THE UNEksPECTED® Award-Winning Vision of KAITSAUKA® Unleashed at Fashion Art Toronto S/S 2025

Photo Credits: KAITSAUKA®’s Artistic Director & performing muse, Aidan Amore, with guest star supermodel & actress, Camille Mervin-Leroy, surrounded by Richards Akintade, Tychique Bisungu, Vini Burger, Dymund Cave, Emiliano Escareño, Benedict Estipular, Amelia Jesseau, Owen Mandala, Brandon Marsh, Connor Northrup, Elizabeth Persaud, Aadarsh Rai, Azra Slijvar, Dang Truong, Lauren Vassos-Martino, Angela Vaughan — (Shot by: @cosplay, @devansakaria / Edited by: THE UNEksPECTED®)

On Sunday, June 1, the Parisian couture house of KAITSAUKA® brought their vision to life through an immersive catwalk experience co-produced by Fashion Art Toronto and KAITSAUKA® ’s associated media production company, THE UNEksPECTED®. 

Founded by the Canadian-born designer member of the Siksika Blackfoot Nation, Joseph Nicholas Everett Redgun, and his partner Aidan Amore, Artistic Director and performing muse, the house of KAITSAUKA® presented their S/S 2025 couture collection with no ordinary fashion show—but instead more of a theatrical performance of expression portrayed through makeup artistry and design. The artistic series not only brought a completely original idea to Fashion Art Toronto’s 20th-year anniversary, but to the entire Canadian fashion landscape as well.

The Paris maison earned the FASHN DISRPTR AWARD delivered by Fashion Art Toronto’s founder and Creative Director, Vanja Vasic, for its uniqueness and originality. With a futuristic and unearthly presence, the models not only showcased the designs but also became them. Not a single detail was overlooked, and there’s so much to appreciate within each of the individual creations that they instantly capture your undivided attention. With coordination by FAT’s Director of Runway, Community and Operations, Liam Colbourne, and support from the FAT models roster, the overseas collaboration with KAITSAUKA® came to life—thanks to additional contributions of interning students from Seneca Polytechnic College, this ambitious show was nothing short of miraculous.

According to original creative makeup and hair concepts also ideated & designed by KAITSAUKA®, Fashion Art Toronto’s MUAH departments supervised by Jez Taylor and Dylan Cruickshank oversaw the execution of root network hairstyles inspired by nature’s resilient limbs, paired with holographic skins inspired by Toronto-based makeup artist Mei Pang. This was complemented by white contact lenses and lashes, emitting an alien aura, bringing fantasy into the realm of reality with the efforts of Binndi Suvarna’s team. Where beauty meets uncanny, also lie tree-like headpieces, hand-crafted by hairstylist Jessika Guy from the couture house’s original headpiece designs. 

Photo Credits: KAITSAUKA®’s guest star supermodel & actress, Camille Mervin-Leroy — (Shot by: @cosplay, @devansakaria / Edited by: THE UNEksPECTED®)

KAITSAUKA®’s signature clawed fingers, buttons, pendants, earrings, as well as the fine jewellery brooch which adorned the neck of the archangelic guest star of the show, Camille Mervin-Leroy, were designed by Roman Büchi, founder and director of the Swiss fine-jewellery brand B.R. CREATIONS. 

The pneumatic wings originally worn by Grimes and cyborg-styled body parts were engineered by the sustainably wearable tech company BIONIC CONCEPTS, founded and directed by JP Rishea. The aesthetic was powerful and foreign, but also captivatingly gothic with the contribution of sustainably up-cycled accessory chokers, cuffs, bracelets, necklaces and collars. Designed by the Toronto-born artist behind MLH, Michelle Lowe Holder, these creations recently made the cover of ID magazine, as well as VOGUE ENGLAND, worn by none other than Bella Hadid in the latest feature.

Humbler but nonetheless qualitative contributions sourced by KAITSAUKA®’s interning assistant stylist, Kouvr Boswick, came from local jewellery artisans such as Renata Jankaitis from STONED & GROUNDED, Ivy Liuyi Yan behind AT-AT, and Karine Eyamie behind MIZDRAGONFLY. These all gathered to sublime Joseph Nicholas Everett Redgun’s sartorial vanguard at KAITSAUKA®, which explored unexpected upcycling techniques through the use of surgical masks as raw materials in the development of fabrics testifying of not so distant apocalyptic times. 

Photo Credits: KAITSAUKA®’s Co-Founders & Creative Directors, Joseph Nicholas Everett Redgun (right) – Designer, Aidan Amore (left) – Artistic Director — (Shot by: @omiid / Edited by: THE UNEksPECTED®)

For dramatic effect, the smoke and light show of FAT’s engineers led by Calder Ross enhanced the display of KAITSAUKA®’s designs and set the melancholic mood to the immersive show baptized “KOYAANISQATSI,” and populated by the “Avastars”—described as per the official show program like: “a fictional cosmogony of AI-bred ultra-beings roaming the Earth on a mission to save the species from the prophecy of a nuclear war. The Native American Hopi phrase ‘koyaanisqatsi’ is said to hint at ‘a state of life out of balance, one that calls for a change’. Although a fictitious scenario, KOYAANISQATSI can’t help but evoke the dangerously topical reality of our global societies, crippled by inhumane wars, genocides, territorial conflicts, and regressive repressions in individuals’ rights. Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, recently reminded us that as intolerable as this state of fact is, it remains but a distraction from the number 1 existential threat to all sentient beings, namely: climate change. While KAITSAUKA® initially refused to fly from Paris to Toronto to mitigate their carbon footprint, they have finally accepted FAT’s FASHN DISRPTR AWARD for they saw an opportunity to recount the federating story of how a community of people were brought together from the four corners of the world in a harmoniously diverse whole, all animated by the shared desire of celebrating the sacred gift of life while we have it, which is each and everyone’s individual responsibility to preserve in the face of danger.” 

Photo Credits: KAITSAUKA®’s Artistic Director & performing muse, Aidan Amore, with Owen Mandala (left), Connor Northrup (right) — (Shot by: @prevalentfocus, @mio_mak / Edited by: THE UNEksPECTED®)

This was the story told by the models fronted by Aidan Amore, gripping a glowing plasma globe with two mummified figures holding the ends of his prominent black train as he gave a live rendition of his famous tune, “Y’all kidZ.”

One by one, the cast strutted the runway until, in a frozen moment in time, the group came together to pose for the cameras while wrapping up the production on “F00LvsWORLD,” another live piece of Amore’s originally composed music—which you can listen to on all your favourite streaming services. 

Watching the show in the moment almost felt like a fever dream, and the entire audience was completely transfixed with each of the looks designed and crafted by the hands of Joseph Nicholas Everett Redgun. The cosmic collection left such an impression on me that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since attending, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. 

While everything about KAITSAUKA® was groundbreaking, their KOYAANISQATSI show in its entirety pushed the audience to interpret what it meant to them. As everyone interprets art differently, there are many different metaphors that the pieces were meant to symbolize in addition to the music choices—It unlocked a path to the imagination; unexpected and unforgettable. 

Authors: Daria Orth, with additional details graciously provided by Joseph Nicholas Everett Redgun & Aidan Amore; Co-Founders & Creative Directors THE UNEksPECTED® by KAITSAUKA®