Thursday May 17
Nathan Phillips Square
Jean-‐François Daviau, -‐ Co-‐Founder, President Groupe Sensation Mode
Jeanne Beker -‐ Associate Creative Director
Chantal Durivage, Co-‐Founder, EVP Groupe Sensation Mode
Photos: Chelsea Brimstin
URBANI_T Jean-‐François Daviau -‐ President Groupe Sensation Mode By Margarida Martini
Urbanitas is a Latin word that represents: civility, elegance, fashion, gallantry, good behaviour, pleasantry, and politeness, residing in a city.
There was a great turnout of Toronto’s art and fashion crowd and the excitement and buzz in the air was electric. I have always been involved in Toronto’s art, fashion and comedy scene and a big supporter of the great talent our city has, and as an artist myself. URBANI_T was a 3 day Festival in the heart of Toronto. On May 17 the inaugural URBANI_T festival opened at Nathan Philips Square, Toronto. I had the opportunity with DDM to interview two great artists, first, Jean-‐François Daviau -‐ President Groupe Sensation Mode from Montreal, honed his cultural creativity.
URBANI_T brings together and showcases fashion, music and art with pop up shops, runway shows and musical performances. The venue was unique as it literally uses Toronto old and new City Hall as a backdrop to highlight all this creativity.
Jean-‐Francois, has always been in show business with Cirque de Soleil and naturally as an artistic soul, loves design and fashion which goes hand in hand with performances. He started his events in Montreal with street performers and animating their streets with urban culture. His vision is to create more events around artistic expression coming from the pavement up and into mainstream society
His dynamic partner, Chantal Durivage, VP of Groupe Sensation Mode, decided to expand their event in our city to promote local creative culture. They adapted their proven formula gained from producing Montreal’s highly successful Fashion and Design Festival celebrating local talent. For example, Just pour rire (Just for Laughs) expanded beyond Montreal to Toronto now, a festival that has been running 20 years and became mainstream.
Fashion and design transcends an elegance that flourishes predominantly in cities, with an abundance of stage worthy artists.
What Jean-‐Francois has coming up next is a festival in Montreal that would attract half a million people for 4 days. Now that URBANI_T happened in Toronto, he hopes to expand the event to Vancouver. Having this spectacular urban exchange in every major Canadian city is about celebrating the creativity of a vibrant URBAN culture.
Canada needs to showcase their Canadian urban talents and seems like the globe is turning their attention to Toronto, the perfect stage for showcasing our Canadian “Cultural Trade”.
Margarida Martini is an actress, model, and comedian based in Toronto.
URBANI_T Entertainer, Clairmont The Second By Margarida Martini Fresh off the stage, I chatted with Clairmont The Second: a Juno nominated award Rapper, producer, and video director from Toronto.
Clairmont The Second performed his show with models on a large L shaped runway that was elevated in the iconic reflective pool at City Hall.
His new album, “Lil Mont from the Ave”, is reminiscent of his experiences prior to receiving his drivers' license (G2). His deep-‐rooted poetic rhymes portray a clipped wing of freedom for a young man growing up with the pressures of society seeking independence exploring his creativity and keenly observed lifestyle.
He quickly gravitated to the idea of performing at URBANI_T, the only issue was scheduling. The concept of performing on the runway during a fashion show was something new for him, nevertheless, "there's always a first time for everything creative".
Clairmont The Second is consistently in creative mode, this summer he's working on releasing a couple of new videos and strategically rolling out a new project that is in the works.
When asked about his opinion of the North American spotlight on rap and Hip-‐Hop music in the 6ix, he says, “there are levels, and it's a complex conversation that everyone is watching Toronto musically right now. This leads me to believe we are on the cusp of developing something new and interesting”. He believes currently no Rap or Hip-‐Hop artist in Toronto can sell-‐out a worldwide tour except for Drake. "There is a lot of work and investment required before Canada can create another Drake-‐like entertainer".
Margarida Martini is an actress, model, and comedian based in Toronto.
"It is with great pleasure that Toronto welcomes URBANI_T, a festival celebrating urban culture and creativity, to Nathan Phillips Square. This free event further enriches the cultural fabric of Toronto, and will be a beacon of entertainment for locals and tourists alike. URBANI_T will contribute to Toronto’s diversity as well as increase public accessibility to music, fashion, design and arts. We wish Groupe Sensation Mode great success for this first edition of URBANI_T, which we hope will become a landmark event and a staple for Torontonians. » -‐ John Tory, Mayor of Toronto
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