Toronto Fashion Week rises from ashes into a crowded field

A large transparent tent took over much of Yorkville Avenue this week and welcomed both international stars and Toronto's fashion industry elite, all anxious to see what the new organizers had in store for the resurrected Toronto Fashion Week.

All the while, across town, another fashion event, RE\SET, showcased static presentations and runway shows —including a virtual reality experience — from 26 emerging designers.

It's the latest silent battle in the city's fashion world: smaller events have been competing for the attention of fashionistas ever since American company IMG pulled out of Toronto Fashion Week last year, citing a lack of local support and funding.

• Scrapping Toronto Fashion Week is 'shocking and disappointing'

The shiny new kid on the block is the latest incarnation of Toronto Fashion Week, after a group of investors led by condo developer Peter Freed scooped up the event's name from IMG and decided to move the marquee event to Yorkville, the city's fashion hub.

Big name draws

The idea behind the new event is to re-imagine the traditional fashion week, making it a short three-day event and focusing on a smaller list of established designers.

The fashion week is also trying to respond to changes in the industry by playing with the traditional format and showcasing a mix of next season's styles and see-now-buy-now designs that are already available in stores.

But a big part of the new Toronto Fashion Week is to draw international names to town for its "In Conversation" series. This year's list included Jean-Paul Gaultier, the enfant terrible of French fashion in his very first visit to Toronto, as well as art and fashion writer Derek Blasberg and photographer and Instagram darling Petra Collins.

"We can't just create a Canadian echo chamber per se," said Suzanne Cohon, Toronto Fashion Week's ambassador. "By bringing in the international talent, we're bringing in international interests [and] international press that really are curious about what we have happening here," she said, adding that it contributes to the buzz around the city and Canada's designers.

Toronto Fashion Week chose to showcase Pink Tartan, Bustle and Lucian Matis, among others this year, with high-profile label Mackage notably absent.

FASHION magazine editor-in-chief Noreen Flanagan noted the organizers "have big dreams" to create a "fashion festival", but she said people will have to wait to see how the event grows.  

"They're still in their infancy," Flanagan told CBC News. "I appreciate the fact that they have a curated selection of Canadian designers at a certain level," she said, as opposed to the previous fashion week's mix of designers, which was "confusing to the consumer and to the buyer."

'A little bit crowded'

Hot on the heels of the two fashion events this week will be a third one starting at the end of the month: Toronto Men's Fashion Week coupled with Toronto Women's Fashion Week.

Many players in the industry shrugged off worries, saying there is room for everyone and that each fashion event has its own specific focus and audience.

"We're actually only talking about three fashion platforms and there seems to be a little bit of a drama around it," Jeff Rustia, the head of the group running Toronto Men's and Women's Fashion Weeks said with a laugh, while pointing to other big fashion cities that host "a hundred" music and comedy events.

Still, some local designers worry about splitting the attention of both consumers and the media.

"It's getting a little bit crowded," said Hayley Elsaesser, a Toronto-based designer known for her colourful and whimsical clothes who was one of the only seven designers with a runway show at the new Toronto Fashion Week.

"Why do we need even more [events] to spread the minimal attention we have?" she asked. "It is worrisome that the press and the public have their eyes in so many different places."

Longtime fashion journalist Jeanne Beker lamented the fact that the city's fashion scene is so fragmented, leaving fashion lovers shuttling from one area of the city to another, if they wanted to check out both Lucian Matis at Toronto Fashion Week, and emerging designer Sid Niegum's runway show at the RE\SET event across town.

"I wish there was more dialogue between factions. I really wish we could come together in a way that we've been hoping for, praying for, dreaming about for so many years now and we still can't manage to do it," Beker said.

But for industry marketing consultant Leesa Butler, the main question is whether the splashy new Toronto Fashion Week is here to stay.

"The biggest challenge will be to attract sponsorship dollars. We just don't have marketing budgets that are able to throw six figures at a fashion event in this country," she said. "There's also a lot more competition for sponsorship dollars in Toronto."