L’uomo Strano Walks for the Dolls and Demands You Pay Attention
In a season where fashion’s mainstream is opting for safe silhouettes and algorithm-optimized sameness, L’uomo Strano did what fashion is supposed to do – make you feel something. At the 20th anniversary of Fashion Art Toronto, a platform that has long celebrated experimentation and showcased some of Canada’s most boundary-breaking designers, Mic. Carter’s latest collection was both a love letter and a battle cry.
The show opened with a force — two models walked wearing t-shirts empaled with the words “Formerly Known As” and DEADNAME L’Uomo Strano Spring/Summer ’25. What came next was a parade of gender non-confirming models, draped in garments that felt like both shield and sculpture. The garments were equal parts elegy, manifesto and prophecy.
Photographed by Devan Sakaria from L’Uomo Strano Spring/Summer ’25
A rapper pulsed at the front, delivering bars like benedictions, charging the air with the kind of energy that can only be described as sacred chaos. The theme was trans liberation, but it was also America’s reckoning. As the track banged through the loudspeakers, a voice spoke an urgent and direct message “You will not fall, you will rise – but only if you fight.”
As those words echoed through the room, the garments themselves became extensions of the message — bold, tender, and unapologetically alive. Fabrics your mom and auntie might recognize were subverted and sanctified — classic motifs twisted for the modern girl. The result was deeply familiar, deeply strano. It’s a Valley of the Dolls, recast — who makes it in the big city, who ends up on the Quaaludes, and who walks off the runway straight into Pedro Pascal’s arms?
Both photographed by Devan Sakaria from L’Uomo Strano Spring/Summer ’25
Fashion, when done right, can carry the weight of politics without losing grace. Here, the message was sewn in and spit out over the loudspeaker: We were there when you needed our votes. Where are you now that we need you? No names were mentioned, but everyone knew who that line was meant for. The subtext wasn’t sub at all.
In 2014, Mic. Carter’s gender-expansive vision was rejected by Toronto Men’s Fashion Week, which briefly pulled his L’uomo Strano show for being “too feminine.” Organizers suggested he add masculine accessories, combat boots, perhaps, to conform. Carter refused. He spoke out, and the public rallied. The show was reinstated, and his models opened the final day of TOMFW in lace, frilly collars, and wide-brimmed straw hats.
Fast forward to this year’s Fashion Art Toronto, where Carter’s work was not only welcomed but celebrated as one of the festival’s most commanding voices. The difference is telling — not just of his growth as a designer, but of how far Canadian fashion, and the culture around it has come in its understanding of gender, beauty and liberation.
Image on the left photographed by Devan Sakaria from L’Uomo Strano Spring/Summer ’25
Image on the right photographed by Mingsiu37 from L’Uomo Strano Spring/Summer ’25
For Vanja Vasic, founder and creative director of Fashion Art Toronto, the moment was personal. “Mic Carter of L’uomo Strano is a designer ahead of his time — visionary, boundary-breaking and one of the most important voices in Canadian fashion today,” she said. “For over a decade, Mic has presented work with Fashion Art Toronto that not only challenges conventions of gender and beauty but also expands the very possibilities of what fashion can express. His designs are not just garments — they are powerful stories woven into fabric, charged with emotion, intention and liberation.”
She adds, “The first time Mic presented on our stage, I was deeply moved. That moment remains one of my most vivid and cherished memories from the past 20 years of Fashion Art Toronto. His ability to evoke emotion through craft is unmatched. When I wear L’uomo Strano, I feel like the strong person I aspire to be — I step into the room with confidence and purpose.”
Mic is more than a designer. He’s a true artist. One whose work doesn’t just dress the future — it speaks it into existence. In a world where so much feels indistinguishable, L’uomo Strano stands out.
Want more Mic.? Read this now – A Conversation with Mic. Carter.
