Contemporary Canadian Fashion , curated by Dr. Alexandra Palmer at the Royal Ontario Museum, has brought exposure to the work of some of Canada's most innovative designers. The three year fashion courses are primarily for students training to be designers, pattern-makers or production assistants for the clothing industry. The Seneca Fashion Resource Centre has a wonderful collection of about 10,000 garments dating from 1880 to the 1990s, to which students are fortunate to have access. Class time for the fourteen week course in fashion history is devoted to changes in Western dress from 1600 to the 1980s, and due to time restrictions almost no Canadian content is included. Every attempt was made to show that fashion design is not an isolated activity, but is a product of the environment that it grows out of.
Students taking the fashion history programme are now able to purchase the CD-ROM and a workbook.
Developing a vision The original concept for the CD-ROM was to provide a visual record of the costume collection at Seneca. Unfortunately, the preliminary budget did not accurately factor in the costs involved in correctly mounting and photographing the collection, and to research copyright free visuals for the sections from the Ancient Egyptian period to 1880. When I was offered the opportunity of planning a new format, there were some slides available from Seneca's collection, but it became clear that the process of finding the visual content would be very challenging, as well as researching and writing the text, before the deadline date. An interface that would be visually appealing and easy to navigate As many video clips as possible. The funding for this development was provided primarily by Seneca College and the Canadian Studies Department of Heritage Canada.