Admittedly, we’re biased, but we’ve known Hilary MacMillan was a superstar since her time on Blanche Macdonald’s Fashion Design program. The rest of Canada has finally cottoned on. As her eponymous label continues to grow, she’s received the seal of approval from TV royalty Marilyn Denis and was recently recognized as one of six Canadian Emerging Fashion Designers by Amazon Canada.
Some people don’t see the value in carrying plus sizes, so when that happens, we try to educate them as much as possible about connecting with those customers and what they’re looking for.
To accompany this honour, Hilary was awarded a $25,000 grant from Amazon to donate to an organization close to her heart. She chose Blanche Macdonald, creating the opportunity for two full Fashion Design scholarships in 2023.
“Blanche Macdonald was the starting point for my career,” explains Hilary, “so it made sense to share the money so someone else could be impacted the way Blanche impacted me. I’ll be working with the School’s Fashion Department to assign these scholarships. I’m looking for someone with creativity and a message in what they want to do; but also someone who understands the practicality of design and who’s thinking about what they’re going to do. Starting your own line is only one of the avenues you can take when you study Fashion Design. I’m looking for someone who understands this and has a good head on their shoulders.”
Blanche Macdonald was the starting point for my career, so it made sense to share the money so someone else could be impacted the way Blanche impacted me.
An advanced sense of style paired with a head for career development is Hilary’s ideal Fashion Design scholarship recipient. It’s also her personal recipe for success. Her collections are now sold across the world and have been seen on luminaries including Victoria Beckham, Sophie Trudeau, Kim Cattrall, Elisha Cuthbert, Tessa Virtue and countless others.
Last summer we did a collaboration with Barbie and Mattel that was pretty cool.
“Seeing celebrities in our clothes is an out-of-body experience,” she insists. “It’s cool, but to me it’s even cooler when regular people choose to spend their money on our clothes. Celebrities and their stylists get stuff for free, but for someone to find our brand and write a positive review, or loving what we do and becoming repeat customers is more exciting to me. I always wanted to be an accessible brand. It takes a lot of work but it’s fun and something I’m passionate about.”
The twin pillars of hard work and staying true to her values are at the core of Hilary’s success story. Hilary came to Vancouver from her home in Toronto to pursue a Degree in Political Science and Economics at the University of British Columbia. After graduation, she decided to change direction, recognizing that her life-long love affair with fashion could, in fact, become her career.
“I was 21 and the world was my oyster. Back then I would watch Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen runway shows a lot. I loved the idea of doing something creative. Blanche Macdonald’s Fashion Design program looked perfect for me. The one year course was quick, condensed and intense. I’d come off a four year degree so I wasn’t looking to start another four year course.”
Seeing celebrities in our clothes is an out-of-body experience, but to me it’s even cooler when regular people choose to spend their money on our clothes.
A busy year at Fashion School saw Hilary (who’d only just learned to sew before beginning the program) throw herself into a new world of creativity and opportunity.
“I loved fashion history and learning about past designers. I’ve always been inspired by past decades and I still think back to those lessons whenever I’m producing a new collection. It’s all in the details: epaulettes, military, corsetry. Fashion history is still a huge inspiration for me. The Instructors at Blanche Macdonald are working in the industry and they are there to help set you up for success. A standout Instructor for me was Jenny Hedberg. She had her own design company and gave us real insight into the skills we would need to make it.
“I loved the manufacturing course. It’s important to know how to make one dress but it’s a different ball game when you want to mass produce garments. We went to a factory in Vancouver and saw behind the scenes. Seeing how the factory worked illuminated that crucial part of fashion as a business and showed me who made your clothes.. It was the complete opposite to anything I’d experienced and so far from anything I’d even thought about. That lifted the curtain on what it would take to make a collection.
“Blanche Macdonald taught me the practical skills that made it possible for me to be able to have a commercially successful label. They place such importance on construction and understanding how patterns and pieces are put together. This kind of knowledge is really helpful when you go out into the real world and put together a collection. It was practical and it was real.”
Blanche Macdonald taught me the practical skills that made it possible for me to be able to have a commercially successful label.
After graduation, Hilary returned to Toronto to help her sister with her independent jewelry store, ELLE Hardware, in the chic neighbourhood of Queen Street West. Maybe it was the ever-inspiring creative climate of her urban neighbourhood, or a yearning to put what she’d learnt into action, but Hilary was ready to design and manufacture her first independent capsule collection.
“I was able to sell it at the store and was fortunate to have an outlet to see how customers responded to my garments and reacted to each piece. From there, I started wholesaling to other boutiques and attending trade shows to gain contacts within the industry.”
Armed with insider knowledge on her garments’ appeal, Hilary was ready to take the next big leap.
“I did a couple more collections like this and then I started to show at Toronto Fashion Week. That propelled my designs further into the industry. People were beginning to recognize my brand and who I was. It was a very exciting time.”
Since those humble beginnings the Hilary MacMillan brand has gone from strength to strength. The Design Queen is now running a growing fashion empire of her own.
I spend 20 – 25% of my time designing and 75 – 80% of the time running a business.
“It’s not just me doing everything!” she laughs. “I have a couple of Design Assistants, seamstresses, a Marketing Manager, a PR representative, a Sales Manager, a Warehouse manager and a Customer Service team as well. When I started I thought my working life would be 80% designing, picking fabrics and seeking inspiration. I’d say I now spend 20 – 25% of my time designing and 75 –80% of the time running a business; talking with suppliers, figuring out margins, and working with shipping companies.
“The pandemic was scary but a lot of media reached out to us as they were focussed on how important it was to support any smaller Canadian fashion designer. Marilyn Dennis, Cityline and The Social supported us, and a lot of stylists pulled our stuff and wanted to feature us. As much as the pandemic sucked it ended up being really good for us.
“Last summer we did a collaboration with Barbie and Mattel that was pretty cool. It’s a collection inspired by Barbie! They have a feminist, ‘be-whatever-you-want-to-be’ brand message that aligns with ours.”
That brand message is beyond important to Hilary. She’s proved that a business can thrive while holding onto its founder’s core personal values. Her line’s Varsity collection instantly became a feminist icon, they don’t use animal products and are proud to offer collections ranging from XS to 4X.
“Some people don’t see the value in carrying plus sizes, so when that happens we try to educate them as much as possible about connecting with those customers and what they’re looking for.
“People buy into our brand and our story. It’s a privilege to be able to work this way.”
