With shopping streets packed with unique boutiques offering the latest and greatest fashions and creative neighbourhoods full of independent ateliers hard at work coming up with what’s next, the city thrives on style any time of the year. Whether you’re interested in cutting edge looks or timeless haute couture, Montréal’s fashion industry doesn’t follow trends — it sets them.
MAD for fashion
Standing for its stylish trifecta of topics, “mode, arts et divertissements,” MAD Festival takes over the downtown core every summer to bring fashion, arts and entertainment to all passersby. From the open-air pop-up boutique village set up at Place des Festivals to the live music, interesting talks and bombastic afterparties, the event is a free celebration of local designers that draws crowds of thousands. It speaks to Montréal’s love of aesthetics, creativity and dedication to craftsmanship.
Celebrating style every day
Montréal is Canada’s fashion capital not only in terms of quality and originality, but also in terms of market share. Ranked third in North America for clothing manufacturing (after New York and Los Angeles), Montréal’s fashion sector is a major player in the Canadian economy. Let’s let the numbers do the talking:
- The city accounts for $8 billion total sales for manufactured goods and wholesale distribution in Québec, excluding retail sales
- There are 1,846 companies in operation in the fashion sector across the province of Québec
- 48% of all Canadian production in the fashion industry are in Québec
- 58% of the 82,540 jobs in Québec’s fashion sector are located in the Greater Montréal area
- Montréal boasts close to 10,000 students in the fashion and design industry
With its strategic location mid-way between the American and European markets, the tech-forward logistics hub that is Montréal is a logical place for the international fashion and design industry. The government’s commitment to innovation and creativity, via tailor made incentives and financial support, helps anchor the industry that much further, making Montréal’s one of the most competitive operating costs in North America and giving the city a higher purchasing power than in other major cities in North America and Europe.
Montréal’s fashion and design roots
Since being named an UNESCO City of Design in 2006, Montréal has remained a hotbed of creativity and forward thinking. It’s a cultural metropolis that welcomes creatives with open arms, making it one of the most active startup cities in the world as well.
Though the fashion and design industry has been deeply affected by globalization, here like everywhere else, it has been able to reinvent itself through new business models and the inclusion of more and more world-class players. Here are just some of the city’s successful fashion brands:
- Aldo
- SSENSE
- Frank & Oak
- Gildan
- Lolë
- Pajar
- Mackage
- Reitmans
- Matt & Nat
The industry’s success is a testament to quick-thinking innovation, creativity and collaboration, traits all Montréal’s most successful industries are known for.
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