This year’s 18th annual Cashmere Collection returns to the runway on September 28th, as sixteen brilliant Canadian designers showcase their vision of a future without breast cancer through spectacularly designed couture gowns, crafted entirely from Cashmere Bathroom Tissue. 

The 18th Annual Cashmere Collection: NEW Belle Époque celebrates the iconic creative era of history during turn of the 20th century Europe, which signaled a renaissance-like emergence of innovation in fashion, culture and technology, fueled by optimism following years of hard times. Curated for the third year running by host, producer and stylist-to-the-stars Joe Zee, this year’s collection looks to the future through an optimistic lens after an incredibly challenging year for many. An annual fund-and-awareness raiser for the breast cancer cause, the Cashmere Collection fashion show will debut ahead of October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  

In addition, for the first time in its 18-year history, the Cashmere Collection fashion show will hit primetime TV this Fall, in a TV special airing on CTV on Friday, October 8, 2021, 7PM, and subsequently available on Crave. The special will be hosted by The Social’s Melissa Grelo and Etalk’s Tyrone Edwards and features stylist-to-the-stars Joe Zee, as the Cashmere Collection Curator. Viewers will get an exclusive look behind the Cashmere Bathroom Tissue curtain to experience the show in its entirety through a broadcast special including behind the scenes clips, and interviews with designers and key supporters. Please see attached for additional details.

The annual kick-off to October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Cashmere Collection has already featured more than 200 top Canadian Designers — all united in their quest to create a future without breast cancer by building awareness and raising much-needed funds for the cause.    

“Canada is preparing to emerge from a time of hardships that has been distinguished by remarkable and generous community support, all with a strong sense of resilience,” says Susan Irving, CMO Kruger Products, maker of Cashmere. “This year’s Cashmere Collection: The NEW Belle Époque looks to the future through an optimistic lens, as a celebration of achievement and cultural renewal post-pandemic, while recognizing the strength of Canadians affected by breast cancer in a year full of unprecedented challenges.  

“The NEW Belle Époque is a high beam of hope as Canadians look to embrace new cultural and technological advancements, and usher in a new time of hope after an incredibly difficult and uncertain year,” she says. 

All-Star Cast and Curator 

Internationally acclaimed fashion guru and stylist to the stars, Joe Zee — Canadian-born TV host and producer best known for his stints on GMA, Access Hollywood, Stitched, and Gossip Girl — returns this year as Curator of the Cashmere Collection, for the third time, with an exciting and talented, all-new cast of Canadian creators, representing coast-to-coast diversity. He is joined by Erika Larva, who has been with the collection since its beginnings in 2004 and will carry on as Artistic Director. 

The designers of the 18th Annual Cashmere Collection NEW Belle Époque include: 

  •         Anisha Kumar – Brampton, Ontario  
  •         Antonio Ortega Couture – Montreal, Quebec  
  •         Atelier Volpe – Toronto, Ontario 
  •         Dene Couture – Calgary, Alberta 
  •         DISÉIYE – Toronto, Ontario 
  •         Donn Sabean – Halifax, Nova Scotia 
  •         FAUN – Calgary, Alberta 
  •         Genia Evelina – Montreal, Quebec 
  •         GRANDI – Coquitlam, British Columbia 
  •         House of Gallagher – Toronto, Ontario 
  •         Lydia Stewart – Fredericton, New Brunswick 
  •         RVNG – Simcoe, Ontario 
  •         VANIKA by Vanessa Kiraly – Toronto, Ontario 
  •         Veronica MacIsaac – Halifax, Nova Scotia 
  •         Whyte Couture – Toronto, ON 
  •         Zoba Martin – Toronto, Ontario 

“I am absolutely blown away by Canada’s talented fashion designers and their awesome creativity and generosity,” says collection curator Joe Zee, who returns to lead the collection in 2021 for the third consecutive year. “Their leading-edge artistry, resilience through the pandemic, and dedication to the breast cancer cause is an inspiring role model for all of us to applaud and emulate. I am so excited to see this year’s stunning creations come to life in our NEW Belle Époque,” he says. 

Front Row Seats Guaranteed 

Building on the momentum achieved with 2020’s mega-successful virtual premiere of the Cashmere Collection, this year’s show will be bigger and better than ever! Kruger Products, maker of Cashmere, will debut the 18th annual collection on Tuesday, September 28, 2021, with a live fashion show at the Globe & Mail Centre in Toronto; along with a subsequent virtual runway show, guaranteeing everyone a front row seat. Collection designers will reveal 16 Bathroom Tissue Couture gowns, all in support of Canada’s fashion design community and the breast cancer cause.  

About the Cashmere Collection  

Founded in 2004, the international award-winning Cashmere Collection is an ardent supporter of Canada’s fashion design community and the breast cancer cause. Many of the greatest names in Canadian fashion have contributed to the collection including Marie Saint Pierre, Greta Constantine, Denis Gagnon, David Dixon, Rudsak, Stephan Caras, Lucian Matis, UNTTLD and many more.  

The highly anticipated kick-off to October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Cashmere Collection heralds the annual return of Cashmere’s awareness and fundraising activities for the cause. This includes a twenty-five-cent donation from the purchase of each specially- marked package of Cashmere sold throughout the month of October (up to maximum of $50,000), towards breast cancer efforts at both the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation.  

Canadians will also be invited to vote for their favourite Bathroom Tissue Couture creation at Vote Couture for the Cure® on Facebook.com/Cashmere throughout October and join the conversation on social media using #Cashmere21. Cashmere will donate $1 for every vote (to a maximum of $10,000), to the CCS’s breast cancer efforts in the winning designer’s name.  

About Cashmere and Kruger Products L.P.  

Cashmere Bathroom Tissue, Canada’s best-selling brand, reflects Kruger Products’ commitment to providing the finest quality, Canadian-made tissue products to consumers. Kruger Products is one of Canada’s leading tissue manufacturers and serves the Canadian consumer market with well-known brands including Cashmere, Purex, SpongeTowels and Scotties, as well as away-from-home products for industrial and commercial use across Canada and the U.S.  

A longstanding and committed contributor to the breast cancer cause, Kruger Products L.P. has supported the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF), now part of the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) since the collection’s debut in 2004, and is currently one of the top five national partners supporting the breast cancer cause at CCS.  

Kruger Products L.P. with more than 2,700 employees, operates nine FSC® COC-certified (FSC® C-104904) production facilities in North America with headquarters in Toronto and Montreal. 

About Breast Cancer and the Canadian Cancer Society  

The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) is the only national charity that supports Canadians with all cancers in communities across the country. No other organization does what we do; we are the voice for Canadians who care about cancer. We fund ground-breaking research, provide a support system for all those affected by cancer and shape health policies to prevent cancer and support those living with the disease.  

CCS is the largest national charitable funder of breast cancer research in Canada. Research investments combined with early detection, and better treatment therapies have resulted in a 44% decrease in the breast cancer death rate since the late 1980s. More work needs to be done as breast cancer is still the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in Canada. Funds raised through this partnership will be invested in CCS’s leading breast cancer research and support programs. For more information, please visit https://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-type/breast/breast-cancer/?region=on.  

About the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation 

The Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation has a provincial mission to ensure the benefits of its investments in breast cancer research. Multiple programs developed by the QBCF have national impact. In over 26 years, it has raised more than $56.7 million and invested it in Quebec in cutting-edge research and in defending the interests of breast cancer patients and their loved ones. Through research and innovation, support and education, it ensures that people with the disease and their families remain the real focus of its mission. Families, researchers, volunteers and donors all share the same hope: to increase the survival rate of people affected by breast cancer to a true cure. For more information, please visit rubanrose.org, or follow the QBCF on social media via Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.