Marie Saint Pierre has walked away from the runway this year.
The visionary designer has opted instead to showcase her spring-summer 2010 collection in Montreal Fashion Week's unique showroom at the historic Bonsecours Market in old Montreal.
The brightly-lit venue is putting dozens of designers front and centre, with their apparel and accessories racked up behind them.
"The runway is always a compromise," says Saint Pierre, a 20-year veteran of the Canadian fashion scene between meetings with international media and buyers from across North America and as far away as Australia, Germany and Japan. "There's a lot of unknown factors when you do a runway show."
She laments that on the catwalk her fashion philosophy is often reduced to a single sound bite or a photo dependent on lighting, models' performances or a photographer's angle. All, she says, are elements out of the control of designers.
"A show is a show, the truth of the matter is how they (the pieces) look after the fluff around them is gone."
This season, Saint Pierre said she put the focus back on her garments by putting her resources into a big shoot and creating a look book with a single model.
And instead of a 20- to 30-minute show, she's spending that same amount of time with each reporter or potential buyer.
While structure and control are two of the themes of her latest collection, she admits she also threw away her usual playbook during the design stage.
Saint Pierre says she experienced an epiphany by using her computer to create "virtual" pieces instead of forms or models.
"That's very unusual for me -- but I loved the experience and I think I'll repeat it," she says.
While challenging, she explains that without patterns she was able to focus on solid interior constructions and playing with fluid exterior lines.
She says it was enormously satisfying to see the finished results come to fruition just as she envisioned. "It was a great feeling."
Angles, asymmetry and adaptability feature prominently in the collection.
Often a sturdy sheath hugs the body, while a secondary layer, on the bias, is fairly convertible and can be adjusted as a dress or top to suit the wearer.
On jackets, collars are rounded and shoulders are strong. Slacks are wide and roomy with plenty of freedom to move without appearing sloppy.
"I don't want to have any confinement," explains Saint Pierre.
Like many this season, she's incorporated volume, but her designs also embrace the body. While the designs are fluid, they invariably hug the body either at wrists, knees or at the waist -- and can be pulled up or down depending on what best suits the wearer's body type.
"I like my clothes to be adaptable," says Saint Pierre. "I don't like to impose my vision."
The result is a wearability that extends beyond one season or one trend, she says.
Saint Pierre makes no apologies for the limited palette of black, white, off-white and a touch of blue and hint of gold. "I'm more of a sculptor than a painter."
The 17th edition of the bi-annual festivities at one of the country's style capitals continue tomorrow with shows from Micalle, Annie 50, Barila and Helmer. It concludes up with a show by celebrated designer Denis Gagnon.
