Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week blends traditional and modern designs at runway shows and an artisan market till November 23
Featuring 32 designers and near 50 market vendors, annual event spotlights Indigenous artistry at its finest
Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week. Photo by Patrick Shannon
Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week takes place until November 23 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, with a closing party on November 25 at Performance Works
VANCOUVER INDIGENOUS FASHION WEEK is on all week, with an event that brings together contemporary fashion and Indigenous tradition in striking new ways.
Now in its fourth annual iteration, the showcase prioritizes celebration and reconciliation with 32 Indigenous designers from across Turtle Island, plus an artisan market with up to 50 vendors. Runway shows take place at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, each with a different theme, including All My Relations, Indigenous Futures, and Spirit of the West Coast.
All My Relations on November 21 melds traditional practices with contemporary aesthetics in an all-out fashion showdown. November 22 has sovereignty advocacy in store at Indigenous Futures, and on November 23, Spirit of the West Coast puts a local spin on designs, highlighting the land and people of the West Coast. The Supernatural Kiki Ball hosted by Van Vogue Jam closes out the week on November 25, in a celebratory homage to the natural world.
This year, there’s also a special emphasis on artists from the Northwest Territories. Four designers from the region are represented on the runway, and 11 others are selling their creations at the artisan market.
On the runway at All My Relations, Dene clothing designer Cheryl Fennell presents her collection Drums in My Heart. Born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Fennell crafts works using hide, beads, fish skin, and fur that are inspired by early memories of drum beats, and her lived experiences across the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Greenland.
At Spirit of the West Coast, Musqueam mother-daughter duo Debra and Aleen Sparrow meld Coast Salish weaving with contemporary fashion in an homage to their heritage. An acclaimed local designer, weaver, and jewellery-maker, Debra recently collaborated as a design consultant on the new Vancouver Art Gallery building, which will have a copper veil-clad exterior that resembles Coast Salish weaving.
At the market in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre’s lobby, Anishinaabe artist and fashion designer Lesley Hampton showcases her self-titled, size-inclusive high quality fashion brand LESLEY HAMPTON. The curve model and representation advocate from northern Ontario’s Temagami First Nation creates an incredibly wide range of clothing and accessories—think everything from evening wear to athleisure. Her designs, which push to decolonize Eurocentric standards, are also set to appear on the runway in All My Relations.
Elsewhere at the market, Gatineau, Quebec-based MINI TIPI specializes in eco-friendly wool blend fabrics woven with authentic Indigenous art, across cozy blankets, ponchos, shawls, and bags. Langley-based Sweetgrass Soaps, meanwhile, have new holiday offerings, including a red-and-green Have Yourself a Rezzy Little Christmas soap made with with natural ginger and black tea, and Lumps of Coal stocking stuffers created with activated charcoal and scented with an Alpine & Eucalyptus fragrance.
The Wisdom Circle, an advisory council consisting of 12 Indigenous Elders, artisans, changemakers, and community leaders, is co-producing Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week.
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