Few designers relate their sense of style quite like Mikhael
Kale. Sure, the 29-year-old Torontonian knows how to chat up his space
race-inspired looks, but it’s the articulated layers cascading down the
sleeves of cropped leather jackets and the legs of moulded-plastic
pants that make his collections so right for futuristic fashion. “I’m
interested in movement,” says Kale, who stitches together hundreds of
pattern pieces to build a sense of motion into pleated silk skirts and
boned bustiers.
That stitching started at the tender age of 10
and led Kale to study at London’s Central Saint Martins. After working
with Extè and Antonio Marras in Milan, Kale and former FLARE fashion
editor Rita Liefhebber launched the label Kale.lief+Hebber. The pair’s
first collection landed on Holt Renfrew’s World Design Lab racks. “For
such young designers, their attention to detail and the pure modernity
of their garments stood out,” says Holt Renfrew’s Barbara Atkin.
Kale went solo in 2007 and continues to develop
his edgy silhouette and feminine detailing. Editors from Vogue, W and
Interview fight over samples for their shoots, but Kale owes his
international breakout to Beyoncé: the singer reserved half of his
spring collection to wear while promoting her I Am… Sasha Fierce double
disc.
Despite a pop-star following, Kale is focused
on keeping things accessible. Dresses start at $800, even though the
last-minute addition of silk linings tripled his cost. “I might be
eating a little less, but at least someone is wearing my clothing.”
—Andrew Sardone