Edito …

Standing at a Macy’s fashion show in Miami Beach doesn’t have the exuberance of World MasterCard Fashion Week in Toronto.

For one you don’t have a designed seat and but cocktails are involved. Recently I attended a fundraiser in Miami Beach as part of our sponsorship of The Winter Party which was part shopping fun and fashion show. It was a more low-key version of sitting on the edge of the runway watching a collection go by.

As I walked around the men’s department I thumbed through pedestrian Florida wear: neon this or brightly coloured sleeveless that. It was a cornucopia of fashion mistakes for the unsuspecting male. However tucked in a corner, near where the super buff Latino male models were strutting, was a small rack containing the Armani Jeans collection. I was ecstatic yet slight disappointed. Why?

I was thumbing through the abbreviated collection wearing one of my favourite Christopher Bates jackets and realized that American’s have no concept of Canadian menswear designers. In fact, most of the men at the event probably had never heard of Christopher Bates or thought he was related to Norman Bates. That’s why World MasterCard Fashion Week is vital. It gives a digital imprint to men’s designers who wouldn’t have a sound bite otherwise in the global marketplace. Regardless whether Miami Beach pays attention, by the way Miami Fashion Week starts March 20^th, to Toronto’s designers or not. The week gives designers from Bustle and Travis Taddeo to Sid Neigum and Christopher Bates the exposure to new markets and retailers. Why is this important?

Hopefully one day I will be going to Macy’s to purchase a Canadian menswear designer because a buyer saw their collection at World MasterCard Week and realized that maybe, just maybe, we have our version of Armani. He just has yet to be discovered.

Enjoy the week.

Sincerely,

Max MacDonald,

Founder, Editor-in-chief and Fashion Director, The Edito Men’s Magazine Online

Photo: Rainer Torrado/Courtesy of Jean Paul Gaultier/Style.com