Local designer, Michelle Cole, will be in attendance at this year’s, July 25 Fashion Has No Borders (FHB) premiere event slated for the Palais Royal Ballroom, Toronto, during which she will showcase some of her work.
The proceeds from this event will support children in need both in Canada and across the globe, particularly the Sick Kids Foundation and Watoto Canada – an organization that assists children in Uganda and East Africa.
According to the FHB website, the show takes on a Caribbean Theme this year and Cole is among a pool of designers from across the Caribbean who will be in attendance.
The website stated that the show will “highlight the vibrant and colorful collections of designers from across the Caribbean… Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Trinidad, St Vincent & The Grenadines…making it the largest showcase of Caribbean fashion design in North America”.
The introductory piece added that FHB spotlights talented designers working in Canada, US and the Caribbean, in front of press, buyers and fashion fans. “It is a celebration of the confluence of cultures in Toronto and the city’s burgeoning fashion industry”, it added.
Participation in this event enables a designer the opportunity to be exposed to a diverse range of cultures and the show itself creates a high profile and international platforms for those established and emerging fashion designers worldwide.
According to Cole’s profile, which is posted on the site, she is, “A true representation of success, since the day, in her eleventh year, when she had gotten her first sewing machine”.
Cole, it stated started making uniforms for school friends by the age of 12, and then onwards started to make a living from her creations by 15. Today, she has made a name for herself as her clothes are carried in some of the best boutiques in the Caribbean and in the United States.
Over the years, this mother of one has gain recognition for the stunning pieces she created for beauty queens; Miss Guyana Talented Teen, Miss Guyana World, Miss Guyana Mashramani, Miss Queen of the Caribbean, Miss Carnival and Miss Model International Pageants.
The profile stated that her designs were also presented at the Folk Festival celebration in Brooklyn, New York, the Fashion Caribbean Showcase in St. Vincent, the Barbados Fashion Week, Caribbean Gift and Craft Show in Barbados, the Fashion Showcase in St. Lucia, MODA in New York, Caribbean Fashion Week and the Fashion Week of the Americas in Miami among others.
