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FASHION
VOGUE MAGAZINE EDITOR ANNA WINTOUR once wrote, “the content of fashion does not materialize spontaneously but … emerges from the fabric of our times.” Emerging Canadian fashion designer Lesley Hampton purposefully weaves timely and socially relevant themes into her work. “I always start with a concept, something I feel needs to have a light shone on it,” Hampton says. “I want people seeing my shows to have an experience, to feel and think.” For her spring-summer 2018 collection, called Sticks and Stones, Hampton sent models from various cultural backgrounds, wearing sizes ranging from two to 24, down the Toronto Fashion Week catwalk. Among them was Adrianne Haslet, a survivor of the Boston Marathon bombing, who walked the runway on a prosthetic leg. Not only was it a strong statement about resilience, but Flare magazine’s reviewer said the designer had “set a new bar for runway diversity.”
The fall-winter 2018 collection that followed, called Lithium, was intended to raise awareness about mental health in the fashion industry and society. The designer’s special focus was bipolar disorder, which affects some of her friends and colleagues. She employed a mélange of vibrant offbeat colours to reference its mania aspect played against stark black, then finishing with silver ref lective materials to represent balance and hope. The thought-provoking themes Hampton embraces are uncomfortable for many. Yet the clothes themselves are meant to be
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anything but. “With every piece I design, I want people to feel comfortable in their skin and empowered,” she says. “Feeling and looking your best can be transformative, especially for women with body-image issues.” The eveningwear and “after 5 p.m.” clothing sold through www.lesleyhampton.com are cut to enhance any woman’s natural curves, and the designer takes custom orders. There are also go-anywhere pieces, such as a quilted-sweater version of the classic little black dress, and an athleisure line, called Robust, in sizes XS to 5XL.
