JUMA Inspiration | Source: JUMA

TORONTO, Canada — Following our piece on Vancouver’s Digital Olympics earlier this week, it only makes sense that the BoF Spotlight should focus on the Great White North for our monthly inspiration from emerging designers. This month I turned to long-time friends of BoF, Alia and Jamil Juma.

The designer brother-and-sister duo are based in Toronto, not Vancouver, though they have called both cities home. They are of South Asian ancestry via Africa, having grown up tied-at-the-hip all over the world, from Los Angeles to Kinshasa, and even Almaty, Kazakhstan. Indeed, the only time they have lived apart was in university, but still only 5 hours away from each other in Toronto and Montreal. That’s a mouthful of cities to have lived in for a couple of thirtysomethings.

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TORONTO, Canada – When Richard Baker, CEO of NRDC, bought The Hudson’s Bay Company for a cool $8 billion last month, he announced his plans to turn Canada’s oldest retailer into an industry leader, using a similar strategy to that of US retailer Lord & Taylor. Lord & Taylor, which happens to be America’s oldest department store, was also recently acquired by NRDC. So, with two of the oldest department store chains on the continent in his portfolio, what are Baker’s grand plans?

In Canada, Baker believes that there is a gap between mass-market The Bay and luxe player Holt Renfrew. Thus, he plans to open 10 to 15 Lord & Taylor stores within existing Bay flagship stores or within HBC real estates. According to a source at HBC, large city centre The Bay flagships of 600,000 sq. ft. and up will be split into two entities, containing both The Bay and Lord & Taylor across, say, 2 floors each.  NRDC will also introduce more prestigious brands to The Bay’s lineup, including those of NRDC-owned Creative Design Studios, Peter Som’s parent company.

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I am filing this post from “Cottage Country”, north of Toronto, very far from the centre of the fashion world. Nontheless, when I first arrived in Toronto about a week ago, I asked local fashionistas the same questions I ask everywhere in an effort to seek out local stories which are still relevant to the international readership of the Business of Fashion. There’s always an interesting story to tell. Who should I try to meet, where should I go to see designs by the top local designers, and which fashion brands and retail chains are using innovative ways to build their businesses?

Almost without exception, these questions were met with a slight shrugging of the shoulders and a resignation that the local scene is nothing to write home about. “There’s not a lot going on,” I was told over and over again. “Canadian designers lack the confidence to push forward their own ideas, choosing instead to be ‘inspired’ by major international designers.”

I had almost resigned myself to the fact that there was nothing to write about, when I started recalling the names of supermodels, young and old, who have come from Canada. Irina Lazareanu grew up in the Montréal suburb of St-Hubert and was launched to fame by her friend Kate Moss. Coco Rocha of Richmond, British Columbia used her Celtic dance skills spark her fashion moment. Jessica Stam from Kincardine near Lake Huron, 2 hours from Toronto, is the namesake of Marc Jacobs’ ever popular Stam bag. And of course, 90′s supermodels like Linda Evangelista of Toronto and Yasmeen Ghauri of Montréal were amongst the first Canadian models to hit the big time.

So, maybe Canada isn’t a land that develops world-class designers, but something about the place does seem to nurture top models. Could Canada be giving traditional model hunting grounds like Brazil and Eastern Europe a run for the money?

You be the judge. Here’s a look at the top 5 international models hailing from Canada.

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To many die-hard fashionistas, Los Angeles has always been considered the less sophisticated, dressed-down, in your face, suburban, over-celebrity conscious little sister to New York, which has consistently retained its place amongst the world’s fashion capitals.  However, our visit to L.A. has revealed an interesting mix of local designers and boutiques combined with the glossy global brands along Rodeo Drive. Driven by its native contemporary brands, L.A. is experiencing a fashion renaissance.

Yesterday, I cruised around some upcoming fashion districts here with Jamil Juma, of Juma, which he designs with his sister Alia. Juma’s collections (one fashion forward RTW, one activewear) are carried at more than 30 boutiques around North America, including Fred Segal  in L.A. and Caravan in NY. Both Jamil and I were keen to get a feel for what is going on here, especially in the hot contemporary segment where his brand is positioned.

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Unlike the United States, Europe and the Middle East, the Canadian retail luxury landscape is dominated by one major player, Holt Renfrew, which was founded in 1837 in Quebec City. 

In 1986, the venerable retail chain was acquired by Galen Weston, who also owns Selfridges in London and Brown Thomas in Ireland.  Since then, Holts has gone on to become the destination for luxury shoppers in Canada with 9 locations in all major cities, an estimated $500m in revenues, and still virtually no competition to speak of in the domestic luxury department store market.

However, with monopoly can come complacency. 

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