After Black Fashion Week Prague and Black Fashion Week Paris, Montreal is now getting its first Black Fashion Week, kicking off May 15 and lasting until May 17. The event is organized by Senegalese designer Adama Paris— who also organized the Dakar Fashion Week, African Fashion Awards — with the aim to celebrate fashion while revealing the cultural wealth of the black diaspora.

The term "Black Fashion Week" recently garnered heated debate due to its racial implication. "Why not a White Fashion Week?” some have asked. “But Paris Fashion Week is already white!” N’diaye told Agence France-Presse. “We wanted to simply promote beyond African borders designers who are well-known in Africa or in their country but who don’t have access to the global market.” The event also aims to promote black models who are under-represented in fashion shows.

The catwalk of Black Fashion Week Montreal will be held in the unique setting that is Church of St. John Baptist in the heart of Montreal. The event will present the 2013 trends of the Black diaspora in 3 different worlds: JUST Fashion, ONLY Men & LIMITED Edition. JUST Fashion and ONLY Men will present the unavoidable ready-to-wear fashion brands & LIMITED Edition will present the luxury and high fashion of limited items. The evening of May 15, all fashion lovers are invited to the Black & Gold party, an dress code required evening to mark the start of the first Montreal Black Fashion Week. A fashion and networking rendez-vous in one of Montreal’s places to be : Hotel 10. The designers will present their collections on May 16 and 17 from 6.30PM, the fashion shows will be followed by a VIP cocktail combining press and designers and an afterparty.

WHEN: May 15 through May 17

WHERE: Church Saint Jean-Baptiste 309, rue Rachel Est Montréal, Québec, Canada H2W 2K7