Fashion flashback

It’s scary to think about what people were wearing 30 years ago. But that’s the uncomfortable thing about fashion – there’s usually proof that you wore a pant suit with shoulder pads or an ankle-length dress made out of fun fur.

Mass Exodus, the annual showcase of graduating School of Fashion students, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The first Mass Exodus was held over four days in March 1988 at a vacant Ontario Crafts Council building at 37 McCaul St. after students spent weeks transforming the building into an impressive exhibition space. The show featured the work of 72 graduating students in all four fashion options: retail management, apparel design, apparel production management and visual communication. More than 400 fashion industry and media members attended the show.

Thirty years later, Mass Exodus has become a premier fashion event in Toronto. Fashion communication students collaborate to produce the runway show and theatre production students design the set. This year and last, it’s moved to Daniels Spectrum in Regent Park and will include an installation component that merges fashion with social issues to suggest new opportunities for the industry. Tickets are still available for daytime shows on April 6 and at 6 p.m. there will be a curated, invite-only show. For more information, please visit massexodus.ca/ (external link) .

Before seeing the current show, take a trip down memory lane and check out what students have been designing for the last three decades. All images courtesy of Ryerson University Archives.

-With files from Andy Lee

Photos: Humble beginnings of Mass Exodus 2 in 1989; Sign of the Times was the theme in 1990; Models brought virtue and attitude to the show in 1994; Designers exposed their wild sides during Y2K (2000); Wear these outfits on the subway if you’re feeling adventurous (2005); Mass Exodus 2008: Paramnesia merged fantasy with reality; Students played with shapes in 2012 for Mass Exodus: Lucid.