IFE AWARDS
IFE Awards are based on two individual's annually for their outstanding service to the fashion industry
"Lifetime Achievement Award for their contribution to Canadian Fashion" &
"Outstanding Contribution to Canadian Fashion".
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR HER CONTRIBUTION CANADIAN FASHION (2018)
ROBIN KAY
Robin Kay is one Canada’s unfaltering voices for the fashion industry. A self-taught designer, she ran a successful eponymous brand for 25years that held 600 wholesale accounts across North America, and 22 stores across the country. This journey led her to pioneer the largest Fashion Week in Canada. She transferred ownership of the event in 2012 to focus on the larger work of Fashion Design Council of Canada (FDCC), a not-for-profit dedicated to supporting the Canadian fashion industry she helped establish. Since then, Kay has been tirelessly working to engage government in conversation to identify the fashion community as a pillar of culture and commerce in Canada and create a new national policy that acknowledges all designers contributions in this country.
CONTRIBUTION TO CANADIAN FASHION AWARD (2018)
JOAN KELLEY WALKER
Joan Kelley Walker has an extensive television career, and her taste and elegance were showcased recently on the national screen on The Real Housewives of Toronto (RHOT). Her unique sense of fashion and style has since been profiled in many national and international publications. Joan began her career in fashion as a model for The Bay. Modeling quickly branched into acting for commercials and videos. This would eventually lead to a career in the media, adding journalist (contributor to the Huffington Post), host (Red Carpet Diary - interviewing world renowned film & TV actors, producers & directors at TIFF), and voice-over actor to her range.
One of her most impressive distinctions is that throughout her life Joan has been very philanthropic-focused. She has been a World Vision Ambassador for over 18 years and is an incredible humanitarian. Joan Kelley Walker is the recipient of a Queens Diamond Jubilee medal for her charity work and she has also received the “Mother Teresa Award” from Athol Murray College of Notre Dame for her work in Mozambique.
Joan Kelley Walker has recently announced a new partnership with Benchmark Licensing. Walker will be introducing a line of lifestyle consumer products to offer an affordable, elegant choice for retail customers. The JKW brand will be available online soon with a significant retail partner and will have a unique charitable component.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO CANADIAN FASHION (2017)
GLEN BAXTER
Glen Baxter is a Brand Ambassador, Content Producer and Bilingual Journalist specializing in fashion and design. He is currently a weekly fashion & design contributor on the French CBC radio morning show Ya pas deux matins pareils.
He is best known as the Host of CTV's IN FASHION, which aired across Canada and around the world for over a decade. He was also an on-air Entertainment Reporter and Anchor for CityTV and MuchMusic.
He was the Fashion Editor at M Magazine and has written for Zoomer, Sharp and S Style & Fashion magazines. Over the years, he has interviewed A-List celebrities and fashion heavyweights like Tom Ford, Thom Browne, Valentino, Vivienne Westwood, Roberto Cavalli, Gianfranco Ferre, Donatella Versace and Karl Lagerfeld just to name a few. He also appeared on Canada's Next Top Model, Canada AM, The Marilyn Denis Show, eTalk, CP24, CTV News Channel, The Morning Show on Global, CTV Morning Live and the Breakfast Television shows across Canada. He is the recipient of The Globe and Mail's Men of Style Award and has made The Toronto's Star's Annual Best Dressed List.
Glen is a former board member and spokesperson for the Toronto Fashion Group International (FGI) non-profit. He is a former Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR) Jr. Committee Member. He is a former Right To Play humanitarian organization Executive Board of Champions Member and the Founder & Chair of The Right To Play Ball. A world traveller, he has visited more than 50 countries with his camera and has exhibited his photography in five solo shows, raising money for various charities.
He has been awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR HER CONTRIBUTION TO CANADIAN FASHION (2015)
MARLENE SHIFF
Marlene is an independent consultant, finding the variety of clients very satisfying. She works predominantly with start-ups in development, as well as creative direction of larger companies. Marlene is the Fashion Styling faculty head at Toronto Fashion Academy (TFA) and with TFA she travels the world teaching fashion students and grads how to style and merchandise, how to package themselves, how to get their products to market, how to perfect their “pitch-package” and how to break into the North American and European marketplace.
She took over boutiqueletrou (Boutique Le Trou) after testing the waters at Holt Renfrew for a few years. They had put a Canadian spin on the boutique and she realized that she could be the platform she never had as a young designer in Canada. She could be the storefront on the sought-after location of West Queen West in Toronto from which to launch careers of designers like Lucian Matis and Sunny Fong of Project Runway fame and where Tommy Ton gave birth to JakandJil, the foremost international report on street fashion.
Vogue Magazine called it the “best shop in Toronto”, NY Times Style called it “one of three shops not to be missed in Toronto”, and Wallpaper Magazine devoted a page in the city guide to boutiqueletrou calling it “a veritable social club of the who's who of fashion”.
She designed first in Canada, selling her collections to major department stores, regional chains and independent boutiques across the USA and Canada. She parlayed these relationships into private label design for Holt Renfrew and The Bay in Canada, and her branded designs were sold at Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom in the USA and through her NY agents, across Europe as well.
She designed for Bob Mackie in NY, the designer whose fame came from the design of Cher's costume wardrobe throughout her career. These designs were featured in WWD; the industry bible Womens Wear Daily, ELLE magazine in the USA and Canada as well as newspapers and fashion magazines across Canada.
CONTRIBUTION TO CANADIAN FASHION AWARD (2015)
VICKY MILNER
Vicky Milner is a distinguished entrepreneur with extensive experience in an array of industries including fashion retail, music, entertainment, and nonprofit management. An avid philanthropist with over 10 years experience in the event business; Vicky has founded and executed many large-scale events for notable brands, including Universal Music Group and the Herbie Fund. Vicky’s strong business acumen, passionate outlook on the fashion industry, and belief in celebrating Canada and its amazing talent makes her an exceptional leader for CAFA.