Toronto Fashion Week appears poised to return to the Canadian style calendar after a new ownership group said it has acquired the rights to the now-defunct event.
Freed Developments president Peter Freed announced Monday the purchase of the rights to Toronto Fashion Week from IMG Canada.
IMG Canada had operated Toronto Fashion Week in collaboration with IMG Fashion since 2012, after taking over from the Fashion Design Council of Canada, a non-profit organization that had owned and produced the event for 13 years.
Organizers announced in July they were pulling the plug on Toronto Fashion Week due to a lack of financial support.
With collections unveiled twice a year in March and October, Toronto had played host to buyers, media and consumers — and countless others on social media — highlighting designers' latest creations.
Freed is now spearheading an ownership group made up of top executives in real estate, media and finance.
The group aims to create a "global forum for fashion, retail, arts, entertainment and culture" in Toronto's upscale Yorkville neighbourhood, and plans to unveil its new direction and overall program in the new year.
"With the purchase of Toronto Fashion Week from IMG, we have the opportunity to create a multi-faceted program that embraces the Canadian fashion and design community, addresses today's retail trends and consumer interests together with the creation and integration of a strong digital platform. It's extremely exciting," Freed said in a release.
