On Friday, Sept. 15, Joseph Tassoni will present his Fall/Winter and Resort 2024 collection at the Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB) to raise money for mental health and youth. The Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation, ArtHouse, and the AGB are the official charity partners of the show.
It will be a fashion show unlike Burlington has seen before, promises Tassoni, founder and designer of his eponymously-named brand. He has been working on this show for close to two years, so expect agency-represented Fashion Week models walking the runway alongside celebrities, community leaders, elected officials, a red carpet entry for attendees, a live DJ, a cocktail bar, both live and silent auctions, and more at this ticketed event.
Tassoni is excited to present his outerwear, red-carpet dresses, suiting, swimwear, and gender-fluid apparel in his first independent show outside of Fashion Week. He notes that in fashion, “You’re only as good as your last show,” so he is pulling out all the stops, with full production: music, lights, the Redken Canada Fashion Week team doing all the models’ hair, the works.
And not least is the charity aspect of the show. Giving back has been part of Tassoni’s brand before he even officially had a brand: at 15 years old, Tassoni’s first fashion show was in support of a classmate with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a condition in which the affected individual’s bones fracture with minimal or no cause. His classmate’s mother was working to produce videos to help others understand OI better, and Tassoni’s show raised money to help her to do that.
And in return?
His classmate’s mother surprised Tassoni by inviting FashionTelevision’s then-host Jeanne Beker along to open the show. An amazing and unexpected gift for the budding designer.
Giving back to the community is part of the ethos of Joseph Tassoni, the brand and the man. Made in Canada is another central aspect: all of Tassoni’s garments are proudly designed, cut, constructed, and sewn in Canada. Tassoni makes all the first patterns, first samples, and all custom work himself at his studio in Burlington, a space carved out of the Pearl and Pine Retirement home downtown. (The residents are frequent visitors to the studio; they come in, hang out, and “they tell me everything I am doing wrong — with love! — and I cherish their company and feedback,” says Tassoni.)
For bigger orders (for sustainability and to minimize waste, Tassoni’s clothes are made to order), Tassoni’s teams step in to help. Each team member has their own specific skills: “Some only do coats, or only dresses,” notes Tassoni. Respecting each team member’s skills and time makes for happy workers, he says, which comes out in the clothes: “It’s like cooking…[when workers are happy] you can feel the love in the garments.”
No fast fashion here. Tassoni makes “investment pieces for your wardrobe to re-inspire your current pieces.” It’s about sustainability: timeless, classic pieces to wear over and over again.
But that doesn’t mean that Tassoni’s creativity doesn’t get to come out. For this show, Tassoni assures us that he will have his creative moment. Though he doesn’t want to “create pieces that sit around and have no purpose, there’s definitely some fun in this show. You can be functional to a point, but then I have to get the creativity out!”
There are new pieces “in the vault” — no doubt, fashion show shutdowns due to the pandemic have resulted in a backlog of creativity. Even before the pandemic, though, Toronto Fashion Week was cancelled, leaving a gap for Canadian designers.
The pandemic also has resulted in a widely-recognized decline in mental health, particularly in youth. Tassoni has seen this in real-time as he found himself doing more production work across the GTA, and in his work with students: he noticed more young people struggling with addiction and mental health issues.
Thus his decision to make the Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation, ArtHouse, and the Art Gallery of Burlington his charity partners for his upcoming fashion show. At Joseph Brant Hospital, Tassoni is aiming to revamp the therapeutic room in the mental health ward as it is an important area for people in crisis. A portion of proceeds is going to the AGB; ArtHouse hosts some of its programs at AGB, further promoting mental well-being in youth. ArtHouse has just celebrated its 14th year of providing free arts-based programs for children and youth in Halton, giving access to the arts, improving mental well-being, and often forming lasting relationships with the young people they serve. And, as we’ve reported on before, the AGB is celebrating its 40th birthday with the Weight of Clay exhibit in the Lee-Chin Family Gallery, which will provide a stunning backdrop for Tassoni’s fashion on Sept. 15.
Standing tickets are still available at the time of writing to see the likes of singer Jully Black, Burlington favourite Walk off the Earth, MP Karina Gould, CHCH’s Tim Bolen and Annette Hamm, the NHL’s Matt Carey, professional lacrosse player Brodie Merrill, “Sweaty Supermodel Clown” artist Rosacea Cheeks (Colin Gaudet), dancer and actor Alex Pollard, Burlington’s own Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and many others model Joseph Tassoni’s latest designs on Sept. 15 at 6:30 p.m.
Says Tassoni, “I want to show people what Made in Canada means. I want to promote our causes. I want to show people a real fashion show. I want to blow them out of the water!” Burlington better get ready!
Sources:
Canadian Institute for Health Information. May 5, 2022. Mental health of children and youth in Canada. Url: https://www.cihi.ca/en/mental-health-of-children-and-youth-in-canada (accessed Aug. 17, 2023).
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. April 26, 2022. Majority of Ontario students surveyed report feeling depressed about the future because of COVID-19. CAMH News & Stories. Url: https://www.camh.ca/en/camh-news-and-stories/ (accessed Aug. 17, 2023).
Northcott, A. Feb. 26, 2023. Canadian teens still struggling with mental health even as pandemic wanes. CBC. Url: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/canadian-teens-mental-health-1.6759486 (accessed Aug. 17, 2023).
