Izzy Camilleri

Izzy Camilleri is one of Canada’s foremost and most celebrated fashion designers. For more than 30 years, she has designed custom clothing for an international clientele, crafted gorgeous collections featured in fashion magazines from Vogue to InStyle, and dressed stars like Daniel Radcliffe, Mark Wahlberg, Meryl Streep, Angelina Jolie and David Bowie. In 2006, her eponymous line, which combined sleek leathers with furs and lavish textiles, earned her CAFA’s coveted Womenswear Designer of the Year Award.

A turning point in Camilleri's career came when a well-known journalist, who was a wheelchair user, asked her to custom design some fashionable, functional clothing. Camilleri was inspired by this new client-turned-friend and eager to push her designs forward into basically uncharted territory. In 2009, IZ Collection, a line of clothing created for wheelchair users, was born. With the ecommerce launch in 2014, Camilleri's sartorially savvy, comfortable, groundbreaking fashions became available internationally. Camilleri was recognized for her unique contributions to fashion with an exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum celebrating her work called "Fashion Follows Form: Designs for sitting".