Since its inception four years ago, Toronto Alternative Arts & Fashion Week has developed a weighty reputation as a legitimate and cutting-edge, um, alternative to LG Fashion Week. [FAT] emphasizes creation over commercialism, and inclusion over elitism, or so I've heard.

More than 200 independent contributors are set to explore the ideas of Home, Planet, Gutter, and Beyond through fashion, photography, dance, and music over the next four days. Starting out close to Home, I checked out the Distillery District's Fermenting Cellar to see if [FAT]shion Week could live up to its hype.

Keeping stride with this season's underwear-as-outerwear trend, recent Ryerson grads Kristin Poon and Justine Diener, the designers behind Diepo, found a balance between the two. The result? Think half-dressed Hitchcock heroines.

Katrina Tuttle showed simple but sophisticated designs with sky-high hemlines: babydoll meets all dolled up.

Jillian Grant's NahanĂŠe collection suggested another meaning behind the acronym: [F] for feathers, [A] for *ss, [T] for t*ts. Following the week's spirit of inclusion, a pair of scantily clad, not-so-scantily muscled men shared the runway with the ladies. Boys -- call me. Yes, both of you.

A little bit Nordic and a little bit not, Love ClichĂŠ, by Belinda Visag, blended wool and silk in natural, bold colours with feathers and fringes. Voluminous, cropped silhouettes maintained a modern look.

Pink Lady's artistic, flirty Matryoshka line experimented with felt as a staple fabric. A balance of cutouts and embellishments established an arts-and-crafts feel.

Y'know those effortlessly, maddeningly, impossibly cool girls you pass on the street? Ten bucks says Those Girls get all their clothes from Yang Yang. Her collection spanned from slouchy to sporty while always remaining cheeky and oh-so-stylish.

All photos by Alana Seldon.