Those were the moods at two back-to-back shows at different events to close out a week of fashion in Montreal.

Quelle semaine!

Fashion Preview, the showcase for emerging Quebec designers and fashion schools, took to the catwalk for its ninth edition Monday through Wednesday. On the final night, cult favourite Mark Antoine filled the Fashion Preview runway room to capacity – with the added draw of tattooed, dreadlocked diva Annie Sama providing the musical accompaniment. At almost the same time, the Quebec designers’ council held a swish show of 13 accomplished designers at the Bulles et Tapis Rouge gala of the Quebec Pulmonary Association.

Of course, champagne always makes fashion look better, but this was indeed lovely, set in the soaring, glassed Le Parquet hall of the Caisse de dépôt building at Place Jean-Paul Riopelle and orchestrated by Hans Koechling.

The holy trinity of Quebec design – Marie Saint Pierre, Philippe Dubuc and Denis Gagnon – were headliners at the gala show, where it was announced that the CCMQ – the Conseil des créateurs de mode du Québec – was relaunching Montreal Fashion Week. The trinity was augmented by a strong regiment of designers, including Lamarque, the leather specialist; menswear lines Nico Design, Xian and Finezza, Au Nom de L’Homme; Oneself, whose debut at Fashion Preview last season stood out in the crowd; Antonio Ortega Couture; and a luscious new discovery, Claire Lemaître-Auger. Let it be noted that the male ballgown by Antonio Ortega was a divine fit.

The show ended, as expected, after 9, while Mark Antoine was skedded to start at 8:45 p.m. (which nobody believed would happen) so a few of us hightailed it to the Agora at UQAM’s Coeur des sciences to catch the cult designer’s showing of punky plaids and funky fleeces.

Annie Sama at Mark Antoine.

Mark Antoine. Tora Photography for Fashion Preview.

Mark Antoine. Tora Photography for Fashion Preview

The atmosphere at the two shows could not have been any more different. But that’s fashion for you.

What really stood out this season at Fashion Preview were the fashion schools – from Cegep Marie-Victorin, UQAM’s École supérieure de mode, and LaSalle College. The students were in full fashion-student mode, meaning letting their imaginations fly and ignoring any call to real dressing – which may well have been their teachers’ assignment. Marie-Victorin was the most practical of the lot, with sweats and parachute stylings, while many ESM students worked with wild textures: cotton candy stuffing, woolly wiggles with teats, and a dress of organza pastel sleeves stood out. But it was the LaSalle project – a beauty pageant based on the signs of the zodiac – that provided the most amusement and a recollection of John Galliano shows gone by.

A few collections of note at Fashion Preview: Diego Montefusco put his custom men’s shoes on a platter for showing: the colours and patina were impressive. And Velvet Couture had some cute ready for market streetwear.

Velvet Couture

Bespoke shoes by Diego Montefusco.

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Lolli, who is Italian, has a background as an accessories designer and, by chance, found her passion in promoting the Montreal scene after she arrived here nine years ago.

As designers and organizers get ready for the sixth edition of the Montreal fashion showcase, running for three days from Monday, Oct. 24, it may be time to ask: Is Fashion Preview the new Montreal Fashion Week?

It’s beginning to look a bit that way.

“It is a fashion week,’’ said Lolli, founder and director of the event.

Sponsors are joining up and there is some government funding from Quebec and Montreal’s Bureau de la mode, says Lolli.

Emanuela Lolli in Leinad Beaudet at the spring summer 2016 edition of Fashion Preview.

Leinad Beaudet’s austere fall collection.

The latest feather in the cap for the event is a collaboration with Fibres Collectives, an e-commerce outlet and community for Quebec designers. This season, with backing from mmode (the Montreal metropolitan cluster or “grappe” charged with reviving the fashion industry), it will offer select items from the spring Fashion Preview collections on pre-sale.

The designers on offer, the day after their shows, are Helmer, KQK, Leinad Beaudet, Muse by Christian Chenail, Naiké, DUY, Lovan M, Rush Couture, Karma Athletics, Yoga Jeans and Les Incompétents.

That’s in keeping with the industry wide trend to show and sell immediately, breaking the traditional six-month delay in going to market. Consumers see it now, and want it now after all.

And sponsors have been lined up, notably Givenchy (part of the powerful LVMH family) for makeup, Matrix, Loews Hôtel Vogue, Glaceau Smart Water, and Elle Québec. Quebec and the city of Montreal, as well as Tourisme Montréal and the fashion schools are also on board.

But a few things are lacking – namely, major funding and a critical mass of top designers who might have the clout to lure top buyers.

Denis Gagnon was the most prominent name at the start of the Fashion Preview run, and staged creative and innovative shows. But he hasn’t shown in quite a few seasons, and the event seems to draw from upcoming designers, with a few stalwarts – Helmer, Duy, and the return of Christian Chenail – on the calendar this season.

Helmer’s collection of elaborate blouses at the last edition of Fashion Preview.

An installation by WRKDEPT at Fashion Preview.

Drawing the successful, well-known names – Marie Saint Pierre, Philippe Dubuc, Marisa Minicucci, Mackage – has always been an issue, however.

Lolli, with her European connections, has buyers from Brussels, as well as Toronto and Vancouver coming. One or two designers will be chosen to be presented by Le New Black, a European digital platform. And streaming of the shows is under negotiation.

With the demise of Montreal and Toronto’s fashion weeks, there is a gap in the Canadian landscape for designers to showcase their collections at home.

Lolli came to Montreal  with husband, son and new baby in tow, after working in fashion in Paris for 15 years, notably as an accessories designer at Eden Park.

She recounts her path in getting involved in the Montreal fashion biz.

A meeting with Marie Saint Pierre led to an introduction to Diane Duhamel, director of the city’s fashion bureau.

“Everything just clicked,’’ Lolli recalled over breakfast in an Outremont café.

With her experience at Eden Park, which included helping out on the marketing end of things, she met with designers and understood their issues with promotion, production, sales and sourcing of materials.

She didn’t want to do a fashion week – she thought a big organization from Toronto, New York or Europe would step in – so organized a one-day event, at the Phi Centre.

The event grew and eventually moved to Ogilvy’s Tudor Hall before settling in at the Agora Hydro-Québec et Chaufferie, part of UQAM, last season:  700 people came on the first day: there were 2,000 entries over the three days in all.

“If for the 7th, 8th edition, I have more budget (there will be) more, more more.

“If I do that, the fashion designers are going to come. I think they are attracted to prestige.”

Fashion Preview runs Oct. 24-26 at the Agora, 175 President Kennedy. Tickets are available to the public at $25 per evening.

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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

The post Fashion Preview’s fifth edition showcases fall collections: But is it fashion week? appeared first on Eva Friede.

On the menu: cocktails and canapés catered by Buonanotte, a DJ, prizes and booths from the likes of Carrément Tarte, Tailor2Go and the Phi Centre. The main course: a fashion show spotlighting designs by Denis Gagnon, Naïka, Daniel Beaudet and Jennifer Masabni. Gagnon has also designed a limited edition scarf that will be available for sale during the evening.

A limited edition of 150 silk scarves created by Denis Gagnon for Dress for Success. They will be offered for sale at $120 at a fundraiser on March 19.

Dress for Success – known as  L’Étoffe du Succès in Quebec – opened its doors here in September 2014 and has helped more than 200 women in its first year.

Montreal retailers have stepped up for the cause, with Le Château, Reitmans and Dynamite among the businesses donating clothing. Le Château, for instance, has opened its doors to Dress for Success clients in six Canadian cities. By last month, it had outfitted almost 1,800 women seeking jobs across Canada.

Dress for Success offers not just clothing, but advice and support to women looking to get back to work, and stay in the job.

That’s what Awa Diallo found out when she enlisted the help of Dress for Success as she embarked on a job search a few months ago. She had been out of work for a month and a half, and had formerly worked in financial sales and surveys – for which she did not need a professional wardrobe.

“I was warmly welcomed – I was stunned because I wasn’t expecting it,” Diallo said, adding she was shown a selection of dresses that suited her complexion, with jewelry and jackets to match.

Diallo said she received excellent advice, sartorially speaking and otherwise. She offers up her own words of wisdom, too: “When you have an interview, the first impression is very important. Even before you speak, you are observed.”

She points out that different workplaces demand different dress codes.

“I tell people when you go for an interview, be prepared,” she said.

After five interviews, she found a job in banking.

Dress for Success offers services to complement the wardrobe help it is known for, said Véronique Boivin, a founding member and president of the board of the organization in Quebec.

It offers coaching on interview skills and is now starting up a professional women’s group for networking as well as for life skills to help clients stay in a job.

Some facts and figures supplied by DFS:

• 140 affiliates in 19 countries
• 12 affiliates in Canada
• 850,000 women served
• 82 per cent of single family homes in Montreal are headed by a woman; that was 72.655 households in 2011

There are challenges for a new organization, Boivin said, and it is actively seeking funding to hire a director general. Right now, the entire operation is run by volunteers.

“As soon as we have enough funding to be able to hire personnel, then we can start helping more women,” said Boivin, who works as an adviser at Desjardins Group. “We have a long list of organizations that would like to send their clients to us, but unfortunately now we don’t have the capacity to have them come.”

The first annual Evening of Style to benefit Dress for Success is on March 19  at Luciani Infiniti, 4000 Jean Talon St. W. Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets are $150 each, or you can donate at sponsorship levels from Silk (with lounge and bubbly) to Tulle. Visit www.dressforsuccess.org to for more information about the event. Tickets can be bought online at Eventbrite.

Tax receipts will be issued.

To donate clothing, get in touch with Dress For Success at info@dressforsuccessmontreal.org.

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