Latest news with #LesleyHampton
CTV News
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Indigenous fashion designer with northern Ontario roots celebrates success
Indigenous fashion designer Lesley Hampton, a member of Temagami First Nation, is celebrating Indigenous History Month with a featured pop-up at Holt Renfrew. Indigenous designer Lesley Hampton of Temagami First Nation has her line featured at Holt Renfrew for Indigenous History Month. Her inclusive fashion has been worn by stars like Kim Kardashian and Sandra Oh. Amanda Hicks has more on her story. Lesley Hampton, a member of Temagami First Nation, is seeing her work featured at Holt Renfrew in Mississauga as part of a three-week pop-up celebrating Indigenous History Month. The Anishinaabe artist and designer, whose inclusive and mental health-focused fashion has gained international attention, reflects on her journey from a young sewing enthusiast to a celebrated name in the industry. Lesley Hampton Fashion designer Lesley Hampton poses for a photograph in a shared fashion space at the Toronto Fashion Incubator in Toronto on February 4, 2019. The emerging designer has woven fashion with activism ever since she launched her brand. (File photo/Nathan Denette/THE CANADIAN PRESS) From early sewing to fashion dreams Hampton first learned to sew at just four years old, crafting a teddy bear for her brother. 'A few years ago, I actually found what I ended up making, way back when, and it kind of looked like a flat duck-shaped thing,' she said with a laugh. 'But I still remember to this day, the vision that I had when I wanted to create this piece.' A global upbringing with deep Indigenous roots Though deeply connected to her roots in Temagami, where she frequently visits extended family, Hampton spent much of her youth abroad. 'I am a member of Temagami First Nation. I am an Anishinaabe-quay Indigenous woman. And I also identify as a third-culture kid,' she said. 'A lot of my youth and adolescence, I actually grew up internationally. I went to middle school in Australia and high school in England, as well as a few other places in between.' Despite her early passion for fashion – sparked by runway shows on TV – Hampton didn't see herself reflected in the industry. 'Even at that young age, I only saw one skin type, one body type, and being a curvy Indigenous kid, I really didn't see myself in that space,' she said. 'So, it was a really great thing to be interested in and I love sewing. And I've always loved sewing. But I never really saw it as something that I could do as a career choice.' From art school to the runway After earning a degree in art studio and art history from the University of Toronto Mississauga, Hampton noticed a natural shift toward fashion. 'Everything I was creating for those art classes was all a conversation about the body and what you can put on the body to create a dialogue,' she said. 'So, it was almost a natural jump from there into the fashion industry.' She launched her eponymous line in 2016 at just 22 years old. Her designs quickly gained recognition, appearing at Fashion Art Toronto and Vancouver Fashion Week – with images from the latter featured in Vogue Magazine. Lesley Hampton + Hudson Mulvihill Indigenous fashion designer Lesley Hampton (left) with model Hudson Mulvihill (right) wearing one of her designs at Fashion Art Toronto on June 14, 2025. (Image Credit: @Cosplay) Celebrity endorsements and high-profile moments Her profile rose further in 2017 when Kim Kardashian posted a photo wearing her Fall/Winter collection. Since then, Hampton has dressed a growing list of high-profile figures, including Lizzo, Lily Gladstone, and most recently, Sandra Oh for her Order of Canada ceremony. 'It's really exciting because all these celebrities – whether we reached out to them or, in the case of Sandra Oh, her team reached out to us – are people dedicated to representing what my brand stands for,' she said. Inclusivity and indigenous representation in fashion Hampton's brand emphasizes inclusivity, mental health awareness, and Indigenous representation. 'My brand is highly focused on building community and creating space that I, as a kid, really wanted to feel included and celebrated in,' she said. 'I want to create that safe space.' She acknowledges significant progress in the fashion industry since she began. 'We really see these diverse and inclusive bodies taking up space in major celebrity moments, major runway moments,' she said. 'It's so wonderful that there's a focus on inclusive representation now, as well as Indigenous representation. It's just been kind of exploding within the fashion scene.' Lesley Hampton Indigenous fashion designer Lesley Hampton modelling gown from one of her 2023 collections in this undated image. (Lesley Hampton/Instagram) Inspiring the next generation For Hampton, this shift is vital for future generations. 'To have that increased level of representation is so crucial for that young kid – that young Indigenous kid, young BIPOC kid, or even young curvy kid who really wants to see themselves represented in these spaces because they are such beautiful, exciting spaces to be in.' Lesley Hampton @ Eatons Centre Indigenous fashion designer Lesley Hampton at the ᐋᓃᓐ aaniin. shop in the Toronto Eaton Centre where her designs were being showcased in November 2024. (Lesley Hampton/Instagram) Holt Renfrew pop-up and future ambitions Her current showcase at Holt Renfrew underscores her mission to make Indigenous fashion accessible. 'It's so important for customers and clients in the luxury space to understand that Indigenous fashion can be worn by everyone,' she said. 'People need to know they can celebrate our stories through fashion by wearing our designs and helping push our narratives forward.' Hampton's collection will remain at Holt Renfrew until July 4. Looking ahead, she hopes to expand her reach further – with ambitions to showcase at New York and London Fashion Weeks, bringing her inclusive vision to an even broader audience.
CTV News
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Canadian designer, photographer join anti-poverty campaign
Anishinaabe artist and fashion designer Lesley Hampton and director and photographer Justin Wu on joining a campaign to end extreme poverty.
CTV News
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Lesley Hampton taps into Indigenous heritage for Toronto Fashion Week debut
Fashion designer Lesley Hampton poses for a photograph in a shared fashion space at the Toronto Fashion Incubator in Toronto on Monday, February 4, 2019. Emerging designer Lesley Hampton has woven fashion with activism ever since she launched her brand three years ago. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette) Emerging designer Lesley Hampton has woven fashion with activism ever since she launched her brand three years ago. That meant runway shows that championed body positivity, the importance of mental health and the value of diversity and inclusivity. But missing was a core part of her identity as an Indigenous designer, and she says that's what takes centre stage with her debut at Toronto Fashion Week this week. 'There was always this gap that I was questioning and this collection really let me dive into how being Indigenous influences my design and influences my creation of work,' Hampton says when reached at her Toronto studio as she attended to last-minute details for Wednesday's show. 'I grew up internationally and my mom was adopted so we didn't grow up kind of involved in the culture. I've been using my fashion design to reconnect with my roots and re-learn certain teachings and educational things that I didn't learn, didn't really know about growing up.' Hampton is part of Temagami First Nation but was born in St. John's, N.L., and grew up around the world -- stops included England, Australia, New Caledonia, and Indonesia, as well as Alberta and the Northwest Territories. The 24-year-old began diving deeply into her Indigenous heritage last November when she attended a workshop for Indigenous entrepreneurial development, and started to focus on how her own fragmented family history has shaped her identity as a designer. Hampton notes her own mother has struggled with this, too, and reconnected with her birth mother as she was growing up. Hampton is proud to now continue that journey by reclaiming more of their culture and language -- for both of them. 'Even down to learning how to say, 'Hello' in Ojibwe or Anishinaabemowin, little things like that that neither of us know but now I can attempt to say it to her is really exciting,' she says. It hasn't come without scrutiny, she admits, pointing to her own efforts to reconcile her mixed background. 'It's very much a colonial concept to ask myself: How Indigenous am I?' Or, 'Am I Indigenous enough to put on a collection like this, given the fact that I didn't grow up in the culture?'' says Hampton, whose father is of Scottish background. 'But I am Indigenous, I'm very proud to be. The gatekeeping that is a learned concept is what I'm breaking down within the brand -- gatekeeping around identity, or gatekeeping around certain body-beauty norms.' Her fall/winter collection -- dubbed 'Eighteen Seventy Six' for the year the Indian Act was passed -- includes beaded knit, pleated pleather, crepe and cashmere but doesn't draw directly from Indigenous design traditions or craft. Instead, Hampton says she incorporates historical references, such as the use of nude tulle that is embroidered with red dots to represent missing and murdered Indigenous women. Her show will also include accessories by Helen Oro Designs Inc. and Iskwew Rising, mukluks from Manitobah Mukluks and appliqued Indigenous beadwork by Roberta Anderson. And all of her runway models identify as Indigenous, a goal that Hampton says was a challenge to achieve. 'We found that there was a lack of representation of Indigenous talent in Toronto within the agencies and just on the runway in general,' she notes. Hampton turned to friends and community connections to round out her roster, enlisting actress/model Jade Willoughby, as well as actress Tiio Horn and the 2015 Mrs. Universe, Ashley Callingbull. As in previous shows, she expects her models will be a range of sizes from 2 to 16. Hampton's rise through the industry has been quick -- an early show for Vancouver Fashion Week just three months after starting her brand landed her in British Vogue. Another boost came when Kim Kardashian shared Hampton's fall/winter 2017 showcase on Facebook because it featured Boston-bombing victim Adrianne Haslet, an amputee with a prosthetic leg, as a runway model. Hampton says it 'would be a dream come true' to meet and work with any of the Kardashians. She'd also like to be a red carpet celebrity designer along the lines of her professional idol, Christian Siriano, a champion for plus-size fashion and diversity on the world stage. Wherever her career takes her, activism and style will always go hand-in-hand. 'Because fashion is such a first step towards what clothes are put up, who wears what and what bodies are 'allowed' to wear what, I think it's a great platform to start with this messaging.' Other showcases at Toronto Fashion Week include the cruelty-free womenswear brand Hilary MacMillan, luxury evening wear and bridal brand Mani Jassal and a special collection from David Dixon titled BUBL x David Dixon, which incorporates bubble wrap to raise awareness about the issues facing Canadians affected by osteoporosis. Toronto Fashion Week wraps Thursday. Casandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press
