Amanda Shaw talks ‘Amity in Flux,’ Her Graduate Capstone Collection with Alicia Unwin
by Alicia Unwin
Look 4: ‘More Than Just a Three Hour Brunch Friend,’ Model: Paulina Tapia
Making a name for yourself in anything Fashion-related is no easy feat. In a chat with Toronto-based designer Amanda Shaw, who hails from Calgary, Alberta, she dives into the dedication to her craft and the inspiration and emotions that went into her graduate capstone collection, ‘Amity in Flux’. Presented at Toronto Metropolitan Univerisity’s Mass Exodus 2026 runway show the collection features five splendid and colorful avant garde cocktail dresses. Alicia Unwin is a friend to Amanda and a fellow graduate, who also presented a runway collection, but for everyone the journey is always interesting in different ways.
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Alicia: Amanda! I feel like I got to see little tidbits here and there of your collection but it’s so nice to do a formal chat and dive into the all the details. Could you tell me a bit about your brand?
Amanda: My brand is called Maudette which is a mish mash of ideas. “Maud” is after the Car Seat Headrest song Maud Gone which is about a lost muse, a concept which I find very intriguing. Maud is also a way of naming the brand after myself without actually naming it after myself. I often go by Mand and by flipping the “n” upside down you get Maud. This is advice we were given in fourth year so that you can separate your work from yourself. [Lowers voice] Always a good idea. Finally the “ette” suffix is borrowed from French and it’s generally used to indicate a female version of something or a small version of something, which alludes to my love for dolls.
Alicia: That’s really clever! I’m really in awe of the song to nickname letter-flip to thoughtfulness around your passion for dolls! And true, the distinction between yourself and work is a smart move. I feel like things can get lost in translation a lot, especially with capstone, which can be kinda grueling so it makes sense. What’s the thought behind your collection and its name?
Amanda: My collection ‘Amity in Flux’ is just a fancy way of saying friendship through a period of change which is the topic I grapple with throughout the collection. I took inspiration from the Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig film Frances Ha in which Frances struggles to learn to define herself outside of her best friend Sophie and be comfortable in herself while all she really wants is connection. Being a sentimental person with a close friend group I found the transition to university away from my hometown very bittersweet and as I got busier it was harder to be the friend I had once been when I had so much free time.
Alicia: Wow, yeah I can’t imagine being away from my friends for such long periods of time, especially because school is such a social environment. It’s tough to keep up that connection with friends so far away.
Amanda: Yeah, It made me reflect on who I was to the people I love in a more critical way and how they affected me. The collection is simultaneously a set of lessons I learned in being friends with others as an adult and what a blessing it is to have people you care so much about.
Alicia: I’m sure it was a very introspective experience. It sounds like people play such a critical role to the collection and your work. Are there color palettes or references that help guide your design process?
Amanda: It might be the only child in me but I have always been drawn to people so my art reflects that. In tandem with that, memories of the people I love and the things that I loved as a kid also inform my creations. Colour is very important to me because I feel happiest surrounded by bright and saturated colours. My design sketchbook is usually a mess of highly saturated photos, often my own, and paintings collaged together.
Collage by Amanda Shaw for ‘Amity in Flux’ via Instagram
Alicia: I will admit I’ve peeped at your sketchbook sometimes whenever you’re working and we’re next to each other. I always loving the references you pull from and how you do mix-media like sketching over the pictures. Did you have a favourite look from the collection?
Amanda: My favourite look is look 5, Laughing and Shining (the Glow) because I feel like it creates the best illusion of four dolls coming together to form a dress as opposed to a dress that has dolls on it. I also really love it for the feeling of joy that it inspires and the technique I used to layer ribbon together to make doll hair.
‘Amity in Flux’ Look 5, Photo by Jack Hathaway @cosplay, Model: Mikayalah Avani
Alicia: The ribbon hair was fantastic! I love that you used so many different textures and widths of ribbon. It totally added depth to the 3D dolls. So what do you think is next? I know we recently had our graduation ceremony, has it got you thinking about what lies in the near or far future?
Amanda: Finally graduating felt like the arrival of the inevitable quarter life crisis I had been putting off by going to university in the first place. I felt really comfortable existing within the structure of high school and then university and now I don’t really have that which is somewhat disconcerting.
Alicia: Ugh, I feel the same. We’ve talked about this before, but we’re definitely people that like that day to day routine and tasks to do with a greater purpose.
Amanda: Yeah, it’s like, I go back and forth between wanting fashion to be my career and seeing it as more of a hobby. I know for sure that I’m going to pursue it on my own terms because my vision is very specific to me and it wouldn’t make me happy to put loads of hours into creating something I wasn’t 100% passionate about. It seems like the general mindset of the industry is all or nothing which is very frustrating. My hope is that I will get to earn money, not have to work long hours and also get to make things I’m proud of whether that be dresses or dolls, or both! The best advice I’ve gotten is to just shut up and do it so I guess we’ll see how that pans out.
Alicia: Wise words, the fashion industry is rough out there. ‘Shut up and do it!’ I’m all for it! Thanks Mand.
Check out Amanda’s work on Instagram
