After a year of mourning the death of Toronto Women’s Fashion Week, the fashion scene is off to a good start in 2017, thanks to Peter Freed who purchased Toronto Fashion Week with plans to resurrect it – and from March 9th to 14th, he did just that. Designers by the likes of Hendrixroe and Mikael D showed off their awe-worthy collections at Waterworks Toronto, where fashion bloggers, editors, and fellow designers gathered to celebrate the best of Canadian fashion.

I was lucky enough to have the chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on backstage at Toronto Women’s Fashion Week, which is why I’m sharing the best moments of TWFW 2017 with you here! Read on for highlights, favourite moments and the most notable trends of TWFW.

HENDRIXROE’s HYBRID COLLECTION

Canadian-based designer Jordan Erin Mckay, showed her epic collection for Hendrixroe not once, but twice at last week’s Toronto Men’s and Women’s Fashion Week. Inspired by the vintage rock & roll and old hollywood glamour icons, Jimmy Hendrix and Marilyn Monroe, Hendrixroe embodies the epitome of glamorous rocker couture with close attention to construction, fabrics and fine lines.

This artful collection was the perfect hybrid of grungy and classic, with metallic jackets in candy-coloured hues of hot pink, royal blue, red and silver placing themselves at the forefront of the collection. The metallic coats were layered over vintage Metallica band tees, catering to those who look for wearability in a collection, while floor-length fringes that hung from the coats arms satisfied our desire for something over-the-top and unique, feeding into the wild side that lies within us.

Accessories followed the same vibrant path, with models taking the runway in bleached fedora hats, candy-striped tights, knee-high boots and fringe clutches that put the finishing touches on this playful look.

Clothing aside, the show was a colourful one with a strong, feminist message that couldn’t be more appropriate given the current political climate. The show started with an epic video that featured a few key lines from Madonna’s now world-famous Women’s March speech, and ended with the message that we are “property of no one,” driven home by three professional dancers around the age of eight, who wore jackets with the message embellished on their backs. Both men and women took to the runway to show off Hendrixroe’s women’s collection, blurring the lines between genders and what it means to dress like a male or female. Both men and women stepped out wearing shades of hot pink, while the collection’s feminine side was able to shine through in the form of silk, embroidered capes, draping gowns and glitter. The show demonstrated an inclusiveness that brought men and women of all ages together to celebrate the main uniting force: fashion.

MIKAEL D’S SEA OF SPARKLES

While Hendrixroe gave us a sense of nostalgia through Jimmy Hendrix-inspired band tees, Mikael D’s collection brought us back to a different era: the 1920s. The collection featured glittering gowns in many forms, from long-sleeved mini dresses to floor-length ballgowns and even jumpsuits that made models appear as though they had been dipped in silver. The collections’ beauty looks followed the same timeline, with models hair pulled back into flapper-esque chignons that came together through two retro twists on each side of the head.

Despite the major difference between the two – my favourite two – collections of TWFW 2017, they each had one thing in common: A sense of longing for the past, and a sense of hope for the future (and of course, sparkles!).