Yelka Acimovic

Yelka Acimovic worked as a designer of luxury children’s wear under the Yelka Kids brand. Her creations were worn notably by the children of US President George Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, as well as by the grandchildren of Japanese Emperor Hirohito.

A native of Serbia, Yelka Acimovic studied fashion at Montreal’s Concordia University in 1979 and 1980. She then entered the fashion industry as a manager, working in turn for the manufacturers Peerless Clothing, Irwin Enterprise, and Kiddo Children’s Wear. From 1988 to 1996, she ran her own children’s clothing company, Yelka Kids, in the Outremont neighbourhood of Montreal, selling her collections in Canada and the United States.

Involved in professional associations, Yelka Acimovic was a board member of both the Canadian Apparel Manufacturers’ Institute and the Apparel Manufacturers Institute of Quebec. In this capacity, she testified on behalf of the Canadian clothing industry before the Bélanger-Campeau Commission in 1990 and before the Senate of Canada during hearings on free trade. She has worked as a consultant and philanthropist in the arts since 1996.