Toronto Fashion Week: Priceless? (Updated with my thoughts)

LG is out, MasterCard is in as Toronto Fashion Week’s new title sponsor. The first season under the new World MasterCard Fashion Week name will be held this March 12 to 17 when Canadian designers present the Fall/Winter 2012 collections at at the tents at David Pecault Square, where the Spring/Summer shows were in October. The new website is already up and the Fashion Design Council of Canada (FDCC)’s Twitter handle has already been changed to @wmcfashionweek. This sponsorship, according to CP24, is for six seasons, taking them into 2015.

Designers presenting in March’s shows are expected to be the familiar faces like Bustle, Pink Tartan and Joe Fresh, and likely with some new names as well. At the same time, there are those who are not too happy with the new sponsor. Some feel that using “World” in its name is a little bit too much, considering that Toronto is nowhere near being “up there” in the fashion world (honestly, we need to be more patient. The Toronto International Film Festival was pretty much nothing (and had an awful name – Festival of Festivals) for a good 25 years.) Others feel that MasterCard is the WRONG sponsor, since they believe that it nothing to do with fashion (and do Mercedes-Benz and LG have anything to do with fashion?). However, one also has to look at it from a money perspective. MasterCard just had the best offer for the FDCC. Fashion Week, whether it’s Toronto or New York, needs sponsorships to run, and it’s likely that other companies just didn’t match (or come close to matching) what the they were looking for. Usually, sponsorships come with certain terms and conditions, often requiring not only names be prominently displayed, but also part of the the event’s name. It’s just business, whether you like it or not. Regardless of who the title sponsor is, I am definitely looking forward to the shows come March.

Another update: Maybelline replaces L’Oreal as make-up sponsor. See full post at Shorty Stories