In need of a fashion fix after the cancellation of Ottawa Fashion Week? Montreal is launching its Fashion & Design Festival Aug. 20-23 with 50 shows, 300 participants and shopping galore. Organizers expect crowds of about 550,000 at the free outdoor extravaganza that promises something for everyone.
Located at Quartier des Spectacles, the cultural heart of
the city, FDF is bringing together emerging and veteran designers, major
retailers, artists and artisans, entertainers and multimedia wizards.
After pulling the plug on Montreal’s Fashion Week, producer Groupe
Sensation Mode decided to focus on their annual summer street festival,
now its 14th year.
“We have made a lot of changes and additions to the
festival this year,” said Chantal Durivage, co-founder and co-president
of Groupe Sensation Mode. “With a new location, the addition of FDF
Collections, which is curated by renowned blogger Garance Dore and
iconic designer Nathalie Rykiel as our honorary president, this year’s
edition of the festival is shaping up to be our biggest one yet.”
Activities begin at noon with events like a stiletto race
and outdoor yoga and a fashion music happy hour daily at 5 p.m. The
party gets started each evening at the main runway stage with shows
featuring a mix of music, video and design.
Fashion designers showcasing their wares include Melow by
Mélissa Bolduc, D Moment (a collective show featuring about 10
designers) and Roxanne Nikki, as well as recent fashion graduates. Some
of the brands taking part in runway shows include Le Château, La Vie en
Rose, Dynamite, Forever 21, Target, Guess and Montreal’s Henriette L.
Boutique. Of course, there’s plenty of shopping to be had, with 25
pop-up shops. Festivalgoers need to purchase a ticket if they want to
see the spring/summer 2015 collections of Ève Gravel, Travis Taddeo,
UNTTLD, Mylène B, Niapsou Design and ying gao on Aug. 18 and Aug. 19 at
the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art.
Honorary chair Nathalie Rykiel, an author and former model who carved out a career working in her family-run fashion house, will deliver a lecture on the theme of elegance.
For a detailed list of events, visit Festivalmodedesign.com
