 |
Marilyn Brooks
Retires after 40 years in retail.
Yorkville-based entrepreneur
paved way for others.
Except from: The Annex Gleaner,
January 2003, by June Morrow
"Best known for her colourful, easy-to-wear designs, Brooks' entrepreneurial approach to couture set the tone for fashion retailing in Yorkville; and, as one of the first designers in the country to design, sew, wholesale and retail her own line, she paved the way for other business-minded designers like Linda Lundstrom, Alfred Sung and Hoax Couture."
"Now that she will have more time the energetic designer says, like anyone who has ever sewn she has a closet full of projects she wants to work on. Among those are painting and developing a residential art centre in Muskoka, writing a book on fashion in the 1960s, planning an upcoming convention of the Colour Marketing Group, doing occasional fashion shows for young designers, and continuing with her semi-annual fashion tours to Europe."
13th Annual Spring Adventure to Slovenia and Croatia
|
|
|
"DESIGNING WOMAN CLOSES UP SHOP:
MARILYN BROOKS,
A FORMIDABLE FORCE IN THE CREATION OF CANADA'S FASHION INDUSTRY,
IS MOVING ON ..."
The Calgary Herald - Sunday,February 2, 2003
"To most people that's called retirement, but not to Brooks."
"We don't use the 'R' word,"Brooks says.
"It's the 'F' word, fulfillment of a different kind. I'm going to do some things I've not been able to do."
At the top of her list is Brook's first love ... painting.
by Doris Montane, The Calgary Herald
by Sylvi Capelaci, Style Editor,
The Toronto Sun, January 21, 2003
"For more than 40 years, this dynamo-designer has
shaken and stirred Canadian's
fashion landscape."
|
-Norm Betts, SUN files
"THAT'S ME baring my midriff. I can't believe it," exclaimed Marilyn Brooks, of an archive photo of her celebrating her 36th birthday.
SAMANTHA JONES
at the O'Keefe Centre
for UNICORN
|
"In the '60s she rode around Toronto in a Rolls-Royce flashing her Chelsea snake-skin boots. Vacations in Acapulco, wild theme parties, orgy-style fashion shows, metal miniskirts, chain mail bras, and even a Velcro bikini, featured in Time magazine, were all part of the Marilyn Brooks lifestyle. In 1963, Brooks opened her first T.O. boutique, Unicorn, bringing a hip Carnaby Street vibe to the city. "Traditional retailers, designers and manufacturers shook their heads in somewhat disgruntled amazement at the attention paid to Marilyn Brooks, an old Sun article recalls. There was nothing like the Unicorn in this city. We only had predictable little dress shops. You'd never go into any store and see mushroom candles, funky wine glasses and Mary Jane candies next to a rack of clothes," says local retailer Mary Lu Toms." "She was the first to bring a boutique-style store to Toronto that was both fashion and lifestyle. She broke the barrier and made retailing exciting."
|
|
