Jan. 2, 2024
Seneca News
Seneca Fashion Arts grad makes a splash on runways
From Toronto to Milan: Eunice Chow’s award-winning collection hits shows
Eunice Chow has always loved fashion and started to sew when she was in high school, but it wasn’t until she got to Seneca Polytechnic that she was able to hone her skills and develop a portfolio to launch her career. Ms. Chow, who graduated from the three-year Fashion Arts advanced diploma program in the spring of 2023 and the eight-month Fashion Studies certificate in the spring of 2020, has shown her collections on runways, won awards and launched a label with other Seneca grads.
Ms. Chow’s career really kicked into high gear with the five-piece collection, titled Tied with Denim, which she put together for the graduating class’s fashion show.
“My collection was inspired by the image of striped beach umbrellas and sandbags,” Ms. Chow said. “I took the beach theme and wanted to show it in a new, fresh way.”
Ms. Chow’s outfits, which feature biodegradable materials such as denim, wood and cork, caught the eyes of judges in Seneca’s spring 2023 fashion show and she won the Avant-Garde Award.
In addition, one of the judges offered her a summer internship as a production assistant at Dust of Gods, a luxury streetwear brand. After that, Ms. Chow got a one-year contract with Seneca as a Fashion Technician.
“Her work is meticulous,” said Jennifer Dares, Professor and Co-ordinator, Fashion Arts Advanced diploma program. “She’s an extremely professional, hard worker who pays attention to detail and craftsmanship.”
That’s exemplified in her collection, which continued to get praise after the Seneca show. Ms. Chow was nominated for the Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards’ (CAFA) Fashion Design Student Award. And she was one of four graduate designers selected to represent Toronto at the Fashion Graduate Italia, an international show in Milan in October.
“It was a great experience,” Ms. Chow said.
Not only did she get to present her collection on the catwalk but she also got to meet a lot of international designers and to soak up the vibe.
“In Italy everyone is so fashionable, I could just watch them all day.”
Back in Toronto, Ms. Chow’s continued to build on her work. Earlier in the fall, she teamed up with three other School of Fashion graduates — Leona Abdyli, Chiaki Manabe and Aoi Takeda — to create their own label Macel. And the group presented their first collection on the catwalk at Fashion Art Toronto, as part of Fashion Week in November.
Ms. Chow’s now working on setting up the brand’s website and the spring/summer collection.
Ms. Dares said it was a “stellar year” for Ms. Chow and that her love of fashion shines through her work.
Asked about the future, Ms. Chow said she’d like to work with designers overseas one day.
“Going to Milan opened my eyes to Europe and going overseas is always in my mind.”