The 80s and Canada’s Festival of Fashion
March 23rd, 2010 | posted by Rachel S | Posted in News
pic: http://news.google.com circa 1995
I went to fashion school in 2003 – and now I can admit that I or any of my classmates had no idea who Brian Bailey, Hoax Couture or Linda Lundstrom were (all Canadian fashion designers ‘big’ in the 80s/early 90s).
Designers like Wayne Clarke, the Comrags gals or Blitz Kids…? Never heard of ‘em.
However, ‘back when Spadina had a garment industry, the Festival of Canadian Fashion… a five-day, multi-tiered trade show behemoth’, was the format for ‘creating momentum in Canadian fashion’. It was a platform for Canadian fashion designers, hair stylists, photographers and make-up artists to come together in what we call ‘Fashion Week’ today.
It was a year ago that writer Rea McNamara wrote “Sell Love: Long before Fashion Week told us how to “show love”, the Festival of Canadian Fashion sold style to the masses in an explosion of ’80s excess. So why haven’t you heard of it?”
Worth a read: http://www.eyeweekly.com/style/features/article/54936
