Follow Friday: The Fashionistas

by Sara Mahmood

Canada is home to many talented women. The following are a few of our great fashion designers that like to tweet behind the scenes.

@kimnewport  (Kimberly Newport-Mimran)
Few people know what career they’re going to pursue at a young age, but luckily for Kimberly Newport-Mimran, she’s always wanted to work in the fashion industry. Starting her retail career at age fourteen, she went on to study fashion merchandising and management at George Brown College. After graduating, Kim worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company and later moved to Club Monaco, where she was involved in product development. With a background in retail, designing, and developing, she co-founded Pink Tartan in 2002 with her husband Joe Mimran. The line aims to let women look fashionable and modern with little effort. Pink Tartan opened its New York showroom in 2004 and specialty stores have subsequently opened across North America and in Dubai and Seoul. Kimberly’s designs have become popular with celebrities such as Kate Hudson, Kim Cattrall, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Kimberly uses her Twitter to let followers know what she’s up to – from designing a new line to running a photoshoot. She also posts pictures from fashion shows.

@Obakki (Treana Peake)
In 2005, Treana Peake noticed a lack of local Vancouver designers in the market, so she started Obakki, a luxury brand with modern, easy-to-wear clothing. Since then, the company has been very successful and now Treana’s clothing can be found in over 100 stories across North America and the U.K. Obakki designs have been featured in Vogue, Elle, and InStyle and have become popular with celebrities including Tyra Banks, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Hudson. With Obakki’s growing popularity, Treana decided to expand and focus on her other passion, philanthropy. The Obakki Foundation was launched in 2009 and uses clothing to raise funds for clean water projects and educational development. Treana has also recently launched the Obakki Foundation collection, with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to help children in Cameroon orphanages. Treana uses the Obakki Twitter account to post sales, auctions for her charity, and pictures of Obakki designs. She also tweets fashion articles about the company.

@aimeluxury(Monica Mei)
Monica Mei is the designer behind the eco-label Aime. The brand only uses organic or all-natural fabrics and Monica makes sure all production is done locally. During her final year at Ryerson’s School of Fashion, she won the university-wide $25,000 Business Plan Competition for Aime. After graduating from Ryerson, Monica won the Ontario Partnership for Innovation and Commercialization $7,000 business plan competition to continue expanding Aime internationally. The year after that, she was a top 5 finalist for the Fashion Design Council of Canada’s Fashion Designer Development Fund, which recognizes Canada’s top young fashion designers.  Last year, Monica started WhatImWear.in, a style-sharing app that allows users to share their personal style stories, join groups, and follow other users. According to The Globe and Mail, Monica Mei is one of Toronto’s hottest young entrepreneurs and Flare says she’s one of Canada’s best new designers. Monica likes to tweet pictures of her outfits, green tips, and information about fashion and business events she’s attending.