LOS ANGELES, Mar 31, 2003/ FW/ -- L.A. Fashion week will be introducing Canada's hottest new women's wear and couture designer Paul Hardy's Fall/ Winter 2003 collection in his inaugural American debut April 2 in Los Angeles.

The much-anticipated Fall collection comes on the heels of Hardy's meticulously crafted Spring line of black and white ready to wear garments which created an awakening in the fashion press. Style magazine describes his Fall show as the most eagerly awaited event of the coming season.

With his 'mad-max' shearlings and daring spider-web bobble hand knits, yarns dyed and spun by the finest mills in Ireland, Hardy promises to be one of the freshest examples of raw yet refined talent to come out of the fashion industry north of the border.

"There has never been a Canadian designer who has created an international presence like Paul Hardy has the opportunity to do," says Barbara Atkin of Holt Renfrew. Holt Renfrew describes him in its recent Spring 2003 outlook as " A Designer to Watch."

The excitement around this budding designer is intense.

Hardy, a 29-year-old Canadian, graduated in design from Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto in 1997, collecting a string of industry awards for design excellence. After living and studying in London, Toronto, and New York, he began selling high end fashions for Holt Renfrew, the prestigious Canadian retailer, and launched an exploding design career.

After creating innovative couture wedding dresses, evening wear and day wear for fashion forward clients for five years, they pressed him to take his designs commercial. Last October, his first commercial collection for Summer 2003 showed at Toronto Fashion Week to rave reviews from retailers and the fashion press.

"The week could be called an eye-opening experience. But those who witnessed Calgary designer Paul Hardy's debut... might instead use the word revelation... you began to feel that this was it - the Second Coming... Than what you heard were the sound of jaws dropping, as those watching felt that yes, this was something magnificent emerging from the wilderness. A star was born." Deidre Kelly, The Globe and Mail.

"Over the years, devout fashion follower that I am, it's been a privilege to meet major talents who are just embarking on their careers...Marc Jacobs...Stella McCartney... There's a gut feeling you get when you see high-calibre talent early on, and the excitement of the discovery gives way to a heartening optimism... It happened to me this week when I dropped by a loft apartment in the Merchandise Building to preview the wares of Calgary's Paul Hardy... all interesting and edgy and, most importantly, wearable... my faith in fashion's future has been restored." Jeanne Bekker, host for Fashion Television, National Post

Hardy also has a strong spiritual dedication which flows through his collection and his life. Fall 2003 models will walk down the runway with clay smeared eyes exemplifying the line from the Biblical passage John 9: "He anointed the eyes of the blind man with clay..." The clay collection was also inspired by the creation of man "from the dust of the Earth..."

Primitive footwear will wrap all models' feet. Minnesota's Steger Mukluks, founded by Patti Steger Holmberg, wife of a famed explorer, developed the trade after studying with native women of the North.

Hardy says he's making a statement "about a process of development, the journey of life we are on, perceiving an idea but never being certain of its outcome. It's about believing in the hidden things not seen." That attention to detail includes finishing the garments as beautifully inside as outside.

His earthy collection of carefully crafted designs in luxe cashmeres, silks, skins and knits is reminiscent of the Belgium design movement and LA design sensation Rick Owens.

"I'm in love with the cropped shearlings and goat suede palazzo pants," says Hardy, who exudes an insightful, bohemian intensity. Hardy's quest is to do more that clothe people - it is to enhance people's lives with clothing which inspires their spirit and to contribute back to the world through missions and charities.