Canadian designer David Szeto is the new elegant. One needn’t look further than his work for proof: the bow-front blouse, the crocheted top, the turquoise silk dress with black leopard print, sleeveless, its twisted straps wrapping like tendrils around the collarbone. Szeto, 40, embodies an eloquence that feels vintage and vanguard.

There’s a bold verve in the Szeto look, confidence and grace (with just a dollop of disdain) that transcends the ostentation that pervades most corners of the contemporary fashion world. Imagine Coco Chanel at a café, cigarette in hand, her eyes fixed on the Place de la Concorde -- in the year 2008.

The Vancouver native began designing when he was only 13 (his sister needed sewing help for a school project). In New York, he studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology. He recently moved from Paris, his longtime base, to the Belgian capital of Brussels. “My company is growing very quickly,” Szeto says, “and I really needed more space.” Plus, he adds, Paris is “difficult,” with its 35-hour work week, the hassle of hiring (and often firing) employees, not to mention his growing roster of American and British clients who want their clothing yesterday.

Szeto’s assistants rib him for returning to the same themes and colors from one season to the next. But he can’t help it. He loves the “old couture,” Greta Garbo chic. He can’t get enough of blue, especially “jadish green blue,” but also royal blue, navy blue, electric blue. When asked about inspiration, Szeto’s voice betrays a sense of excitement: “I look to see what’s out there, and I try to design things that don’t yet exist, things you can’t even find.”