FASHION Magazine

Summertime in Montreal is festival season. The city is one party after another with jazz, comedy, French music and, just in time for back-to-school, the Montreal Fashion & Design Festival. Now in its 11th instalment, the MFDF once again takes over McGill College Avenue. From August 1 to 4, the downtown artery will be blocked off to traffic from de Maisonneuve Boulevard to Ste-Catherine Street. Here are five reasons the fashion fest rocks:

Valérie Dumaine (valeriedumaine.com) has been outfitting Montreal’s style set since 2004. Known for her sleek, sophisticated separates, she carries this pared-down aesthetic into her own closet too. Here, she shares her spooky sources of inspiration.

By Ashley Joseph

A little rain–or rather, a torrential downpour–couldn’t dampen the spirits of the fashion flock on the second day of Montreal Fashion Week. Many a pair of four-inch heels was broken on St-Paul’s slippery cobblestone streets as the stiletto-clad crowd rushed in to catch Coccolily by Naana Tennachie Yankey.

What an event it was at this year’s edition of the Festival Mode et Design! Despite the rain changing up the schedule and cancelling several fashion shows, to our deepest regrets (Valérie Dumaine I will catch you soon enough!) the four days of fashion madness went on very well, right up to the very last show, the Fashion Musique presents Couture Lingerie. Plastik Patrik put on a hell of a performance, rocking on the crowd with covers from Blondie, T-Rex, Edith Piaf and more. He even offered us a taste of the new album from his band Patrik et les Brutes, dropping this fall, by playing two originals songs. I contacted this DJ-singer-fashionista extraordinaire to ask him more about his sense of style. (Let me tell you–day or night, in the street or in the club, Plastik is always dressed to impress.) Like usual, only a word will do!

Favourite designer of all time? “Vivienne Westwood”

Why? “I love plaid.”