As the first model stomped down the runway at the Lucian Matis show last night, it was clear the Project Runway Canada alum was prepared to make a statement. Canada’s supermodel-in-training Addison Gill (winner of the V Magazine/SUPREME Models Search) opened the show in a long, watercolor clown-print dress and wrapped medieval-esque headgear, all while the jaunty refrains of circus sideshow music blasted through the speakers. The show was off to an interesting, if unpredictable start.

Fortunately, the rest of Matis’ spring/summer collection steered clear of the circus motif, focusing instead on what we pictured to be an industrial, post-apocalyptic scene, where dazed models fluttered about in constructed pieces that were at once raw and haunting. The silky dresses were long and streamlined, set in creamy tones of powder pink and muted grays, while others were finished off with a lustrous sheen, playing off the delicately-studded hemlines. The details extended all the way up to the straps, which criss-crossed and hung low on some pieces, and draped around the neck on others. Soft pink mesh and netting, and chunky chain-link jewelry added the finishing touch, along with some covet-worthy shoes — chunky platforms with thick suede-like ribbon and straps wrapped around the ankle and foot. And then there was the headgear, which kept the models’ upright and hair in place, though the studded fixtures looked about as painful to wear as it was distracting to watch on the runway. Still, if you focused on the beautiful clothes — and there were many lovely pieces to behold — you appreciated the headgear as simply an extension of Matis’ poetic eye for design. And in this circus called fashion week, Lucian Matis is one ringmaster we can all get behind.

- TC