Jeremy Laing is a Canadian fashion designer based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

who launched his eponymous brand in 2005. Beginning with a low-key show during

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general publ ...

, he has established a reputation for sharp tailoring, geometric construction and draping and layering techniques.

Early life and career

Born in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

, Laing grew up on an army base in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He developed his skills after watching his mother sew and began making clothes for friends and family as a young teenager, also learning how to create his own

patterns A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated l ...

. He won a scholarship to study fashion at

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

, Toronto, also participating in the university's exchange programme and spending time at

University of Westminster , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

. London, before graduating in 2002. Laing worked for three years with

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

. He subsequently worked as an assistant to Alexander McQueen, who he has described as being among his fashion mentors while he was growing up. After that, he freelanced for both McQueen and other fashion designers – he created showpiece items for five of McQueen's collections.

Eponymous brand

Although Laing has said he originally envisaged working with an established fashion brand, he eventually decided to go solo, establishing a company with a schoolfriend and launching his first collection in 2005. This first low key showing, described as a "petit debut", was at A/W2005 New York Fashion Week. A relative unknown outside Canada, he showed his collection away from the main show area and invited people along. He soon attracted coverage in media sources such as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and has now become a fixture at New York shows, as well as showing at

Toronto Fashion Week Toronto Fashion Week (TFW), held in February (for fall/winter collections) and September (for spring/summer collections) of each year, is a semi-annual event celebrating fashion, arts and culture where Canadian and international fashion collectio ...

. His studio remains in the Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale, with some production at

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

. Speaking of his career path, he noted that many young designers attempt to reinvent themselves every season which he believes is a mistake, adding: "I want people to collect my pieces. I don’t make disposable fashion. It should last".

Brand hallmarks

Laing is known for his draping, sharp tailoring and boxy, often layered silhouettes. Signature pieces include T-shaped dresses and oversized

trench coat A trench coat or trenchcoat is a variety of coat made of waterproof heavy-duty fabric, originally developed for British Army officers before the First World War, and becoming popular while used in the trenches. Originally made from gabardine, ...

s. While his palette is generally muted, he includes showpiece artist-commissioned textiles, some sourced from Canadian designers. In 2011, he introduced menswear, plus a range of shoes produced in collaboration with LD Tuttle.

References

External links

HomepageJeremy Laing collections at ''Vogue''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laing, Jeremy Canadian fashion designers 1980 births People from Toronto People from Peterborough, Ontario Toronto Metropolitan University alumni Alumni of the University of Westminster Living people