See the White Cashmere Collection 2013 photos here.

Fashion designer and this year’s curator of the White Cashmere Collection is Farley Chatto. Farley is a returning designer to the White Cashmere Collection and it is his vision and ideas that will be incorporated into the final designs. This is the 10th anniversary of the competition and to celebrate this Chatto has been inspired to curate a show that will be part of the Pink and White Gala at the AGO Art Gallery of Ontario in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

As curator of the show Chatto in a behind the scenes interview with Trend Hunter Fashion says the biggest challenges he faced were getting the designers to understanding the product and how it works and then to incorporate his ideas into the final designs. Yes, the product is toilet tissue of the finest quality – cashmere. Chatto says it becomes an R & D exercise dealing with different thicknesses, different backings and even discovering which needle type will work best. Since Chatto loves to play with lego and is an online gamer, the type of playing that this designer challenge involves is what it is all about.

Chatto is going for big dresses, party dresses celebrating life and the sneak peek shows some stunning designs. Some dresses have taken months to make and min 20 hours.

The White Cashmere Collection began in 2004 as a showcase for some of Canada’s top tier designers to show off their skills sets as they were challenged to create dresses out of Bathroom Tissue. The WCC event has become an important platform for many up and coming Canadian fashion designers and has helped to kick-start now prominent careers. Some of the big name designers include: Golnaz Ashtiani of Ashtiani showcased her floral brocade/ architectural cone design last year to rave reviews just a year after winning the TFI’s New Label competition. Jose-Manuel St Jacques of UNTTLD created a memorable shredded cocktail dress in 2011, while co-owner, Simon Belanger showcased one of his first public designs back in 2006 shortly after finishing an internship with designer, Denis Gagnon. Toronto based Caitlin Power cites her 2010 experience as her breakthrough moment into the Toronto Fashion Scene and former Chanel intern, Cara Cheung had a breakthrough year showing both at The White Cashmere Collection and Toronto Fashion Week in 2012.

MyETVMedia and sister site Unlabelled head to the AGO Wed., Sept. 25th, 2013 to cover the runway for the 10th annual White Cashmere Collection.

Lauren Schell