TFS Fashion Design Students to Show Adorable Coats at Toronto Fashion Week
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Two Toronto Film School Fashion Design students, Jessica Sarkodie and Olanike Gbadamosi, will have their adorable coat designs, that pair style and safety, unveiled at Fashion Week in Toronto this March.
In response to the Sears Canada/Adorable Outerwear Visibility By Design Student Fashion Contest, the students designed outwear that enhanced visibility using reflective trim and reflective fabric, but is innovative and stylish at the same time.
The contest was open to fashion design students in Ontario. During the first phase of the contest students from five schools submitted sketches of their proposed design. From the sketches 15 students were selected to produce their designed garment.
During the spring 2016 Toronto Fashion Week, the 15 semifinalists will have the opportunity to showcase their designs. A panel of judges will select the designs which best incorporate enhanced visibility features. The contest winner will receive $5,000, and the second and third place winners will receive $3,500 and $1,500, respectively.
The contest fashion show will take place on March 16 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Toronto Metro Hall Rotunda, 55 John Street.
The contest is also supported by The Toronto Area Safety Coalition (TASC).
Jessica Sarkodie
In grade 3, when a teacher asked, “What do you want to be,” Toronto-based designer Jessica Sarkodie’s immediately thought a fashion designer. Fashion design combined all the things she loved: creativity, fashion and colour theory.
By the time she was 12, Jessica was watching videos and tutorials on how to sew jersey and knit tops for herself. All through high school she continued to sew knit tops and created sketches and fashion illustrations. Upon graduating from high school, she decided to turn her love of fashion into a career and enrolled in the Fashion Design Diploma at Toronto Film School.
In her designs, Jessica uses symbols to tell the story through details and classic silhouettes. Her brand, JS, is for the inspired and creative soul, who enjoys sophisticated lines with a touch of fun.
Olanike Gbadamosi
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Olanike Gbadamosi began her fashion journey during her final year studying Environmental Health Management in Dubai. She noticed how women in the United Arab Emirates dressed stylishly, while still maintaining their modesty. This inspired her to take a fashion course part-time, alongside completing her major.
She enjoyed the challenge of conceptualizing a design and making it come to life. Although she moved to Canada to pursue a postgraduate in Occupational Health, she maintained her interest in fashion at heart.
Realizing she was not content sitting in front of a computer, doing the same thing everyday, she discontinued her Masters and enrolled in the Fashion Design Diploma at the Toronto Film School. She applies her background in Environmental Health in her everyday work ethic, recycling and reusing scrap materials in various projects to save costs and reduce waste generation.
Olanike’s brand, MOSI, embodies simple elegance for women who value comfort and sophistication, and offers a range of garments that includes casual wear to career wear to eveningwear.
