INDIGENOUS FASHION WEEK TORONTO
Announces Trade & Consumer Marketplace
Fashion • Textiles • Craft
June 2 and 3, 2018 at Harbourfront Centre
The inaugural Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto (IFWTO) is excited to announce over 40 exhibitors who will showcase their Indigenous-made work at the Trade & Consumer Marketplace on June 2 and 3, 2018. Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto takes place May 31 – June 3, 2018 at Harbourfront Centre, presenting the most distinct and progressive Indigenous artists working in fashion, textiles and craft.
The IFWTO Trade & Consumer Marketplace exhibitors include: Cheekbone Beauty, Indigenous made cosmetics; La Petite Sauvagesse, contemporary Haudenosaunee designs for body and home; Mad Aunty, laser cut jewelry by artist and designer Joi T. Arcand; Manitobah Mukluks, authentic Aboriginal Mukluks, Moccasins and accessories; Chippewar, art and apparel by multimedia artist Jay Soule; Ken’niwá:’a, a modern children’s brand; Victoria’s Arctic Fashion, traditional northern garments with a modern flair; Running Fox Beads, Sailor Jerry style beaded patches by Skye Paul; Jennifer Younger, jewellery featuring unique carving techniques and innovative material finishes; Chinimiwin Collective, textile artists focused on reclamation of identity; Niio Perkins, Native American beadwork; and Born in the North, multidisciplinary designs by Christopher and Gregory Mitchell.
Admission to the Trade & Consumer Marketplace in the Lakeview Market at Harbourfront Centre is free. The full list of exhibitors can be found here, with more to be announced in the coming weeks: IFWtoronto.com/marketplace
In addition to the wide array of exhibitors the Trade & Consumer Marketplace will host The Designer Showroom in Harbourfront Centre’s West Corridor Bays, June 1 – 3, 2018. The Designer Showroom will include some runway designers from IFWTO showcasing and selling their work to industry and fans alike.
The Trade & Consumer Marketplace includes the Original Makers Space, which seeks to address the lack of access and representation of older women in the workplace. The Original Makers Space, supported by Ryerson University, is a drop-in site where elders are invited to work on their own designs, sell their pieces if they choose, and socialize.
The Trade & Consumer Marketplace features work by young and emerging designers who incorporate traditional techniques into their contemporary work with pop sensibilities, as well as traditional designers who are sustaining Indigenous language, stories and skills passed on through the generations using beads, quills, fur, leather and other traditional materials.
Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto is a four-day multi-platform festival of the most distinct and progressive Indigenous-made fashion, craft and textiles launching May 31-June 3, 2018, challenging mainstream perceptions of Indigenous people and culture, which are often stereotyped, commodified or exploited. IFWTO is led by Indigenous women, offering audiences an authentic, accessible opportunity to connect with Indigenous artists and celebrate cultural expression.
IFWTO acknowledges the support of Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, British Council, Harbourfront Centre, Ryerson University and supporting partners
Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto
May 31 – June 3, 2018
Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West
Runway Tickets are on sale now at
harbourfrontcentre.com/ifwto2018
www.ifwtoronto.com
IFWToronto on Facebook • Twitter • Instagram
Media Contact: FLIP PUBLICITY, 416.533.7710 x221, Damien Nelson, damien@flip-publicity.com