The first ones to make use of Serendipity Space on the rooftop were young designers. It was summer, and the rooftop was a perfect location for a photoshoot.
Dazzled by the luxury of the established fashion world, one tends to forget that beginning designers often lack funds to begin their business. For them everything is a problem; getting a model, finding interesting space, getting a good photographer. It was a great pleasure to be able to assist these promising young artists who function away from the mainstream fashion.
You can see some of their work below.
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Saera Burns is both a colorful character and a talented designer.
She mixes elements of romantic vintage garnments with modern dresses. Saera is a traveller whose joy for life is contageous. For the time being she seems to express her colourful nature best through creative sawing, but I wouldn't be surprised if it someday extends to other arts. Saera is very far from the classical model of a designer/business woman. I can't imagine her wasting her life writing grant proposals, or researching business plans. Like an unstoppable force of nature, Saera transforms everything she finds in her way. She makes dresses for all her girlfriends, swaps clothing with people whom she likes, and sells it on the street for most a variety of prices. |
| ALISHA is a young artist-designer from Montreal. A passionate lover of nature and an ardent animal rights activist, Alisha creates her costumes from natural materials such as twigs, leafs, moss. During this brief visit to Toronto, Alisha decided to express her strong feelings about killing animals by designing a protest dress from recycled materials, using the Serendipity Space rooftop. |
Leslie is a colourful local character, who can frequently be seen riding his bike backwards around the city. He does not really fit any category, but with a childlike curiosity he tries this or that art. He creates his "look" by selecting unusual clothing. In this case, a raincoat which I made for myself from a broken tent seemed to have been custom-made for Leslie. He tried it on, and has been wearing it ever since, even in winter over a fur coat. |
BACKWARDS RIDER
I began to design clothing only a few years ago. Though I tend to make clothing for myself, it tends to fit extravagant people, the so called "colourful characters". |
Most visitors to Serendipity Space wear discreet clothing. However, they love to try on my hats for fun. They would never dream of wearing them in regular life, but on a rooftop it is another matter. |
