Gaudet: Fashion Flowering Down The Runway

With each frolicksome footstep that made its way down the Gaudet runway, flowers swept the eyes of the audience as spring vividly exploded into the fashion world. With fresh, young models as alive as the season itself, the show captured the very essence of the budtime bloom rooted deeper than the reaching limbs of any tree in Nathan Phillip's Square. This season, Gaudet captured the playfulness, purity, and joie de vivre that wordlessly describe the bird-singing, tulip-blooming spirit of spring with their gloriously designed line of coats.

From outfit one to thirty-three, every look was completed with fine jewelry, ravishing scarves, and elegant belts. The feet of the models were adorned with shiny, black leather pumps, acorn-colored boots, and more footwear of the widest variety sponsored by Town Shoes. It was evident that the Gaudet designers, Norman and Gio Gaudet, were singing the May Queen's praises as they designed coats in shades of purples, greens, blues, yellows, beiges, and browns. With flowery patterns and garden influence plentifully bestrewn into the dazzling designs, I wondered to myself where the two Gaudet gentlemen retrieved their inspiration from, and why they chose outerwear as the main focus for the exquisite show. After writing both questions into my notepad, I tucked it away and snapped a few shots of Sutherland model Drea Vujovic as she struts by me in a green sunflower coat with a white sundress peeking out from underneath. As the thirty-third model saunters by in a gorgeous wedding gown topped with Gaudet's off-white lace coat with a tulle bottom, it becomes lavishly clear that spring has very much indeed sprung.

Backstage, I talk to Gaudet's PR girl to get a word in with Norman and Gio. As I patiently await my turn for an interview, I lounge about with some of the models from the show to take a few pictures. The girls are absolutely charming, and I recognize many of them from glossy pages of magazine ads. Hearing my name, I abruptly turn and make my way over to Gaudet, an excited giggle playing at my lips. Introducing myself, I was pleased at how friendly the two designers were, and they stood poised with the highest of class. Taking a deep breath, I looked at the kind faces peering back at me, and then I began my first interview of the day.

Where did you get your inspiration for the line?
"Spring flowers! With the long, bland Canadian winters, we wanted to bring some spring and color in early! We were trying to bring color back into winter, so we chose coats for the collection and filled them with color!", answers Norman, beaming at his success over the show.

Wonderful! They were all gorgeous! But why outerwear?
"It is the first thing you see when you see someone walking down the street or going somewhere", responded Gio.

That's true. It's like a first impression. Now tell me about the fabrics, they were

"The fabric is handmade," Gio responded again, "It is a piece of art I believe because all that you see, the paints on the fabrics are hand-done, it is hand-done work, all of it. It is all original."

We pose for a few photographs against the backdrop and I thank Norman and Gio for their time. They told me that they would be headed back to the Republic of Georgia soon, where they currently maintain a permanent residence. That was actually part of the reason for the flowery inspiration, they added as an afterthought, that it reminded them so much of their home in Georgia.

Elegant, delicate, and delightful are the best trio of words to appropriately describe the magnificent line that had the sun itself peeking through the flaps of the tents and beaming outside over the square. With hand-made felt fabrics, each unique coat brought a new side of outerwear to look for this coming fall. So when winter takes its icy throne and you tenderly miss the likes of flowers and warm, bright color, fear not! As Gaudet's masterful plan to bring back the spring fever early will have you flicking flakes of snow off of your wildflower or daffy-down-dilly overcoat and beaming at your rekindled color flame. Alas, why wait for winter when you can have spring?



All Photos are TFVG © 2009.