What to know
- Fashion Art Toronto returns May 25-31 with runway shows, pop-ups and off-site events across the city.
- The event will spotlight dozens of GTA creatives, including emerging and established Toronto-based designers.
- Featured designers include Charles Lu, L’Uomo Strano, Siyawareva, Zoë Stone and Stacey Mitchell, each bringing unique perspectives ranging from Indigenous futurism to avant-garde streetwear.
The runway is calling—Fashion Art Toronto (FAT) returns this season, spotlighting designers from across the GTA. From fashion shows to pop-up shops, discover the local talent turning Toronto into a fashion capital.
Fashion Art Toronto is bringing its Fashion Week Spring Summer 2026 (FW SS/26) show from May 25-31, with runways on and off-site.
Less than one week away, Toronto will be surrounded by fashionistas slaying the streets with breathtaking outfits. Fashion designers are flying in from all over, along with dozens of Toronto talent who will also be featured.
Now Toronto compiled a list of ten of the many Toronto designers featured on the runway.
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Charles Lu
If you were obsessed with Netflix’s Next In Fashion, then you might also remember Charles Lu. The Hamilton-born fashion designer made his mark by winning the first challenge in the show, paired with Italian designer Angelo Cruciani. Then he advanced to the top five. He’s also advanced to the top three in Project Runway Canada.
Now, he’s coming to show how fashion’s done on FAT’s stage. Lu specializes in couture-grade evening wear and womenswear, and has a unique architectural approach to garment construction. He’s also the son of Vietnamese refugees who fled during the Vietnam War, and channels the history and perseverance into his designs.
Lu studied in London, U.K., and later worked for 3 years in Dubai as the Creative Director at the historic design house ARUSHI COUTURE.
Now, he’s gracing FAT’s stage at the off-site production on May 25 for a presentation at 5 p.m. and a show following at 6 p.m. at the former Hudson’s Bay.
L’Uomo Strano
Discover a designer who designs clothes for bodies, not gender. Toronto-based creative Mic. Carter started L’Uomo Strano, a brand that experiments with design and stylization by fusing social justice, futurity and community with fashion.
The name, “L’Uomo Strano,” translates to “the strange man” from Italian. The queer, Black-owned brand aims to reclaim the phrase to celebrate non-binary and gender-expansive self-expression through its Afro-futuristic, gender-nonconforming clothing.
The brand is also tied to nightlife and queer joy, also seen as a tool for visibility and survival.
Their most recent project is the FKA Shirt, known as “for every name we weren’t meant to survive.”
It serves as a tribute to soft boys, hard femmes, the renamed and disappeared: an ode to those who refuse to be erased.
Proceeds support The Okra Project, which nourishes and uplifts Black trans lives.
L’Uomo Strano will follow Charles Lu’s performance and show.
Siyawareva
If you love fashion, you may recognize Siyawareva from Project Runway Canada. Zimbabwean-Canadian designer Foster Siyawareva is known for blending heritage with modern luxury, embodying “quiet power” through tailored garments.
If you love fashion, you may recognize Siyawareva from Project Runway Canada. Zimbabwean-Canadian designer Foster Siyawareva is known for blending heritage with modern luxury, embodying “quiet power” through tailored garments.He graduated from the Central Institute of Technology in Western Australia and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, bringing his global learnings to creative practice.
He also has a strong foundation in tailoring and couture through his work for Donna Tobin Couture in Australia and Toronto spots like Garrison Bespoke and Indochino.
Ayimach Horizons
Ayimach Horizons pays tribute to its Indigenous roots through its design and focuses on sustainability. Creative Director Jason P. Baerg is a Cree-Métis designer who merges his Indigenous ancestral knowledge with contemporary design and advanced technology, including laser-cut textiles, to create “Indigenous Futurist” silhouettes.
The term “Ayimach” anchors its forward visions of transformation. Garments heavily feature colour-blocking and geo-metering, drawing connections between place, time and environment.
Baerg’s work feels like spiritual ecology in motion. The circular shapes, directional colours, and regenerative materials turn the Medicine Wheel into something alive on the runway. Instead of referencing sustainability as a trend, he shows that it’s always been part of Indigenous worldviews.
Ab.0
Celebrate professional female athletes at HER Runway by Ab.0. Toronto designer Aby Stranger is curating an empowering collection of upcycled, one-of-one pieces made from deadstock and discarded athletic wear.
The sustainable designer and stylist upcycles and recycles thrifted or community-donated clothes, focusing on eco-conscious fashion.
“Sometimes all it takes is a little creativity (and maybe a pair of scissors) to turn ‘forgotten’ into your new favourite piece,” is a saying she swears by on her website.
Pieces are also rentable, so a one-time outfit doesn’t need to stay hidden in the back of your closet post-event.
The slow-fashion brand will be presenting off-site at Courtside on The Danforth on May 27 at 7 p.m.
Anmol Handa Atelier
Intricate beadwork, bold colours and sculptural silhouettes: that’s what to expect from Toronto-based designer Anmol Handa Atelier.
The fashion design graduate from Toronto Metropolitan University transforms emotion into elegance and self-expression into power through her designs.
She uses fashion to tell stories that words can’t, and touches on themes of vulnerability, heartbreak, and healing, turning them into something tangible and beautiful.
Handa is also the recipient of The Mentorship Award, which celebrates designers who go beyond traditional institutions to teach, share, and expand access to fashion education and techniques.
In light of this award, she’s showing a solo runway presentation on the first day of on-site presentations at T3 Bayside on May 28, at 7 p.m.
Zoë Stone
Denim is still in fashion — especially in Zoë Stone‘s collections. This Toronto-based designer is a FASHN DISRPTR award recipient, recognizing bold emerging designers’ experimental, avant-garde work that redefines fashion.
Now, she’s given her solo runway production to bring another collection to life.
She’s previously designed thought-provoking runway outfits and everyday, wearable garments, ranging from denim streetwear with lace to other avant-garde designs.
Recent collections include Pale Blue Dot and UNEARTHED, which touch on themes of individuality, identity, emotion, and authenticity.
All outfits push the body through exaggerated proportions and sculptural form — blurring the line between fashion and sculpture.
She uses distressed textiles, sculptural ceramics and layered, earth-toned compositions — all rooted from recycled materials.
Her work will be on-site presented on May 29 at 9 p.m.
Pearletta Designs
Pearletta Designs gives Toronto all her love through her designs’ motion, ambition, architecture and quiet resilience. From her love letter to the city, through her PEARLETTA STATION collection, which blends high fashion with streetwear, she earned the FSHN DISRPTR award, giving her a solo stage on May 30 at 10 p.m.
The Toronto-based designer Lynda Pearletta is known for precise tailoring, sculptural silhouettes and an avant-garde “office siren” aesthetic. You can find exaggerated shoulders, architectural draping and dramatic textures such as faux fur, ruched satin and sheer layering in their designs.
From having a passion for fashion at the age of 10 to being a FSHN DISRPTR recipient, check out her striking pieces on May 30.
Kendrick Tran
If you relate to the fear of being seen, you might like Kendrick Tran‘s new fashion collection. The Toronto-based designer owns a slow-made high-end streetwear brand and has earned the FSHN DISRPTR award for it. Growing up with immigrant parents who taught him to give back to those with less, he sought to create a brand that brings happiness and challenges the superficiality of self-worth tied to social presence.
The brand explores how clothes interact with the modern world, focused on developing an understanding of the human relationship to material things and how your ego is tied to what you wear. That’s why Tran uses fashion to make statements and start a conversation, hence, the slogan, “FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE.”
His pieces explore structure and vulnerability through sculptural silhouettes that have an emotionally charged construction.
His latest collection will be divided into two parts: escapism and shame.
Check out the schedule for more Toronto designers and the rest of the lineup.
