TORONTO, ONTARIO â€" Editors Note: There are two photos associated with this press release.
Over 700 of Canada's fashion elite flocked to the Royal Ontario Museum this past Thursday to take part in a milestone event for the Toronto Fashion Incubator (TFI). Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the TFI hosted guests at a champagne reception, VIP dinner, Barbie®-inspired celebrity fashion show, the annual TFI New Labels® fashion show competition and an after-party in the ROM's Crystal. Thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000) was awarded during the evening which was emceed by award-winning performer Jully Black and over $100,000 in net proceeds was raised for TFI. TFI25 also featured performances by award-winning student dance group the Wexford Gleeks and recording artist Anastasia A and an installation of 25 looks from the past 25 years curated by FLARE Magazine's award-winning Fashion Director Elizabeth Cabral.
The TFI partnered with Barbie® and challenged 25 top Canadian designers to create a Barbie®-inspired look that was debuted on the TFI25 catwalk. Thunder Bay native, Sarah Nicol of Sar Couture, took home the prize of $10,000 after showing a raw silk, micro sequin, classic Barbie® gown worn by Canadian actress Meghan Heffern. Other major fashion labels in the competition included VAWK, Arthur Mendonca, Farley Chatto, Paris Li, LABEL, 2012 New Labels semi-finalist Jameson Kane and past TFI New Labels® winners Mila Yudina (Finkelshtein), Anastasia Lomonova and Eugenia Leavitt. Canadian celebrities Dina Pugliese, Cheryl Hickey, Tanya Kim, Tracy Moore, Trish Stratus, Tara Spencer-Nairn, Stacey McKenzie, Kim D'Eon, Mary Kitchen, Liz West and more wore the art-as-fashion looks down the runway.
Up-and-coming designers took to the (two!) catwalks for the annual TFI New Labels® competition enhanced this year by Suzanne Rogers, who contributed $25,000 to the grand prize. As the event's honorary chair, Rogers worked with fashion industry veterans Arie Assaraf, TNT Boutiques; Derick Chetty, Toronto Star; David Dixon, TFI president; Lisa Tant, editor-in-chief, FLARE Magazine and TFI Executive Director Susan Langdon to judge the six-month long competition.
Edmonton-born Sid Neigum won the coveted grand prize valued at $60,000 which also included a full-page feature in FLARE Magazine and a design studio at the Toronto Fashion Incubator sponsored by Arie Assaraf of TNT Boutiques. Neigum showed 12 designs using silk, linen and lamb leather inspired by unconventionally altered classic pieces. The other three finalists, Montreal-based Patrick Larrivee's namesake outerwear brand, Genevieve Pearson and Stanley Capobianco's luxurious outerwear label Jameson Kane and unisex label (blak) - i by Toronto-based Diego Fuchs and Helder Aguiar, all showed impressive and cohesive collections that created a tough decision for the judges.
"We were blown away by this year's design talent and couldn't be more proud of the four finalists," said Susan Langdon, Executive Director of Toronto Fashion Incubator. "Sid Neigum showed phenomenal design prowess and we look forward to watching him flourish and succeed in the Canadian fashion industry with continuing help from TFI."
ABOUT TFI
The Toronto Fashion Incubator (TFI) is an award-winning and highly-acclaimed non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and nurturing Canadian fashion designers and entrepreneurs. Established in 1987 as the world's first official "fashion incubator", the TFI model has been adopted by cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Melbourne, Auckland, Amsterdam and Milan. Housed in an 8,000 sq. ft. heritage building at Exhibition Place in Toronto, TFI provides critical support to creative entrepreneurs to develop the business and professional skills they need to thrive and survive. Start-up and advanced community programs include educational seminars on the business of fashion, one-on-one mentoring with industry professionals, exclusive promotional and sales opportunities, and valuable sales, marketing and trend resources.
Toronto Fashion Incubator: 285 Manitoba Drive, Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario M6K 3C3 Canada 416.971.7117.
tfi@fashionincubator.comwww.fashionincubator.com@TorontoFashion
To view the photos associated with this release, please visit the following links:
http://www.marketwire.com/library/20120509-Meghan_Jully_Mihiri_Sarah800.jpg.
http://www.marketwire.com/library/20120509-SidNeigum_Model8.jpg.
© Marketwire 2012
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