CAFA announces line-up and nominees for its annual Award show

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Feb 1, 2017

The Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards (CAFA) announced on Monday night the nominees for the 2017 edition of its annual Awards show, where a number of familiar faces and brands were recognized.
 
Set to take place on April 7, the fourth annual ceremony is one of Canada’s only Awards night that recognizes Canadian-based designers and various members of Canada’s fashion industry.
 
During an intimate evening at the Thompson Landry Gallery in Toronto, CAFA’s Founding Director Brittney Kuczynski kicked off the evening reminding us how it’s an exciting year for Canada as the country celebrates its 150th anniversary.

 
CAFA president Vicky Milner later took the stage to announce Rami Atallah, co-founder and chief executive officer of Montréal-based fashion platform SSENSE, as CAFA’s 2017 honorary chair.
 
Among the nominees for the 2017 event, announced by Canadian actress Karine Vanasse, Canadian-born designer Tanya Taylor was nominated for a second year for the International Canadian Designer of the Year Award, along with fashion brands Erdem and Vejas Kruszewski.

Designers Lucian Matis, Sid Neigum, and the designers behind fashion brand Beaufille will be up against Smythe for the Womenswear Designer of the Year Award, while designer Christopher Bates will square off for a second year against Canadian fashion brand Bustle and Feral for the Menswear Designer of the Year Award.
 
In the accessories category we find Dean Davidson and Jenny Bird who were once again nominated and will be up against Silly Wong.
 
Among emerging talent in the Canadian landscape; Daniel Christian Tang, Garema, Jon De Porter and Poppy Barley were nominated for The Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent in the Accessories category, while House of anomie, Majorie Urbanovich, Maram and Matthew Gallagher were nominated in the Fashion category.
 
What’s more, for the first year, Quebec City-based retailer La Maison Simons has partnered with CAFA to launch the Simons Fashion Design Student Award. Adrian Zhao
Alex Armata, Xiaoyi Li and last year’s Toronto Men's Fashion Week Emerging Menswear Designer Award winner Curtis Oland were nominated.
 
Besides designers, other Canadian fashion influencers including models, bloggers, and stylist were nominated in several other CAFA categories.
 
The annual event is set to kick off on April 4 with a forum for young fashion professionals followed by CAFA’s first ever Retail and Fashion Forum, set to take place on April 6. The winners will be selected by the 2017 CAFA jury, comprised of national and international fashion leaders and will be announced at the red-carpet avent on April 7.
 
CAFA was created to celebrate outstanding achievement and emerging talent in the Canadian fashion industry. Over the last year, CAFA has partnered with the Toronto Maple Leafs to launch a fashion design challenge, as well as with Canada’s most productive mall, Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre, for the launch of FashionCan, a fashion showcase and Pop-Up Shop.