But is it fashion week? The fifth edition of Fashion Preview kicks off Tuesday, featuring about a dozen shows from designers both starting out and established.
Helmer Joseph, the couturier with experience in Paris, is back on the catwalk, showcasing a new collection based on shirts and winter coats, and made in Montreal and Haiti.
A feminine shirt from Helmer Joseph’s fall winter 2016 lookbook. COURTESY HELMER
Also up: Travis Taddeo, Leinad Beaudet, Claudette Floyd, WRKDEPT, and Jennifer Glasgow, among others. As usual, the event will feature an accessories showrom with about 16 booths, including Annick Lévesque and Holdur for leather goods and handbags, and Mohawk Bijoux and Ella Dugré for jewellry.
The scene at Leinad Beaudet’s show last October.
Denis Gagnon’s spring summer 2016 show, shown last fall as part of Fashion Preview.
The Joncas twins presentation at the last edition of Fashion Preview.
And there will be capsules from the École supérieure de mode at ESG-UQAM, the École de mode at the Cégep Marie-Victorin, the technology centre Vestechpro, as well as Fibres Collectives.
The event aims to showcase emerging designers, but there is usually a big name attraction to bolster the program. Denis Gagnon has often lent his drama and design sensibility to the event; this season, Helmer takes the honours.
Asked whether Fashion Preview is actually fashion week, Helmer, as he is called, said, “I hope not. Because fashion week is about showing trends.”
It’s better, he said, because the event includes a showroom and there are buyers.
Organizer Emanuella Lolli has enlisted up some European buyers, from Bon Marché, Groupe Joyce, and Noseason in Paris.
“The spirit and the idea are good. You have to open doors for young designers.”
Helmer lamented the absence of a formal fashion week, which was cancelled in 2013 by its producers, Sensation Mode, which now concentrates on taking fashion to the streets with the Festival Design & Mode. Fashion Preview has since sprung up, and now there is talk of another fashion showcase for the city focusing on technology.
We have the talent and the government grants to mount a fashion week here, Helmer said. “How can we not have a fashion week here?” he asked, noting Montreal is a big city, with audacity and talented designers.
“There are too many conflicts of interest,”
Fashion Preview runs Tuesday through Thursday, April 5-7, at the Agora Hydro-Quebec at the Coeur des Sciences of UQAM, 175 President Kennedy Ave. The public can buy tickets here.
Doors open each evening at 5:30, with shows to start at 6 p.m. Here is the schedule:
Tuesday, April 5
• Helmer
• Leinad Beaudet
• Allcovered Fashion
• Travis Taddeo
• WRKDEPT
Wednesday, April 6
• Collectif College LaSalle
• Jennifer Glasgow
• KQK
• Special Guest : Emi Jeen
Thursday, April 7
• Dominique Ouzilleau
• Maison Cyma
• Claudette Floyd
• Alexandre dit Sandy
• Lushyne
