For the first time in ten years organizers of Vancouver Fashion Week had to turn away designers wanting to show their collections.
There was neither the time, nor the space in the event to fit everyone in, and for producer Jamal Abdourahman it was a sign the show has finally reached a level of world recognition.
“It’s truly great, we’re living a dream as of today,” said Abdourahman.
Rewind to ten years ago when Abdourahman was developing the idea for VFW, and this level of achievement seemed like an unachievable goal.
He was attending Paris Fashion Week in 1999 when he started developing VFW to bring designers from all over the world to Vancouver, and also allow local designers to show their talent and network with others.
With 55 designers showing at VFW this time, Abdourahman said he has “no time to breathe.” Designers are coming from Poland, Tokyo, Seoul, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Paris, London, New York, LA, Portland, Seattle, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, and Victoria, just to name a few, but a strong Canadian presence is key to the organizers.
“It’s very important,” said Abdourahman. “Canada is a place that is international. Canada is a place where people feel very good about themselves, wherever they come from. It’s a place that makes others feel great,” he added. “We celebrate others here.”
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Abdourahman said Vancouver is not really known for daring fashion, “but that doesn’t mean that people who live in town are not fashionable, they’re stylish,” he said. “There’s a lot of stylish people who live here, there’s a lot of amazing talents who live here also.”
Despite Vancouver recently being named the third worst-dressed city in the world, there are some that are working to change the landscape, and put Vancouver on the fashion map. “If you walk on Granville, Main Street, Commercial Drive, there’s a lot of places where you see lots of individuals, who dress stylishly, their own style,” said Abdourahman. He added that in his opinion the Vancouver boutiques are the ones making a difference and blazing the trail for others.
He hopes to attract those boutique buyers to VFW, but one big goal is to find the next big designer, and show their work in Vancouver.
“By bringing those designers I’ll be able to pull in editors, real fashion editors, unique boutique buyers, and by doing so be able to inspire local designers to do the same,” said Abdourahman.
“It’s on the edge, underground, not commercial.”
The tenth anniversary show of Vancouver Fashion Week runs from November 1-6 at Masik Studio in Vancouver.
Tickets are available at the door, or on their website with the full schedule.
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