Toronto’s LG Fashion Week kicked off last night in a shadow of the venue that once was. Attendees were herded in to for the opener, a fashion show hosted by retailer Holt Renfrew. ”There’s No Place Like Holts, Celebrating Canadian Fashion,” featured Spring/Summer 2012 selections from top Canadian designers including Jeremy Laing, Smythe, Naked & Famous, Twenty Cluny, Denis Gagnon, Dennis Merotto, Wings + Horns, and Lida Baday. Juma followed in the studio, with Arthur Mendonça stealing the night just prior to Lala Berlin’s SS12 show.
It was Mendonça’s long awaited return to fashion after a hiatus in Italy that the crowd was waiting for. Together with a surprise special guest appearance by Bosnian Herzegovinian androgynous supermodel Andrej Pejic, the tent lit up. As a political refugee of the Bosnian War, Pejic moved from a refugee camp in Bosnia to Australia when he was eight years old. Less than ten years later he was scouted while working at a fast food restaurant in Melbourne. Talk about a twist of fate. He’s recently walked for both the men’s and women’s shows in Paris for Jean Paul Gaultier and just did the men’s in New York City for Marc Jacobs. The sometimes guy, sometimes girl’s star is rising as he’s growing in demand on both catwalks. Luxsure was lucky enough to sneak a spot in between Fashion Television and Entertainment Tonight for a quick interview with Pejic.
Backstage at LG Fashion Week - Arthur Mendonça and Andrej Pejic