A Markham designer is among 10 new “fashion powerhouses” whose creations will be featured in the 2023 Cashmere Collection in support of the breast cancer cause.
Rhowan James took up the challenge of creating couture fashion using only Cashmere bathroom tissue and his design is featured in the Lovestruck collection.
“This year’s Lovestruck collection explores diverse aspects of love, including the deep emotional connection we have for anyone we know who has been impacted by breast cancer – including patients, survivors, health-care workers, family, friends and even those we’ve lost,” says Susan Irving, CMO Kruger Products, maker of Cashmere.
The 20th anniversary milestone collection features the largest roster of designers to date: 10 new and 10 returning designers. Their creations will be featured in the Cashmere Collection runway show, which takes place Tuesday, Oct. 3 in Toronto and kicks off Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Over the past two decades, Cashmere has raised more than $5 million in support of breast cancer awareness, prevention and treatment programs for its charitable partners: the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation (QBCF). In that time, more than 230 Canadian designers have created original couture for the Cashmere Collection, all entirely crafted in Cashmere bathroom tissue.
James credits his Jamaican-born parents who immigrated to Canada with showing him the meaning of hard work and how to never give up on his dreams. At a young age, he developed a passion for fashion and a desire to customize and accessorize clothing to fit his own taste.
The self-taught designer learned how to design clothes by reverse-engineering them and in 2017, launched his self-entitled menswear brand, Rhowan James, with the goal of becoming a leading international fashion brand. A year later, he was nominated for Toronto Men’s Fashion Week (*TOM) Emerging Menswear Designer Award. He showed his first black and gold collection and won the last award in *TOM history.
Photo courtesy of Rhowan James.
