Fanshawe designer an international winner
Last month Morija Reeb, who graduated in August 2005, was one of 10 Canadian fashion students chosen from a national competition in Montreal to compete overseas.
Students from 17 countries travel to Paris annually to have their designs judged.
Reeb won “Best Overall” of the Canadian competitors for her full-length white lambskin coat, trimmed with white goat hair, which was inspired by a combination of northern landscapes and Inuit art and features an enchanted owl. “Competing at this level is extremely exciting, but also very stressful,” said Reeb, whose design also placed eighth internationally.
“I knew that it demanded a uniquely Canadian garment, one that portrayed our culture within the confines of art and industry,” said Reeb.
“Native art hits home,” said Fashion Design Coordinator, Leigh-Ann Waller. “Other countries see native art and they think Canada.”
Waller said even though Reeb had already graduated from Fanshawe when she constructed the garment, she was coached and encouraged by her former instructors on a weekly basis leading up to the event.
Reeb took home a $1000 bursary from the show, which was held at the Louvre in Paris.
Fanshawe College has purchased Reeb's coat for $3000 and will auction it at the Posh Gala on February 4, with all proceeds going towards student bursaries.
The International Young Fashion Designers Competition began in 1982 by Air France in Japan and has continuously gained recognition as a prestigious and high profile. The event promotes creativity and annually attracts developing talent in the fashion industry.
Fanshawe's three-year Fashion Design diploma trains students in fashion illustration, computer-aided design, pattern-making and draping, and garment construction.
