Putting the 'Fund' in Fashion

Dressed in a cute little dress, Kate Reeve is to the untrained eye an ordinary 12-year-old girl. Her toothy smile paired with a cheerful personality can be interpreted as naivety habitually ascribed to the younger generation. Yet, first impressions are often misleading.

Kate is the mastermind behind Fashion for Funds, a charity fashion show. This grade seven student from Immaculata High School was inspired by an article in Today’s Parent magazine about a girl who was terminally ill with lung cancer. The little girl was staying at Canuck Place, a children’s hospital in British Columbia. This heart-wrenching story sparked a fire within Kate. She was determined to organize a charity fashion show that would donate 100% of the proceeds to Canuck Place and Roger’s House...

Read the rest of the article on EF Magazine's website or click here

Jana Hanzel 

 Rachel Sin

 Shweta Wahi

Amber Watkins

Stay tuned for the interview with local Ottawa designer Amber Watkins! 

OFW Designers: Emilia Torabi and Jana Hanzel

The duo kicked off Ottawa Fashion Week on Friday March 18th 2011 and showcased their Fall/Winter 2011-2012 collection. But who are these ladies?

Emilia Torabi started out as a fashion designer when she was only 10 years old (wowza). Torabi has Russian heritage, raised in Iran and studied in Italy; her pieces have certain small influences from each place that she has lived in. At the moment Emilia focuses on custom pieces from private clients, many of whom are important ladies such as the wives of diplomats from Greece, Barbados, Angola and Tanzania. She's even made a number of pieces for the German Ambassador's wife, Sabine Witschel. Jana Hanzel originally studied something completely different...she has a Masters in IT! But this experience has aided the designer, the infusion of art and math makes her garments amazingly unique and structured in a way that perfectly fits a woman's body. Jana also works from her studio for private clients; mostly savvy business women. The combination of both these fabulous women transformed the runway as models strutted their stuff wearing beautifully cut outfits that made me want to work in an office (just so I can rock this chic office attire!). Enjoy the collection!