CAFA Profiles

Opelle – Emerging Fashion Fridays Striking the perfect balance between luxury and functionality, homegrown label Opelle is making a splash in the Canadian fashion scene with its line of high quality handbags. The brand’s vision is to “create pieces that close the gap between traditional luxury & fast-fashion”. Using 100% genuine leather handcrafted in a utilitarian design, Opelle’s Permanent Collection encompasses 24 unique styles with seasonal collections released twice a year. Founder Amy Malcolm is a Toronto-native with a multi-disciplinary background of formal and non-formal training in sculpture, industrial design, textiles & women’s wear. Her training is complimented by self-taught skills and techniques developed through years of experimentation. Initially using her home as a work studio and selling online on Etsy, Amy has developed a loyal following. She maintains a strong, hands-on relationship with each stage of Opelle’s creative process ensuring that each bag is a true reflection of her…

Dolorous Jewelry – Emerging Fashion Fridays Dolorous Jewelry is a collection of hand made accessories designed and produced by Toronto-native Danielle Singer. Inspired by historical and specifically Medieval accessories, Dolorous Jewelry is known for its signature styles of body chains including Broad Collar Shoulder Jewelry, a variety of Hand Pieces and versatile cross-body necklaces. The line has an organic aesthetic that gives a casual and wearable feel to each piece whether it is a subtle unisex lariat or an elaborate statement piece. With a background in both independent and formal studies of drawing and sculpture, and eventually formal training in the trade of Goldsmithing from George Brown College, founder Danielle Singer has always brought a unique sculptural sense to all her designs. The line was born during the designer’s time at school, using her bedroom as a studio, and selling through Etsy and a select group of local vendors. Inspired…

3.PARADIS – Emerging Fashion Fridays Established in 2013, 3.PARADIS is an innovative and trendsetting luxury ready-to-wear brand founded by designers Emeric Tchatchoua and Raymond Cheung. Long-time friends, Emeric and Ray come from two different corners of the world (Paris and Hong Kong) with a common artistic vision and dream of uniting and embracing all cultures and differences. They are the authentic innovators and visionaries that bring about the magic behind the brand, the vision and creativity. Emeric “Rico” Tchatchoua and Raymond “Samuray” Cheung respectively from Paris, FRANCE and Hong Kong, CHINA graduated from ESMM and Lasalle Fashion School, Montreal in 2015. After a trip around Europe in 2013, the two designers decided to introduce their approach and passion for fashion and art to the world through the luxury ready to wear label 3.PARADIS by deconstructing traditional ideas and reinventing conventions in menswear with no boundaries, no rules, no conventions.Growing up…

NOWHERE- Emerging Fashion Fridays Elisa Medina’s creative pursuits began with a love for painting and drawing in Quito, Ecuador. Moving to Vancouver, Canada in 2008 allowed Medina to cultivate her technical skills in fashion design at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. In addition, the opportunity to study textile and print design in England expanded the possibilities to translate Medina’s visual arts background into fabric and further developed her fascination with the effect that a garment could have on behavior, action, and perception. Nowhere, the line Elisa has created, draws inspiration from the uniqueness of surfaces combined with textural prints and patchwork details. “Nowhere delves into the intrinsic memory of surfaces, as the passage of time leaves its imprint on them, creating layers of texture and markings that are unique to each material”. Her collection for TOM S/S 2016 is highly influenced by the 1930’s, an era where there was an emphasis on…

Arc Jewellery- Emerging Fashion Fridays Designed and handcrafted in Montreal by Lina Hu, Arc Jewellery was born in a time of transition. Originally in Montreal to pursue a Master’s Degree in Epidemiology, Lina quickly realized that this was not her calling. She made the difficult decision to leave school, and, on a whim, decided to enroll in a jewellery course. Lina fell in love with metalsmithing, and spent the spring and summer of 2013 developing pieces that have evolved into her two premier collections: Petites Pensees and Pointed Feelings launched in February of 2014. A rational sensibility from Lina’s background in science translates to the clean lines and constrained forms of Arc Jewellery. The newly launched Linearity collection echoes the geometry of the first two groupings, but reduces the ideas to more minimal and almost two-dimensional forms. Lina’s designs are polished, simple, and meant to be worn together in a…

Bano eeMee – Emerging Fashion Fridays “I traded the stability in life to find the unpolluted me and discovered a person who wanted to create. The world of fashion became my canvas” – Aleem Arif (Creative Director- Bano eeMee.) Bano eeMee is derived from the visions of Creative Director Aleem Arif who founded the brand in early 2012. Aleem, hailing from the world of finance decided to switch his career to fashion and form Bano eeMee in Canada. The brand is dedicated to two generations of women in Aleem’s family. He recalls ‘my grandmother used to lovingly call my mother Bano and eeMee is what my mother called me….I decided to form Bano eeMee paying homage to both generations’ The issue of social consciousness is at the heart of Bano eeMee’s ethos. The brand promotes ethical realization of its designs with a focus on helping support the social fabric in…

COUTUKITSCH- Emerging Fashion Fridays Jewelry line CoutuKitsch is linked closely to the life of its founder, Dorian Kitsch. The very name pays homage to Dorian’s roots. Coutu is a family name representing her Metis heritage, while Kitsch is Dorian’s surname from her father’s stepfather. This heritage is represented in each piece from the CoutuKitsch line, which is built on the belief that there are no rules when wearing jewelry. Born and raised in Manitoba, Dorian describes herself as a creative individual whose talents were always nurtured by her family. She was an artist from a young age, drawing, colouring and even designing outfits for Barbie dolls from her mother’s fabric scraps. In 2004, Dorian attended Olds College where she attained a Certificate in Fashion Marketing and a Diploma in Fashion Design. Armed with an education, Dorian moved to Calgary to begin working on her career. There, she gained experience in…

Brit Wacher- Emerging Fashion Fridays Montreal based designer Brit Wacher forges a specific and precise path in creating quality, handcrafted, and original, wearable objects. Following her graduation from La Salle University in Vancouver, BC she worked as a stylist in Thailand before relocating to Arnhem where she worked with Dutch designer Pauline Van Dongen. It was under Van Dongen’s tuleage that Brittany began to refine her approach to garment construction and the practice of conceptual exploration. Wacher’s pieces are reflections of experiencing life through fantasy and simultaneously, the core conflicts of the physical world. Integral to her vision is the concept of duality and the passage of energy through time and space. This energy, represented by moods and feelings is transformed into shapes, colour blocking and use of lines in textile. Habitual examination of information collected consciously and subconsciously, creates a strong dialogue between simplicity and chaos. Thus, producing a…

Sarah Sears- Emerging Fashion Fridays Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Sarah Sears considers jewelry design her first love. Her journey began in 2008 during a trip to South East Asia to teach English. During her time in Chiang Mai, she enrolled in an introductory jewelry making course at the Nova Art Lab. Shortly after, she returned to Canada, ready to attend art school with a mission to master the art of metalsmithing. Sarah graduated in 2013 from NSCAD University with a major in Jewelry Design/Metalsmithing. Upon graduating Sarah moved to New York, gaining experience in the industry by interning under jewelry designer Anna Sheffield at Bing Bang NYC. Shortly after, Sarah decided it was the right time to start her own jewelry line, and launched her eponymous label Sarah Sears Jewellery. Although her line can be described as minimalistic, she describes herself as a bohemian at heart. She loves…

UNTTLD – Emerging Fashion Fridays UNTTLD is a luxury line that reflects a sense of masculine femininity and timeless elegance, focusing on fine fabrics and the perfect fit. Part of UNTTLD’s mission is to support high-end fashion manufacturing Canada”. UNTTLD is the ongoing collaborative work of Montreal designers José Manuel St-Jacques and Simon Bélanger. After graduating from Cégep Marie Victorin in Fashion Design, José went on to perfect his knowledge of textiles and techniques in the Fibre Program at Concordia University’s faculty of Fine Arts. A graduate of LaSalle College’s Fashion Design program, Simon Bélanger earned a Master’s degree at the Domus Academy of Milan.” Some of their recent accolades and achievements include, recently winning the Mercedes-Benz Start-Up contest as well as the Star Wars fashion competition during World Master Card Fashion Week in Toronto. UNTTLD has also had the honour of dressing the entire organizing committee of the Montreal…