Fashion Festival strives to promote eco-friendly materials

08 Jul '13

4 min read

The Fashion & Design Festival (FDF) has announced an unprecedented partnership with the Quebec Forest Industry Council (QFIC). This major three-year partnership will spotlight wood, a symbol of our heritage and a design material that is as beautiful as it is ecologically friendly. Starting this summer, some of the major FDF facilities will be created from wood, giving the event a distinct and unique signature to differentiate itself at the international level over the medium term.

"The idea of collaborating with the wood industry came to us during a discussion with the organizers of the London Design Festival, who suggested we choose a material that would serve to symbolize and reflect exactly who we are," said Jean-François Daviau, Co-President of Groupe Sensation Mode, organizers of the FDF. "Local wood, exposed to our extreme climate, presents a hardness, resistance, grain and aroma that are quite unique. Wood is to Québec what wine is to Bordeaux.”

This initiative will make it possible for the forest industry to promote its products and for the FDF to affirm its creativity internationally. Wood is highly appealing from a design perspective and is a renewable material with tremendous processing potential. In addition to its many uses in construction and cabinetry, wood can even be transformed into textile fibres and into cellulose, which is used in the composition of pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food products.

"This partnership between the forest industry and the Montréal Fashion & Design Festival strives to demonstrate the many uses for wood and its derivatives, as well as the close relationship that Quebecers maintain with the material," said André Tremblay, QFIC President and CEO. "With its extensive innovative, ecological and design potential, wood is the natural fit for this event and for the endeavors of local creators."

From July 31 to August 3, wood will invade the venue for the Fashion & Design Festival, giving the event the opportunity to serve as a design showcase from start to finish. The main stage, already planted with trees, will be covered in wood, as will the Terrace, the VIP area and a number of the stations along the INBOX Design route.

Everything will be presented in a modern and elegant setting from wood provided by the Québec Forest Industry Council, reinforcing the design cachet of the FDF and, at the same time, Montréal's positioning as an international city of design.

The forest industry is committed to planting trees to replace those used as part of this agreement. The partnership between the FDF and the QFIC is in line with the “Move to Clean Carbon” campaign, sponsored by the Quebec Forest Industry Council. It was made possible thanks to the support of the Programme de développement de l’industrie touristique under Tourisme Québec.

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