Shop Talk is written by OM editor Dayanti Karunaratne and Sarah Fischer, OM account executive and fashion maven.  

On Friday, SHOP TALK headed to the Hilton at Lac-Leamy for Ottawa Fashion Week. As we negotiated the Gatineau highway system and circled the parking lot in search of a spot, we marvelled at the many seasons — and venues — of OFW. It has grown so much over the years, and given the move to Quebec we really didn’t know what to expect. While in past years we have been quite strategic about our coverage — it’s nearly impossible to really “cover” three days of (often-late) shows, so this time around we decided to just sit back and enjoy ourselves!

And that’s just what we did. Perhaps it was the fairly seamless task of finding a seat, or maybe it was the fact that we had a nice glass of white wine in our hand. Either way, the show featuring Joseph Ribkoff, Bernice & Barclay, and Brit Wacher gave us lots to talk about.

For starters, Joseph Ribkoff impressed us with the number of looks that went down the runway. All very wearable, for sure, if not exactly to our taste. (Though we were pretty disappointed that Joseph himself didn’t come out after this runway show.)

We fell deeply in love with a few pieces by Bernice & Barclay, especially the high-waisted pants that look like they would work well in this transition season we’re enjoying struggling with right now! It was great to see our former cover girl Dina Renon bringing some positive vibes to the runway. You go, girl!

Finally, the Brit Wacher made an impact, but it wasn’t a show that one can really discuss in fashion terms. And our commentary was all about what we could wear, what we would love to have the guts to wear, what we would never be caught dead wearing, etc. The Wacher show was more cerebral, and I’m sure she has her fans, but it was nearing the end of the evening for us and we just wanted eye candy.

Big congrats to the OFW crew, who continue to make the city a more fashionable and fun place to be.