The Festival Mode & Design takes to the streets, theatres, conference rooms and museums of Montreal for its 18th edition August 20-25, with an eclectic program of fashion, music, dance, conferences and films. Among the highlights: talks by Robert Lepage, editor Caroline Issa and two Christian Dior luminaries, nose François Demachy and historian Vincent Leret, [...]
Smart wear is here. T-shirts, bras, gadgets and watches are wired with sensors to enhance athletic performance and monitor health. In Montreal, OMsignal has developed applications for T-shirts and bras that measure heart rate, breathing, calories burned and other biometrics for health care, personal care and sports. Hexoskin has developed biometric shirts for aerospace, medical [...]
In 1987, Marie Charest had big dreams to launch her fashion design label. Late one evening at the St-Denis St. landmark restaurant L’Express, her friend Thierry made a suggestion: “Use your own name,’’ he advised. That she did, but changed it to Marie Saint Pierre – St-Pierre being her mother’s name. The anecdote is one [...]
Montreal's fashion retailers are the subject of Part 4 in a project exploring the city's fashion history. The project is initiated by the Festival Mode & Design, with support from the City of Montreal. Reitmans, Le Château, Dynamite, La Vie en Rose, Laura, Tristan, Marie Claire, Lolë, Frank + Oak, Aldo – and then some. Montreal [...]
Here is the third instalment in a series of essays on the history of fashion in Montreal. The essays are part of a video project, done with the Festival Mode & Design, with portraits and videography by Dario Ayala, to mark Montreal's 375th anniversary. To come: retail with LE CHÂTEAU's Herschel Segal and Frank And [...]
This is the second in a series of essays on the history of Montreal fashion. Mandated by the Festival Mode & Design, with support from the city of Montreal, the essays accompany a video series that is in its final stages and seeking a broadcast partner. There are six capsules: today, here is a look [...]
Olivier Theyskens burst on to the fashion scene around the time I started covering it – in 1998. He was moody and dark, romantic and feminine, and I quickly became a fan. A true talent, he was hired to design the Rochas line, Nina Ricci and then Theory, which put me over the moon as [...]
Welcome Editions de robes, second edition. The Mile End dress shop, known for its dedication to the allure of the dress and for nurturing fresh design talent, has opened a branch on Crescent St., in the heart of the Golden Square Mile. Julie Pesant and partner Michel Lepage are carrying the award-winning collection of Frédéric and Mathieu [...]
It started as a joke, says Duy Nguyen, the couturier with the lavish label DUY. Now he’s opened a popup shop with his Duyoorrr line of sweats and street wear, in concert with a few other Montreal labels. “You have Valentina on St-Hubert St., you have Prado, and why not Duyoorrr?’’ he said on opening day [...]
The buzz about Mark Antoine has been building since his student days at UQAM just two years ago. This week, fans packed the closing show of the seventh edition of Fashion Preview for a rousing finale to the week. Bursts of orange from burnt to bright and neon green stood out, as did touches of glitter (sleeves [...]