Melanie & Doreen

Melanie Jennings

Born in Montreal and raised in Toronto I was aware of style from an early age. As a child I showed a keen interest and passion for fashion, designing, and sewing all my own clothes.

After studying Journalism at Carleton University, I started working as a stylist for various fashion publications including Domino, Fashion and Toronto Life Magazine. I also worked on many ad campaigns for different clothing stores and designers. These experiences took me all over the world, styling photo shoots and working with top international photographers and models.

In the next phase of my career I became a Costume Designer for film and television. For many years I have designed costumes, dressing actors such as Christopher Plummer, Patti LaBelle, Alanis Morissette, and Jacqueline Bisset. The experience of dressing hundreds of actors who come in all shapes and sizes has helped me to understand what works best on a body type. It has given me the advantage of understanding how personality, character, occupation, and lifestyle influences fashion choices. I bring my varied background, rich experience and talent to this venture.

Doreen Binder

Deep rich colour, fabric with texture demanding to be touched, and an interesting detail are all things which appeal to me. Style for me is the sum of all the parts; how a person puts themselves together, the overall look, the way a person walks and holds themselves.

As a girl growing up in Saskatchewan, I was enraptured by the way my mother and her sisters dressed. My interest in style and clothing led me to sew my own clothes and later design theatre costumes. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts in French literature, I moved to New York to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology. While at FIT, I had an internship at Good Morning America, working on their weekly fashion segment. Coming back to Canada, I worked at Fashion magazine and later as a producer at CBC’s Fashion File, covering the Milan womenswear collections for many seasons. My experience covering international designers honed my eye for great design and has given me an edge on what makes fabulous style. 

For me, collaborating with Melanie is a natural progression to use my fashion expertise to empower people to dress their best.