A good ol’ financial struggle is an old hat in the Canadian fashion economy which is constantly on the beg for bailouts and stimulus. Unfortunately, all it gets are gimmicks like the VIA Rail challenge.[rssbreak]
Canada’s national passenger rail service wants some new uniforms to help spruce up its dowdy image and has launched a contest encouraging Canadian designers to take on the task. The prize is $10,000 worth of travel credits which sounds like a pretty sweet deal until you learn that designers usually get paid thousands of dollars in cash money to consult on uniform projects. They are free to spend that dough on 40 round train trips to Ottawa. Or not.
A spokesperson at VIA Rail’s Montreal headquarters says the company chose this method to give young Canadian talent an opportunity to showcase their work and to view a large variety of designs to choose from.
According to the call for entries, “the patriotic honour of redesigning a uniform” is the icing on the cake. Last time we checked, fabric suppliers, sewing contractors and trade shows don’t accept patriotism or honour as payment. Or VIA coupons.
