SANTA AT HEART

Styling and giving come naturally for Toronto’s Fashion Santa.

By Susan Kelly

 

“Who are you wearing?” is not a question posed to the holiday season’s most high-profile personality. Unless it’s Fashion Santa, a tall, svelte version of the icon. Also known as Toronto model Paul Mason, Fashion Santa spends the season clad in red suits, but his are sharply cut and custom-tailored—velvet by Indochino or tweed by Toronto haberdasher Thomas Henry Made. His backstory is also cut from a different cloth. “It’s very strange how the Fashion Santa story evolved,” says Mason, who adopted the alter ego in 2014. “It’s almost like I was waiting all my life to be here.” While he was studying social work at Ryerson University, some fashion program students asked him to model. Within months, he had a professional gig in Tokyo, which led to three decades of walking fashion runways for designers like Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, and Armani.

 

His now-trademark look is a late development: In 2013, his mother died of cancer. It hit him hard. A grief-stricken Mason withdrew from modeling and stopped shaving. To his surprise, when his beard grew in, he liked the Santa-esque effect. One year later, he approached the Yorkdale Shopping Centre and appeared in an ad campaign that went viral. Mason reckons he took 888 selfies that year—one with Justin Bieber—becoming an unintentional social media darling. “I believe this look or character chose me, and I make the best of it,” he says. “My mother’s legacy lives on in anything I participate in as Fashion Santa.” Today, he is intentional with the beard and brand, keeping the former in good trim for photoshoots and public appearances.

 

Earlier this fall, he joined other influencers in a filmed campaign for a line of skincare products. Next, it was off to the UK for an appearance at the Victoria Leeds shopping centre to shoot a photo campaign and pose for selfies with shoppers. The next meet-and-greet was in Las Vegas for Project 150 at Fashion Show Mall, where a Christmas-season coat drive will launch Fashion Santa’s event. Next stop: Washington, DC, and Tysons Galleria to raise money and awareness for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. “From Day One, everything I’m involved in must benefit a good cause,” he says. The charities benefiting include SickKids Hospital, Terry Fox Foundation, Children’s Miracle Network, and Hope Springs Cancer Resource Centre. His eyes, which crinkle with Kris Kringle-y gentle humor, soften as he speaks of one dear to his heart: Save a Child’s Heart Foundation. Based in Israel, it offers cardiac care to children from developing countries. Starting on Valentine’s Day 2022, Mason spent the summer volunteering at the main hospital outside Tel Aviv and will return next February. “I had open-heart surgery when I was four years old, so I can empathize with the kids,” he explains. “I know what it’s like to be in a strange place, in pain, with tubes and wires attached.”

 

A portion of the sales of his Fashion Santa holiday cards will go to the organization. The cards, available through Mason’s Instagram site, feature four illustrations by Montreal illustrator Steeve Lapierre. Fashion Santa will take a break in January and has yet to decide between a beach getaway or staycation. “I really don’t have time to breathe until Christmas Day is over,” he says.