Project Runway Canada Designers to Know

Project Runway has launched designers in the United States, such as Christian Siriano, Leanne Marshall and Malan Breton. But did you know Canada has its own variation of Project Runway? Big names from Project Runway Canada include Evan Biddell (right photo), Season 1 winner, and Shawn Hewson, who serves as one of the show’s judges and also co-designs the fashion line Bustle (along with Ruth Promislow. Both shown in photo at left). Other well-known (at least in Canada) designers from Project Runway Canada include Sunny Fong (whose label is Vawk) and Jessica Biffi (a fuller-sized young woman who designs trendy clothes for women with similar silhouettes).

Project Runway Canada served as a jump off point for designers as well as for former host (and super model) Iman, who now will co-host -- along with Isaac Mizrahi -- Bravo’s The Fashion Show, which airs Nov. 9 in the United States.

Launch My Line, another Bravo fashion TV show that was similar to Project Runway, featured Canadian designers (and twin brothers) Dean and Dan Caten, whose label is Dsquared2. The duo hosted Season 1, which aired December 2009 to February 2010 and included flamboyant fashion consultant Patrick McDonald among other contestants, each vying to create his or her own fashion collection. New York magazine reported that the Dsquared2 line is popular with musicians, such as “Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Rihanna, and Madonna, who asked the duo to create more than 150 pieces for her 2002 Drowned World Tour.”

You can find Dsquared2 at

(Photos courtesy of Toronto's LG Fashion Week Web site)

Saks Fifth Avenue

and Bergdorf Goodman. But you may have to go to Canadian stores such as The Bay and Holt Renfrew to find many Canadian designers. It’s worth the trip