Lectra partnered with TELIO during the tenth edition of the annual Canada's Breakthrough Designers competition. TELIO is a leading importer/exporter and distributor of high-end textiles.
The annual design competition showcases Canada's young, up-and-coming designers and provides students with exposure to the Canadian fashion industry. This year, more than 400 students entered the competition under the theme of Lux(e), using noble materials and shimmering colors to celebrate 2015 as the International Year of Light. A distinguished jury of fashion industry professionals chose 25 student finalists. The jury included Michelle Addison, a top stylist in Vancouver; Izzy Camilleri, a Toronto fashion designer; Samantha Cutler, marketing coordinator at Ogilvy; Marie Genevieve Cyr, associate professor at Parsons School for Design in New York City; Judith Desjardins, a Montreal fashion designer; Emilie Fournier, style contributor to Salut Bonjour! Weekend and blogger; and Sonia Moffa, Senior Designer at Joseph Ribkoff Inc.
The student finalists highlighted their collections in a fashion show on March 17, with five receiving scholarships. Lectra awarded the grand prize winner Emma Litvack with Kaledo, Lectra's textile and fashion design suite.
"As we celebrate the 10th year anniversary of Canada's Breakthrough Designers competition, I can say that I am proud of how the importance of fashion design evolved since we first started this competition. We are honored to give an opportunity to up-and-coming designers to hone their technical skills and creative savvy while striving to win scholarships that will allow them to fulfill their professional ambitions. As the years went by, our event consistently provided great exposure to these young talented individuals, thus allowing them to be seen and known as rising stars in the fashion industry and the media," explains Andre Telio, President of TELIO. "The partnership we developed through this project with Lectra has allowed us to not only significantly upgrade the prizes offered to students, but also to improve our contribution to promoting the future of the Canadian fashion industry. For this, we are extremely grateful."
"We are honored to continue our sponsorship of TELIO's annual competition and we congratulate Emma Litvack on an inspiring design. We look forward to seeing how she uses our technology to bring her future vision to life," says Renato Mariani, Vice President of Marketing, Lectra North America. "Lectra is committed to nurturing up-and-coming fashion professionals like Emma."