The words Blue Steel were buzzing around the room at the debut fashion show of Ultra men’s collection. You’d think Christopher Bates might not be impressed by the reference to the infamous Zoolander runway pose, but he’s not your typical designer. Born in Vancouver and having spent the last 10 years touring Europe, the atypical Bates recently launched Ultra, his atypical clothing label, with an equally atypical runway show and party at Tunnel Multi-Lounge on West Pender Street.

When asked to describe what inspired his debut collection, Bates answers, “Euro-trash, a jet-set summer set to Depeche Mode, and dirty electronic music.” Really? “I was influenced by my time living and studying in fashion-conscious Milan, a very stimulating environment,” says the designer, who some at the show compared to Tom Cruise for his shoulder-length, wavy brown hair and overzealous runway bow. And while the slim silhouette, form-fitting jackets and tight trousers—all “very Scandinavian”, comments Bates—and embroidered detailing beg a daring, Euro-fashion sensibility, Bates was determined to launch Ultra here in his hometown.

“My goal has always been to have a strong presence in Canada and especially in Vancouver, where I was born and raised,” says Bates, a fashion-design graduate of the prestigious Istituto Marangoni in Milan. The debut Ultra collection (which is officially for spring 2009, but some items are already available) consists of a full range of blazers, jackets, dress shirts, T-shirts, tanks, trousers, and belts.

Bates was also inspired by Antonio Banderas’s costumes in the 1995 film Desperado, and that influence is evident in both his designs and in the names of pieces. For instance, there is a black Desperado poplin dress shirt ($325) with an embroidered, black scorpion, black Desperado trousers ($395) in waxed linen with the same detail, and a black nubuck leather Desperado blazer ($1,500) with the scorpion splayed across the back of the right shoulder.

“In general, my style is undeniably very Euro,” agrees Bates, who cites cruising the streets and partying in the clubs of Germany, Latvia, and Scandinavia as other inspirations for his line. To him, Ultra is a combination of the best-dressed men in Milan, who effortlessly update classics with a modern twist, and Stockholm style, which he describes as minimalistic and futuristic. “Overall, the collection possesses a techno-modern masculinity,” he says.

Canadian men can find Ultra in Vancouver at Gastown’s Seventy Three boutique (73 East Cordova Street), and Bates is confident that his attention to detail makes it different from what’s already available in the market. Explaining his brand doesn’t follow trends, he says, “Rather, its distinctive look evolves from my instincts and personal taste.” Bates adds that the label is unique for its bold designs, high-quality materials, innovative details, and the fact that the entire line is produced and manufactured locally.

Bates uses an adventurous fabric range that encompasses distressed leather and nubuck, perforated lamb suede, waxed linen and denim, metallic linen, and custom-printed mesh—materials more likely to be seen in women’s couture than menswear. He’s also added flattering seams to blazers; given technical razor and surgeon cuffs to dress shirts; used flashes of bright teal and pale pink against an otherwise somber palette of white, black, and silver; and chosen a diagonal, cross-body zipper closure for the Highlander Bomber leather jacket ($1,900), which comes in turquoise or black. Ultra has even stretched into white-leather snakeskin-print ankle boots (by custom order only) and a white- or black-leather logo belt ($250).

And if the male models all looked like characters out of Zoolander when they were posing in the Ultra collection? Well, perhaps that Euro-trash flourish was just what Bates is going for.