Hildegarde's Bio

Hildie is a fashion designer with an impressive list of accomplishments. She graduated with honours at the Fashion Arts Academy in Montreal during which she won several design competitions. After completing her study of Textile Design at the Ontario College of Art, Hildie started the fashion design labels Lalique Designs and Hildegarde Collection. Her designs were sold to all the major department stores in Canada such as Creeds, Liptons, Eatons, Simpsons, Chadwicks and Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys and Bloomingdales in the U.S., to name a few.

In 1989 she designed an evening wear collection for the contestants of the Miss Canada Pageant. Hildie was part of the first Fashion Cares event and continued to be involved for various years, raising money for AIDS awareness. The Festival of Canadian Fashions was started as a venue to showcase Canadian fashion designers. She participated and created an outstanding eveningwear collection which was received by the press with accolades and featured in the German Vogue. 1990 Hildie opened her own Custom Bridal and Evening Couturiere shop in Yorkville.

In the past 2 years she changed her focus away from the commercial market to go back to her roots as a Textile Artist and started creating a collection of EcoDyed Wearable Art Clothing and Accessories in silks, cotton and linens. She makes her own dyes (all natural) from plants, flowers, leaves and food wastes. Ever mindful of the Zero Waste motto, Hildegarde uses fabric that she has collected over the years and also sources over stocks from various fabric mills. Her wearable art pieces are one offs and limited editions. Her influence comes from her love of nature, sculpture, music, architecture, and the many creative artists that she admires. Beauty and function are as important as balance and colour. Hildegarde starts with a piece of white cloth then, using ancient dyeing techniques, she manipulates, stitches, wraps, and deconstructs that cloth to form Art. Her Wearable Art Collection has been shown in various shops and galleries in and around Toronto including Rare Threads at the Alton Mill Arts Centre.