Every year the savvy Toronto International Film Festival bedazzles the city, ushering flocks of hungry film goers all site seeing the films and famous.

Along with the festivities of film, so to comes the numerous parties, and this year #StyleCastingTIFF synergized tech, fashion and film into an evening of spectacle, highlighting emerging artists who are bridging various art worlds into functional fashion that is trendy, eye-popping and innovative.

 Angella Mackey is one of these artists.

Coming out of Gothenburg, Sweden, Mackey has incorporated a design-fulfilling art form that allows those who like to move (aka cycle etc.) the ability to dress functionality with allure – a luminous allure.

 “All the attire was designed to be worn both just as garments or actively.  This applies to design and choice of materials such as the British Millerain fabric for the rain coat.  The lights can be turned on as a fashion accent, like jewelry, but perhaps with a bit more bling or for safety day or night.  Safety applies to cycling or walking the dog for example,” explains co-founder Ian McCallum.

The designs involve an array of lucid lights and transformative, simplistic yet radiating looks available mainly for women (at the moment).

“In the present collection only one item – the Aura [angellamackey.ca/collections/all/products/flight] was designed in several different versions one of which can be worn by men,” according to McCallum.

Blending the fabrics with the futuristic, Mackey’s designs range for scarf-lit inserts to full coats, to designer smocks to a personal favourite, the ‘City Jaunt’

“The combination of fashion and the lighting accessory is attractive to global markets.  The winter coats are too warm for some climates such as in Brazil and even in South Africa. However, for the cycling market specifically, while the garment is equally attractive to women in both North America and in Europe, a far high percentage of European women cycle commute and the majority want to be dressed stylishly when they do so.  That trend is developing slowly in North America.”

Sometimes the understated can be the quietest form of class and designs that are easily carried over to the casual demure frontier yet still dressy are those staple finds that keep fashion boundless; everyone can appreciate a turn on when they want it – right?

To learn more about the brand go here [angellamackey.ca/pages/about]

To see the full collection and learn more about how to purchase go here [angellamackey.ca/collections/all].

Photo credit: Kent Zeiron