Travis Taddeo brings rebellion to runway with French Revolution inspiration

TORONTO - Montreal-based Travis Taddeo is ready for a revolution and brought his vision of rebellion to the runway with new designs fusing heavy sportswear influences with the French Revolution.

"Vive La Revolution" draws heavily on a French influence with the blue, white and red hues featured in the country flag. But the Calgary native put his own signature on the collection with a range of provocative looks featuring blousy tops, barely there briefs and sky-high hemlines using soft jerseys and leather as models toted black baseball bats on the catwalk.

Loose-fitting tops and snug-fitting, body-contouring minidresses featured draped detailing, varying from T-straps to racerbacks.

Hints of what resembled mesh or small punched cutouts popped up frequently as accents on draped-sleeved tops or the stand-alone treatment on low-riding drawstring briefs. Denim got the roughed-up treatment with shredded holes in knees and colourful leather patch-squares on back pockets of cut-offs.

Body-hugging bustiers with defined cups and a bold red mini oozed with sex appeal. The asymmetrical cutout thong bodysuit featured in white and black that opened and closed the show was a certified jaw-dropper.

"It's basically inspired by thoughts of reform and pushing boundaries of Canadian fashion kind of change things up a bit," Taddeo said of the collection in a recent interview.

Fashion Week continues Tuesday with collections from Jason Meyers, David Dixon and Bustle.