We have some very exciting news here at Pure Magnolia.  We may have already blabbed it on twitter, and facebook, and to passing pedestrians, but it has long been established that exciting news kept to one’s self tends to cause headaches and unnecessary skipping, so we can’t really feel too bad about that.

The Calm Before the Storm

To start at the beginning, a month or so ago we sent in an application to the Mercedes Benz Start-Up Competition which is a contest for designers who have been in business for less than five years.  Our application was accepted and we made it to the semi-finals which meant packing up the whole collection and flying to Ottawa at a moment’s notice.

In Ottawa, all the chosen designers made a presentation to a panel of judges including: JoAnne Caza, the Director of Communications and PR for Mercedes-Benz Canada, Jarrad Clark, the Director of Global Production for IMG Fashion, and Robin Kay, the President of the Fashion Design Council of Canada. Whew!

Designers who were successful, (including us, yay!) got to show eight looks on the runway.  The judges then chose winners who get to show at Toronto Fashion Week this fall.  After fashion week, an overall winner will be chosen who will get mentorships with the judges as well as a show at the 2013 Fashion Week.

The Runway Show

Personal considerations notwithstanding, we think it would be really cool if an Eco-Friendly designer won this competition, not to mention someone from the West Coast.  Win or not however, we are very excited about the whole adventure, so wish us luck as we attempt to take Toronto by storm.  Best of luck to all the other competitors, especially Christopher Bates and Caitlin Power from the Ottawa section of the competition.