TORONTO – Christopher Bates offered a fresh take on safari-inspired style at Toronto’s World MasterCard Fashion Week on Wednesday.
The Milan-trained menswear designer will soon be returning to the famed fashion capital in hopes of further expanding his label while continuing to divide his time between the Italian city and Toronto.
READ MORE: Canadian designer Christopher Bates prepares for move to Milan
But ahead of his departure, Bates presented more of his eponymous label’s signature dapper designs with a new collection encompassing a colour palette of off-white, sand and khaki tones.
“These are actually colours that I’ve used quite minimally over the years,” Bates said in an interview prior to the show. “Then I was watching ‘The English Patient’ a year ago when I was getting ready to start the collection and it really just struck me that I needed to get involved in this type of colour palette. And also some of the pieces and fabrics were really interesting.
“I melded that with some inspiration from traditional safari clothing and it ended up becoming a really strong and cohesive collection, so I’m happy with how it’s come about.”
Bates presented a more tailored, refined approach to safari-inspired style with khaki button-down shirts, shorts, camouflage-printed trousers and cargo pants, as well as luxe outerwear offerings such as a textured tan blazer and crisp khaki trench.
The line was punctuated with bolder colours, notably a rich range of blues, from a horizontally striped navy-and-white pullover to dual-toned button-down shirts in a lighter blue hue.
Bates also gave a nod to formal wear with a classic white tuxedo jacket featuring black lapels and trimmed pockets, and a tux shirt and bowtie paired with a graphic patterned vest reminiscent of a pixelated print.
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