Creativity or Commercialism?
Canada has not long considered itself a fashion leader or tried to compete in this arena. Nor has it pretended to offer the array of talent you might see elsewhere across the world. But then why would it – Canada is still a very new country; it is new to the age-old generations of skill and thinking required perhaps, the Italian approach to excellence, the French haute couture je ne sais quoi, or perhaps the American modern masters. For example Fashion Week in Paris if governed by a law ruling, that a fashion house can only be deemed haute couture, and therefore participate, if it produces 35 limited, hand-sewn made-to-order day and evening pieces designed by at least a team of 15 full-time employees.
So does fashion week in Toronto offer the international fashion industry anything at all? Does it make us stop and pay attention; is it even capable of pulling in the punters? Can it generate income and be in the forefront of the fashion scene? The short answer is no, at least not in this decade. Even some fashion savvy Canadians will admit it, Sarah Nicole Prickett of Fashion magazine and Eyeweekly.com said, “It is a fact of working in Toronto that if you are good enough at your job, you’ll sooner or later be thought of as ‘too good for Toronto.’ Certainly most fashion people, at least, think this of themselves. It’s true that if you want to find out who’s actually doing things in local fashion, the last place you should go is Toronto’s LG Fashion Week. Go to a real one. “
On attending London’s Fashion week, she also described a collection she saw as.” dazzlingly methodical, and moving, seriously. I had the kind of moment after which you realize you’ve been holding your breath.” This is exactly what Im talking about – this is what fashion should do to you. Make you pause and almost cry or faint a little bit.
Toronto offers a very polished, clean, but highly commercial week of industry linked associations. It is dotted with all those sponsors you would see at a household products fair. New irons from Rowena®, carpets from Korhani®, Special K® cereal new product launches and even DHL® make it in.
The event pulls in those interested in a brief dabble in the industry; a touch of something that feels like it should be fashion week but lacks the heart wrenching presence of fashion & thereby the media, celebrity or designer. It is a forum for household brands to cash in – a ‘marketing budget’ spend, on which to focus a PR effort within the Canadian market.Balanced with this reality, there are some talented young designers squeezing in, qualifying the term ‘Fashion Week’. Im not sure collections by brands from Loblaw’s (a food retailers in Canada) qualify. But perhaps Toronto fashion week is what it needs to be, and for Canada provides all that is required. A commercial entity, that provides a peek of marketing activity twice a year.
Emily Grice
Toronto's Fashion Week - the commercial entity July 2011
