A huge vegan fashion show is coming to Toronto, showing how the city is utilizing fashion to help Torontonians be more environmentally conscious in their daily lives.
The Vegan Fashion Show first arrived as a trendy event in Queen Street West in 2022 and now is one of the largest Canadian vegan fashion productions with pop-up events all over Toronto and Vancouver throughout the year.
Its latest fashion show is part of the 39th anniversary of the largest free vegan festival in Toronto.
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Vegan Fashion Show director, model and animal activist Vikki Lenola says the show is an opportunity to gather the city’s diverse creative community of models, artists, attendees, makeup artists, and sustainable fashion brands.
This year’s lineup features The Wifey Collection, a modest fashion brand handmade by Muslim women, upcycled and plant-based silks from RT Atelier, and apple leather handbags from No. 49. It also includes South East Asian Indigenous brand Jummobi and Wuxly, a Canadian outerwear brand using tencel as plant-based down for warm winter jackets.
“There are designers from all sorts of backgrounds that are environmentally conscious and want to end animal suffering. We put ourselves out there and make it clear that we’re here to support their work. I also connect directly with material companies so we can start introducing materials to consumers that aren’t even widely available yet,” Lenola said.
She was also involved in a “milking” demonstration with animal activist Amanda Oakes this past Mother’s Day.
These materials are commonly known as next-generation materials, which are renewable materials that are animal-free, cruelty-free, and reduce their impact on the environment, according to People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Director Ashley Byrne.
“More people than ever, and especially young people, are choosing to wear vegan clothing, and that is because people are waking up to the fact that any article of clothing that is made from an animal’s skin or hair or fur is a product of extreme violence and suffering,” Byrne told Now Toronto on Thursday.
Like Lenola, who experiments with zero plastic faux fair and champagne chalk, Byrne says vegan materials keep getting more sustainable each year.
“Cow leather has nearly six times the negative environmental impact of polyurethane. Synthetic leather that’s been around forever, but it has nearly ten times the negative environment of piñatex pineapple leather,” Byrne said.
Although it seems these options seem out of reach for most people, Byrne says the GAP and Abercrombie and Fitch have labelled some of their products as vegan.
“There are so many options now, for example, faux leather is being made now from pineapple, cork, and mushroom. A lot of them are made from the waste of other industries. For instance, grape leather can be produced from grape waste from the wine industry,” Bryne said.
Another example is Canadian outerwear company Wuxly which is commonly known for replacing animal down with tencel in their jackets, has now made it mainstream with their product placement in the latest Ghostbusters movie.
“Next-gen materials can become more fashionable with youth by aligning with their values of sustainability and environmental responsibility. Especially for Gen-Zers, fashion is less about following trends or displaying status and more about making ethical choices and reducing environmental impact. This generation, being digital natives, is deeply influenced by contemporary global issues such as climate change and social movements,” a Wuxly spokesperson told Now Toronto.
The brand says its recent Plant-Based Collection is about promoting a new way towards Canadian living rather than just a clothing line.
Torontonians who are switching to plant-based choices in their daily life, along with educational events like the Vegan Fashion Show, support the city’s plans to be the first circular city in Ontario.
“Everyone has a role to play in helping to move Toronto toward a circular economy. When Torontonians make circular choices in their daily lives, they play a key role in helping build a cleaner and greener city for themselves and for future generations,” a city spokesperson told Now Toronto.
The city says local fashion businesses can help the city by participating in the development of Toronto’s first Circular Economy Road Map, which already involves over 1,000 residents, businesses, and community organizations.
The Vegan Fashion Show will be on the main stage at VegTO fest from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sept. 22, at Nathan Phillips Square.