enamored with Carrie Hayes. She’s intelligent, charming, a little shy, and has a spark in her eyes reminiscent of an anime character in love. Carrie’s in love also – with her craft. From selecting fabrics to dreaming up silhouettes, and rifling through magazines in search of inspiration, she loves it all. What’s most impressive, Carrie is a one woman show who has mastered both the business and creative end of her label.

It is in her office and adjoining studio where most of the magic happens. As a resident of TFI, Carrie, a grad of the International Academy of Design program, works predominantly out of the Incubator. There are many joys of working in the space, but Carrie is especially thankful for the nurturing environment and inspiring guests.

“You never know who’s going to stop by,” she exclaims excitedly. Premier Canadian designers like David Dixon are known to frequent the joint. They come by, “always when you’re tired and look your worst,” Carrie moans. One day she ran into Brian Bailey while wearing sweats; she’s still kicking herself for that one.

So how long has Carrie wanted to be a designer? She says she’s always known, and even has the evidence to prove it. To my surprise, she whips out all her sketches from grade six onward. They’re neatly organized in little black binders, and look mighty impressive. Stunned by the system, I immediately ask if Carrie’s a Virgo. My hunch is wrong – she’s a Libra, and has the indecisive streak to back it up.

Libra she may be, but Carrie is damn sure about one thing – her Spring ’08 collection. Having previously worked in dancewear, Carrie couldn’t wait to tap into that aesthetic once timing was right. Spring ‘08 proved to be that time, and her collection is heavily influenced by ballet (music to my ears). Other inspirations include modernism, Bauhaus, and post Art Deco; she’s especially loving clean lines, cut-outs, and criss-crosses. How terribly elegant it all sounds. When it comes to collections, designers must design well ahead of time in order to accommodate buyers. Carrie is currently working on Spring ’09, but it’s top secret, so we’ll have to wait and see.

So how does she do it? How does she know what people will want to wear in a year’s time? “Fashion is socio political,” Carrie affirms. As a designer, she feels it’s her job to stay atop social and political trends, and complete the puzzle. What’s more, Carrie’s interest in fashion isn’t limited to designing. One of her major goals is to educate people about designers and their benefits and value to society.

Back to the clothes – how does Carrie describe her label? Unique, beautiful, and edgy. More than words, this is her mantra, a filter which all her designs must get through in order to be realized on fabric. Is it different? Is it beautiful? While a garment may be unique, it may be hideous to look at, so Carrie makes sure that it is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also looks attractive on the body. Aand it has to be edgy. There’s no sense re-cycling what has already been done. This Carrie-esque sensibility is evident across her collection, and if given a police line-up of couture, the least discerning eye in the room could pick out a CARRIE in a heartbeat.

After many years working in the apparel industry and developing the intuition for her craft, thankfully she has no plans to depart from what has become her forte – day to evening wear. Carrie’s garments are consistently sophisticated, however she enjoys baring a tasteful amount of skin – the curve of the back or keyhole cutout neckline. This has made several buyers nervous, and she’s even gotten requests to modify her designs in favour of more coverage. It’s funny, looking at all the beautiful samples of finely crafted dresses hanging in her office, the last word I would ever use to describe them is vulgar!

Aside from her line, Carrie also teaches an 8-week long corset-making workshop. Corsets are super complicated to make, let alone to fit, and can take any where from 20 to 30 hours to complete. At the end of the course, students get to rock out in their creations for a high fashion photo shoot with professional photog. How cool is that?

You can check out more CARRIE at www.carriehayes.com

Pics courtesy of Ali de Bold