Sea Breeze on Spring Street

Acrylic clutch bags for the Instagram age took an oceangoing turn down in Soho, thanks to Edie Parker founder and designer Brett Heyman.

She put colorful, squiggly jellyfish, shells, hula-skirted ladies and anchors on her spring collection, mixing her signature playful acrylic with raffia, linen and wicker. And she didn't scrimp on the wordage, which some love to hate, offering "Chillax," ''Gay" and "Ahoy."

Heyman's bags are all over red carpets, with her kitschier versions also drawing celebrity attention.

"This is a funkier collection," she said. "I think someone with a fearless style would be good."

Like Gwyneth Paltrow?

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"She has a bag of mine that says 'Baller.' I love that she bought that," Heyman laughed.

Edie Parker launched in 2010, driven by Heyman's love of vintage, mid-century style. Since, she has become a darling of the young and fearless, including Lupita Nyong'o, and she sells around the world in places like the Harvey Nichols store in Dubai and Neiman Marcus.

Last year she made it into the Top 10 for the Council of Fashion Designers of American/Vogue Fashion Fund Award.

"We have so much support from the red carpet, from celebrities," Heyman said as she showed off her latest beachy collection in happy hues of sea blue, sea foam and swirly, coral pink.

Heyman said she had the African/Brazillian goddess Yemaya on her mind. She may or may not have created the sea, and she's credited as a granter of wishes. At the dreary, drippy start of fashion week, a touch of ocean life might just have been one.

Black Lives Matter

Designer Kerby Jean-Raymond's collection for the Pyer Moss label launched Thursday night with gripping and now familiar videos of police violence. The choking death of Eric Garner. The teenage girl thrown to the ground outside a

Texas pool party. The running down of a suspect as lights flashed. The smashing of a car window, and then cries.

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He said his show was about defying stereotypes - "the thug, the entertainer" - and redefining the black narrative in America.

During the show's opening video, which combined the images of confrontation with a range of interviews with singer Usher and others on the need for change, people in the audience gasped or murmured. In an added touch, artist Gregory Siff moved among the models on the runway, quickly tagging the mostly stark, sport-ish clothes.

On the back of one robe, Siff scrawled "Breathe Breathe Breathe," a likely reference to Garner's repeated plea, "I can't breathe."

Even some models didn't know what they had signed up for until they heard the video begin backstage.

"I was so blown away by it, it was unreal," said British model Abby Clee. "I knew I was definitely moved. I was a bit teary but thought, 'No, I shouldn't cry when I'm about to go out.' I think a lot of people were quite moved, by their faces. Obviously, it means quite a lot to them."

Clee said she was honored to be in the show.

"I thought the message that they're sending was absolutely amazing," she said.

RESPECTED fashion industry figures helped to officially launch Darlington’s newest addition to Grange Road.

The Dolly Mama Boutique has relocated from its base on Northumberland Street and expanded to offer women the chance to buy a new outfit and get their hair and makeup done instore at the same time.

The concept is fairly common in big cities, but store co-owner Anna Caygill said it was a first for Darlington.

She was joined at the boutique’s official opening on Saturday by Darlington designer Louise McNaughton, founder of the Wolf and Whistle clothing company, and fashion blogger Gina Box whose Instagram page has more than 85,000 followers.

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The store’s lower floor has been open to customers for the last three weeks but this weekend marked the official opening of the whole venue.

Ms Caygill said: “It has been going really well, there’s been a huge difference just moving around the corner from Northumberland Street, we just seem to be reaching so many more people with the traffic running through Grange Road and people coming from Sainsbury’s.

“It has opened us up to a whole new customer base; it is going really well and we’re really happy here.”

The store offers a range of mostly British fashion labels and it came as a nice coincidence that by stocking of Wolf and Whistle they were also supporting a Darlington-born designer.

Ms Caygill said: “We wanted to stock Wolf and Whistle anyway, and then I realised Louise is from Darlington and we went to all the same schools which is a nice twist really.”

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Metric frontwoman Emily Haines is making a foray into fashion with homegrown brand Rudsak.

The indie rock singer-songwriter is partnering with the Montreal-based leather goods retailer on a new design collaboration.

Haines teamed with Rudsak founder and head designer Evik Asatoorian in creating a limited-edition leather jacket.

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Haines’s twist on the classic cropped moto jacket will be showcased at four Rudsak retail locations in September: Calgary’s Market Mall, the Toronto Eaton Centre, Carrefour Laval in Laval, Que., and on Ste-Catherine Street in Montreal.

The garment will also be featured at the Rudsak spring-summer fashion show during Toronto’s World Mastercard Fashion Week in October.

The limited-edition jacket will be available at select Rudsak locations across Canada and online next March.

“I’ve always been fascinated by the close relationship between fashion and music. Suppose it’s because personal style is such a powerful form of self-expression, it’s very much an art form in itself,” Haines said in a statement.

“Designing for Rudsak is a great chance for me to get my hands on the iconic rock n’ roll essentials I have always loved and make them my own.”

Metric will release its latest full-length album “Pagans In Vegas” on Sept. 18.

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