Mic Carter pays forward Amazon Canada grant to TMU School of Fashion
Mic Carter, a lecturer at the School of Fashion and founder of gender nonconforming clothing brand L’Uomo Strano (external link) , is one of the six Canadian designers chosen for Amazon Canada’s Designer Spotlight series. The Instagram series aims to discover influential voices in Canadian fashion and celebrate emerging designers in the industry. Each designer chooses a Canadian fashion community to give a pay-it-forward grant of $25,000 and Carter chose the School of Fashion as their recipient. Select pieces from the designers’ collections will also be featured and available for purchase on Amazon Canada’s website.
Carter’s brand, L’Uomo Strano, is a Black-owned fashion brand aiming to create affirming wardrobes for gender nonconforming individuals and their allies through art and fashion. The brand was born out of Carter’s blended interest in social justice, futurity, abjection and community within the fashion industry. L’Uomo Strano is also housed in Toronto Metropolitan University's Social Ventures Zone.
Mic Carter is among six Canadian designers chosen to tell their stories and retail their collections online.
Investing in the future of fashion
Carter, who teaches a course at the School of Fashion about non-binary design, says they hope the grant will help students create a more inclusive and welcoming industry for all.
Image courtesy of Mic Carter
Image courtesy of Mic Carter
“I chose the School of Fashion to be the recipient of this grant because [of] the space that they provide for young designers to understand their vision of fashion, and the skills that they equip them with to be able to do so effectively; all while centering inclusion, decolonization and sustainability, which is deeply inspiring,” they said. “Through teaching and learning with a few capstone cohorts, inside and outside of the pandemic, I’ve become increasingly more appreciative and amazed by the resilience and creativity of the School of Fashion's student body, so having the chance to invest in them — the future of the Canadian fashion — is an honour.”
See Carter’s full collection with Amazon Canada (external link)
Learn more about L’Uomo Strano (external link)
By: Asmaa Toor
This story was originally published on the Creative School website on November 22, 2022.