Joe Fresh opens World MasterCard Fashion Week with a party, Solange and a new commitment to Canadian fashion

by Randi Bergman October 21, 2014

Joe Fresh Fashion Week Party Solange — Photography by Jenna Marie Wakani

See all the photos from the Joe Fresh party »

Last week’s announcement that Joe Fresh would no longer show during Toronto Fashion Week was met with some mild panic. In an already tumultuous year for Canadian designers with both Lida Baday and Jeremy Laing closing up shop—would it be another nail in the Can Con coffin? Was the newly globalized label off to New York instead? No, the always-suave Joe Mimran assured me last night, “I would never forsake Toronto, ever. I’m way too committed to Canada,” he said. “Hopefully I’ve proven over the years that I have a stake here. It’s more than that, I have a real genuine love for this country and all that it’s given me.”

Instead, the brand plans to pay it forward, with the Joe Fresh Fund launching late this year. The fund will be set up to help emerging Canadian designers prosper at home. “We are not just going to put money up, but we’ll put time and energy into the program, said Mimran. “It’s a very complicated marketplace and there’s more competition than there’s ever been but I think we can help.”

We’ll be waiting with baited breath for more details, something we’re newly familiar with after last night’s World MasterCard Fashion Week opening night party. Around 10p.m., rumour broke that Solange Knowles would be hitting the turntables any minute. But it was past 11:30p.m. for said rumour to become true, as the singer hit the stage, Diana Ross ‘do, glossy purple lips and all. While much of the VIP crowd had already given up, those who waited it out were rewarded as Knowles seamlessly blended “Creep” with “Doin’ It,” amongst other perfect nineties jams.