Lida Baday (born July 31, 1957) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

fashion design Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has varied over time and place. "A fashion design ...

er who exported her designs to the United States. She used her own name as the brand and she was twice Toronto Designer of the Year.

Life

Lida Baday was born in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

; her mother was a custom dressmaker. She took fashion studies at

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District in downtown Toronto, although i ...

(then Ryerson Polytechnic Institute) in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, after originally intending to study languages, and graduated in 1979. Lida Baday's eponymous womenswear line was founded in 1987 and ran for 27 years before going out of business with the spring 2014 collection. Baday's work is described as "sleek, sculptural, modern," "sophisticated," "feminine," "minimalist," "understated quality," and "streamlined simplicity." She has been called "Canada’s equivalent to Calvin Klein." Her designs appeared on the covers and in the spreads of Canadian fashion magazines such as

Flare A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala, bengalo in several European countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illuminatio ...

. Celebrity clients include Oprah Winfrey, Bo Derek, Brooke Shields, Jeanne Beker, and Sigourney Weaver. Baday was twice named Toronto's Designer of the Year, in 1992 and 1996. She was awarded the Fil D’Argent by the Maison du Lin in 1990. In 1998 she received the

Fashion Group International The Fashion Group International (FGI) is a global, non-profit, professional organization founded in 1930 in New York City to benefit the fashion industry. FGI currently has over 5000 members in the fashion industry including apparel, accessories, b ...

Toronto chapter's Night of Stars Award. She was added to the Ryerson Alumni Hall of Fame in 1999. Baday became the first Canadian designer to supply clothing patterns through

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly United States, American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. The publication ...

, the US-based company, in November 1992. Baday contributed patterns throughout the life of the fashion line. In 1994, Lida Baday opened a New York City showroom and office. The collections were available in Sak's Fifth Avenue,

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and a seco ...

, and

Holt Renfrew Holt, Renfrew & Co., Limited (Trade name, doing business as Holt Renfrew and Colloquialism, colloquially Holt's) is a Economy of Canada, Canadian luxury department store chain founded in 1837 by William S. Henderson. The original William Ashton ...

department stores, and were premiered during

Toronto Fashion Week Toronto Fashion Week (TFW), held in February (for fall/winter collections) and September (for spring/summer collections) of each year, is a semi-annual event celebrating fashion, arts and culture where Canadian and international fashion collecti ...

. After retiring from womenswear in 2014, Lida Baday turned to wholesale supply, continuing to run The Fabric Room in Toronto. Designers including Joeffer Caoc, Dennis Merotto, and Judy Cornish of Comrags all worked for Lida Baday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baday, Lida Canadian fashion designers Canadian women fashion designers Artists from Hamilton, Ontario Living people 1957 births