Fashion Design
October 3, 2026
Fashion Design
Words by: Caroline Barlott
Photography by: Kristin Buchholtz
Lance Gonzales Para
As a child growing up in the Philippines, Lance Gonzales Para would go with his lola (grandmother) to the market to pick out the perfect fabric for her latest clothing project. They’d buy a few metres of cotton or linen, and she’d skillfully craft a shirt or a pair of shorts while Gonzales Para watched the process in awe. Some of those pieces still hang in his closet today; a reminder of where his passion for clothing design began.
When Gonzales Para was 17, his family relocated to Edmonton, but those childhood years are still reflected in Gio & Rio, the independent fashion house that he founded after graduating from MC College in 2020. Alongside his co-designer, Daniel Rivera, Gonzales Para creates fashions that often reference his heritage through subtle details like pearls, denim and butterfly sleeves.
Gio & Rio represents both the masculine — Gio — and the feminine — Rio — sides to fashion for Gonzales Para. Together, they blend into a unisex brand with a strong, authentic presence.
Gonzales Para has participated in over 20 fashion shows, including Toronto Kids Fashion Week, the Pride Soirée in Edmonton, and Canada International Fashion Week. It’s through connections made at these shows that his designs have reached an international audience.
After participating in a fashion show at Canada International Fashion Week in 2024, model Sidney Jean Victoria Eshpeter approached Gonzales Para. She asked him to craft a dress for her to wear at the Pre-Teen Universe competition in the Dominican Republic, where she’d represent the Philippines.
Gonzales Para and Rivera spent a week creating a white, off-the-shoulder mini dress that blended elements of Eshpeter’s Filipino identity with Dominican culture through hand-crafted floral details. Eshpeter finished as second runner-up. Meanwhile, the experience opened the door to pageant fashion for Gonzales Para, who has since designed dresses for other contestants. Among them is Lana Amor Antonio, who represented Edmonton at the 75th Miss Universe Canada competition and placed as a top 20 finalist.
For Gonzales Para, each dress is more than fabric and thread — it’s a thread back to his lola’s sewing table, and to the culture that first inspired him to create.
