She’s got the fashion world on her shoulders. Debbie Zakaib has been named executive director of mmode, the Montreal fashion industry cluster – or grappe, as it is known in French.
Mmode has been seven years in the making: it has four goals: to build a brand image for Montreal, train a workforce, offer tech support and develop export markets.
We all know the double whammy that has hit the fashion industry: first the elimination of import quotas in 2005, and now the internet revolution, which has changed how we consume information, fashion and just about everything else.
Zakaib, with a background in fashion marketing, has worked in fashion promotion for Quebec, as well as at l’Oréal, Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson. She had a blog for Clin d’Oeil and is active on the contemporary art scene with the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.
Debbie Zakaib, new director of mmode, the fashion industry cluster that is tasked with lifting the business out of the doldrums. PHOTO, CHANTAL POIRIER
She’s taking up her post in January, but agreed to answer several pressing questions, because, frankly, her mission is pressing.
Asked about the biggest challenge she faces, Zakaib was politic: “One of the challenges, but I think it’s an opportunity, is to work with everybody in the industry,” she said. “It will be a challenge to be able to cover the interests of all the different partners and sectors in a positive way.
“People really want to work together now. They understand the advantages of working together.”
On the greatest strength in the industry, she said there was a history of people coming from different backgrounds. The steering committee – François Roberge of La Vie en Rose, Anna Martini of Dynamite, Elliot Lifson of Peerless, among others – is very strong, she added.
There is a detailed 10-year plan, she said, joking she does not have a 10-year contract.
On her first move, she has her work cut out for her just getting an office, telephone, and other logistics in place, as well as strategic moves like getting a board of directors together, which, she said, has to be transparent and represent all sectors of the industry. “Then we will have to work very rapidly on the different objectives.”
Which brought us to my next question: how to move the slow boat of bureaucracy: “That is one of the challenges. What I would love to do – (is not) work in a very heavy organization,” she said, adding she wants quick successes, so many parties will want to get on board.
For instance, she said, she might organize meetings where bigger players could share their expertise on exports, e-commerce or textile sourcing, or set up mentoring partnerships.
How to bridge differences among the players: “By being very result driven, and showing everyone that I am there for the right reasons; I want to make a difference.
“It’s good that I am not from the industry specifically. And I will try to bring what I have learned in the past to create a positive wave. I am very confident.”
