Sid Neigum Fall 2015: See the complete Mercedes Benz Start Up-winning collection

Date March 24, 2015

“I love Jazz FM!” Sid Neigum beamed as he finished a radio interview on the opening night of World Mastercard Fashion Week in Toronto.

It should come as no surprise that the Alberta-born Neigum likes jazz. Intuitive, emotional, improvisational—they are all words that could be applied to that genre of music as well as Neigum’s clothes.

The first outfit on the runway made it clear that Neigum was digging deeper into the themes of his spring collection: packaging design and modular origami. Challenging himself to use as few pattern pieces as possible, Neigum created curving folds on jacket lapels, tilted and jagged skirt hems, and shirty minis with free-flowing backs.

A search for seams may have found one at the neck or waist of a gown or up the centre of a skirt. They were few and far between.

He also used scrunch-able black cotton with 20 per cent metal content for ripple-y dresses that could morph in form. The edges of some were left unfinished, giving them a tin foil effect. And Neigum’s origami obsession led to feathery fabric shards sprouting on pieces sewn from hundreds of cut-outs.

Neigum’s show was a prize from last fall’s Mercedes Benz Start-up competition, which is a cross-country talent search entering its fifth round. If this is the kind of talent that lies hidden in this country, we have a lot to look forward to.