Last Wednesday I sat down with designer Michael Thomas, one half of the design duo that is Michael and Drew THOMAS, at Cloud Espresso Bar.  It was a mere twenty-four hours before they would make their runway debut at LG Fashion Week. 

Stress was high (the models still didn’t have shoes to wear) and I definitely got the impression that the duo had mixed feelings about their overall experience.  Working within the Fashion Design Council of Canada (FDCC) meant losing a significant amount of creative control, something much more important to them than showing their wares on our city’s biggest stage. 

Here, Michael gives some insight into what it’s like to be an emerging designer the night before your first large-scale show, headaches and all.  

Last spring you held your show at the Clint Roenisch Gallery.  Why did you decide to take the plunge and move to LG Fashion Week?
We’re working with a team right now, the Fashion Collective, and the whole plan was to do the same kind of thing that we did last year which was really more our kind of style than the main stage kind of thing and to do it in a gallery or in a different unusual area.  And then I guess the FDCC heard of what Fashion Collective was doing and kind of joined forces together. 

How do you feel about that?
I’m grateful for the opportunity – we both are – to show on such a large scale.  Last year the space couldn’t fit more than a hundred people.  This year it’s six hundred, but we lose a lot of the creative control of the show. 

Was there a lot of red tape to deal with when preparing your show?
A lot of that.  A lot of people concerned about front row seats and stuff like that whereas last year it was all standing room only and everyone was at the same level.  Just stuff that we don’t care about in general…we’re supposed to care about it but we don’t.

Last season was very androgynous.  Is that a theme that’s carrying on?  Can you tell me anything about the new collection?
It is even more so.  Last season we tried to keep it very androgynous.  There were a couple of pieces that were more feminine or were more masculine but this season throughout the whole collection you’ll see that it’s completely androgynous.  We tried to take that even further and make it throughout the whole collection.  It could all be worn by either a guy or a girl and it is worn in the show by a guy and a girl.  Almost every piece is shown on a guy and a girl.

How would you describe the new collection in a few words?
As opposed to last year when everything was very deconstructed and destroyed, this season is very clean but still keeping the same unusual cuts but very minimal design technique.  Nothing too crazy, nothing over the top.  That’s where making something very different but keeping it simple is hard to do.

Where do you look for inspiration?
It’s just very spontaneous how it happens.  A lot of the time we’ll build from the past season or an idea will pop into one of our heads and we’ll start building the collection from that piece or that one idea and it’ll just grow from there. The hardest part is getting that one initial piece of inspiration, or that one idea, or that one outfit or tunic or tank top or whatever it is.  That’s always the hardest part for us. 

The next day at six, okay maybe a little fashionably later, the show went off without a hitch.  The atonal music lent itself extremely well to a collection that gave me the chills. Guests and media alike were raving.  And yes, the models were wearing shoes. 

I decided to check in with Michael after the stress and chaos of planning a major runway show had faded away into last week.  He too was happy with how the show went, but expressed interest in it taking place earlier in the season so that buyers as well as media could attend. 

As for their next collection? “We will make it just as genuine as it was this season.”

~ Caitlin Agnew