Montreal's Fashion & Design Festival unveils 2017 program

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Jul 22, 2017

Groupe Sensation Mode announced the official programming for the 17th annual Fashion & Design Festival (FDF) during an intimate launch event at the Loewes Hotel on July 19.
 
Set to take place in Montreal from August 21 to the 26, the annual six-day festival is a celebration of creativity in downtown Montreal that includes fashion shows, multidisciplinary performances, live creative sessions, concerts and real-time design.
 

New this year, the downtown scene in Montreal’s Quartier des Spectacles has been reimagined and will include only one runway, as opposed to two as seen in previous years. Once again, fashion presentations will include a mix of emerging and established designers from across Quebec and Canada, as well as abroad.
 
Kicking off the event on August 21 is FMD’s conference series baptized “FMD Talks”. The series will include 12 talks and will feature national and international fashion and design influencers such as publicist and designer Jean-Paul Goude; photographer, photo director and director Michel Robichaud; and stylist to the stars Olivier Theyskens, to name a few.

Meanwhile, the runway will welcome fashion shows from August 23 to the 26 from well-known brands like Dynamite, and La Vie en Rose and emerging brands such as Martel.
 
Special runway presentations that are sure to be a hit include “CCMQ – Showtime”, a fashion show organized by the Conseil des Créateurs de Mode du Québec (CCMQ) featuring designs from Quebec’s biggest names in design: Denis Gagnon, Marie Saint Pierre and Philippe Dubuc. The runway show will take place at 7:20 on August 23. Similarly, Fashion Preview will showcase designers from the Quebec fashion world on August 25 at 6:15 for what has been described as “a colourful show.”
 
What’s more, on the 26th at 9 pm, the stylish Montreal team behind ixdaily.com will present “Exposed”, a fashion show that promises to present emerging international brands, as well as “the lives of those who choose to wear them.”
 
Finally, the event’s closing show “Made In: Canada 150” will include a fashion show performance showcasing Canadian fashion in honour of the nation’s 150th birthday.
 
Throughout the festival, over 40 pop-up boutiques and Fashion Trucks will be on-site for event goers to shop.
 
For the second consecutive year, Vanessa Pilon has been named the spokesperson for the 2017 edition. 

“For a second year in a row, I’m both proud and humbled to act has spokes- person for the Fashion & Design Festival – an event that you just cannot miss. Once again, the festivities allow us to honor fashion and design in the effervescent setting of the Quartier des spectacles. I can’t wait to be amongst the crowd and to meet you throughout the week’s amazing events,” Pilon said in a news statement.