CAFA Fashion & Retail Forum puts the focus on Canadian fashion industry

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Apr 5, 2017

The Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards (CAFA) will host on Thursday its inaugural Fashion & Retail Forum. The full-day event is dedicated to the business of fashion in Canada and will feature business leaders from across North America in a series of talks focused on trends and opportunities in the industry.
 

Though Canada has seen a number of events dedicated to the retail landscape such as Dx3 Canada, eCOM MTL and Quebec's annual retail summit HOP, this is the first event in Canada focused on both fashion and retail.

The event will take place in advance of the fourth annual CAFA Awards Gala on April 7th. The ceremony is one of Canada’s only Awards night that recognizes Canadian-based designers and various members of Canada’s fashion industry.

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Kicking off the Fashion & Retail Forum on Thursday is Dax Dasilva, Founder & CEO of Lightspeed, a Montreal-based ecommerce platform company, with the CAFA Tech Talk. Dasilva will discuss omni-channel commerce tools and the merging of digital and physical worlds.
 
The event will then welcome the Co-Founders and Creative Directors of WANT Les Essentiels, Byron and Dexter Peart, who will discuss building an international brand. Other guest speakers include Anne Martin-Vachon, President of the Shopping Channel; Ethan Song, Co-Founder of Frank & Oak; Jackie Tardiff, Senior Vice President of Reitmans; Guillaume Mercier, Vice President of Marketing for SSENSE, and more.
 
“As part of CAFA's ongoing efforts to foster economic development in the Canadian fashion industry, the organization is pleased to provide a platform that will facilitate discussions on prominent issues and opportunities shaping the future of fashion in one of the world’s most dynamic fashion markets,” CAFA says in a news statement.
 
The full CAFA week kicked off on Monday with a two-day forum for young fashion professionals.