Meet Some Of The Designers To Be Featured At EMERGENCE 2019
From luxury evening wear to Caribana costumes – Toronto Film School’s upcoming EMERGENCE fashion show on May 27 will showcase the beautiful and inspiring garments of some of the Fashion Design Diploma’s most talented designers.
Each of the participating designers come from rich and diverse backgrounds that influence the way they create and perceive fashion. Their stories are woven into the textiles they work with and we are delighted to share their experiences here:
Fernan Lianne Wulff
Fernan Lianne Wulff draws confidence fashion and uses it as a tool to express herself. Her label Lady Wulff creates designs that make women feel effortlessly beautiful, sophisticated and confident. At age five, Wulff used her mother’s sewing machine to make clothes and accessories for her Barbie dolls. Receiving her first mini sewing machine for her birthday, she spent most of her days and nights in her “studio” (the corner of her bedroom). She found fulfillment in sharing her doll dresses, bags and accessories with others. Wulff then moved from Ghana to Canada to attend Toronto Film School’s Fashion Design program, where she gained professional experience and went on to show at New York Fashion Week. She continues her studies with our sister school Yorkville University, where she’s pursuing her Bachelor of Business Administration online.
Samira and Sahar Rahimi
Sisters Samira and Sahar Rahimi attended Toronto Film School together and will be showing their joint collection from luxury brand LASCO KELLA. Their line emphasizes making a woman look stylish, elegant and beautiful. Having moved to Toronto from Hungary, the Rahimi sisters decided to pursue their fashion design dreams in 2017. They were able to develop their skills and loved being taught by Toronto Film School’s knowledgeable faculty. They also had the opportunity to work with designer Ross Mayer.
Zarin Rashid
Wanting to embark on her own journey, Zarin Rashid moved from Bangladesh to Toronto when she was 18. Back home, her father owns a coat factory, which Rashid currently designs for. She started her educational background in Financial and Business Economics and later changed course to Fashion Design. Rashid excelled at fashion illustration and loved the process of learning how to create her own patterns and sewing her own collections. A year into the Fashion Design Diploma at Toronto Film School, Rashid made meaningful connections that led her to start her own brand on social media. She also had the opportunity to show her collection at a L’Oréal show in Montreal and hosted her own fashion show in Bangladesh. Eager to keep growing, she interned for faculty member and designer Christopher Paunil. Continuing her fashion journey, Rashid is currently working on her own lingerie brand.
Luis Lopez
Luis Lopez is a Toronto-based menswear designer born in Mexico City. While working at Canada’s luxury mall Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Lopez found himself gazing at the display windows with wonderment. He asked himself how he could make clothes that looked like the ones on display. This ultimately led him to attend Toronto Film School. As an artist, Lopez combines his skill and cultural background with his design training to create beautiful clothing. Rooted in his Mexican heritage Lopez’s collection from his label Shadowplay is inspired by the Day of the Dead.
Sandra Büeler
Born and raised in Switzerland, Sandra Büeler realized at a young age that she wanted to create fashion, but was intimated by the sewing aspect. She attended the Schule für Gestaltung art school, and after graduating went on to worked for Nord-Süd Verlag as a children’s book designer, and Zehnder Druckerei as a media designer for newspapers and magazines. Meanwhile, her passion and hobby for Cosplay made her realize that sewing was not as scary as she first thought. In 2016, she made the decision to move to Toronto to study Fashion Design at Toronto Film School. During her studies she interned with Canadian design label Greta Constantine, while also collaborating with TFS Film Production students on several short films as a costume designer. Handpicked to represent the school as part of a three-person team for the Creativ Festival, Büeler’s team won first place for their themed outfits celebrating Canada’s 150th anniversary.
Michael Estes
Michael Estes‘ design epiphany came in 2015 when he constructed an Optimus Prime costume for Halloween. Estes was a part of the three-person team that took first place at the Creativ Festival and was Toronto Film School’s 2018 Fashion Design valedictorian. Into his second term, he began interning with Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong of Greta Constantine. Estes has also volunteered his time as lead costume designer for several of his fellow students’ music videos and films. Recently, his work was featured on The JUNO Awards’ red carpet, where Canadian musician Cory J Stewart showcased one of Estes’ specialty hand-crafted crowns.
Emma Fenton
Emma Fenton discovered she wanted to be a fashion designer at nine years old, when she grabbed a FASHION magazine from a pile of her mother’s subscriptions. Entranced by the editorial images, she found herself quickly diving into fashion. She received her first sewing machine from her mother at age 14. After completing her Fashion Marketing for Entertainment Diploma from Toronto Film School, Fenton went on to complete the Fashion Design Diploma and was its 2019 valedictorian. Her collection FENTON Born is a unisex collection. Fenton currently interns with Canadian fashion label L’MOMO.
Stefanie von Thelen Newton
Stefanie von Thelen Newton was always interested in art and design. She found her passion when she was introduced to a sewing camp by friends. She aims to create a brand bursting with energy and positivity by utilizing bold colours and patterns. Her brand’s name Apicari is derived from the Latin word Apricatus which translates to “bask in the sun”. Newton represented Toronto Film School at the Creativ Festival competition along with her team. She has experience interning at PYA Importer, working with the design team for brands LINE Knitwear and John + Jenn. She has worked on several small independent films as a costume designer, director and editor. With an interest in visual merchandising, Newton is also the Visual Display and Branding Artist at the Global Village Thrift Shoppe in Bradford, Ontario.
Rania Issawi
Rania Issawi is a Jordanian designer with a background in architecture and project management. As a Muslim Hijabi, she often found it difficult to find modest evening wear appropriate to wear to many of the events she attended. She decided to design her own solutions to the problem by pursuing a career in fashion. Her self-titled brand, Rania Issawi, fuses the fashions of East and West to deliver modern yet modest evening wear.
