TORONTO – Montreal-based design duo Martin Lim took home the top prize at the Mercedes-Benz Start Up program for up-and-coming Canadian designers.
Designers Danielle Martin and Pao Lim were among five finalists in the inaugural contest aimed at offering support and mentorship to emerging homegrown talents.
The pair founded their label last year, and gained experience in the industry working with renowned designers like Christian Lacroix and Roland Mouret. In a short video screened the duo revealed they were inspired by a trip to Europe prior to the unveiling of looks from their spring-summer 2012 line.
Martin Lim’s succession of fluid and feminine colour-blocked creations clearly curried favour with the judging panel, which included Canadian supermodel Jessica Stam, Fashion Magazine editor-in-chief Bernadette Morra and Bustle Clothing co-founder and creative director Shawn Hewson.
Stam announced the winners following the runway showcase which featured fellow Montreal-based finalists Travis Taddeo and UNTTLD, and Vancouver-based Cassie Dee and Triarchy.
The final five were selected from a nationwide search and received mentoring as they readied their collections for the runway.
Get daily National news
In addition to mentoring from industry experts, Martin Lim will also receive an editorial feature in Fashion Magazine and their own fully-produced runway show during fall-winter collections at Fashion Week next March.
Lim said he and Martin were “honoured and quite surprised” in being crowned winners and sees it as a valuable opportunity for their fledgling label.
“As a small company, we really need help in order to go to the next level.”
Launched in June, the program is aimed at providing a national platform to discover and offer assistance to up-and-coming designers who have been in business for less than five years.
Twenty designers were selected from a pool of submissions to move on to the semi-final round of competition. In its inaugural year, the semi-finals took place in Montreal and Vancouver. JoAnne Caza from Mercedes-Benz Canada announced Tuesday that the program will expand to semis in four new cities: Halifax, Quebec City, Ottawa and Edmonton.
Ryerson University school of fashion chair and panel judge Robert Ott said the Canadian fashion industry poses unique challenges.
“It’s really tough to be recognized, first of all, and sometimes it appears that Canadian designers have to go abroad to get other countries to recognize them and then they may return home and then we’ll give them due recognition,” he said backstage prior to the show. “But the other thing is there’s very little funding, it’s difficult to get a designer with business together so it can actually realize their dreams and start manufacturing collections and selling it to retailers.”
All finalists will continue to receive support, he said.
“I think it’s not a question of who ends up first: it’s a question of who actually has longevity in making their passion come true – and it could be any one of them.”
Comments