ABOUT 

The project began to take shape in 2014 through a commissioned fashion show titled Génération Z, produced by LaSalle College under the creative direction of Milan Tanedjikov for what was then known as Festival Mode & Design (now MAD Festival). During this project, he collaborated with two recent fashion design graduates, Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran, who would go on to develop their now internationally recognized fashion label Fecal Matter, also known as Matière Fécale.

That experience revealed something powerful: with the right support and encouragement, radical fashion ideas could take root — and go far. It became clear that mentorship, visibility, and belief in uncompromising aesthetics could help launch entirely new voices into the fashion world.

The following year, the momentum continued with another collaboration — this time with recent graduate Jessy Colucci, who later founded Process Visual. Together, they co-produced a show titled LINES OF FLIGHT for Fashion Preview, which explored the idea of styling entirely distinct looks based on the individuality of each model. That concept — designing through difference, rather than erasing it — laid the foundation for both the name and the philosophy of what would become LIGNES DE FUITE: a space where fashion practice is shaped by diversity, multiplicity, and personal expression.

From that point on, each summer became an opportunity to nurture emerging designers — the initiative growing organically from one project to the next, as more creatives became involved.

In September 2017, we launched our Instagram account, marking the first public-facing step in formalizing the initiative. The following year, we released the first editions of our print publication, created to showcase the work of the designers we were mentoring and to give them a tangible, professional platform for visibility. This debut volume featured early work by Marie-Ève Lecavalier, who would go on to win the Prix du Jury at the Festival de Hyères, and Alice Vaillant, founder of Vaillant Studio, who later received the ANDAM Prix Spécial — both now recognized as leading voices in contemporary fashion.

The publication was developed in collaboration with the PHI Centre and its former creative director George Fok, now a founding partner at LDF.

From there, things expanded quickly. We launched a website and published LIGNES DE FUITE Vol.2, followed by a series of now-iconic underground events such as Dressed to Succeed, Ha-Happening, and ongoing series of community pop-ups, talks, and screenings that brought together fashion, art, and critical discourse in new and experimental ways.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic caused a slowdown, it did not stop us. During that period of global instability, we continued our work — publishing Vol.3 in 2023 and producing a remarkable three-day event at WIP. As the community grew, so did the scope of our ambition. We began reflecting seriously on how to offer more than visibility and mentorship. Two priorities emerged:

1. The need for affordable space to create

2. The need for a clear path toward commercial viability

These reflections led to a major turning point.

In 2024, everything we had been prototyping over the years came together in a fully integrated form. We opened our first dedicated studio at Atelier 257, giving LDF a physical home base — but more importantly, we launched the core structure of the incubator as it exists today.

That included the creation of our fully structured one-year mentoring program for recent graduates, the rollout of our Advanced Courses, and the official launch of the ON SHOW series, a seasonal runway platform spotlighting the work of emerging designers from our programs.

We also debuted the SUPPLY Shop — our hybrid retail model that connects independent designers with real audiences, online and in person.

In collaboration with Fecal Matter, we produced two editions of Never Conform, some of the most radical, hybrid rave-fashion events Montréal and Toronto have seen. These events blurred the line between show, party, performance, and underground happening — and pushed the boundaries of what fashion presentation can be.

In Toronto, we also co-produced the 1664 ICONIC ACCESSORIES SHOWCASE, a major activation that gave visibility to designers from our incubation program on a national stage — showing that LDF’s voice resonates not just in Montréal, but across Canada and beyond.

Now, we’re entering a new chapter — expanding into a larger, purpose-built space adjacent to Atelier Textile. This evolution creates a one-of-a-kind situation in Canada, where textile art and fashion design coexist naturally under one roof. The next step is clear: to close the loop between design, production, and retail — and make sustainable independent careers truly viable.