Kris Krug photo from VFW’s SS08 Roca Wear show
It’s that time of year again, as Vancouver Fashion Week prepares to kick off with an opening gala tomorrow night at Leone. This year’s schedule looks promising with numerous designers new to the Vancouver fashion scene; it will be good to see some fresh talent, and I’m optimistic that the quality and appeal will be vastly improved from last season’s showings.
VFW has graduated from the small confines of the Chapel and a brief stint in a dusty wood factory (an admirable concept that didn’t quite translate into an environment conducive to fashion) to the large open Storyeum space. I’m quite excited to see how this venue is transformed for the shows.
The closing gala will be held in the Storyeum space on Sunday evening, and VFW has partnered with the Junos to bring you the official afterparty with lots of celebs and musicians – this promises to be an epic evening, to be sure.
I’m all booked at Blo blow dry bar to ensure I’ve got big and fabulous hair (I’m thinking heavy on the curls) for the opening and closing galas, and set to wear a little black dress from Obakki’s spring/summer collection tomorrow. Outfit for Sunday festivities still TBD.
Check out the VFW show and after party schedule here. I’m looking forward to Saturday’s shows, but aim to be at pretty much all of them.
Hope to see you there!
We’re still in the very early development stages, but Shallom of Stylefinds (and my partner in crime during NYFW and many other fashionable adventures) and I decided that there simply weren’t enough affordable options to keep our wardrobes fresh – so we launched our very own ramshackle store.
After reading an article in the Straight about an ‘affordable’ Vancouver retailer where you could rent pieces for 3 days or buy them outright and not agreeing that it was A) affordable, or B) anything at all like my girlfriends’ closet, we decided we’d give people what we ourselves wanted: a thrift store where you can buy outright, or receive a voucher for your donations and essentially ‘trade’ your quality, gently used clothing for new pieces.
The name of the store is yet to be determined, and we’ll be working out a more efficient payment method and cleaner visual displays of the current stock, but we were so excited about this project that we had to get it up right away. Any and all feedback you might have would be greatly appreciated. There are a few pieces in the new store right now, but we literally have piles of clothes to photograph and publish, so stay tuned!
Find out more.
Kris Krug, Shallom Johnson and I will be doing a slideshow presentation of our trip to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York this Wednesday evening at RAW Canvas. We were invited to present photos and some of our favourite moments by the wildly successful Vancouver Fashion Industry meetup group, and jumped at the opportunity to share our experience with other Vancouverites.
Doors are at 7pm, and the slideshow will begin at 7:30. We’ll have a selection of photos of the fashion shows, ‘what we’re wearing’ shots featuring pieces by local designers who sponsored us by providing amazing clothes and accessories for the trip, and various other cherished images. Shallom and I will be touching on some of the overall trends, and we’ll all be sharing some of our most interesting adventures and stories from inside the tents.
I’ll take this opportunity to thank those designers who generously allowed us to represent Vancouver’s amazing talent while in New York: Adhesif, dace, deadboys clubhouse by Raif Adelberg, kdon by Kim Cathers, Dominic Designs, Elika Designs, Erin Templeton, Fiveleft Leather, Obakki, Pacificthorn, and PARTS by heather.
Looking forward to seeing those of you in Vancouver at RAW Canvas on March 4 – 1046 Hamilton St., 7pm. There will be wine, music and networking in addition to the slideshow presentation – fun times!
Please RSVP for the event if you are able to so we can best accommodate everyone.
All photographs by Kris Krug.
One of the shows I was most looking forward to during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week was the Ports 1961 show, and I thought it delivered. Held in the Promenade tent, the show was well attended and ended up having to turn away numerous standees. I had a great view from a second row aisle seat, and noticed that there were microphones set up for live music.
The Red Baratt Festival!, led by Sunny Jain, is a dhol ‘n’ brass band playing music derived from traditional Punjabi Bhangra and “paying homage to the traditional colonial marching bands found in India.” Made a great backdrop to the collection, which was inspired by India’s Mughal Dynasty and Persian princess Nur Jahan, who was renowned for her beauty, artistic talents, and political bearing.
Pieces featured ornate detailing, masculine tailoring and a multitude of rich layers and dynamic drapes, resulting in a range of both form fitting and flowing shapes. The colour palette was positively regal and jewel-inspired, with subdued hues of green, white and grey punctuated by deep reds, oranges, pinks and blues.
Dynamic layering:
This dress was the show’s finale piece, the detailing was so beautiful up close:
Did I mention I also loved the hair? Thick, voluminous and wavy curls loosely braided down the back. The makeup was also very simple and natural. Kris got this lovely shot backstage:
