Eliza Faulkner’s spring 2016 show was like a glass of freshly squeezed juice – a bright and delicious collection of clothes that prove the young designer, who was raised on Vancouver Island, is one to watch.
She showed her spring line at Vancouver Fashion Week on Tuesday, Sept. 29, dubbed BC Day with the runway showcasing – along with Faulkner – the work of Allison Smith of Allison Wonderland, Aniimiism by Cassie Dee, Taran Cheema’s TKC Design Inc., Connally McDougall, and Sofia Mendez Schenone. As the night’s opener, Faulkner says she didn’t have any pre-show jitters, mostly because there wasn’t any last-minute fretting.
“For me it felt really relaxed, I don’t know about everyone else,” Faulkner says. “I had the collection done in July.”
Her laid-back vibe came through in Tuesday’s show, where she sent down the runway a collection that balanced femininity and comfort, conveyed in her off-shoulder ruffled blouses and dresses, which she paired with casual white Lacoste sneakers from Town Shoes.
“I kind of use them in every collection,” Faulkner says about the sneaks. “I like doing dresses and really pretty things, but I like the idea of being able to wear them everyday.”
Spring features wide-leg trousers, a denim motorcycle jacket, midriff-baring blouses, airy skirts, sleeveless dresses. Most of the clothes were designed with clean whites, jet blacks, raspberry pinks, apple reds, and soft blues in denim, linen, and cotton.
The few patterned pieces in the capsule collection included a sophisticated, sweeping black-and-white dotted blouse, a sleeveless dress in the same fabric, and a sky-coloured tie-die dress.
A particularly charming number was a white off-shoulder blouse paired with a white loose-fitting A-line skirt – one of the few looks worn with heels.
Faulkner drew from the romantic sensuality of the 1970s, studying vintage Laura Ashley dresses that defined the era’s airy Victoriana zeitgeist, but Faulkner cleans up the look with clean tailoring.
“I wanted softness, clean lines, and classic silhouettes,” Faulkner explains.
At her VFW show, Faulkner added a dash of subtle modern edge to some of the looks by throwing a chain (literally) necklace on a few of the models. The ever-industrious designer went out and picked up a chain from Canadian Tire and turned it into edgy necklaces for her minimalist styling.
“The collection is very soft and feminine; I just wanted something to make it more street,” she explains.
Faulkner realized her dream of becoming a fashion designer at 19, when she was accepted to study fashion design at Central St. Martin’s College of Art & Design in London.
She couldn’t find work after graduating so she resigned herself to small-town life, working in the back room of her mother’s shoe shop in the Cowichan Valley and writing about style for the local newspaper. She kept creating clothes at night, selling them to family and friends. From those first dresses – made in a cabin on Vancouver Island – her namesake line has since gained recognition across North America.
In 2014 she was nominated in the Emerging Talent Category at the Canadian Art & Fashion Awards and ELLE Canada named her One of the Top Ten Canadian Designers to Know. Marisa Tomei, Nikki Reed, and Kelly Clarkson have all worn her clothes. Not bad for a young woman from the Island.
