Steven Levy was an irrepressible force in the promotion of made-in-Canada ingenuity. As the co-founder of the One of a Kind Show, the Interior Design Show and many other platforms for homegrown and international talent, Levy established numerous marketplaces that bolstered the creative industries. And his journey was fuelled by curiosity and camaraderie. Levy died on January 26 at the age of 80.
 
Levy grew up with modest means in Montreal, and came to his career as a design impresario the roundabout way. After getting his PhD in social work, he held roles in community-oriented organizations, including Hillel Montreal, where he was a director for three years, and the Jewish Rehabilitation Hospital, where he worked as a group therapist. Eventually, he moved on to establish his own research firm and settled, with his young family, in Toronto. But his foundational work in helping youth and the elderly — and his understanding of the importance of nurturing deep relationships — informed his character and his biggest life’s work from then on.
 
The design-world beginnings were humble: In 1976, Levy’s friend June Bibby expressed her disappointment that there was nowhere for jewellers like herself, and other craftspeople, to show their work to the public. Such was the impetus for the One of a Kind Show. Exercising uncanny business logic, Levy determined that this extravaganza should take place before Christmas and the first was held at the Queen Elizabeth Building at the CNE. “It was a real hippie scene,” Shauna Levy, his daughter, recalls. “People were smoking pot in the booths and our puppies were running free.” When the show made money in its first year, it was clear that they were on to something. The One of a Kind Show, now taking place twice yearly, is almost 50 years in the running.
 
In the 1980s, kismet struck again. In a similar vein, Steven Levy’s pal Linda Lündstrom lamented the dearth of platforms for Canadian fashion. From her partnership with Levy, the Festival of Canadian Fashion was born. “In less than a few months, he was able to corral government and the private sector to get behind the most exciting show Canada has ever experienced: 27 shows in three days,” Shauna says. Among the designers featured, Alfred Sung attracted crowds around the block – boasting 8,000 guests, his event made the Guinness Book of World Records for largest fashion show.

“It was the beginning of what we’d call a fashion industry in Canada,” Shauna says. Fashion Television, the soon-to-be legendary show hosted by Jeanne Beker, was just taking off; so was the clothing label Club Monaco. It was also the first time that the Canadian cosmetics brand MAC, then a professional-only label, became available to the public. The cultural history Viva MAC: AIDS, Fashion and the Philanthropic Practices of MAC Cosmetics captures this heady time, when Levy seized on the opportunity to help his designer friends and the industry at large receive the exposure that it deserved.

In the book, Levy recalls, “I wondered why we couldn’t pull everyone together and yell ‘Canada!’ and make noise globally.” As author Andrea Benoit writes, Levy, who appointed himself the unofficial ‘Minister of Fashion,’ “knew that the key to creating mass name recognition and achieving awareness for these designers was by presenting them and their work in new ways.”

Also in Viva MAC, renowned fashion stylist Susie Sheffman recalls the democratizing effect of the festival, which demystified fashion: “Up until that point, fashion shows were for the very elite. What the Festival of ­Canadian Fashion did was they threw the doors open and they said, this can be for anyone, anybody who has an interest in fashion can come out and be part of this fabulous few days that was sort of part trade show, part fashion show extravaganza.’” Altogether, some 50,000 people attended the inaugural event, which also promoted Canadian talent to the outside world: at least 100 buyers who came to scout new labels were from the U.S.

After five years, Levy sold the show to the city. It fizzled out and was eventually replaced by Toronto Fashion Week. But Levy was ready for his next big project. In the 1990s, Shauna Levy developed a profound interest in design. She was working at Designers Walk in Toronto, a trade-only complex of showrooms – and it was becoming clear to her that the Canadian realms of furniture, interiors and architecture also needed championing. “We wanted to create a venue where people can see what’s available in the marketplace – and do for design what the catwalk did for fashion.”

Co-founded by Shauna and Steven Levy, the Interior Design Show debuted in 1999, with lines around the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. A power outage on its opening weekend did not deter the crowds. The participants of the first IDS, which included Cecconi Simone and Del Terrelonge, Droog’s Gijs Bakker and furniture designer Holly Hunt, set the tone for a stellar show that would bring together local talents and international stars. IDS is now in its 26th year.

In the early 2000s, the Levys sold the Interior Design Show to MMPI and Steven joined MMPI Canada, the Chicago company’s Canadian arm, as its vice president. He went on to acquire The Artist Project and Art Toronto — two premiere platforms for artists. When in 2012, MMPI Canada sold IDS and numerous other shows to Informa, Steven became that organization’s president, overseeing 70 events across Canada. Always craving more, he also put his energies into shorter lived endeavours like the Kawarthas Garden Show, the Yoga Show and Explore Design, an expo for design education.

About 10 years ago, Levy officially retired, having set the stage for countless Canadian talents along his journey. Many of them have offered heartfelt remembrances of him — and his great kindness. One of the people who got in touch with Shauna was a supplier for IDS; he recalled to her how one time he complemented Steven, always a dapper dresser, on his stylish blazer. The next day Steven brought him one of his jackets. “My father felt that everyone was important. His mantra was, ‘Treat people like people and things like things’.”