Sunday, April 27, 2014

Saldenah- River of Mirrors Band Launch


After taking a short break over the Easter long weekend, Toronto Carnival Band Launch Season is back in full swing! On Saturday April 26th,  Saldenah held their band launch for Toronto Carnival 2014 at Kool Haus. As the 2013 defending champions, as well as having 17 overall band of the year titles, there was a lot to look forward to from the theme River of Mirrors (#ROM). Leading up to the launch, anticipation for what Saldenah had in store was heightened  with the release of several teaser videos and pictures.  



Arriving at the venue at approximately 10:15, we were happy to see there wasn't a long line up. Making our way to the door we encountered a discrepancy regarding media access. Although this was a bit disappointing, we were determined not to let that kill our vibe. A separate post on this topic will be posted later.   


Walking into Kool Haus, it was great to see there were a lot of extra touches put into the place for the evening's launch, such as a backdrop, big screens which displayed the theme as well as advertisements from sponsors. Several free give-a-ways for an upcoming party, Private Practice, as well as a boat cruise, were handed out to the onlooking cheering crowd.   

The launch was hosted by Dr. Jay and Eman. Music was provided by Soca Vibes, Jester, Wukup Productions, Invinceable Intl, Soca 101 and Aaron Saldenah. Overall, the music was great, and I happy to see that several of the biggest tunes for carnival 2k14 played during the costume presentation.

The launch started at approximately 12:40am, which was great and overall the earliest start of all the launches so far this season. In total 15 sections graced the runway.

The sections from River of Mirrors! #ROM included:

Aztecah

Solstice

 Arawak Princess

Vortex Reflections


Mythic Warrior

Soca River




Amazonia


Ancient Goddess

Skyfall

Medieval: Royals and Rogues

Beyond Illusions


 

 Cristales

Kaleidoscope


Glimmer




Royals



For More Pictures from the launch check out the album here.


Overall, great job Saldenah on your 2014 presentation River of Mirrors (ROM).
Additionally, we would like to extend congratulations to DesigningDaryl, who designed two sections which were absolutely amazing.
 
For more information check out their website at Saldenahcarnival.com
Registration begins Saturday May 3rd, 2014

Monday, April 14, 2014

Fantazia International- Unleash Your Fantasy

Toronto Carnival Band Launch Season is in full swing! On Saturday April 12th, Fantazia International held their launch for their 2014 Presentation Unleash Your Fantasy at Ricky Richardo's.
The dj's for the evening included D'ENFORCAS, Renegade Squad, Mandigolay, Mad Science and Dj Supreme. The launch was hosted by Bass Line & Winedown and began at approximately 1:00am.
Despite a minor delay due to technical difficulties, six sections graced the runway.

As mentioned within my Band Launch Season 2014 post, there were a few things that I was hoping to see from bands this year and in my opinion, Fantazia Internation did an great job with their presentation for Unleash Your Fantasy. Fantazia International nailed it by including different costume styles, such as monokinis, jeweled bottoms and feathered belts. I also loved many of their color combination choices,  such as the gorgeous pastel purple and baby blue within the Forbidden Fruit section and the nude and coral in Creamsicle. Fantazia also stepped out of the Bikini box within their Den of Sin section, with a black and silver frontline costume that was a sexy cut out one-piece. Apart from the costumes, it was great to see a lot of new faces hitting the runway, and so confidently at that.

In case you missed the presentation, here are the sections:

Forbidden Fruit
 


Lush
 

Creamsicle
 
 

Candy Shop
 

Den of Sin
 
Magic
  

In terms of our favorite sections, it was really hard to pick just one as they were all quite lovely and I believe will appeal to the various tastes of masqueraders in Toronto. From those who want more coverage, to those who want to bare as you dare.
Overall Great job to the Fantazia International design team and all the best in the 2K14 season!

For more pictures, check out our album on Facebook. 

For more information on Fantazia International and their upcoming registration, check out their website at http://www.fantaziainternational.net/