> CANADIAN DESIGN POP-UP ADAPTS TO CHANGING FASHION LANDSCAPE
More than a decade ago Sarah Power was working at the defunct Old Clothing Show and Sale, a must-troll vintage source for a generation of designers and fashion fanatics. “Every year we’d see a bunch of new Canadian designers showing there, because there was nowhere else.”
After pursuing a fashion degree at George Brown, and with those new designers in mind, Power launched INLAND (madeinland.ca) in the fall of 2014. Power calls her startup an “agile retail concept,” designed to adapt to the changing fashion landscape. This year, more than 70 Canadian emerging and established indie designers, whose work is “90 to 95 per cent” manufactured in Canada, will be part of the event. The idea is to bring these chiefly online businesses to life and provide shoppers an opportunity to meet the designers and experience the brands in context.
This year, there are designers from right across the country, from Vancouver to Halifax. And for the first time, there is no entry fee. When doors open Sept. 29 (3 p.m. to 10 p.m.) and Sept. 30 (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.) at Queen Richmond Centre (QRC) West in the Peter St. Atrium, some 4,000 customers are expected, up from 3,000 last season. Designer items start at $35 and run up to about $500. Power anticipates the event will generate around $100,000 in sales.
“Made in Canada is an exciting narrative for customers,” Power says. “Our consumers care about supporting local talent and buying from designers who share their social and environmental concerns. This generation is more discerning when it comes to where they spend their money. They see fashion as an art form we wear everyday,” she says.
The pop-up group event show and sale model reflects the innovative ways smaller-scale independent designers have adapted to digital disruption in retail. “They have to pursue their own business models, without the traditional wholesale model or department store,” Power says. “So they are making wiser business choices, and utilizing lean manufacturing, to be more efficient and functional in production and sales.”
That means limited edition collections, seasonless collections to “see now and buy now,” modular design and capsule collections, instead of the large runs mills and factories once demanded.
“Local manufacturing also gives them greater control over costs, quality, timing of production.”
Power points to standout names such as cruelty-free Toronto designer Hilary MacMillan, who has dressed Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, editorial favourite Jennifer Torosian and vegan success story Wully Outerwear.
The out-of-towners include Odeyalo, by a Montreal duo of designers combining luxury with local, and Amanda Moss, also producing out of Montreal, who puts her ethical concerns up front.
They all flesh out the vision Power has for the two-day shopping party.
“INLAND is an event aimed at deeper connections,” says Power, “building loyalty and even friendships, between consumer and designer.”