MAD Festival | Place for creators

The MAD (Fashion, Arts, Entertainment) festival takes place from August 24 to 27, in the heart of the Quartier des spectacles. Completely free, this event brings together around a hundred artists, fashion shows, musical performances and “pop-up” boutiques that showcase local creators.

The big news of this first MAD festival, formerly the Fashion and Design festival, is the launch of the MAD Shoppe transactional platform, which brings together around a hundred fashion and accessories designers.

“We’ve been thinking about it for a long time, to bring together in one place a market where we welcome Quebec creators. This new platform will be launched during a major fashion show on August 24, in which 30 models and 10 dancers will participate. The fashion show will also be broadcast live on MAD Shoppe, and we will be able to directly purchase our favorites that we will see appear on stage! It’s very innovative,” explains Chantal Durivage, co-founder and creative vice-president of MAD collective, in an interview. She specifies that throughout the year, you will be able to discover local brands and designers on the platform and make purchases.

For the first time, a country will be in the spotlight at the festival, and Argentina has been chosen. “Argentinian creators all have such an interesting story to tell. There is great know-how, whether in leather goods, weaving, accessories and shoes, and there is this mix between modernity and craftsmanship. »

On the activity site, at the Place des Festivals, there will be around sixty pop-up ephemeral stores from local designers and brands, such as Les Tandiilles de Jen, Noble, Prysm, Soja & Co., WLKN, La Pimbêche, Lachapelle atelier and Solis Création. “The idea is to make new discoveries among creators. They are present, and it is an opportunity to meet them and talk with them. »

A tribute to the artist Zïlon will be paid on August 24, at 5 p.m. A former collaborator of the festival, he had notably produced live paintings. Geneviève Borne will read her poem My own punkand there will be a retrospective in images of the career of the urban artist, who died last month.

And the conferences?

The conference component which introduced us, in previous editions, to creators, photographers and journalists has almost entirely disappeared. We remember having good times with guests like Patricia Field, stylist of the series Sex and the City, Vincent Leret, head of the Parfums Christian Dior collections, Caroline Issa, Tank Magazine, the photographers Max Abadian and Jean-Paul Goude, and the hatter Stephen Jones. Chantal Durivage wants to maintain the conferences, but there are heartbreaking choices to make.

“Our proposal remains enriching. We have a section of conferences on sustainable development on August 23, we will discuss vegan fashion with Rachel Lamarche (doctoral student at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) and the sustainability of local textile communities with Marie-Ève ​​Faust, professor at the ‘ESG UQAM, during the conference From local fabric to the Wool Ball », Explains the co-founder of the festival.

For Chantal Durivage, the big challenge, beyond the labor shortage, is to support local businesses and creators. “Fast fashion brands are giants of the industry, they have huge budgets, they release new styles every day, at ridiculous prices, and it’s a real challenge for our designers. The spirit of the MAD Shoppe is to bring them together, to offer a quality product where we know the story behind its creation. We are able to raise awareness among consumers and convey to them the importance of encouraging local creation. We have a population in Quebec that is open, interested, and I believe that we must support our local businesses,” concludes Chantal Durivage.