Canada’s Most Influential Designers

Over the past two weeks, we have been discussing the best and worst of Canadian style. We have many public personalities who put the pulse on Canadian fashion, while others should hide in the closet like last year’s Prada turban.

This led me to ask, Dear Reader, who are the Canadian designers who have been most influential on the international fashion scene? You must have been asking this yourself, but ask no more because I have the answers. Whether they designed an iconic garment, launched successful businesses or created a larger than life personality, these established designers have left an indelible impression on the nascent Canadian style identity.

Lucinda’s List: Canada’s Most Influential Designers

1. Dean and Dan Caten – They had an international fashion crowd singing the Ontario retro-tourism theme song and made hoser chic trendier than Bob and Doug McKenzie ever did.
2. Linda Lundström – She began her company in 1974, created the iconic LAPARKA, innovated UV-protective clothing, and was celebrating the beauty of “real women” long before Dove.
3. The Hudson’s Bay Company – While not technically a “designer”, this trading company (and now department store) created the iconic Bay blanket that has been made into coats and other clothing. It’s too bad it’s going to get a future foreign facelift now that it has been bought by the company that owns Lord & Taylor.
4. Alfred Sung – A pioneer in Canadian design and fashion exporting, Alfred Sung was one of the original Club Monaco designers and has been called Canada’s “King of Fashion”.
5. Joseph Mimran – Is he a designer or a businessman? It doesn’t matter; he puts the “flash” in Canadian fashion, a talent he honed while working with Alfred Sung and then with Joe Fresh and Pink Tartan. His special show guests (Ashley MacIsaac, Coco Rocha) are always the talk of the Canadian fashion season.
6. Peter Nygård – This controversial entrepreneur has created uncontroversial garments for ladies of a certain age since the 1960s - his great innovation was shifting his sizing to flatter ladies of a certain size.
7. Robin Kay – The brazen Ms. Kay has been a retailer and designer and through the years evolved into a true fashion visionary. Her Fashion Week productions, speeches, and antics always keep people talking about Canadian fashion.
8. Patrick Cox – This precociously talented shoe designer, originally from Toronto, went on to take shoes to greater heights (9 inches!) with trailblazers like Vivienne Westwood as clients..
9. Canada Goose – I’m not talking about the bird. I’m talking about the company behind the parka. While I don’t find parkas particularly stylish, the Hollywood North types on set do.
10. Chip Wilson – Elevating functional workout gear to a yogic level of style, Lululemon’s four way stretch pants wrap across well toned legs everywhere.