Held at Arta Gallery at the Distillery District, Minling Pan (DelectablyChic! spoke with Ms. Pan in an interview a few weeks ago) celebrated her anniversary and launched her private label collection on Monday evening.  Featuring some of Toronto’s favourite bloggers as models (including Dainty Girl‘s Nicole Wilson, the Sparks Twins and Toronto Beauty Review‘s Elaine Atkins), the collection was simple, yet on trend, with asymmetrical dresses, printed pants and other warm weather friendly pieces, right in time for the summer.  Models were also carrying Minling’s handbag collection, which was available for sale at the event.  Partial proceeds from the sales that evening went to SickKids.  The bags were pretty, but most were quite heavy!

The event began at 6 PM with cocktails and appetizers.  Food included mini sandwiches and dim sum (FYI: siu mai isn’t bad eaten cold) as well as fruit.  It would have been nice, however, to have a plate of veggies and dip as well, but I guess that would be asking too much!

Appetizers at the event included siu mai (above)

I liked how the designer featured bloggers rather than professional models.  While none of the bloggers were plus size, there were varying heights (the Sparks Twins and Elaine Atkins, for example, are petite) and therefore giving a very different perspective on “size diversity” (which in the mainstream body image and “fashion” world, means adding a few plus sized women).  If only this was done in the mainstream world at Fashion Week.  One can only hope.

Bags like these gorgeous (though a bit heavy) clutches were on sale, with partial proceeds going to SickKids

The event had good attendance and I look forward to seeing the collection at the boutique!  Minling Pan Studio is located at 158 Eglinton Avenue West. Its hours are Monday to Friday from 10 to 7 and Saturday from 11 to 7.