DMoment: Is Montreal Fashion Strutting Forward?

D Moment Telio Competition
Telio Competition

It’s no secret that Montreal has hit a dead end in terms of financing fashion week. When Sensation Mode pulled the plug on 2014’s February and September fashion week it didn’t really come as a shock to most. The news was most unfortunate, but a strategy was called for and a decision was made.

Sadly, the designers were most affected since buyers from outside of the 514, 450, 438 and  other local area codes of relevance (aka: QC) were not as encouraged to attend as they should have been (because they were/are the ones that really matter). I’ll leave it up to you to decide why, but in my opinion (including dozens of others): local politics was most definitely a factor of the industry’s demise.

So what was to become of our fashionably forward city and beloved designers? Would they still profit from less exposure now that fashion week was no more? Would they have to follow suit and take their collection to Toronto (where there are buyers…) Or would we be bombarded with outfit posts of the day via social media as the surrogate fashion (show) medium?

Luckily a few members of SMM (co-founders of DMoment: Geneviève Allaire and Nancy Richard) worked hard on organizing DMoment – which was hosted at a venue known as Locoshop Angus – showcasing a few emerging local designers. This collaborative effort to salvage fashion ‘week’ (or at least a couple of days) also meant that the traditional February Télio competition could still take place.

Day One showcased Aragon Couture, 3.Paradis and KQK. All of which I really liked. 

Day Two brought Marilyn Baril (of whom I am a fan), House of Sins (not my style. At. All – but keep on keeping’ on) and of course, the Telio competition.

Now the big question: were the buyers present? I sincerely hope so! By the looks of D Moment’s Facebook page, a solid stack of passes were photographed in the days leading up to the event – including a thick sum that read ‘Acheteur’, so for the love of all things holy – let’s hope that some of them showed up.

As for media: we were able to take in the industrial ambiance, and all appeared well for the most part. The space was nice and there was enough artwork present to create a cultured atmosphere, plus the art on display made for the perfect background for our famous #selfies. The event was somewhat low budget, so the usual swag was nil and the drinks were a bit pricy, but the event was smaller and more intimate so that’s to be expected.

Now while various types of media were present, the event was dominated by bloggers – which was lovely. This provided an opportunity for us to catch up with one another and discuss the shows before, during and after.

 

Which brings me to my next point:

I understand that certain precautionary measures need to be taken in order to keep numbers down and as concentrated as possible, but when a blogger is asked to move from their media seat because they are not recognized as credible media (despite the fact that they were granted a media pass weeks ago) to claim this said media seat, it tarnishes the original spirit of the event and quite frankly – pisses me off to hear about it.

Big media, by definition could be considered as local newspapers, radio stations, TV etc and that’s all well and good but we are influencers and the people trust us. Not big-name corporations. Please keep that in mind.

We are the ones who encourage our readers to consider supporting local talent. We are the ones who invest in these local designers and work with them, making collaborative efforts which translate into mutually beneficial results for all parties involved. All we want is to create and maintain relationships based on the principles of reciprocity, so in other words: everybody wins. A near universal majority of us are not paid to be there and  have jobs to pay the bills.

I have nothing but respect for those who worked hard to create this event, and it’s unfortunate that a few bad seeds took it upon themselves to over-exert their roles and bestow opinions of media hierarchy. Here’s to changing the industry for the better. For us all.

Cheers to Montreal.

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