Montreal Fashion Week has healthier look

Montreal’s semi-annual fashion week had a healthier appearance as it wrapped up Thursday night, said participants.

The 18th edition of the event was the first to be held since Quebec adopted a charter encouraging the promotion of a healthier image of women last fall.

Under the charter, the province's fashion industry agreed to regulate itself in an attempt to help fight extreme thinness.

The charter's effects had an impact on the working conditions for models during Montreal's fashion week, said Marie-Josée Trempe, who runs the Specs modeling agency.

Models had to be over the age of 16 and organizers made sure they got enough food and water, said Trempe.

Trempe represents Sarah Jordan, an 18-year-old from Saskatchewan who is being touted as the next Canadian "it" girl.

At five-foot-eleven, Jordan is a size four.

"She's not your typical skinny, scrawny model," said Trempe. "She's got a really beautiful, beautiful body — like a woman's body with soft curves."

At least one Montreal designer said she is looking for even bigger changes on the runway.

Katrin Leblond said she's had enough of size-zero models on the runways, adding that her "real woman" approach to fashion has kept her busy and prosperous through the recession.

When she couldn’t find size six to eight models at agencies, Leblond looked elsewhere.

"Through emails, even on Craigslist and posters up in the store even asking our clients if they would be interested in coming to a casting," said Leblond. "Finally, our last stop was the acting agencies where we found our grandmother."

The audience reacted with surprise and applause to the 80-year-old woman with waist-length grey hair.

Good sales expected

Fashion week also featured displays and runway shows from about two dozen industry talents such as women's ready-to-wear designer Nadya Toto and Philippe Dubuc, who specializes in couture men's wear.

Business is brisk for some top designers, but industry experts believe designers need more government funding.

"I think we are in a big transition," said Dubuc. "But, it's not only here, it's worldwide.

"If we talk about the creativity, the talent and the designers, I still think Montreal is the strongest city in Canada for that."

In Montreal, the fashion industry, which gets support from both the city and the province, generates an estimated $2 billion a year.