Montréal, Quebec — On Saturday, August 22, Guillaum Chaigne closed out Saturday night of the 26th edition of Festival MAD with an anniversary presentation that will be remembered for a long time. To celebrate ten years on the runway, the Montréal-based designer presented a collection of twenty dresses, before ending the night with a surprise that literally lit up downtown Montréal: a marriage proposal to his muse and the love of his life, Fiona.
For Guillaum Chaigne, these ten years represent much more than a brand anniversary. Last year, the designer seriously considered walking away from it all. After years of creating, experimenting and evolving in fashion, he ultimately realized that he couldn’t abandon what had been with him since childhood: his passion for creating.
Guillaum Chaigne started sewing at the age of ten, in 1998. From the beginning, what attracted him was the possibility of creating eccentric clothing and bringing the ideas in his head to life. Streetwear later became an important part of his journey. His success in that world led him to keep moving in that direction, but behind the hoodies and streetwear silhouettes, there was always a desire to return to what had attracted him to fashion in the first place.
So, for his ten-year anniversary, he decided to give himself a gift: creating exactly what he wanted to create.
Dresses.
The collection presented at MAD was made entirely of dresses, but the designer deliberately chose to blur the lines. The show opened with an oversized hoodie, making the audience believe they were about to see a new streetwear proposal. Then, almost like magic, the hoodie transformed to reveal a dress: Laniakea, named after the supercluster of galaxies that contains the Milky Way. The dress featured LED lights, creating an actual galaxy directly inside the garment.
That first transformation set the tone for what followed: twenty dresses that stayed true to Guillaum Chaigne’s signature while completely challenging the image the public had already come to associate with him.
After ten years of putting himself out there, developing a signature and building his universe, the designer finally gave himself permission to do whatever the fuck he wanted.
This seventh participation in Festival MAD — an event he has been part of for several years now and one he says he is “almost part of the furniture” at — was an opportunity to celebrate love in all its forms: the love of creation, the love of craft, the love of his practice, but above all, the love of life.
The night ended with a moment no one in the crowd saw coming.
In front of several thousand people gathered in downtown Montréal, Guillaum Chaigne proposed to Fiona, his muse and the love of his life. The crowd responded with screams of joy, tears and dancing, turning the finale of the show into a deeply personal moment that was shared with an entire city.
For Guillaum Chaigne, the proposal became the true highlight of the night and, in his eyes, one of the most memorable moments of MAD this year.
After wanting to walk away from it all one year earlier, the designer chose to start again differently: by returning to what he truly loves, allowing himself to create for himself, and celebrating what matters most.
For his ten-year anniversary, he didn’t simply present a collection. He gave himself the freedom to create exactly what he had always dreamed of; Sharing the Love.
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