Jennifer Dares is a professor in the Fashion Arts advanced diploma program. She is also a Canadian fashion designer and trend forecaster with more than 25 years of industry experience. Her roles include designer, trend forecaster, pattern drafter, managing and recruiting for a major department store, assistant buyer for Emporio Armani and women’s trend direction manager for Hudson’s Bay.
Ms. Dares established her label LAYER in 2001; stockists included Holt Renfrew, TNT, Corbo Studio, Maxi and Jumas. In 2003, LAYER was awarded Top 5, in the R-T-W and Eveningwear category, in New York City at GenArt’s International New Designer Presentation. LAYER has been featured on the runways of Toronto Fashion Week, along with numerous solo shows to a standing-room-only audience. In a Fashion Television segment on LAYER, Ms. Dares was interviewed by Jeanne Beker for her forward F/W 03/04 collection. LAYER has been published globally, including Fashion Magazine, Fashion Wire Daily, Sportswear International, National Post, Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail.
Ms. Dares has contributed to the industry and numerous worthy causes such as Fashion Cares, Art Gallery of Ontario’s Shadow Ball, Royal Ontario Museum’s Indigo Auction and as an advisory board member for Buy Design.
Ms. Dares holds a fashion design diploma from Sheridan College. She earned a Master of Arts in fashion at Toronto Metropolitan University. In 2021, her research titled “Fashion Upcycling: A Canadian Perspective” was published in the book Circular Economy: Assessments and Case Studies.