View the VIBE Toronto
  • Cool Vibes
    • Cool Vibes
    • Gift Guides
    • Eats+Drinks
    • Travel+Hotels
    • Health+Fitness
    • Style+Beauty
    • Life+Culture
    • Dating+Relationships
    • Events+Nightlife
    • Cannabis
  • Best in The 6ix
    • Best in The 6ix
    • Restaurants
    • Hotels
    • Things to do
    • Coffee Shops
    • Spas + Beauty
    • Barbershops
    • Retail
  • City Life
    • City Life
    • Pride
    • #TTCLife
    • #BossLife
    • #DatingLife
    • Seen+Heard
    • COVID-19
    • Quarantine Chronicles
    • Submit a Q.C. Post
  • Going Down
    • Today
    • This Week
    • This Month
    • Submit an Event
SPACES Yorkville
Join In
6K Likes
12K Followers
22K Followers
150 Followers
  • Masthead
  • Send Us A Tip
  • Advertise
Subscribe
View the VIBE Toronto
View the VIBE Toronto
  • Cool Vibes
    • Cool Vibes
    • Gift Guides
    • Eats+Drinks
    • Travel+Hotels
    • Health+Fitness
    • Style+Beauty
    • Life+Culture
    • Dating+Relationships
    • Events+Nightlife
    • Cannabis
  • Best in The 6ix
    • Best in The 6ix
    • Restaurants
    • Hotels
    • Things to do
    • Coffee Shops
    • Spas + Beauty
    • Barbershops
    • Retail
  • City Life
    • City Life
    • Pride
    • #TTCLife
    • #BossLife
    • #DatingLife
    • Seen+Heard
    • COVID-19
    • Quarantine Chronicles
    • Submit a Q.C. Post
  • Going Down
    • Today
    • This Week
    • This Month
    • Submit an Event
  • Events+Nightlife
  • Style+Beauty

Mercedes-Benz Start Up Award Winner 2014/2015

  • Philip Mak
  • October 21, 2014
  • 3 minute read
Total
5
Shares
5
0
0
0
0
0

For those just starting out in the fashion industry, getting funding, mentorship, and exposure can be a very real struggle. For the fourth year in a row, Mercedes-Benz is offering young Canadian artists the chance to see all that hard work pay off. The Mercedes-Benz Start Up (MBSU) National Finale Runway, last night at World MasterCard Fashion Week, saw 6 emerging designers from across the country present mini-collections – all competing for the highly-coveted prize of a $30,000 bursary, mentorship, and, of course, the prestigious title of Mercedes-Benz Start Up Award Designer. Previous winners include MARTIN LIM, DUY, Malorie Urbanovitch, and Matière Noire – many of whom have gone on to experience international acclaim, among innumerable other benefits of the program.

In a showdown reminiscent of my favourite season finales of Project Runway, the 6 program finalists presented their best for spring/summer 2015 looks. Dare we say Bernadette Morra played an excellent Nina Garcia? Among the crème de la crème presenting were Toronto-based womenswear and accessories sister duo Chloe and Parris Gordon, better known as Beaufille; Parson’s and Central Saint Martins’ grad, Laura Siegel; cutting-edge lifestyle designers Helder Aguiar and Diego Fuchs, with their label BLAK.I; Portugal and Montreal-trained Valerie Tolila with her line, VAIKEN; Vancouver-Island-based west coast girl Eliza Faulkner; and Alberta-born, New-York-trained, Toronto Fashion Incubator New Labels Award winner Sid Neigum.

fashion_toronto_sid_neigum_20141020_34772513

As our favourite Toronto fashion week Twitters have doubtlessly already informed you, Sid Neigum ultimately took home the prize. His collection, featuring strong structural elements, loose silhouettes, woven fabric, cutout designs, and a monochromatic colour palette, left the room in an excited silence. If I had to take a stab at where he drew his inspiration from, I would say it was somewhere between origami and an episode of Touched By An Angel — in the best way, of course. Neigum’s construction and taste level are impeccable and, while the other designers put forward excellent presentations, his level of polish and attention to detail made him the clear winner.

At the risk of raining a little bit on the parade though, there was some controversy within the fashion community regarding the finalist choices. While the award can be given to anybody who launched his or her line within the last 5 years, certain designers have been around for a few seasons (and solo shows) at World MasterCard Fashion Week. This draws into question what it actually means to be a “start up” fashion label. We mention this not as a commentary on the events of last night so much as a desire to start a conversation about how best to allocate funds, support, and exposure to artists at the beginnings of their careers. Would somebody with incredible vision but less experience and polish due to their age have had a fighting chance?

Other highlights from the MBSU runway included Beaufille’s use of very 90s-referential oxblood-dyed leather, Laura Siegel’s incorporation of turbans (officially predicting this one as a mass market trend within the next year or two), all-white-everything at Vaiken, and an all-blue-everything borderline Canadian tuxedo at Eliza Faulkner. (Editor’s Note: Be sure check out our Twitter @ViewTheVibe for shots of our favourite looks from the tents.) The Mercedes-Benz Start Up Awards never fail to deliver an amazing catwalk and, paired with the Joe Fresh party highlighting emerging designers, the evening could not have gone more perfectly.

Congratulations, Sid Neigum. We cannot wait to see more from you.

What did you think of the MSBU Awards showcase? Let us know in the comments section below or tweet us at @ViewTheVibe

Total
5
Shares
Like 5
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Like 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Beaufille
  • Blak.i
  • DUY
  • Eliza Faulkner
  • Laura Siegel
  • Malorie Urbanovitch
  • MARTIN LIM
  • Matiere Noire
  • Mercedes-Benz Start Up
  • Mercedes-Benz Start Up Award Designer
  • Sid Neigum
  • Toronto Fashion Week 2014
  • Vaiken
  • World Mastercard Fashion Week
  • World MasterCard Fashion Week 2014
Avatar
Philip Mak

A recent import to Toronto from Montreal, Philip Mak is V.v Magazine's fashion editor while also an unabashed pop culture and social media junkie. Follow his (sometimes wildly inappropriate) twitter at @PhilipMMak.

Stay in the Know

Subscribe now to our new Weekly VIBE newsletter

RELATED
View Post
  • Style+Beauty

New Winter Beauty Product Launches To Have On Your Radar

  • Blair Stutz
  • February 24, 2021
View Post
  • Style+Beauty

Gua Sha: Benefits of the at-Home Facial Massage

  • Sydnee Condon
  • February 23, 2021
BLM_merch
View Post
  • Entertainment
  • Style+Beauty

Toronto Raptors Drop Black Lives Matter Capsule Collection

  • Merrill Flynn
  • February 19, 2021
Trending Posts
  • 1
    • City Life
    Why the Toronto Condo Market WILL Bounce Back
    • Heather Hadden
    • 2 min
  • 2
    • Style+Beauty
    New Winter Beauty Product Launches To Have On Your Radar
    • Blair Stutz
    • 5 min
  • BLM_merch 3
    • Entertainment
    • Style+Beauty
    Toronto Raptors Drop Black Lives Matter Capsule Collection
    • Merrill Flynn
    • 1 min
  • 4
    • City Life
    Quarantine Chronicles: Salon Owners Speak out About Finding the Positivity through the Frustration
    • Guest Submission
    • 3 min
SPACES Yorkville
ADVERTISE WITH US
Learn about our
partnership opportunities.

Inquire Now

 

LATEST NEWS
SPACES Yorkville
GOING DOWN:
« February 2021 » loading...
M T W T F S S
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Fri 26

Kuumba

February 1 - February 28
Fri 26

Story Planet: Constellation Adult Writing Workshop Series

February 13 @ 1:00 pm - March 27 @ 4:00 pm
Mon 01

Tips to Create a Winning Book Review

March 1 - March 2

Stay in the Know

Subscribe to our new Weekly VIBE newsletter now.

View the VIBE
View the VIBE, partially owned, and operated by STAMINA Group Inc., launched in 2010 as a video restaurant and spa guide, later evolving into a recognized digital Toronto-lifestyle authority, producing fun, edgy and informational editorial content. Establishing itself as a voice for restaurant reviews, trending stories, and excellent vibe videos.
Learn More
Partner Network

SWAGGER Magazine, North America’s
Online Men‘s Luxury Lifestyle Magazine.

Divine.ca, Canada’s Bilingual Online
Women’s Lifestyle Magazine.

WanderEater.com, leading those wandering aimlessly for food.

GTA Lifestyle Magazines, for all things GTA for the most affluent.

Part of the STAMINA Group
of brands.

Learn More

Navigation
  • Cool Vibes
    • Cool Vibes
    • Gift Guides
    • Eats+Drinks
    • Travel+Hotels
    • Health+Fitness
    • Style+Beauty
    • Life+Culture
    • Dating+Relationships
    • Events+Nightlife
    • Cannabis
  • Best in The 6ix
    • Best in The 6ix
    • Restaurants
    • Hotels
    • Things to do
    • Coffee Shops
    • Spas + Beauty
    • Barbershops
    • Retail
  • City Life
    • City Life
    • Pride
    • #TTCLife
    • #BossLife
    • #DatingLife
    • Seen+Heard
    • COVID-19
    • Quarantine Chronicles
    • Submit a Q.C. Post
  • Going Down
    • Today
    • This Week
    • This Month
    • Submit an Event
View the VIBE Toronto
  • Contact
  • Masthead
  • Subscribe
  • Send us a Tip
  • Legal
  • © 2020, STAMINA Group
The leading VIBE authority of The 6ix - Online Lifestyle Magazine

Input your search keywords and press Enter.