Lida Baday (born July 31, 1957) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

fashion design Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...

er who exported her designs to the United States. She used her own name as the brand and she was twice Toronto Designer of the Year.

Life

Lida Baday was born in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

; her mother was a custom dressmaker. She took fashion studies 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 ...

(then Ryerson Polytechnic Institute) 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 ...

, after originally intending to study languages, and graduated in 1979. Lida Baday's eponymous womenswear line was founded in 1987 and ran for 27 years before going out of business with the spring 2014 collection. Baday's work is described as "sleek, sculptural, modern," "sophisticated," "feminine," "minimalist," "understated quality," and "streamlined simplicity." She has been called "Canada’s equivalent to Calvin Klein." Her designs appeared on the covers and in the spreads of Canadian fashion magazines such as

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. Celebrity clients include Oprah Winfrey, Bo Derek, Brooke Shields, Jeanne Beker, and Sigourney Weaver. Baday was twice named Toronto's Designer of the Year, in 1992 and 1996. She was awarded the Fil D’Argent by the Maison du Lin in 1990. In 1998 she received the

Fashion Group International The Fashion Group International (FGI) is a global, non-profit, professional organization founded in 1930 in New York City to benefit the fashion industry. FGI currently has over 5000 members in the fashion industry including apparel, accessories, b ...

Toronto chapter's Night of Stars Award. She was added to the Ryerson Alumni Hall of Fame in 1999. Baday became the first Canadian designer to supply clothing patterns through

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-f ...

, the US-based company, in November 1992. Baday contributed patterns throughout the life of the fashion line. In 1994, Lida Baday opened a New York City showroom and office. The collections were available in

Sak's Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street and ...

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and ...

, and

Holt Renfrew Holt, Renfrew & Co., Limited (doing business as Holt Renfrew and known colloquially as Holt's) is a Canadian luxury department store chain founded in 1837 by William S. Henderson. It has been owned by the Weston family since 1986, and was previo ...

department stores, and were premiered during Toronto Fashion Week. After retiring from womenswear in 2014, Lida Baday turned to wholesale supply, continuing to run The Fabric Room in Toronto. Designers including Joeffer Caoc, Dennis Merotto, and Judy Cornish of Comrags all worked for Lida Baday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baday, Lida Canadian fashion designers Canadian women fashion designers People from Hamilton, Ontario Living people 1957 births