The 2013 Fashion & Design Festival Explores the Theme of Play and Puts Its Festival-Goers at the Heart of Its Program

MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC--(Marketwired - July 15, 2013) - Just weeks away from the kick-off of the biggest public fashion event in North America, Groupe Sensation Mode is pleased to present the official program for the Fashion & Design Festival (FDF) hosted in collaboration with the Casino de Montréal and chaired by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. From July 31 to August 3, the FDF will artfully animate the breathtaking McGill College Avenue in Montréal from Place Ville Marie to De Maisonneuve Boulevard.

FDF 2013 innovations

• The event's honorary chairman, legendary French creator Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, has an unforgettable experience in store for festival-goers: performance/fashion show, exhibition, conference, book signing session and urban art performances are all on the program.
• Thanks to a partnership with the Québec Forest Industry Council, some of the FDF's amenities (including the main stage) will be transformed by being completely clad in wood, thereby giving the event a unique design signature.
• Every day, Aldo Atelier will give the public the opportunity to attend live interviews with celebrities from the realms of fashion, design and music.

Time for play and for interactivity

• On Wednesday at 12:30 p.m., the High Heel Race will be held in collaboration with Spa Away, to support Le Chaînon.
• On Friday at 10:00 p.m., the playful, pop and colorful show called PLAY: Summer is Time for Fun presented by Heineken, will take festival-goers from a roller-skating adventure to an afternoon of jump-rope as it imitates games on stage. Designed by stylist Andrew McNally, PLAY will be accompanied by a live soundtrack featuring Montréal band Random Recipe.
• On Saturday at 6:30 p.m., the Montreal(er) In Fashion du Festival runway show will bring together a cast of Montrealers selected from the crowd for their "IN" looks over the course of the festival by blogger Candice Pantin, and subsequently elected by popular vote on Facebook.
• The site will host six permanent INBOX Design exhibition containers, each one articulated around a Québec design object that incarnates the playful and experimental spirit of the Royal Bandit studio. The Public Benches design contest will also return this year.
• Numerous contests will be held on social media, including the Grace Kelly Style Contest organized by McCord Museum in collaboration with the Casino de Montréal, for Thursday's fashion show at 6:15 p.m.
• Thanks to PARCE QUE FILMS, all of the fashion shows during the festival will be broadcast live from 7:00 p.m. on WebTV via the FDF site: www.festivalmodedesign.com.

Fashion events not to be missed

• On Wednesday at 9:00 p.m., Air France will present the premiere of the mind-blowing artistic performance "Fantômes" orchestrated for the opening evening by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, accompanied by Mr. Nô and V.J. Florian, featuring 60 models wearing "Tribal Pop" inspired tunics.
• On Wednesday at 8:00 p.m., Highlight on Montreal Fashion Week F/W 13 will be presented in collaboration with Clin d'œil, featuring a sampling of collections from the last edition of Montreal Fashion Week and approximately 20 Québec celebrities including Geneviève Borne, Virginie Coossa, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Eve Landry, Élizabeth Duperré, Herby Moreau and Joannie Rochette.
• On Thursday evening at 10:00 p.m., the stylish Vintage Love event, a fashion show to commemorate the 80^th Anniversary of Le Chaînon, styled by YSO to the hip-hop rhythm of Heart Streets, will feature four of the organization's sponsors - Andrée Lachapelle, Anne-Marie Cadieux, India Desjardins and Catherine Pogonat - who will strut their stuff accompanied by dozens of models.
• On Friday at 10:00 p.m., to close the festival, Geneviève Borne will rise to the challenge of presenting a fashion-show/performance for the very first time. The special Mutations event will transform the catwalk into an assembly line, exploring image creation and the robotization of the human race in a mind-blowing performance depicting our perspective of the future in the 80's.
• A myriad of other fashion shows will also be presented:
  • Shows featuring up-and-coming designers: Collège LaSalle and the Cégep Marie-Victorin fashion school
  • Major brands: Everyday Sunday, Wordans, Antoine Laoun Opticien (with Ray-Ban), Mexx, Franco Negretti, Jacob, Suzy Shier, Oxygen Collections, Le Château, Yves Martin, Forever 21, Guess & Marciano, Hudson's Bay, Numero, Simons, Place Ville Marie, Centre Eaton, Complexe Les Ailes and Ethik BCG
  • Fashion shows featuring diversity: DYDH Productions and the Body Diversity Fashion Show
  • Group presentations: From: MTL and 5 bloggers / 5 looks

Celebrating music

• Every day at 5:00 p.m., the Fashion Music Happy Hour will present Québec celebrities including Tanya Lapointe, Émilie Bibeau, Joey Scarpellino and Angelo Cadet as DJs.
• During the 7:30 p.m. time slot, Rock N' Couture, in collaboration with Lisbon Lux Records, will feature the music of Le Couleur, RYAN, Heidy Pinet and French Fox.
• On Saturday, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m., Ice Cream, Sweet Lemonade, in collaboration with Elle Québec, will feature designers Pedram Karimi, Barilà and UNTTLD along with musicians Beverlay, UN and Jef Barbara.

An exciting shopping agenda

• The FDF Shopping World will include numerous retailers offering a myriad of activities that are sure to leave lasting memories: candy bars, discounts, personalized styling… Jacob, Forever 21, Suzy Shier, Guess, Marciano, Garage and Dynamite will all be participating.
• Containers will be converted into pop-up boutiques: Numero, OldWIG, Missmak Designs, Jaune et Noire, Schwiing, Ethik BGC, Bôhten and Luxyria/Ophélie Hats.

An inspired beauty experience

• Throughout the entire festival, the Beauty Bar and Open Backstage, under the artistic direction of Julie St-Laurent, will welcome visitors, courtesy of Maybelline New York.
• Lead make-up artist from Maybelline New York Grace Lee will also stop by the FDF on July 31 to lend her team a hand during key runway shows.
• The public will have the opportunity to recreate the trends seen on the runway by benefitting from free make-up and hair touch-ups throughout the entire FDF. Festival-goers will choose between two beauty looks specially created by the team of experts from Maybelline New York. "During this first year of sponsoring the Fashion & Design Festival, we are delighted to present to the public from the streets of Montréal the latest on-trend makeup looks from international catwalks", explained Director of Communications for Maybelline New York, Katie Green.

Proud partner of the Fashion & Design Festival for the past two years, the Casino de Montréal invites you to live the Casino Experience via its immersive tunnel that will give you a preview of the Casino's brand new look. The Casino de Montréal has all it takes to bedazzle: a unique island setting with loads of fun and games in one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. The Casino de Montréal Lounge, located in the FDF's central square, will become the meeting-place for the biggest names in the Québec art community.

The 2013 edition of the Fashion & Design Festival was made possible thanks to several major partners including Place Ville Marie, Place Montréal Trust, Centre Eaton Montréal, Complexe Les Ailes, Heineken, the Québec Forest Industry Council, the Government of Québec, the City of Montréal, the Government of Canada, Tourisme Montréal, and Destination Centre-Ville.