The Drake series is what I’ve affectionately dubbed Gail McInnes’ presentation of events at the Queen West hotel during LG Fashion Week. After the “tents” closed (not tents at all but the Fashion Week venue), many of the journalists covering LG scurried over to the Drake to catch Carrie Hayes on Thursday, then Caitlin Power on Friday. After Fashion Week finished, discussion continued on Saturday as we gathered in the Drake’s Underground for a brunch-time panel on the present and future of Fashion Week in Toronto and what the newly-expanded sponsorship from IMG means for the event.
Moderator Leesa Butler, whose website the F-List promotes and provides a one-stop-shop for Canadian fashion, opened by asking the panel to share their thoughts on IMG expanding its reach as a sponsor of Toronto Fashion Week. Nathalie Atkinson, style editor at the National Post disagreed that the new sponsorship would have any impact because “sponsors care more about sponsors than designers”. LOVAS designer, Wesley Badanjak, who showcased at LG agreed saying:
“Fashion Week is not about us; it’s an outlet to make money for other people. IMG being brought in is just to increase dollars and not for us.”
Wesley mentioned there is a very different feeling at Montreal Fashion Week where the designers take front and centre. MFW is closed to the public while LG is in the habit of selling tickets for many of its shows and some say it has become a consumer event rather than an industry one.
Another point Wesley brought up is that the buying season is virtually over once LG finally kicks off at the end of October. Juan Carlos Gaona, owner of the luxury boutique Magnolia, agreed. Attracting buyers is one of the big reasons designers generally invest the thousands of dollars it takes to stage a runway showcase. Granted, it’s cheaper to show at LG than elsewhere around the world like New York or Paris, but the cost of a show here is still in the $10,000 range. Wesley admitted that all of the buying for his collection had already been done and his show was more of a way to make the buyers feel special and for them to see the way the garments they’ve already purchased look and move on real models.
Anita Clarke, blog author of I Want I Got said she hopes the new sponsorship results in a more cohesive Canadian Fashion Week where designers come to Toronto from Vancouver and Montreal rather than the fragmented system we have in place now. Most fashion journalists agree that LG Fashion Week as it stands does not warrant a five-day festival and a lot of the shows that are presented are essentially filler.
“A runway show should be a spectacle,” said Nathalie.
Many shows feature clothes that, in spite of being beautiful and well-made, are not runway-worthy. Flare editor Lisa Tant famously and gently suggested that perhaps a three-day fashion week in Toronto would suffice and most journalists agree. This panel’s three wishes for the future of Toronto Fashion Week?
1. Build a more cohesive Canadian vision of Fashion Week in Toronto.
2. Put designers front and centre and allow them to show off-site and still be part of official roster rather than ostracize them for doing so.
3. Rather than “play in the same sandbox” with other Fashion Weeks, establish a unique identity that avoids unfavourable comparison.
Photos courtesy of Jason Howlett.
