Montreal, our cool and cooler Northern neighbor, will be showing off its singular sense of style next week at its 16th annual Festival Mode & Design. As the name gives away, it’s a celebration of all things fashiony and designy, and will take over Montreal’s sprawling Quartier des Spectacles, turning the already arts focused area into a huge creative laboratory and party.
With free and ticketed events including showcases from 80 designers, 21 fashion shows, and 30 pop-up shops, the six-day extravaganza will be a fabulous peek into Quebecois chic. Here are some of the not-to-be-missed highlights.
Opening night will end with a special event presented by hipster Montreal barbershop/retailer Waxman House. From Waxman with Love invites the public to be transported to a universe that combines of-the-moment masculine fashion with live musical performances. Local duo Migs and Silent J will shake things up at Place des Festivals to the beat of old school, East Coast 90s hip-hop.
The festival has a thoughtful and serious side, with a number of ticketed speaker events. We’d strenuously recommend catching New York style guru Scott Schuman, whose Sartorialist blog veritably defined fashion reporting for the new media generation.
Has Karl Lagerfeld ever been wrong? What he saw in Hervé Léger-Leroux, the French born designer who ascended to coveted positions at Chanel and Fendi, you can behold at an exclusive FM&D speaking session.
By evening you’ll be ready to get a groove on, and that’s where Fashion Musique comes in. There will be live sets from a list of amazing new acts; our picks include Congolese electro rocker Dear Denizen, and the mysterious Cafe Lanai.
Forget food, FMD has fashion trucks featuring local designer fashions!
With so may fashion shows to see you’ll be hard pressed to catch them all; but we will, of course, be there for anything involving spectacularly named Trollsen Twins.
Located at Place des Festivals by Sainte-Catherine Street, the M.A.D. Stage will be the setting for emerging talents, street styling and an array of the unexpected. More than 20 shows, live performances and creative workshops will be on the program.
As goes Montreal so goes Belgium (okay, we just made that up). But we’ll be lining up to hear “Mr. Belgian Fashion” Didier Vervaeren, curator and fashion expert at the MAD Brussels Fashion and Design Centre, hold forth on European styles and trends.
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