The Braderie de Mode Québécoise a Mixed Bag

On April 19, the Braderie de Mode Québécoise wrapped up for another year in Montreal. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this event, it’s a fashion event held over the course of four days in the Old Port. Since 1994, the 60 to 100 designers that came annually (not the same designers every year) have welcomed over 2500 people per annum. It features beautiful clothing items for men, women and children, amazing sales, creative people, but for some reason the event left me indifferent.

Braderie de la Mode Quebecoise.Photo. Elizabeta Golubkov

There’s no doubt that the event featured not only gorgeous garments and accessories, but also outstanding designers. I was particularly excited to see against nudity, and the brand Coca Bella really stood out to me. Their edgy, yet elegant and classy clothing are great for spring. Their sales went up to as much as 50%! Other amazing designers were featured, like Le Blanc, Mouton, Cherry Bobin… but something was just missing. Maybe it’s because I came on the last day of the event. I felt like the designers weren’t as welcoming as you’d think and didn’t always seem particularity excited about the clients. On one hand, it’s understandable — anyone would be tired after talking to people and trying to sell products for four days, but it still felt somewhat awkward.

Don’t get me wrong, in general the atmosphere was very lovely, and the public seemed very enthusiastic, but it wasn’t as exciting as you can imagine a fashion event should be. It also had to do with how tight the space was. Regardless of how many rooms there were, the small area each designer was given was, to say the least, not enough to showcase their work. It was just a shame that such beautiful and unique clothing pieces weren’t featured properly. However, there were a lot of bright posters that added color and gave more life to the event.

Braderie de la Mode Quebecoise.Photo. Elizabeta Golubkov

Overall, minus some small details that could have been better, the experience was not bad. If you like fashion, sales or designer clothing the Braderie de Mode Québécoise is the place to be. If not, it can still be a fun experience, but don’t go there with high hopes and chances are you’ll enjoy it more. It’s free, so you can always give it a try next year and see for yourself if this kind of event is for you. What makes me very excited and proud about this occasion is that it’s Canadian and it’s been going strong for eleven years. I truly hope that the Braderie de Mode Québécoise will keep coming to Montreal every year, featuring amazing clothes and designers, and promoting fashion, and maybe give the designers spacious areas, that would also be great!