Fashion Faculty Committed to Excellence in Teaching

Caron Phinney, an educator, a wife and a mother of two. Phinney is a graduate of the Fashion Design program with a minor in Production, and holds a Masters degree in the HIstory of Decorative Arts and Design from Brighton University. In September 2019 will be her 10th year teaching at Toronto Metropolitan University!

Phinney shared, “Fashion has not always embraced me, and saw value in my membership. My shape did not “fit” into what was considered fashionable, so I never became brand loyal. As a teenager I looked to the past. I embraced the few pieces that my Mother brought with her when she arrived to Canada...They added unique flavour to my developing sense of style. Whether it
is a piece of art, music or clothing, it has to say something.” About five years ago, she decided to “go natural.” For a black woman, this means not adding chemicals to your hair in order for it to be straight. Rocking her natural curls set her on an unexpected journey of self discovery and reinvention. Phinney is uncovering narratives that are akin to her being. She shared, “these beautiful expresses of Black existence and identity are molding my design aesthetic today.”

Phinney would like the next generation of fashion creatives to move the conversation forward, move design forward. Phinney encourages to design with an understanding of where we have been and create possibilities of where we can go.