Reid in spotlight as fashion designer

Just seven months after making her debut on the fashion scene, former Fort Frances resident Eryn Reid is being hailed as a rising star in Canadian design.
This past week, Reid showed her second collection, “Smashed dolls in the Park,” to impressed crowds at the Liberty Grand in Toronto.
“One hour before the show, I was interviewed by the National Post, which was kinda cool,” the 27-year-old designer said from her Toronto home.
Reid spent much of the week in a media whirl as she was interviewed by Fashion TV, the Fashion Channel, Elm Street, Style, and a host of other news outlets.
The fledgeling designer got her first taste of the spotlight back in March when her premiere collection—“Plexippus”—debuted during Toronto’s prestigious Fashion Week.
Images from her collection appeared on a number of fashion shows and in articles.
“I saw myself on Fashion TV when I was home this summer,” Reid recalled. “I was at a wedding reception and we were all at [La Place] Rendez-Vous.
“I was sitting there with all of my high school friends and we watched three of my outfits walk down the runway and then me,” she explained.
Amid the teasing about her new-found fame and fortune, Reid set her sights on topping herself in her 2003 spring/summer collection.
The vibrant men’s and women’s clothes—filled with eye-catching pinks and intricate cloud patterns—were straight from a child’s imagination.
“I was walking through the park when I was a little girl and I saw a smashed Barbie doll with their clothes strewn across the grass,” Reid explained.
At the time, Reid thought the tiny clothes looked like flowers and thus the image became the focus of her second show.
While the theme may be child’s play, Reid’s designs definitely are all grown up. The invitations for her show, for instance, featured Barbie and Ken dolls caught in a compromising position while clad in her designs.
Among those watching Reid’s life-sized dolls parade her wares were her parents, Tom and Patti Jo Reid, sister, Megan Ross, and friends Tracey Petsnick and Jennifer Crane.
This time around, Reid also was invited as one of four Canadian designers to hold a “trunk show” at Holt Renfrew—a high-end department store in Toronto.
A “trunk show” is when designers have a rack and perhaps a mannequin with their clothing on it. People flip through as they are shopping and then speak to the designer personally.
Reid said she had interest from a number of buyers, including one from Mississauga, a shop in Toronto, and Holt Renfrew themselves.
She also got to speak with a number of shoppers who came by to examine the clothes.
“A lot of them really liked my stuff and asked where they could buy it,” she added.
As a designer, Reid said she’s felt a big difference between this show and her first one in March.
“Before the last show, I was wondering are people going to like me and my clothes or not? Now I know people do like my clothes,” she said.