Twice a year, David Pecaut Square is captivated by Canada’s finest fashion innovators for Toronto fashion week. As Canada’s largest fashion event, the week-long exhibit has become one of the most highly anticipated fashion affairs of the year. 

Here are five reasons why Toronto Fashion Week matters:

Toronto has talent

Toronto isn’t just a haven for musical powerhouses -- it nurtures some pretty incredible designers too. Dean and Dan Caten of Dsquared2, Joe Mimran (Previously with Club Monaco, Holt Renfrew Black Label, Joe Fresh) and Kimberley Newport-Mimran of Pink Tartan are all fashion icons that have emerged from this city. Other Canadian designers, including Montreal’s Eran Elfassy and Elisa Dahan of luxury outwear line Mackage, have also been put in the spotlight by the event, which gives Canadian talent a platform to set trends and establish themselves in the global market.

Toronto gets noticed

 As the second biggest fashion event in North America — preceded only by New York Fashion Week — Toronto’s fashion week attracts heaps of media, investors, designers and consumers to the city. While visitors are here, they inevitably experience all the unique characteristics that make Toronto so appealing including charming boutiques and authentic food spots. This puts our city on the map not only in terms of fashion but also for investors looking for a place to build their newest business venture.

Toronto gets trending

Fashion week puts Toronto on the map virtually, too. An analysis done by cloud computing company Salesforce for Fall/Winter 2013 found fashion week garnered over 29,000 social media mentions, predominantly on Twitter which hosted more than 96 per cent of the conversations. Among the most mentioned usernames were @TOFashionWeek, @JoeFresh and @Mackage.

Toronto gets paid

Fashionistas, media and retail buyers from all over visit Toronto to see Canada’s best on the runway. “Over a thousand members of international media attend our shows each year,” said Councilor Michael Thompson, who also serves as the chair of Toronto's Economic Development and Culture Committee. Combined with thousands of guests, models, hair stylists and make-up artists, more than 60,000 people participate in Toronto fashion week each year. “It’s a definite plus for the economy,” Coun. Thompson said.

Toronto gets good looking

It’s fitting that Canada’s fashion week host city is also one of the country’s largest modelling hotspots. Toronto is the place to be for Canadian models looking to ‘make it big’ in the industry and get noticed internationally according to B&M Models new faces agent, Greg Rempel. Thanks to Toronto Fashion Week, local models also have a higher probability of getting booked simply due to the convenience of them living in the city. “Models have to be here for casting and fittings and direct bookings. It’s easier to schedule and see them walk in person as opposed to looking at pictures when they’re local,” Rempel said.

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