Torn from the story book pages

Farley Chatto, right, had no trouble preparing his segment of The Book Lover’s Ball runway show. The first collection he designed, as a Ryerson student, channelled Sherlock Holmes.

RENE JOHNSTON / TORONTO STAR $(function() { if ($.browser.msie) { var newFakeDivHeight = jQuery(‘.ts-static_extra_noad’).height() + jQuery(‘.ts-main_article_image’).height() + 50; if (jQuery(‘.ts-fake_div’).height() < newFakeDivHeight) jQuery('.ts-fake_div').height(newFakeDivHeight); } }); By Derick Chetty Fashion Reporter

A bookshelf might be the only space you would find the tweedy sleuth Sherlock Holmes, the gladiator Spartacus, the teenage Twilight vampires and fashion icon Holly Golightly all together at once. But these memorable characters will also share a runway next Thursday, at The Book Lover’s Ball fashion show.

The annual black tie gala, a benefit for the Toronto Public Library, draws Canada’s literary luminaries to the Fairmont Royal York hotel. In its fifth year, the event’s showcase is the novel-inspired runway show that brings together eight local fashion designers, each of whom is given a book to interpret.

While this year’s lineup includes classics like Spartacus and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, there are also novels that reflect contemporary culture. Bestseller Twilight taps into the vampire craze and The Complete Sherlock Holmes could very well be the guidebook to fashion’s fascination with Victorian menswear looks.

For Farley Chatto, the designer paired with the detective novel, his research on Holmes was already complete 20 years ago.

For The Book Lover’s Ball, Chatto pulled pieces from the very first collection he designed as a student at Ryerson University, which was inspired by the gentleman investigator.

"Sherlock Holmes is one of my favourite characters and works of fiction," he says.

"It’s full circle. It’s very sentimental and contemporary at the same time.

"As a tailor, the fact that he is English – which is the foundation of tailoring as we know it this day – I love that I was able to combine the fiction with my passion for menswear and tailoring. It was a perfect hybrid for me."

Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s was another book that found its perfect partner in Ross Mayer, a designer whose classic tiny black dresses seemed tailor-made for the New York sophisticate Golightly.

But there were other books where fashion and style were not exactly part of the vocabulary. Like Slumdog Millionaire.

Wendy Dias, the owner of Indiva, a Yorkville boutique known for high-end Indian design, was given the task of turning this tale into a stylish segment for the show that will include Bollywood-style dancers.

"I see it as a Cinderella story," she says. "The main character is a man whose sole purpose – besides winning the million dollars – is finding this girl."

Dias’ segment will illustrate the rags to riches story with six to eight outfits that range from a easy tunic to more elaborate, hand-embellished and hand-embroidered Indian-designed gowns.

Erika Larva, the producer of the fashion show, states it is always the highlight of the ball and it’s important to choose books people recognize or relate to.

"It’s a fusion of beautiful clothing and entertainment that helps tell the story," she says.

But in this age of information, in which reams of research material is at your finger tips, this charity gala highlights the dangerous status of libraries in our society.

For Veronica Di Santo, who works with her mother, the bridal and evening-wear designer Ines Di Santo, the Internet can never replace books or the library when it comes to doing her research.

If you google the words Art Deco, loads of unfiltered information pops up that you have to sift through, she says. "But a good book (on that same topic) is a well-edited and orchestrated tool that someone has compiled and edited into a solid object."

So, as an art director for her mom’s company, she spends hours at her local library, Downsview.

"There are gems that are not printed anymore and that is where the library is useful."

A sentiment, no doubt, the book lovers at the ball next Thursday night will concur with.

For more information, www.bookloversball.ca

source : www.thestar.com

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Submited at Saturday, February 6th, 2010 at 5:01 am on Fashion by Gillan
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