That’s right guys, after the fall edition was cancelled in September, organizers have now gone and pulled the plug on the February edition of Montreal Fashion Week.
Why, you may wonder? “The decision to not go ahead with the production of February’s MFW was difficult to make, but we know we need to dedicate our efforts to completing this massive rallying project,” said producer Jean-Francois Daviau of Sensation Mode. “This break will allow us to join forces and make this large-scale event successful and more appealing to the general public, industry professionals and our partners.”
They will instead be investing resources towards merging Montreal Fashion Week with the city’s annual summer Fashion and Design Festival, which is also organized by Montreal-based Groupe Sensation Mode and held each August in downtown Montreal. It generally includes fashion shows, live art installations and musical performances, with the most recent edition featured famed French designer and artist as honorary chair.
Nonetheless, the semi-annual showcase of Quebec designers at Montreal Fashion Week has been pivotal in the past for connecting buyers and media with new Canadian talent. After 25 editions, it seems a shame to see it go, but the newly merged Fashion and Design Festival and Montreal Fashion Week event is already scheduled to take place from Aug. 20-23. Programming for the showcase will be announced in March.
“We thought that it was very important to make (the summer event) happen well,” Groupe Sensation Mode co-founder Chantal Durivage said Thursday. “Three productions a year with big events, it’s a lot of time. We’re always running. And if we want to develop, we need time. And this is what we realized.”
Honestly, I can see where they’re coming from in amalgamating these events. They are incredibly costly and, in all honesty, seem a little too frequent to draw any significant buzz or net a large audience. Quality over quantity should reign every time, which could also support the ongoing argument of merging Canada’s two marquee fashion events in Montreal and Toronto, that is World MasterCard Fashion week. Like go big or go home, right?
