Red Deer’s fashionistas put on their best threads in anticipation of a visit from international designer Frank Lyman, who made two stops in Central Alberta during his world tour on May 3rd.
“It’s not every day in Red Deer that we have a fashion icon and world renowned fashion designer,” said Michele Billsborrow, owner of Cheeky Coutures Boutique, which was one of Lyman’s stops.
Frank Lyman and his son Patrick Lyman, vice president of Frank Lyman Design, visited two boutiques in the region that carry Frank Lyman Design including Cheeky Coutures Boutique in Red Deer and Elite Bridal Boutique in Lacombe.
Billsborrow laughed that Central Alberta is not exactly known as the fashion capital of the world and that Red Deer really is not on the map as far as fashion goes, but Frank sees it differently.
“Red Deer or New York City, Germany—same thing, same styles,” he said.
As far as Frank and Patrick are concerned their Central Alberta customers are just as important as those in the major fashion centres around the world that carry his line.
Frank greeted his fans graciously, shaking hands, complimenting outfits and praising the Cheeky Coutures Boutique for how it has grown since his last visit three yearsago.
“We really want to support our boutiques and our customers around the world, that’s our specialty,” said Patrick. He explained that in the same way that boutiques cater to and value every customer, they value all of their clients and the customers who buy their clothes.
Frank Lyman Design is a proudly Canadian company based in Montreal, the designs are Canadian and 98 per cent of their clothing is manufactured in Canada. These are facts that are very important to Frank and have been since he launched the company in 2001.
“There’s always a sense of pride with Frank Lyman, superior goods, the fabric’s embellishments, the fit, you just can’t find anything like that out there,” Billsborrow said.
He said it is very important to him to employ Canadians and support our economy. Frank added that his line would continue to only be sold through boutique shops and not online.
“We’re not intending to be fast fashion, which is terrible for the environment, and not really that great for the economy—we want to support local people in their local shops,” said Patrick.
Fans of the designer were excited to meet Frank in person and tell him how much they love wearing his fashion lines.
“I can come in to the Frank display and find something not only beautiful, but that is going to fit me really well, and maybe even make me look a little sexy,” said Barb Saunders, a customer at Cheeky Coutures who is a big fan of Frank Lyman Design.
“He knows how to dress a woman.”
