CFW 2014 Winners: Anna Toth, Leah and Rebecca Plante

Anna Toth's design, available on etsy.com

Charleston Fashion Week 2014 is finished, this time with a few surprises.

For the first time, the win was awarded to two designers. One is a sister team - Leah and Rebecca Plante; the other is Anna Toth.

I was lucky enough to attend the first night of CFW 2014 and see both collections during semi-finals. I even voted for Anna because her looks are so appealing to anyone who loves denim. That night, the Plante sisters were both the judges' choice and the peoples' choice.

The tucks are so pretty. Toth also makes custom jeans.

Saturday night we saw the final collections of each night's winner plus a judges save - Anna Toth. So there were 5 finalists. Each of the five added a few items to this final runway competition.

Surprises: Two Project Runway alums competed - Justin LeBlanc a finalist in season 12, and Angela Bacskocky, also season 12 but she exited after episode 1. Justin did not make it to the finals; Angela did. And I actually liked her final collection quite a lot though it was more of a fall collection, and spring is on my mind.


The other surprise is that the winning looks were not edgy or outrageous. I would classify both as pretty, but not over-the-top art. They were certainly the most immediately wearable, especially Anna Toth's work.

Both of the winning runway collections were spring-like in color and texture, appropriate to Charleston and the rest of the southeastern US now. Since Anna Toth makes custom jeans, those were also prominently featured. In fact she wore some tight but beautifully fitted jeans each evening. 

As an aside, I was mystified by designers who seemed to be wearing uninteresting clothing when they appeared at the end of their own runway shows. It was almost as if they had been caught off-guard and dragged from their workrooms.

Toth was clearly wearing something of her own design. Very pretty. Very casual. Very wearable. I did not see her up close but I think this is a cap-sleeved tucked denim shirt with one of her denim vests over it, and of course, her great jeans.

Toth with the final model in her Saturday show. I don't think this jump suit is denim. Hat is also an Anna Toth creation.

For the final runway, Toth added quilted pieces - a cropped top in dark denim that was paired with her signature jeans, this time in white. There is something so appealing about white pants for spring and summer.

Toth also showed a quilted A-line skirt paired with another cropped top. The skirt had body and stood away from the model's hips, producing a cheerful, youthful silhouette, not the dowdy silhouette I usually associate with A-line skirts.

You can like Anna Toth and her work under the name Bow and Arrow on Facebook, if you do that sort of thing.

My favorite look from the Plante sisters

The Plante sisters used drapey fabrics with some low-contrast color blocking in spring neutrals. The dress at left was shown in a peachy beige where you see navy in this picture. The back has a feminine V formed with the spaghetti straps. They used lots of flowers in the models' hair and put on a good show.

The other designers presented collections that were decidedly darker, the traditional fall collection shown in spring, I guess.

Some themes ran through all the collections I saw: 

Sheer layers were everywhere. These included palazzo pants that were sheer from the knee down, a black sheer dress with a white lining, dark shorts under long sheer skirts.

Bare midriffs were another theme, both on and off the runway.

Still seeing lots of high-low skirts (low in the back). I saw many missed opportunities here to showcase the inside of the back skirt with some gorgeous design. Most were lined in self-fabric or ordinary lining material.

I'm not sure this CFW will be as memorable as the previous two but we'll see. I hope to watch Anna Toth on Facebook this year to see where she goes. 

Next up - off- runway looks seen during CFW 2014. 

What a fun and inspiring week!