Innovative Ontario fur fashion designer, entrepreneur Paula Lishman dead at 76

A famed fashion designer and innovator and the yen to her husband Bill’s flamboyant yang, Paula Lishman died December 28 surrounded by her family in their unique underground home on Purple Hill near Blackstock, Ontario.

Lishman was 76.

Born in Monreal and raised in Labrador, Lishman moved to Toronto at the age of nine but found her soulmate in Mexico at age 17 when she saw a Land Rover with Ontario license plates and went over to say hello. That’s how she met Bill Lishman, who would become a world-renowned sculptor and the inspiration for the film ‘Fly Away Home,’ starring Jeff Bridges.

The two  would eventually move in with their family to their custom-designed underground home with igloo-like domes in the Purple Woods Valley overlooking Lake Scugog in 1988.

Paula Lishman

Paula Lishman’s entry into the world of fur and leather fashion was born partly out of necessity. At nearly 6’4”, she had difficulties finding clothes to fit her frame, so she learned to design and make her own, setting her on the path to become a uniquely talented designer. Industrious, inventive and resourceful, she remained fresh throughout a remarkable career in fashion and textile design.

The fur knitting method she invented and patented has been hailed as the 20th century’s most important innovation in fur. In the small town of Blackstock she and her family also created a thriving custom manufacturing business spanning three decades and employing more than 600 residents.

Her knit fur innovation had global impact, spanning vast distances from the elite boutiques of Tokyo, New York and Hollywood to remote fly-in communities of Canada’s far north, with a passion for First Nations trappers whose livelihoods and culture had been decimated by the decline of the fur trade. Lishman sourced wild furs directly from trappers in Ontario and Manitoba and shared her technique of making and knitting fur yarn with Dene artisans in the Northwest Territories.

Paula Lishman was named Canada’s ‘Woman Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 1995.

She was also active in local causes, and she and Bill – who died in 2017 – worked alongside other opponents of the Pickering Airport, a campaign that finally achieved its goal last year when the federal government officially grounded any plans for a future airport in Pickering.

Paula is survived by children Aaron (Ivy) Lishman, Geordie Lishman (a sculptor in his own right ) and Carmen (Carmelo Acuña) Lishman; grandchildren Artemis, Deagan, Marta and Leandro; and siblings Glenn (Donna Doerkson) Vockeroth, Tom (Carol) Vockeroth and Nadine (Paul Schipper) Vockeroth.

A celebration of Paula’s life will be held in June, details pending. In lieu of flowers, donations to Biome Conservation, an organization that supports grass roots efforts to protect the earth’s wild places, will be generously accepted.