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Sweatshirts go high fashion: KANIA debuts at World MasterCard Fashion Week

Stacey Bafi-Yeboa kicking off the KANIA Fall/Winter 2015 show (George Pimentel)

During a runway presentation, a designer is usually nowhere to be seen – at least from the front row. They’re usually backstage making sure everything runs smoothly until they make a brief appearance at the end of the show.

But not Stacey Bafi-Yeboa, the Ottawa-based designed behind KANIA. She kicked off her first World MasterCard Fashion Week collection on Thursday by putting herself front and centre – literally – by doing a dance on stage before the models started strutting their stuff.

For many designers, this might seem over-the-top, maybe even self-centered. But for Bafi-Yeboa, who spent years as a successful Broadway dancer before turning to design, it makes perfect sense.

“I always wanted to be a fashion designer before I started my dance career, “ she says. “When I was dancing on Broadway, I was always looking for the perfect thing to wear after class. Something that was comfortable, that felt luxurious, that was great for me to wear – and I couldn’t find it. So I started making clothes.”

Bafi-Yeboa, who started dancing on Broadway at the age of 19, had a sewing machine at home, and started creating her own clothes. Her comfort-meets-style philosophy resonated with the other dancers – and soon enough, she was making clothes for them, too.

“It kind of became a thing,” she explains. “People would want to buy it from me and I realized that I could make a business out of this.”

Thursday’s show featured stunning designs in a range of ruby red, ivory, black and turquoise luxury athletic tops, some modeled by asymmetrical-hairstyled women dancing down the runway in pointe shoes (or high-heeled boots) – really driving home the brand’s philosophy that fashion should be all about comfortable glamour – and making women feel good about themselves.

“Women can be so down on themselves. They feel like they’re not good enough, not pretty enough, not tall enough,” Bafi-Yeboa says. “The word ‘kania’ is a West African word, and it means light. So I wanted women to feel radiant. When you feel comfortable and you feel like you look beautiful, you exude radiance.”

In a world where Lululemon yoga pants are considered acceptable everyday wear and luxury sweatshirts from brands like Kenzo and Isabel Marant can sell for upwards of $300, Kania offers a nice middle ground between high fashion and function.

“Luxury sweatshirts are a growing trend because as much as we love to look at at evening gowns and ballgowns, the reality of it is that we’re busy, and there’s not a lot of time to be wearing those pieces.”

“You have this old sweatshirt that you may have had since you’re in high school that you adore – you get home and you want to put it on cause you’re thinking ‘Thank God I’m out of these uncomfortable clothes,’” she continues. “What if you can wear that favourite sweatshirt all day? I’m going to a meeting, I’m going to wear this sweatshirt, but I’m going to know this looks luxurious polished. It’s all about looking good but still feeling like you’re in that comfy sweatshirt. “