News broke this morning that IMG has pulled the plug on Toronto Fashion Week, causing shockwaves throughout the country’s fashion industry. Catherine Bennett, senior vice-president and managing director of IMG Fashion Events & Properties, said in an interview with The Canadian Press that they’ve “made the decision to no longer produce Toronto Fashion Week” because “our Canadian fashion footprint was not generating the local commercial funding that we really required in order for us to continue producing the event to the highest standard.”
Heartbreaking.
In addition IMG will no longer participate in the Mercedes-Benz Start Up program for emerging designers, which provides a $30,000 bursary and a fully produced runway show in Toronto for the winners.
This is just another reason why we need to support local Canadian designers. Without the funding, partnerships and sponsorships that help these designers successfully launch their brands, and the press from fashion week to market them, our industry is in big, big trouble.
RIP Toronto Fashion Week. 🙁
