Inclusive From Within: How to be Inclusive in the Fashion Industry

Wow, we’re all exhausted, but we are REELING with JOY over how fashion week went! We have so much to share with you, but first we want to thank you all so much for your support. We were absolutely blown away by all of the attendees, panelists, exhibitors, vendors, and community members who participated in this event. 

To be fully transparent, we were pretty stressed about the IN/EX/CLUSIVE event in particular. As most of you know, Origami Customs is practically a nonprofit, so we don’t have added budget for things like this. 

My partner Elio and I decided to pay for the whole event out of pocket, because we really believed that it needed to happen. But so many people bought tickets that we were PACKED, and your attendance paid for the entire event, almost exactly down to the last dollar. We can’t thank you enough.

For all of you who couldn’t attend in person, we’ll be sharing all the educational content here for free over the coming weeks. So stay tuned as we process all of the beautiful nuggets of wisdom that came out of Fashion Week! 

About IN/EX/CLUSIVE at Montreal Fashion Week

On September 27, IN/EX/CLUSIVE took over Articule as part of the official Montreal Fashion Week lineup, bringing together fashion, art, accessibility, and community for an afternoon and evening that honestly felt a little bit surreal.

The whole event was built around a question we kept coming back to: What do we do when we stop asking whether there’s room for our bodies in fashion and start making the room ourselves? Well, judging by the conversations, connections, laughter, and sheer amount of energy in that room, the answer is: quite a lot!

Throughout the event, designers, artists, advocates, performers, community organizers, curators, and more came together to talk about what inclusion actually looks like when we move beyond marketing language and start thinking about how we design, make, sell, wear, and experience clothing. We had exhibitions, vendors, food and drinks, presentations, and three roundtable conversations translated into English/ French and interpreted into LSQ (Quebec Sign Language). 

It’s very rare in this industry that events are made accessible- and we did everything we could to accommodate as many people as possible. We offered free interpretation into LSQ throughout the entire 6-hour event, and all presentations were captioned, translated, and signed. We had free KN95 masks, which we strongly encouraged. The whole space was wheelchair accessible. There was a variety of seating that would accommodate folks of different body shapes and sizes. There was no flash photography for people with seizure disorders. There was a quiet space with stim toys. You get the idea!

Can we ever make an event that is entirely accessible? Probably not! What would that even mean? But it was amazing to see people take advantage of the supports we set in place to make their experience a bit easier. We put our money where our mouth is. That’s what true inclusion looks like!

The “Inclusive From Within” Panel

One of those conversations brought together three independent Montreal designers: myself, of Origami Customs, Naomie Caron of Selfish Swimwear and Massimadi Foundation, and Yasmine Wasfy of Boutique Lustre. While we each approach fashion from our own perspective, we share a commitment to local production, hands-on pattern making, custom sizing, and creating clothing that responds to the actual people wearing it.

Our conversation digs into what happens when we design for real bodies instead of an imaginary “standard” body. We talk about the value of producing locally, the enormous amount of often invisible labour that goes into pattern making and developing inclusive sizing, and why custom fitting and tailoring can be such powerful tools for making clothing work for more people.

We also get into the strange assumptions baked into conventional sizing systems. Who gets to be considered the “middle” of the size range? Why are larger sizes so often treated like an expensive add-on instead of simply part of making clothes? And what happens when we stop designing around a theoretical body and start paying attention to the actual humans standing in front of us?

From there, the conversation gets even bigger. Naomie talks about racial representation and what it means to be a Black designer in an industry where Black designers are still underrepresented. Yasmine talks about creating safer, more welcoming spaces for clients whose identities, bodies, genders, or personal styles don't fit neatly into conventional fashion. And I bring in questions of disability, gender diversity, changing bodies, and the importance of designing with actual people in mind instead of treating customers like mannequins with credit cards.

And perhaps one of the most important threads running through the conversation is why independent fashion matters so much. When designers are close to their customers, make their own patterns, fit garments themselves, and can actually respond to the people walking through their doors, fashion becomes a lot less about an abstract “consumer” and a lot more about the wonderfully complicated humans who are actually wearing the clothes.

That was really the heart of IN/EX/CLUSIVE: not just talking about who gets included in fashion, but making space for those people to be at the heart of the conversation in the first place.

Feel free to watch the recording of the panel, or read the transcript below! 

Inclusive From Within: Inside the Fashion Industry Panel

Rae:

Well, I already got a chance to thank all of you guys, but now I wanted to talk just a little bit about myself and why I'm doing this and who I am if you don't know me. And it'll be a great lead-in to our first panelists. 

So my name is Rae. As I said, I use they/them pronouns. And I am the owner and founder of a clothing company called Origami Customs. And essentially this is my main job. We do gender affirming clothing, swimwear, and underwear. And I've used that kind of as a platform to create not quite an NGO but a social enterprise that allows people to access gender-affirming care around the world for a lot of reasons that people don't have access where they live. 

And right now, as we know as gender diverse people, our access is becoming more and more limited. So I've been running my clothing company for 16 years, and about halfway through that, I created this community program. 

And through that, we work with about 100 organizations on five continents to get things like gas and binders that affirm people's gender to them for free. So we send out about between 4 and 5,000 garments per year through this program, which is something that I'm super proud of. 

It's something I'm super proud of and also made me want to branch out a little bit more into the Montreal community. Like, like I explained, Ellie and I talk a lot about what inclusion really means. We talk a lot about, you know, the buzzwords, like inclusion, diversity. But, okay, everyone uses those words. So what does that mean in practice? 

Like, how do we put our money where our mouth is and make it happen? So that is the basis of this event and something that we really want to continue. And, you know, there's a lot of tie-in between the work that I do with the trans community and with the disability community that is so much present and so beautiful and so joyful here. And with the fat community. 

One of the reasons why I would say my clothing is accessible, whatever that word means, is that we do everything customized to people's measurements. So this benefits a lot of different people for different reasons. And one of them is size. Of course, a lot of people don't fit into standard-sized clothing, and we wanted to make room for that without charging a fat tax. Fat tax is the fun thing that we're going to talk about. Yeah. 

And all of these struggles are really tied, and it was impossible to pull one out and not talk about the other ones. So today was born of this concept. And I'm thrilled to welcome two other people onto the stage who are really involved in the Montreal fashion scene, are also independent designers, and have lots of other cool projects as well that we're going to talk about. 

So if you guys want to come join me on the stage, grab a mic, any mic. Let's make sure that these are all good. Let's just quickly make sure that those work. Yeah, fantastic. So that's a lot about me. I could say what I know about the work that you do, but I'm gonna let the two of you introduce yourselves. Go ahead. 

Naomie:

My name is Naomie Caron. I am the founder and designer of Selfish Swimwear. So for the past nine years, I've made swimwear here locally. We are also inclusive because we do custom fitting. So, any size, any shape, disibility, we help people have the perfect swimsuit for themselves. So that's a small introduction to everything I do. 

Yasmine:

And I'm Yasmine Wasfy, the owner, designer, and pattern maker for Boutique Lustre. I've had the boutique for 20 years, where everything is made in-house. We also provide custom sizing. We do free tailoring and a lot more. 

Rae:

Yeah, both of your work is incredible. We actually, the three of us got to be a part of the ACMI Independent Designer Fashion Show as part of MMode Fashion Week on- I don't even know what time it is anymore- Tuesday night. I think ACMI has been a lifetime. 

And I'm going to have you maybe talk a little bit more about your work with them afterwards because there's a real growing community of independent designers in Montreal. I think one of the through lines that I think of when I think about all of our work is our commitment or decision-making process to produce locally, and I think also make our patterns. I believe you guys both make all of your patterns you have. 

So I wanted to talk a little bit about, like, what that is like for you in your work. Did you think about maybe producing overseas? Why did you settle on Montreal? Why was that important for you? 

Yasmine:

Well, pattern making, I could talk about for two hours. So I don't think we want to fully go down that route. But what I consider to be the number one element in my work is pattern making, grading, and not only developing my own grading system, but continuously improving it based on real-life experience with my clients coming into the shop. 

So having the brick-and-mortar does give me this opportunity that you get to see your pieces over and over on different people. And be able to adapt it. So by doing that and by doing hand patterning and by doing it yourself, it also is a cost issue because you're not spending the money to develop the pattern, and you get to bring in your own expertise and your own data. 

So when we're talking about making things locally as well, there is an area where we have more control when we're making it locally with what we do ourselves, but also the partnerships that we build. 

Rae:

And I imagine also that allows you to have more authentic diversity because you're choosing the models who you fit test on, correct? 

Yasmine:

Yeah. I mean, for me, I definitely through the years have done fit testing, but even fit testing is based on the model that is coming in. And so how even with whatever standard sizing you create. And again, I think that's why we all do custom sizing and alterations, or any other way to provide that service by c. Seeing it live on 100 people, on 50 people, on forever people, you kind of can tweak yourself to try to gauge the widest net that will never be wide enough. Right. 

Rae:

You're not just working with a sample size. You're getting, like, a real cross-section. 

Yasmine:

Exactly. 

Naomie:

I would say at the core of my practice, I always wanted to just work with my hands. So really do the pattern, the designing itself, and it's really with my customers. So it's all the customers that came to me that helped me grow that mindset of all the body diversity there is, and they help me create actually new models when I meet them. 

And they're like, well, in your selection, there's nothing for the weight of my breasts. The way that my hips are made. So it's because I've met them, and they came to me, and we had a conversation that helped me grow and create models that are more inclusive. And because that's one thing I hated, and I still hate today, when somebody comes to me and nothing fits. Like, it really hurts me to the core- the worst. 

So, when we try everything, I'm like, okay, now we're gonna make it for you. We're gonna do a custom fit. Now, like, we've tried certain models. It doesn't work. We'll make it fit your body. 

Rae:

Yeah. I mean, it sounds like all of us are really in the same boat. What do you feel are some of, like, the drawbacks or, like, why has it been so challenging to do it the way that we decided, what, you know, aligns with our values and our ethics? 

Naomie:

It's definitely more time-consuming, more costly than anything. And we're trying to be also accessible. So we're definitely cutting on the margins that big companies usually have. You know, when you import from China, things, you know, like Shein, a dollar a piece, it's not the same. 

When you think of everybody who's been down that chain of production. So you have the pattern maker, the stores, the fabric makers, the people that actually make the fabric itself. So there are so many people involved. So when you don't think about that, you're actually, you're accepting the exploitation of people because you're just like going for the price. But at the end of the day, if you're shopping at one of our stores, you actually know the people behind it. 

And you know that actually we put a lot of love because there's definitely energy in clothing and everything that artists do. So with us, you know that, you know, we put back all that energy. 

Rae:

Yeah, absolutely. And I think. Sorry, I'll let you go in one second. I just, I wanted to say, like, I think that a lot of people, myself included, have a hard time conceptualizing how clothing is made. Even, you know, like, where in the world is this located? What is it like outside? How, what are these people doing day to day? What are their names? What do they look like? 

And we're so accustomed to just not making that connection. I find it very challenging in my work to really connect. Like, no, this is really made with my hands here. And even then it's like really a hard concept to grasp. I don't know if both of you deal with that as well. 

Yasmine:

Well, I think when you were also talking about like what we put into it is that ultimately we become a little bit of the free labor that is put into it. Because the amount of hours that are spent kind of learning, developing, improving, thinking, listening, there's no way to monetize it. And that's okay. We do it because we want to. And it's not necessarily to monetize every element, and then that's it. 

So there's the actual product and what is made and time to take to just make the product. So cutting, sewing, right? So when we think about products, it's cutting, sewing, or at least we do. I don't know if all of you do, but it's the hours of development, of research, of going, that never ends. Because it's not that one stable pattern that will stay forever. 

It's how we can make it better. Yeah. And how can we continue? So it's never-ending. And that can never be calculated. 

Rae:

Absolutely. Yeah. We get to get into something that I know we all love to talk about, which is pattern making. Pattern making is really fun, and it's also really hard. It's like my favorite and also my least favorite thing to do. So when people make patterns by hand and you're not just sending a sample to a manufacturer overseas, one of the things you have to think about what is it the sample size? 

Like, what is the normative middle-of-the-road body that you're basing all of these clothing patterns on? And you might think it's just like a really simple choice. Like most people use a small, and then you make bigger patterns; you make a couple smaller patterns, but there are a lot more patterns bigger than a small than there are smaller than a small. 

So it's not a great sample of what people actually look like. And so this is something that I think about a lot in my work. Like what are the assumptions that go into what we consider a normative body? Are we considering that this is an able body? Are we considering that this is a certain hourglass shape? 

Even as we get into the bigger sizes, is it still reproducing a thin normative hourglass pin-up body shape, which has been the standard for however many years? So when you go into your pattern making, how are you conceptualizing this? What's going through your mind when you're creating your patterns? 

Naomie:

So for me, because we're doing very close-to-the-body clothing, like a swimsuit, I've realized now that when I first created that, I created it for people around me who are African descendants, and I realized that we don't have the same shape as the people here in North America, and how the curves fall also. 

So I've realized also there are certain locations in the world where your body is not the same. So it's really, it's impossible to say like, you know, this should be the norm for every human body in the world. Like, every location has its own different shapes. So it's about just, like, finding that sweet middle of, like, who is around you, what is your principal clientele, and talking to them, having them come over. So then you can pin down what it should be. 

Yasmine:

Not like what you learn in school, because when you learn in school, it's super small, super small. Like it's like you don't learn in school. Unfortunately, you don't learn grading and proper pattern making and proper passion. 

Rae:

I think all of us have to really just learn this from scratch. I think everyone I know who does this just learned on their own. 

Yasmine:

Yeah. Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt that. But as I said, we didn't learn in school. And I have to say that it's also changed, and it changes based on what I offer as ready-to-wear. So my company didn't always offer small. The 4XL. When I opened 20 years ago, I had, like, two sizes, and everything was bespoke because that's all I could afford to make. 

You know, I opened my business with an $18,000 loan. I would sew at night. I would sell during the day. And through time and doing bespoke work, I've been able to kind of grow that size range, and now we have extra small to 4xL. I think the biggest learning curve was definitely when I went from my 2xL, which is slightly easy because it's one size bigger than me, to 3xL and 4xL and how that body was. 

Naomie:

Yeah. 

Yasmine:

So for me, what I decided to do at that time was I reached out to the Montreal plus-size community, and I asked the influencers that I already knew or the people that I already knew to send out word that I'm looking for fit models or even to send me their own measurements. 

So, again, the net will never be wide enough. But I tried to look at, like, okay, what's a 4X? Yeah, everybody who's a 4X, what are their measurements? Right. So where are they landing on that scale, and how can I adapt to it? So, again, it won't take everybody's body type. I have some clients that fall in a more, like, upper, stronger on the upper body, smaller on the bottom. 

Yasmine:

Where most of the people I was seeing were a bit the other way around, where they were a little bit smaller in the shoulders and the bust, fuller in the belly, butt, and hips. That would fall into the average I was getting as a response from there. 

That's where, like, customizing, tailoring, offering a service that's a little bit extra, helps us. And that is across the board. I have clients who need a small hip with a large waist. I have clients who need that. So that's why, like, tailoring is needed. And we do see it a lot in, like, classic menswear. So that's the other thing. If we want to bring into just, like, traditional fashion, how menswears always had basic tailoring, no matter what company it is, go to Moore's, you know, like, go to, like, any place they're gonna fix it. 

Rae:

For men. 

Yasmine:

Because it's for men. 

Rae:

We all know men are more important. 

Yasmine:

And then for the rest of us, it's not quite as offered. It's like you have to take the time to go find it. You have to take your time. You have the time; you're not as important. 

So I think that like that was one thing 20 years ago when I open and I see that you guys, you have all followed through on that too, is offering tailoring. And tailoring just generally speaking is so important when it comes to having clothing that fit and that you can feel yourself in and that you can go out into the world in. 

Rae:

Yeah, I wanted to give a little bit of background for the non-pattern makers in the audience, which is probably all of you. What we call grading is just making a pattern bigger or smaller, more or less. But it works differently in what we call straight sizes. The like usually extra small to like 1x, I don't know, something like that. And beyond that, there's like a different system with different math. 

Yasmine:

So. Well, there should be. A lot of people don't do that, but there needs to be because the body grows differently, and the difference between sizes is going to be different based on that. 

Rae:

But yes, yeah, exactly. So, like a body doesn't get wide at the same rate that it gets tall. So if you're just like, I'm going to take this small and make it bigger, well, that's not going to fit a human. But this process of doing that very particular math in a way that allows a brand to extend their sizing range is a very costly process. And when you consider that, say, an extra small or a small body is the norm in your brain, everything bigger than that is more expensive. 

Yasmine:

So you're saying, okay, but If I sell a 4X in something, the fabric costs more, so I'm going to lose money. So why would I make big sizes? So one of the things that I do, and I'm curious if you guys do the same, is when we pattern-make, we think of the like middle of the road, the medium body, as being a 1X, and we cost at a 1X. 

So that means if someone buys an extra small, we're saving money. Great. But if someone buys a bigger size, it's not in my mind like, oh damn, this cost me more money. Like, why would I even make those? It's just like a real shift in the mentality of, again, like what is normal, what is average? 

Rae:

And it comes down to the bottom line, which, you know, we are doing this with our hearts, and a lot of big brands are just worried about how much it's going to cost them. So. Yeah, do you guys do that too? 

Yasmine:

I start at an 4XL and then I pattern up and pattern down. That's the middle point for us in terms of cost. I average it all out. Right. Like I'm not going to start nickel and diming. It's just, it just doesn't make sense. I'm sure if some kind of investor, a million-dollar investor, came into my company, we would maybe have to discuss that further. But I also think when you want to be inclusive, when you're using those words, backing it up sometimes is a cost to them, the company. And that's okay. 

Naomie:

Yeah. I think it's also important to talk about actually the sacrifice that we do. Like, also, for my part, I go in my production line, I go to 2x, and then after that it's custom. But it took me a little bit of time just to see if I have enough people buying my XL? Okay, now I can go to 2XL. Are there enough people buying my 2XL? So now I'm open to 3X, but it's made to order, and then everything above that is also custom-made. So, like, I know we want to be inclusive, but we are small brands. 

Yasmine:

We're not big companies that have a lot of money, have a lot of marketing power to really propel that and get all those customers. So it's also about, like, finding those little brands that are doing it, so supporting them so they can actually build on that and grow and be even more accessible. 

Rae:

Yeah. Or your local brands. 

Yasmine:

I think there are a few points based on that. So if you are a size small, then you can shop everywhere, go buy from the inclusive brand because you're helping those brands also go and create for more bodies. 

So I think that inclusive sizing is not just for plus-size bodies. It's for everyone to be able to continue and grow, and sometimes that's why it's so frustrating. If we can do it, then we can talk about those who cancel their collection and say that they can't do it because if they can do it and put more pressure on the larger market to look at bodies and look at fashion as for everyone, because fashion can be a lot of things. We're not all going to like the same things; we're not going to wear all the same things. 

But the fact is, it's finding what makes you feel good so that when you wake up in the morning, you put it on and you can present yourself to the world. It doesn't have to be a trend. It doesn't have to be anything. I hate micro trends. It can be just who you are. 

Rae:

Well, that's a perfect segue, because I want to talk about the word inclusion. Like, what does that actually mean? Like, it's such a buzzword. We talked about patterning, but, like, what are some of the elements that you personally think are inclusive about the work that you do? 

Naomie:

Well, in my part, I can talk more about my color. So especially in the fashion industry, there's not enough black designers, but also that are thriving and successful. And for a long time, I've kind of hidden myself from my brand because I didn't want to have people judge me. 

First of all, to think because I'm more, like, a slim type, that I don't know anything about inclusivity, that I don't want to cater to plus size, that I don't understand other people. But also, there's also judgment in the black community that black businesses are not, you know, professional or late or not organized. 

So I was afraid to show this, but really, it's actually the Black Lives Matter that brought me outside of my shell, and people wanted to see who was behind it and still hear my message and see me from all my dimensions. 

So that's what I'm trying to say: my brand is to say we're all different. You look great for one. You look bad for another one. This one looks good for this person but we're all so different. So we have to start loving each other in that diversity and really, like, love all those differences. 

So for me, it was also definitely size, but also ethnicity. So having, like, people of every color, every shape through my brand. And I always, like, sometimes I just, like, cross the street and I found, like, this beautiful, like, girl who's curvy, who's, like, you know, and I'm just popping around, like, do you want to do pictures for me? Like, I'm just trying to find, like, real people. And my customers always told me how refreshing. They love going on my website and seeing those real people. 

Rae:

Yeah, I mean, absolutely. 

Yasmine:

I'm glad you brought that up. I think we've been focusing on inclusion the way, like, with only pattern and grading. But it does go a lot more, a lot deeper than that. 

Naomie:

Yeah. 

Yasmine:

And I think coming from different backgrounds and representing, just representing as much as you can. Now, that being said, I think the word inclusive is a difficult word, you know, because. And I stopped using it a lot in terms of, like, marketing, because I don't think there's a way to fully be inclusive while having a brand that has a certain aesthetic, and a brand should have. 

Naomie:

Right. 

Yasmine:

Like, we can't design for everyone. We can only encourage many different types of designers. The way I see inclusion in my everyday life is I've always wanted to create a safe space at Boutique Lustre, whether it's with our ready-to-wear. And I see the most inclusion goes into my bridal section because there are a lot of people who don't see themselves in a catalogue, don't see themselves on Pinterest. So it can be, again, like, it can be binary; it can be gender; it can be color. It can just be personal style or taste. 

Rae:

Yeah.

Yasmine:

And that's where I can go one-on-one. And it becomes therapy to be like, okay, but who are you as a bride? And that goes into, like, almost like costume design. Like, we know who you are every day. How do we translate that? And that's a one-on-one personal thing. But the word inclusion, it's hard. It's hard. How wide is that? 

Rae:

I know. 

Yasmine:

You know, it's the whole world. That's too much pressure. 

Rae:

I was gonna say the same thing. Like, one of the things that I teach people who are making my garments when we're doing custom sizing is, like, how you conceptualize this person as in, like, how are they wearing it? What do they want to feel like when they're wearing it? What are they using it for? Do they need to be active? Is this a person with a disability? Is this someone who has asthma and is wearing a binder and needs to get that thing off super fast if you're having an asthma attack? Like, we need to start thinking about the people who are dressing as real people and not like, you know, mannequins. 

Yasmine:

Yeah. 

Rae:

I would love to hear a little bit about what Massimadi is doing, if you don't mind. If you don't mind me putting you on the spot. And I'll give you. I'll give you a bit of a lead-in here. As people in the fashion industry, how do we move forward with inclusion without paying it lip service? 

Naomie:

What does that look like without being what? 

Rae:

Lip service? Like, how to do it with authenticity. 

Naomie:

That's a really hard question. But you're doing it just to put you in context. I also work for this nonprofit, which is called Massimadi. We are an Afro queer supporting artist in the Afro queer community. And so we have a film festival, but also a mini activation, basically just to, you know, empower the artists of this community. 

But I think it's all about, like, just being authentic and finding all those right people with you and authentic people. You don't need to put a mask; you don't need to play a game. You don't need to act like you're trying to be inclusive and everything. It's just natural. You just know. And because you see people over the. The body, you see people through their soul and what they need. And. And we can have those conversations, and we can bring it to them. 

So also the work of Massimadi is to show those stories out to the broader public so people can understand a little bit more about that reality. Because Afro-descended, but also queer people live with two very strong forms of discrimination. So there's a lot of homophobia in the black community, but also there's a lot of racism in the queer community. 

So it's very. It's a very isolating community. And it's part of all of that inclusivity. It's about, like, celebrating people and showing their stories, and people understanding them, so they can see that actually the person next to them is the same; their name is not the same, but we are actually the same. And you have to just look at people through their eyes, and you will actually have, like, a friend or member of your family that just, like, that recognition can change and actually save lives. 

Rae:

Yeah. Do a shameless plug for Massimadi. Tell us when it's happening. 

Naomie:

Yes. Okay, so the film festival is coming next October 15th to the 25th. We have many activations, a lot of street art. We also have projections in different theaters. This time also we're the first time. We're including the First Nations in our program. So we have also films from, you know, native people, 2Spirits especially, and what else? And we also have online programming. So if you don't, you're shy to come, or you're too far from Montreal. We have about like 20 films available online also afterwards. 

Rae:

So it's really cool. You should check it out. Cool. I'll let you close this one off. 

Yasmine:

Go ahead. 

Rae:

We're talking about what true inclusion looks like to you, and how do you see it moving forward in the industry? 

Yasmine:

How do I wish for it to merge? I think events like this being part of Fashion Week, I think is so important. And hopefully next year we can get it even more centralized. Because fashion has not been inclusive. I mean, it's for the elite. 

There's so much of it about it that's not. I think we all come. And a lot of designers come from the street, come from alternative backgrounds and are creatives, and we see that in the underground. And hopefully, if we keep banging at the door and if we keep talking, they will listen. And. And again, offering these safe spaces and just leading with love. I think that's what you were saying. It's like if we can just continue to lead with love and to stay positive and make art. Make art. 

Naomie:

If I could just add, like, you have to be there, you have to come, you have to be present, you have to shop. You have to believe that you have the space. We just did a fashion show on Wednesday, and we had an open call casting models. We said, everyone. It was hard to find plus-size models because people were not coming. We had to go and find them. So we are opening the door. Just come and show yourself and be proud of yourself. There's a lot of, like, different designers who want to see diversity. So buy, shop. Shop support program. 

Rae:

It really does make a difference. I think that's a wonderful note to end on. Thank you both so much. You guys are amazing. I wanted to see if anyone in the audience had a quick question before having a short break and moving on. And you're gonna get to see this awesome video for the festival. Is it accessible to deaf people? Into the deaf community? 

Naomie:

Yes, it is. 

Rae:

Can you give more information about that? 

Naomie:

There's going to be also an interpreter at the event, but also the films are going to be captioned. French and English mostly. 

Yasmine:

Awesome. 

Audience question:

When you were talking about patterning earlier, I just have a question. You touched on a little bit about tailoring. I'm just wondering about things like buckles and straps, things that a lot of people do adjust for themselves. What role does that play when you're adjusting for the size? 

Yasmine:

I think I'll talk about myself and my work because this is something that I've been thinking about a lot. So when I first opened the business 20 years ago, only brick-and-mortar existed. We didn't have social media. Everything was done face to face. So a big part of my patterning work in the last couple of years has been through online shopping, and also noticing that my clients themselves- their bodies change. 

Naomie:

Right? 

Yasmine:

Bodies change. They're changing all the time. And so I've been working really hard at creating the same level of tailoring for my garments. What I'm wearing is actually one of those pieces that I've been able to go into numeric sizing. Standard sizing tends to cover less ground because we're talking about extra small, medium, large, whatever. For example, let's say I cover eight sizes, and then numeric sizing, I cover 12. So by doing that, it gives less flexibility for the garment to change because it's not spandex. 

So adding buckles, adding elastics, adding adjustable straps not only means that I can cover a wider net within my sizing, but it also means that you ate too much cheese and your clothes don't fit, or, you know, as you went on a plane ride. And, you know, so many things can make us feel different in our bodies. And so I do think that a little bit of adjustability in the garment will really help us out in that sizing and pattern making. 

Rae:

Yeah, for us, we do more stretch materials, so it's different. We don't often use things like zippers and buckles and stuff. But at least for me, I do think about, like, how can we build in more adjustability? Because, of course, people's bodies change as we age, as we grow. And so different ways that we can tie things and retie things probably do the same. 

Naomie:

Yeah, same thing. Like, the straps are adjustable. Like, sometimes I have reversible pieces, things that you tie, so you can go in between sides, and then if you fluctuate. But yeah, it's. It's also with the custom fitting that we find what we need. 

So what the person needs, like, let's say I'm. I have a customer right now. She's like, it's too heavy on her shoulders, so we're gonna bring it more in the X in the back. So the proportion of the weight is balanced between the shoulders, and not everything is in the neck in one spot. So we're playing with that according to what the person needs. So we need to know, like, we can design things, but everybody's so different. So it's better to go from zero and just from scratch. 

Rae:

It's a huge part of inclusion. 

Yasmine:

We need to listen. Yeah, I think that's also something. When we listen to the client or the person, listen, and you will find your way. 

Rae:

Is there anyone else with a question? 

Yasmine:

I think this is it. 

Rae:

Okay, well, perfect. Thanks, everybody.

(End)

Thanks for Being Here

THANK YOU to everyone who came through the doors, whether you stayed for the whole afternoon or popped in for an hour. Thank you to our panelists, presenters, vendors, artists, models, volunteers, photographers, accessibility supporters, friends, and community members who helped make this thing what it was. And thank you to everyone who bought a ticket. Truly.

Putting on an event like this as a tiny independent business is no small thing, and there were definitely moments when Elio and I looked at each other and thought, “Okay, are we absolutely sure this is a good idea?” 😂 But seeing the room full of people, watching conversations happen between people who might not otherwise have crossed paths, and hearing the ideas that came out of these discussions made every bit of stress worth it.

We wanted IN/EX/CLUSIVE to be more than another event about inclusion. We wanted it to actually feel inclusive. We wanted people to have somewhere to gather, learn, disagree, connect, ask questions, share experiences, discover local designers and artists, and hopefully leave with a few new ideas rattling around in their heads. And judging by what we heard from so many of you, we think we managed to make a little bit of that happen.

For everyone who couldn't be there in person, don't worry. We have a LOT to share. Over the coming weeks, we'll be publishing the conversations, presentations, and educational content from the event here so that the ideas and discussions can keep travelling long after Fashion Week is over.

So thank you for showing up, for listening, for talking, for asking questions, for sharing your experiences, and for helping us make the room a little bigger. We're very, very glad you’re here. ❤️