Stephanie Bleau, VP marketing, Reitmans, Montreal

Stephanie Bleau’s bold decision to do mass marketing and introduce an ad agency to an already successful company was ballsy. But it worked.

Thanks to the ‘Designed for Real Life’ campaign, which throws off typical

fashion advertising convention by actually showing real women, Reitmans continues to enjoy increased same-store sales (for the nine months ending October 31/05 they were up 2.4%) and is even launching a new chain of stores, Caissis, aimed at boomers, which Bleau is also now behind.

Before Reitmans there was In Wear, a maker of a high-end line of women’s

clothing based in Denmark where she spent nine years, eventually working her way to the top spot as GM of the company’s Canadian division.