Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards adds Fashion Student Award

When thinking of the most important countries for the fashion industry, Canada is likely to not be the first country that comes to mind. Bearing this in mind, the organisation of the Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards (CAFA) has announced the creation of four new awards which are intended to spark more global interest in the Canadian fashion industry. Amongst them is the Fashion Design Award.

With the inclusion of the award for a Fashion Design Student, CAFA will reward a recent fashion graduate for his or her work. According to CAFA’s managing director Vicky Milner, this newly added award is likely to open new doors for students. “But our real hope is to encourage Canada’s future fashion students to want to excel at their craft and want to win this award one day,” she stated.

Since its inception in 2014, CAFA annually rewards eleven people from the national fashion industry with an award for their achievements. Last year’s categories included womenswear design, menswear design and accessories. This year, the list is further expanded to include five new categories: the Fresh Face of the Year Award, the Fashion Innovation Award, the Fashion Impact Award, the Fashion Design Student Award and the Vanguard Award.

With the newly added categories, Milner not only hopes to attract a broader audience but also to show that a shift has taken place in the fashion industry. For example, the Fashion Innovation Award recognises the efforts of a designer or brand who has incorporated technology in his or her work, thereby acknowledging that technology and fashion are increasingly connected. Furthermore, the Fashion Impact Award, which will be awarded to a designer whose work has a philanthropic side to it, signifies that the story behind a brand has become increasingly important.

The nominees for the 2016 CAFA will be announced on January 27 2016. The event will take place on April 15 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto.