Famous Canadian Designers Who Changed the Fashion Landscape
Famous Designers, Clientele, and Styles
Famous Canadian designers such as Denis Gagnon, Kimberley Newport-Mimran, and Sid Neigum offer futuristic-looking collections and focus on extremes, blurred lines, electric colors, and feminine and elegant designs. They are well-received, bold, and extremely talented. Sid Neigum is a fashion designer and experimentalist who creates new designs, shapes, and silhouettes. His designs and collections are inspired by architecture, sculpture, music, and street fashion. He has received several awards, including the Nextfest's Emerging Artist Award and the Emerging Designer Award. Kimberley Newport-Mimran is a Canadian fashion designer based in Toronto who launched her first line in 2002. Pink Tartan was launched by Joseph Mimran and Newport-Mimran, featuring sportswear and womenswear. Newport-Mimran has designed uniforms for major businesses such as the Holt Renfrew stores, Tropicana bar, Porter Airlines, and others. Her collections are offered in many stores in England, Greece, Japan, Korea, Dubai, and other countries. Duy Nguyen is another fashion designer who is known for futuristic designs as well as sophisticated, elegant, and feminine designs. Greta Constantine is the brainchild of Stephen Wong and Kirk Pickersgill who are based in Toronto. Their collections are featured by names such as ELLE, FQ, British Vogue, Vogue, and others. Their clientele includes movie stars and celebrities such as Stacey Kimmel, Victoria Beckham, Iman, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Hudson, and others. Stephen Wong and Kirk Pickersgill are famous for their jersey dresses, but their also offer menswear. Ezra Constantine is another fashion line they designed.
Other fashion labels are Mackage, Smythe, DUY, and Joe Fresh. Their collections are fresh, modern, futuristic, edgy, elegant, and versatile. Dov Charney is also a big fashion name and the founder of American Apparel. The idea was to market the brand and sell clothing to wholesale manufacturers and screen printers in Canada and the U.S. Tara Jarmon is a Canadian fashion designer based in Paris who operates many store locations and boutiques in Asia and Europe. She combines artful details, bright colors, and feminine designs in her collections. Other notable Canadian designers are Erdem Moralio?lu, Avril Lavigne, Alfred Sung, Lloyd Klein, and Dean and Dan Caten.
Sustainable Fashion and Eco-Friendly Fabrics and Clothing
The sustainable fashion movement is also gaining popularity in Canada. There are fashion boutiques that sell Canadian-made clothing and apparel to support local manufacturers and communities. The goal is to offer green items and fair-trade-certified products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Some manufacturers use part of the proceeds to help children living in poverty. Clothing is made from bamboo, cotton, and other organic materials, as well as up-cycled and recycled materials, including used and vintage clothing, recycled plastic bottles, and others. Canadian fashion labels also promote ethical alternatives and sustainable clothing. Fashion labels such as the Azadi Project, Local Buttons, and NationWares have endorsed the idea of ethically designed fashion. NationWares, for example, manufactures accessories and jewelry using renewable and local resources.
The Best Canadian Brands
Among the best Canadian brands are Philip Sparks, Raised by Wolves, Waits, Klaxon Howl, and Muttonhead. Muttonhead offers pants, shorts, t-shorts, hats, and sweatshirts. Their collections are offered in retail stores in Japan, the U.S., Europe, Australia, and Canada. Reigning Champ designs fleece wear for major brands such as Engineered Garments, Alife, and Supreme. They offer sweat shorts, pullovers, sweatpants, heavyweight full zip hoodies, blankets, and other items.