Conference Session – Mixing Fashion with social responsibility
Biography
Dev is Founder and CEO of Omni-Media and Entertainment, having been a creative force in the fashion industry for over 14 years.
As a teenager, Dev began his own fashion advertising agency. He developed some of fashion’s most cutting edge advertisements, including the 2001-2004 Diesel campaign for “Successful Living,” the 2002 “Return to Lanvin” campaign, the 2005 Dior Homme campaign inspired by Michael Jackson, and the 2005 Canadian Launch of Sean John. In addition, his company developed marketing initiatives for Kiehl’s, Chanel, YSL, and the launch of North America’s first commercial grade cosmetic for men, “Tout Beau” by Jean-Paul Gaultier. In 2006, Dev transitioned his advertising agency into a production company, coordinating a number of North America’s premiere fashion, beauty and entertainment events. Under his leadership, his firm produced shows for New York Fashion Week, Toronto’s L’Oreal Fashion Week, Fashion Cares, Bloor Street Entertains, the Miss Universe Pageant, the Toronto International Film Festival and has just wrapped production on a 13-week exposé on the fashion industry as a reality series.
Dev was also instrumental in launching The Lumina-TO festival with L’Oreal and the $300million dollar renovation of the Royal Ontario Museums Michael Lee Chin Crystal designed by Daniel Libeskind and featuring the Right Honourable Michele Jean – both Canada’s largest and most ambition art project to date.
While running his company, Dev also spent four years with the Fashion Design Council of Canada (FDCC) where he helped launch and organize Toronto Fashion Week. In particular, he helped secure and produce the 50-year Retrospective Celebration for MISSONI.
In August 2004, Dev was appointed Fashion Director for an international award winning fashion quarterly, “Anokhi”, a fusion magazine targeted to South Asian Diaspora. Under his creative direction, the publication strengthened its market share in North America and the United Kingdom.
Dev is a former Board of Director for the New Leaders Committee at SunnyBrook and Women’s College Hospital. He organized and launched ‘An Evening with Rudy Giuliani’, a fundraiser in support of the hospital raising over $18 million. He has also volunteered his time and resources to many AIDS organizations and has raised and donated over $30 million to such related organizations over an 8 year span.
After a brief hiatus, 2012 returned Dev to Canada and production by hosting the Royal Family of Jaipur for a Royal Trust fundraising effort. For North America, this was a FIRST EVER event in support of building orphanages across the Indian Subcontinent.
Dev is also founder of the Global change Initiative. a 3 day summit hosted annually in Toronto, focussing on areas of social and environmental justices, transformative social change and conscious consumerism. to this day, the Global Change Initiative remains the only open door forum for corporations, government, not for profits, engaged citizens and the education system to gather and discuss positive social and economic change.
Tell us about your business
Omni-Media started off as an advertising agency in the fashion industry promoting diversity in the industry (size, ethnic and ability). fast forward 17 years and we are a production company that produces shows highlighting social (in)justices and how the community can help to make things better. every show we produce has a social conscious and thus we hope to use our power as the media to shine for the RIGHT reasons.
How are you hoping to connect with conference attendees?
I will use engaging stories, speak from the heart and be honest with each and everyone of you, the struggle of being a social entrepreneur. I will also come with ideas that can help the budding social enterprise as well as resources.
What advice would you give conference attendees?
Take advice from the pros that have done it before. social business is not “new” its just now trendy. There are many hints and tips that you will learn from this conference. Learn, ask questions and don’t be shy to come and say hi!