A new Toronto fashion week is in the works.
Less than two months after Toronto Fashion Week announced it was shutting down, word comes that a new showcase will debut next year.
Organizers for Toronto Men’s Fashion Week announced Saturday it would launch Toronto Women’s Fashion Week in February 2017, but revealed no other details.
Advisory council member Roger Gingerich said the plan had been “in the works ever since it was announced that IMG was pulling out of Toronto.”
Gingerich said the women’s showcase would likely run back-to-back with the men’s showcase in February and August.
North America’s second-largest fashion week collapsed in July with organizers citing a lack of local support.
But Gingerich said there are sponsors, designers, media and consumers that could support the event.
“There’s tons of support here in the Toronto marketplace and Toronto here as a whole,” says Gingerich, a fashion broker with more than 30 years in the apparel industry.
“The designers are world class, the media is here, the consumers are here, but the market is changing.”
He said the length of the women’s week would depend on the designer lineup.
But he said they had a formula that works for Toronto Men’s Fashion Week that could be applied here — including opening parties, industry talks and a lucrative prize, in addition to runway shows.
