Carolyn Rohaly has been a friend since first year of fashion school.  She is a creative writer, a sweet rock star (see photo at left by Caitlin Cronenberg), and always has a lot of projects large and small on the go.

She writes the Toronto Fashion Incubator diary blog, where she explores fashion news that affects entrepreneurs and does interviews with people in the fashion industry.  She was also my co-blogger at Rags and Mags (RIP).  She is also the author of the top-secret manuscript “Military Chic” which is a hilarious novel which someday I hope all of you will read.

Carolyn and I share a fascination and affection for the characters in the fashion scene in Toronto – from the media establishment to the scrappiest of up-and-coming designers.  She also has a terrific sense of humour.  For that reason I love to collaborate with her on projects that both send up and celebrate our little corner of the fashion world – and if she doesn’t have time for that, she is always a brilliant friend to brunch with.

I asked her a few questions about fashion in Toronto.

What is it about the fashion scene in Toronto that inspires you to write stories?

There are so many untold stories about Toronto fashion that it’s time to share the joy, optimism, and youthfulness of the scene. Stories from Paris, Milan, London, and New York have already been told. I like to write about what I know and I know about clothing designed by friends and colleagues where I live. Brands based in other cities don’t register with me.

You work in both the film industry and the fashion industry – what are the connections and contrasts between your two worlds?

I started in both industries through costume design and worked wardrobe on a couple of indie films. Then I fell into a film job that is more production and administration-oriented and realized I didn’t like shopping enough to pursue costume design.

To work in either industry, you have to have passion about what you want to do. Working in fashion or film takes so much work and can be so crushing, but if you love it, you can’t do anything else.

Oh, and in both worlds, the glamor is maybe 1-5% of the job. The rest is hard work.

You’ve interviewed a lot of cool people for the TFI blog. Do you have a few favourite interviews you would like to share?  (Note:  The TFI blog is not searchable – something it should be!!  So sadly I do not have the time to go through it all to find these specific interviews – all I can tell you is that it is a blog well worth reading from the beginning when you have some time to really enjoy it.)

Thanks! After I stopped working on my clothing line, I didn’t have much to blog about, so I started interviewing designers. I loved my first interview with Wonderlust designer, Hannah Melville. All of a sudden, I felt like a journalist, which wasn’t a career plan, but I enjoyed interviews and wanted to do more.

I realized that designers would benefit from interviews with other people in the fashion industry, so I interviewed model agents, stylists, photographers, and am always looking for interesting new people to chat with. I get inspired by visiting designer studios and talking about business rather than “what’s new this season”.

A few favourite interviews happened out at events when I thought, “Hey, there’s so-and-so. I should talk to her/him.” So far, nobody has declined. I enjoyed my Fashion Cares series last year where I interviewed a bunch of people involved in the event, from Artistic Director Phillip Ing to performer Kreesha Turner. Somehow I can always figure out a way to get fashion business advice from someone.

What are your favourite fashion blogs, websites and magazines?

My fashion reading leans toward local and DIY, so I’m a big fan of Final Fashion! I always read Nathalie Atkinson’s National Post style coverage, Andrew Sardone in NOW, and Rea McNamara in EYE WEEKLY. International publications I read include Jezebel, BUST, and Worn Journal, though WORN is based in Toronto. That makes me happy.

Do you see the Canadian fashion industry as a separate entity from the international fashion industry? Does it have its own unique concerns or advantages?

Canada is a baby on the world fashion scene and began as a wannabe New York, but now it’s developing a voice. some would say voices since there is not one all-encompassing Canadian Fashion Week. With so many enthusiastic fashion designers, journalists, bloggers, stylists, photographers, and models, I see nothing but uniqueness and advantage to the Canadian fashion industry. Since everyone wants it to prosper, I have only experienced support and hope it stays that way.

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