Yohji Yamamoto Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection today against debts of 6 billion yen (about $69.4 million CAD). An investor, Integral Corp., has already stepped up with funds and the Japanese company with continue to operate during restructuring.

It’s the kind of success story that’s made in Manhattan—only it all began in Brooklyn. Over the past 20 years, jewellery designer Alexis Bittar (alexisbittar.com) has gone from being a street vendor in SoHo to a fixture on Michael Kors’ speed-dial. Bittar’s signature bright, bold Lucite designs have made him the candy man of the [...]

Though we’ve long loved Renata Morales (renatamorales.com), the Montreal designer came screaming back into our consciousness last October with her Spring 2009 show–full of ethereal dresses made of candy floss and the feathers of imaginary birds (we assume). The frocks in Morales’ Fall 2009 collection were inspired macro photographs of moths and rendered with feathers, [...]

Ashley Rowe is quickly becoming the go-to designer for cool girls on the event circuit. You don’t have to look too hard to see someone sporting one of her Miss Rowe signature bustiers or modish mini-dresses. For the next two Saturdays (June 13 and 20, missrowe.com), the designer is hosting a customization event at her [...]

With great talent and a whole lot of personality, Jessica Biffi became instant BFFs with fans of the hit reality show, Project Runway Canada. For this promising designer, reality beyond TV only gets more exciting. In addition to working on the launch of her private label, she is dreaming up some ambitious endeavors to tackle [...]

It’s pretty easy to cruise though life, flying under the radar and going about your fashionable business.  But, for Calgary-based designer Leo Casuga Jr., that simply isn’t an option.  After slogging it out in the financial world for several years, Casuga decided to listen to his gut and jump ship to pursue a life in [...]

Clayton Evans is busy, busy, busy and his Complexgeometries line (available at Reborn, complexgeometries.com) is getting so much attention and praise. I had the Alberta-born, Montreal-based designer, who recently showed his Fall 2009 collection, “…between good and evil,” answer some questions, loosely inspired by the designs. But first, the completely self-taught scissor master would probably [...]

We always look forward to the Greta Constantine (gretaconstantine.com) show. Designers Stephen Wong and Kirk Pickersgill are the go-to pair for silk jersey dresses that are ready to party party. (Their frocks have been spotted on the likes of Jennifer Hudson, Kreesha Turner, Iman and Nelly Furtado.) So when we heard they were doing pants [...]