April 19, 2007
The Toronto Star
By: Bernadette Morra
The Toronto Fashion Incubator marks 20 years of support for budding design talent
“I’m so nervous,” Tara Spencer-Nairn confided before taking to the runway at the Toronto Fashion Incubator gala at The Carlu on Tuesday night.
“There’ll be Monika Schnarre, who knows what she’s doing, Fefe Dobson, who is a rock star, and then me!”
The Corner Gas actress needn’t have worried. Guests provided a warm welcome for all the celebrity models helping to celebrate the Fashion Incubator’s 20th anniversary.
The City of Toronto-backed facility allows budding designers to share production equipment and get business advice for relatively low cost.
“I love this model,” remarked David Miller, referring not to the women on the runway but the incubator concept. “In 2005, I brought Chicago Mayor Richard Daley to see it and, of course, he’s now stolen our idea.”
He’s not the only one. The incubator has been studied around the world. And Incubator alumni are spread here and yonder with David Dixon, Mercy, Arthur Mendonca and Crystal Siemens in Toronto, Pina Ferlisi fo the Generra label in New York, and Todd Lynn in London.
Another, Joeffer Caoc, took the occasion to reveal that former Fairweather executive Lynn Posluns recent became his business partner. “He’s so talented,” Posluns enthused. “And when we worked together at Fairweather, we had to wear Fairweather. This is so much more fun!”
See more photos at thestar.com/fashion
