School of Fashion students began showcasing their creations in small, usually in-house presentations in the form of runway shows and exhibits in the 1950s. These events included the annual graduating class year-end fashion show. More elaborate runway shows, featuring music and choreography, started in 1968. Fashion Design students present their work in numerous shows throughout the school year. The first year-end graduate runway show named Mass Exodus was presented in 1989. The name was subsequently used for all future graduation shows, and the concept of Mass Exodus continued to evolve. For the first two years of Mass Exodus, only fourth-year students from the two program options were involved; in 1990, the year-end showcase began featuring the work of students from all years of the program. Third-year Fashion Communication students are responsible for organizing Mass Exodus, which is the School’s biggest fashion event. They choose a theme, establish committees, and produce the show. In 1995, Fashion students began collaborating with students in the Ryerson Theatre School to create Mass Exodus. The two-day event, held during Ryerson Fashion Week, includes three public fashion shows and an industry show; these shows present the final collections of the graduating Fashion Design students. In addition to the runway shows, Mass Exodus consists of an exhibition, which displays the final capstone projects of the graduating Fashion Communication students; the Mass Exodus catalogue and website; and awards. Mass Exodus is the largest annual student-run fashion show in the world.

Information acquired from: http://www.massexodus.ca/about/history (Last accessed February 2015) http://www.ryerson.ca/massexod/ (Last accessed February 2015)
"This is Ryerson" publication
clippings file

Series contains records produced by the School of Fashion that relate to fashion shows from 1960 to present, with an emphasis on Mass Exodus, the annual year-end fashion show and exhibit for graduating students. Includes textual records, photographic negatives, posters, VHS videocassettes, DVDs, and data CDs.