With The September Issue, a documentary about Vogue magazine’s Anna Wintour, hitting theatres this Friday, Metro decided to take a look at fashion design schools across Canada and what they have to offer.
The jeans you put on in the morning are more than just something to keep your legs warm in the fall. They are the result and the creation of a fashion designer’s artistic vision.
All over the world, fashion designers are working to put together new clothes and styles to not only keep us clothed, but express themselves in the process. Whether they’re working on their own fashion line or as a team member for a big-name retailer, these designers are pulling their ideas together from worldly influences to create the clothes many people take for granted.
“When you’re sitting on the Metro and see someone wearing your jeans, it’s priceless,” says Francois Bousquet, program director of LaSalle College’s International Fashion School in Montreal.
The college, which has campuses all over the world including countries like China and Morocco, offers students an opportunity to stay up-to-date with international fashion techniques, where they learn not only the practical but also the business side of the industry and how it relates across borders. Located in what is arguably the fashion capital of Canada, Bousquet notes the cultural importance and fashion history that are unique to the city.
“The industry has been in Quebec for a long time,” he says, “and it’s quite clear and present everywhere.”
Of course, fashion design isn’t just about where you live, but where you’re from and where you’re going.
Program Co-ordinator and professor for Seneca College’s Fashion Arts program, Betty Michaud, says that it’s important as a designer to know why they’ve designed a particular piece. She says without having an answer for why the world needs the piece, it’s unlikely to touch others.
“If the piece isn’t meaningful to you, it won’t be meaningful to anybody else,” she said. “It’s not just about learning to craft something. Most of it comes from a deeper level.”
At Seneca, Michaud says it is a priority to work with the individual strengths of each student so they can create and articulate their visions.
For enrolment information about both programs, you can visit their web sites at lasallecollege.com and senecac.on.ca.
