Pat McDonagh:
The Public Eye’s Latest Love Affair

When asked to select one word to describe herself for her portrait in the Luminato exhibit, Toronto’s Mille Femmes, Canada’s long-standing fashion designer, Pat McDonagh, came up with the word ‘Patastrophe.’ Ironic for a woman who has not missed a beat throughout the past forty years showcasing a collection to think of herself as anything less than incredible.

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After much success and longevity in any business, most would likely begin to slow their pace, but this past year, alone, has kept Pat on her toes and more alive than ever within the fashion community and the public eye. Aside from keeping up with being in popular demand, she is continuously working on future projects that, individually for most, would be the equivalent of a full-time commitment.

Starting off the year in 2007, for a designer who doesn’t necessarily abide by the rules of any particular trend, she took on one trend that hopefully doesn’t come and go with the seasons. An entire collection making a statement to ‘Go Green’ was created for her Iceberg collection. Each piece became a symbolic reflection of taking action against global warming, and all materials used were in accordance to, and under the guidance of, the World Wildlife Fund, as models were visually transformed into penguins topped with masks fit to be paired with any gown. After such great response, pieces from the collection were used in the Eco Show at the Distillery.

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In an ever-changing, ‘out with the old, in with the new’ industry, a four-decade presence without a sign of bidding the runway farewell, is something to be celebrated. In March of that same year, Robin Kay of the FDCC presented Pat with an honorary recognition, subsequent to the lifetime achievement award given to her the previous season by Jeanne Bekker, both at fashion week. The award and the standing ovation to follow, by fellow fashion insiders and admirers, offered a sense of gratitude to this one woman whom has put a long-standing dent in fashion, always following her own sense of what style is; what couture is; through her eye and her eye alone.

Her next endeavour took on a slightly sweeter role for the 2007 Cadbury Chocolate Couture Collection, where she captured the character of Marie Antoinette with a gown that she called, “Let Them Eat Chocolate.” The challenge for Pat, as well as the nine other participating designers, was to create from inspiration involving opposite ideas; like night and day. Her ideas for this piece were drawn from the wickedness and the indulgence of the sweet, and the over-the-top style of that era.

From edible gowns to architecture, there are no limits when it comes to a designer that pays so much attention to delicate details. The opening of the Crystal Room at the ROM allowed her to play up the linear structure as she mimicked the shape of the building on the back of her design. This particular dress also made an appearance at the most recent Gemini Awards when it shared a grand entrance with award-winning Canadian actress, Wendy Crewson.

Throughout the years, Pat’s dresses have been worn by many in the public eye for various celebrations and events, and this past year has been no different. Aside from creating a buzz at the Gemini Awards, another Pat McDonagh piece was worn by Sara Norton when she was announced as the President of the Academy of Motion Pictures. Whether it’s for a personal, public, or charitable cause, Pat’s dresses are a refined finishing touch. During the previous L’Oreal Fashion Week, the Heart Truth fashion show was done to raise awareness for women’s health for the Heart & Stroke Foundation. Several designers were chosen to take part, including Pat, and various celebrities and television personalities were selected to wear the different gowns. Cheryl Hickey, of Global Television, was the lucky tv celeb chosen for Pat’s full-length red number. It was a memorable moment as it left the runway as the detail on the back, a heart cut-out design on the lower back, was an unexpected touch that went all to well with the event.

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Again pairing couture fashion with architecture and interior design was a most fitting match for the opening of Monarch’s chic new ‘Couture Condominium’ designed by Mike Niven. Guests at the unveiling of this high-fashion luxury design also enjoyed a fashion show showcasing Pat’s Spring/Summer 2008 collection.

Not only supporting her local community and culture, she also takes part in the multi-culturalism that is our city of Toronto. Being a guest of honour at the Taste of Asia, part of Asian Heritage Month held at Queen’s Park, she takes pride in being able to attend such events as fashion is more global than ever.

It’s only a suitable choice that she was also asked to take part in the recent exhibit for Luminato, entitled Toronto’s Mille Femmes, photographed by French artist Pierre Maraval. The exhibit depicted one thousand different creative women from Toronto in unique portraits and was on display to the public during the month of June.
(More information on Luminato is available at www.luminato.com.)

As hectic as her schedule may be, she is still finding the time to work on two new projects, one of which will be launched later this year. Teaming up with menswear designer, Alfredo Versace, Pat is currently involved with designing a new line for the Women’s Basketball Association of America and the wives of the NBA. Leaving behind the days of boring sportswear, this design partnership is creating a new level of high fashion for the players and bringing a touch of couture into the mix, which will also be available to public consumers.

Another exciting project on the horizon is her collaboration with CBS America and Nancy Fowler of the Licensing Shop, to create an entire line based on the fifties series, ‘I Love Lucy.’ The energy level that Pat has with this particular project is high as she speaks about having, “a little Lucy make-up paintbox, and everything from shoes to sunglasses…,” in addition to an entire collection of garments that would take us back to a different time, which is so relevant in current fashion as the idea of vintage has never been more abundant on the runway. Drawing inspiration from spending an evening watching the show itself, she can only imagine how great it would be to show a ‘Lucy Collection’ in New York, or here at home in Toronto, with the models bringing her ideas to life and having Lucille Ball close the show.

Amongst the chaotic and hectic lifestyle that simply is fashion; she maintains balance, self-reflection and growth, maybe not at all times, but the times that really seem to matter in her life. She once had an assistant from Venezuela, whose mother there had a friend dying of cancer. Upon praying to the ‘Jesus the Nazarene,’ a famous sculpture in Venezuela that is honoured with a new robe every fifty years, the friend promised to have a designer create a new robe for him if she could be saved. Soon after, Pat’s name came into play, but the project was put on the backburner due to preparing for fashion week. With fashion week ending on Good Friday, Pat went to the cathedral in between festivities. She reached up to the hand of Jesus, as she often did, but was startled this time to find a finger of the statue had fallen off into her hand. She brought it straight to the Priest, who humourously handled the situation stating, “Well aren’t you lucky! He is giving you a hand.” After that day, Pat worked on the robe. It is set to be completed and sent to where it needs to be later this summer. She still goes to the cathedral to find only a fingerless statue, but knows that the day she visits to find the finger back in its original place, all will be right in her life and that she has taken the right direction throughout her career.