Montréal’s Ultimate Fashion Map

Mode Montréal is a resource every travelling fashion maven should know. Not only does it provide cues for the latest local street styles to help you pack appropriately (hint: beanies are a must), but it also gives you a pro’s plan of action for your shopping spree once you get here. Welcome to Montréal’s ultimate fashion map!

“The idea for the map came five years ago, when the City of Montréal created the Fashion Bureau, because we did a survey with Léger Marketing and realized people were interested in buying local, they just didn’t know where to find it. So we created the Fashion Map to identify who Montréal’s fashion designers were and where they were located,” says Diane Duhamel, Commissioner of fashion for the Fashion Bureau.

As it stands, Mode Montréal’s map is an amazing way to learn about who peoples this rich landscape of style creation, with a directory that covers hundreds of brands – from Anastasia Lomonova to Zenobia – and pinpoints their stockists all over the city. But lo and behold, it’s about to get even better.

“We will soon be creating a new version of the map with Google,” says Sophie Rozon, Marketing and Internet Project Manager for the Fashion Bureau. “We’ll ask the designers to create their own Google Local profiles, and the new map will be programmed with that information, which will boost their search-engine optimization. The map will be adapted to all mobile platforms and will provide much more info about each store, like opening hours, coordinates and more.”

The new map will also be easier to insert into other blogs and websites, which will be a great way to spread the love of Montréal fashion. “The mobile version will also allow new ways of sifting through the information, so we can create curated routes with local fashion bloggers or influential people in other sectors too. We’ll also be able to create routes based on neighbourhoods or sections rather than themes,” says Rozon.

Though it’s already an amazing research tool, the contents of the new map will also extend to even more brands. “The map now covers about 75 percent clothing,” explains Duhamel, “but we’ve decided to add in accessories designers too. Christopher Kon, designers like that, will all be part of the list from now on. You’ll find everything from beanies to gloves, socks, bowties – and we’ll also add multi-brand stores that sell local wares, like Belle et Rebelle.”

The need to improve the map’s response time is a clear demonstration of the city’s exciting fashion scene. “There are so many local brands today, and young designers leaving their mark – the map is a great tool to pay homage to them,” says Rozon. “It makes it difficult to keep it up to date as it is, but by using Google we’ll be able to share the responsibility and provide tourists and visitors to the site more accurate, better updated information.”