CAFA Awards 2015: 35 glitzy pictures of Canada’s fashion industry all dressed up

by Randi Bergman February 2, 2015

If there were ever an excuse to wear Canadian, it was Saturday’s second annual Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards (CAFA), which took Toronto’s swanky Fairmont Royal York hotel by literal storm. In the thick of Hollywood’s awards season, the CAFAs were probably as close to the Oscars as anything we’ll ever attend, with homegrown designers fine-tuning their skills on glitzed-up attendees. Sarah Gadon stunned in a moody floral Erdem print, while Elisha Cuthbert went the frosting route in a feathered white Matthew Gallagher gown. Coco Rocha debuted her baby bump in a form-fitting Greta Constantine gown while presenting the Model of the Year award to Anaïs Pouliot, who wore Lucien Matis. Meanwhile, Scarlett O’Hara was in the house in the form of socialite Jenna Bitove, whose red crystal and lace full-skirted Mikhael D. ballgown was so full, it proved challenging to exit the room (what an entrance, though).

The CAFAs honoured Canada’s emerging and established designers, with awards bestowed on everyone from Montreal veteran Marie Saint Pierre (she won an Outstanding Achievement award) to Mikhael Kale, who after years of ups and downs, came out swinging with the award for Womenswear Designer of the Year. FASHION’s table during the event seemed to have just the luck, with our fashion editor, at large, Zeina Esmail winning Stylist of the Year, photographer Tommy Ton scoring both Image Maker of the Year and Blogger of the Year, and shoe designer Jerome C. Rousseau taking home the award for Accessories Designer of the Year.

No Canadian talent showcase would be complete without shining a light on the successes of expats like Erdem, who accepted the Hudson’s Bay Award for best International Canadian designer from London while busy at work on his first-ever store. Meanwhile, the evening’s host, Yahoo! Style EIC Joe Zee, was presented with the night’s Vanguard Award for his years of work with such titles as Elle and W Magazine.

But if anyone’s been anointed as Canada’s next big thing, it was Edmonton-born Sid Neigum, who picked up the night’s Swarovski award for Best Emerging Designer after nabbing TFI New Labels and Mercedes Benz Start Up in the last few years. All eyes will be on Neigum, but his might just be locked on his better half, Chloe Gordon, who picked up Best Emerging Accessories designer alongside sister Parris for their label Beaufille.