LG Fashion Week's Double Whammy: Joe Fresh and Pink Tartan

By Tiffany Yannetta Oct 23, 2011, 1:21pm EDT

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Programming note: We're in Canada. Well, one of us is, anyway. We were graciously flown north for LG Fashion Week (that's in Toronto, y'all), meaning there will be 100% more posts about Canada than normal. So no, it's not because we ran away with a Canuck—we're just here, checking out the local shopping scene, going to shows, and eating poutine.

A look from Joe Fresh (left) and Pink Tartan (right). Photo credit: George Pimentel

Because maybe this is just what married folks do, Joe Mimran of Joe Fresh and Kimberley Newport-Mimran of Pink Tartan held their shows one right after the other at Toronto Fashion Week. Both also seem to be pretty into the color orange. We stopped by to check out the shows, and were able to snag a few minutes with both designers backstage. Check out what they had to say, as well as five of our favorite looks from the collections, after the jump.

Joe Mimran is currently in NYC takeover mode: He recently opened a pop-up shop on Madison Avenue, with another one and two stand-alone stores in Midtown East and Flatiron to follow. He also just opened up a store at Queen West and Portland Streets in downtown Toronto. "It's equivalent to Soho," he said. "All the hipsters are there. It's really cool, and they love it. They've just been really gravitating to it."

For his spring collection, Joe sent down crisp whites along with a lot of color (there were kitten heels). "We opened up with some orange last season and we're going to continue with orange. It's our brand color, and we're going to go from that into lots of white, lots of white and black, and then we have a whole turquoise story and we're finishing with yellow. Really bright, really happy." He adds, "I think happy colors are fun." Us too.

Joe Fresh spring 2012. Photo credit: George Pimentel

Kimberley Newport-Mimran showed her fair share of color in the Pink Tartan spring collection, along with short boy shorts, polka dots, and sequins. For her, though, the collection was more French Riviera than Acapulco. "I love the '60s—I love that era, and that sort of effortless chic feeling. Brigitte Bardot done modern was sort of the muse in my mind, and so I did the little shift dress. I wanted it cohesive, and I wanted it to be the things that I love to just pack in my suitcase and wear and just feel amazing."