FASHION Magazine

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If there’s one main takeaway message from fashion week, it’s that we must recognize, foster, and promote our home-grown talent so that it can grow both here and abroad. With this in mind, the inaugural Mercedes-Benz Start Up competition was held last night, and up for grabs was a year of mentorship from industry leaders (including us at FASHION!) to kick-start a fledgling collection. After a rigorous selection process (preliminary competitions, meetings, tense deliberations) the short list was whittled down to Cassie Dee, Martin Lim, Travis Taddeo, Triarchy, and UNTTLD, and united in Toronto for a runway showdown. Short video montages introduced each designer, their vision, and their inspiration for the coming season. We saw a dark, leather-laced collection (UNTTLD), a western-inspired line (Cassie Dee), a denim parade (Triarchy), some disheveled streetwear (Travis Taddeo), and bright billowy silks (Martin Lim). After a brief designer bow, a surprisingly flustered Jessica Stam took to the podium to announce the winner. Drumroll please… Husband and wife team Pao Lim and Danielle Martin of Martin Lim! Now comes the real hard work—keeping our promises and making sure they get the attention they deserve! Stay tuned for the duo’s wears in an upcoming issue of FASHION.

There’s less than a week to go before the five Mercedes-Benz Start Up finalists hit the runway at LG Fashion Week to show their Spring 2012 collections. Ready to see what Cassie Dee, Martin Lim, Travis Taddeo, Triarchy, and UNTTLD have been working on? As the official media sponsor, FASHION Magazine will be live streaming the entire event. But before the grand reveal, find out more about each of the finalists and what inspired their collections.

As the Montreal and Vancouver Mercedes-Benz Start Up finalists are busy at work on their upcoming Spring 2012 collections, to be shown during LG Fashion Week, we take a look back at how it all got whittled down to the final five: Martin Lim, Travis Taddeo, UNTTLD, Triarchy, and Cassie Dee.

The post Video: Go behind the scenes at the Mercedes-Benz Start Up semi finals in Vancouver and Montreal appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

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After a stellar showing in Montreal, it was Vancouver’s turn to identify a few budding designers looking for a boost from the Mercedes-Benz Start Up mentorship program.

First, the competitors needed to make an impression on the judges, who included Aritzia design director Yumi Eto, journalist and former FASHION staffer Catherine Dunwoody, IMG global production director and Project Runway Australia judge Jarrad Clark, and yours truly, among others.