Toronto Fashion Incubator Celebrates 25th Anniversary With Glamourous TFI25 Gala

Honorary chair Suzanne Rogers and sponsor Sylvia Mantella 

On May 3, Toronto Fashion Incubator celebrated its 25th anniversary with a fundraising gala at the Royal Ontario Museum, aptly dubbed TFI25, that was attended by a who’s who of Toronto’s social set and fashion industry and fit for Barbie herself. Chaired by Suzanne Rogers and emceed by a Greta Constantine-clad Jully Black, the evening featured a VIP dinner, a Barbie-inspired celebrity runway show, the annual TFI New Labels design competition fashion show and, of course, an after-party.

Singer and TFI25 Master of Ceremonies Jully Black

After a 6 month long competition, finalists Patrick Larrivée, Sid Neigum, Jameson Kane by Genevieve Pearson and Stanley Capobianco, and [blak] – i by Diego Fuchs and Helder Aguiar showed four very well received collections that made the TFI New Labels judges’ decision that much more difficult to make. “Judges are in big trouble from @SusanAtTFI”, FLARE Magazine‘s Editor-in-Chief Lisa Tant tweeted, ”because we can’t decide and won’t come out.”

FLARE Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief and TFI New Labels judge Lisa Tant

Tant was joined on the judging panel by TNT Boutiques’ Arie Assaraf, Toronto Star‘s Derick Chetty, TFI President David Dixon, TFI Executive Director Susan Langdon and the gala’s honorary chair Suzanne Rogers, who donated the $25,000 grand prize. In the end, Edmonton native Sid Neigum was named this year’s TFI New Labels winner, taking home a prize package valued at $60,000, which included a feature in FLARE Magazine and a design studio at the TFI sponsored by Arie Assaraf.

TFI New Labels winner Sid Neigum and model

Those weren’t the only prizes up for grabs at TFI25. The Barbie-inspired fashion show featured celebrity models like Dina Pugliese, Tanya Kim and Trish Stratus in designs by VAWK, Arthur Mendonça, Anastasia Lomonova and more. While past TFI New Labels winner Sarah Nicol of Sar Couture was awarded the $10,000 cash prize, it was actress Tara Spencer-Nairn in VAWK who stole the show with her robotic runway walk, tweeted FASHION Magazine‘s Editor-in-Chief Bernadette Morra.

Dina Pugliese in Barbie-inspired dress by Stema

Canadian fashion reigned supreme both on the runway and off. In addition to the two fashion shows, the evening featured an installation of 25 looks from TFI’s last 25 years, curated by FLARE Magazine‘s Fashion Director Liz Cabral.

FLARE Magazine’s Fashion Director Liz Cabral

Gala attendees also showed up in their most glamourous Canadian-designed ensembles. Suzanne Rogers donned a gorgeous flower-embellished black gown by David Dixon, marketing maven Leesa Butler wore a vintage red dress by Joeffer Caoc, and Bernadette Morra chose Arthur Mendonça for the occasion.

Toronto Star’s Derick Chetty and TFI Executive Director Susan Langdon

FASHION Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Bernadette Morra

Jenna Naumovich

Bloggers Kimberly Lyn and Nelia Belkova

The F-list’s Leesa Butler

Designer Arthur Mendonça and Creative Director George Antonopoulos

With $70,000 in prizes awarded and net proceeds of over $100,000 raised, TFI25 was a resounding success. Congratulations to Susan Langdon and the rest of the Toronto Fashion Incubator team on 25 years and counting!

xx, S

Image Credits: George Pimentel, You Just Got Spotted (last 7 photos in gallery)