Vancouver Fashion Week F/W 13 - Day 1

All images courtesy of Peter Jensen Photography


Day one opened with a bang. Vancouver Fashion Week is again back at the Chinese Cultural Centre on Pender Street to showcase Fall/Winter 2013 collections.  I love that they put the chairs on risers this year so that there is a good view no matter which row you are sitting in. Chairs on risers are also so much more comfortable than the bleacher risers used one season. The decor theme is stunning - colourful, luminescent shapes that greet you in the entry way and define the media lounge on stage where we connect with the designers after every few shows.  If anyone knows who to credit, let me know and I'll add it to this write-up.

Left - Entry way, Right - Media lounge
NOTE - Each day I am only going to write-up a few designers that caught my eye for one reason or another.  It's always hard to select who to cover as every designer puts their all into creating a show for the audience. Every person looks at fashion differently, so I encourage you to go to the VFW's list of designers with website links and check out the other brands that showcased each day. There's sure to be some amazing work not covered here to surprise you.
VIP Lounge set up in the balcony running along 2 walls of the venue.
First show of the day was Eik Design by Elisabet Kristofersdottir and Jocelyn Neufeld.  Elisabet was born in Iceland, studied fashion in Seattle and then returned to Iceland to launch her independent label. Jocelyn is a local Vancouverite who also studied fashion in Seattle, but realized her passion fell into the business, writing and marketing end of the industry. In 2012, these former classmates joined forces to take this label to the next level and establish it as a strong international brand.  The palette for this collection was largely black and gray. Accent colours were provided by fringe strips. Well tailored and with great proportions, the jackets and accompanying slim pants stood out. Hard to choose, but I think my favourite look this show was the short grey jacket with leather shoulder accents and button front pants on the right below.

Eik Design



Mirae Kim was another I enjoyed. Unfortunately I have absolutely no information on her as there is no website listing. If the information I did manage to find is correct, she is originally from Korea and is now studying at Parsons - due to graduate sometime this year. Her work was more conceptual with unusual detailing and a few surprising silhouettes. The metal detailing on the bras was not my favourite, but her sound construction skills and interesting aesthetic easily held my attention. It's always great to see something out of the box during fashion week. The palette ranged from strong, vibrant tones to soft pastel and white. My favourite look is the long coat on the right below. The asymmetrical woven yoke combined with soft flowing sheer white fabric that floated down the runway spoke to me. As it passed it clearly said, "WEAR ME TO TOMMOROW'S SHOWS!" Not sure what I would wear under it, but definitely not a bra and white pants. Designer?

Mirae Kim
Closing day one was well-known Vancouverite Shelley Klassen of Blushing Boutique and she did us proud. All through the audience I could see many of her loyal clientele decked out in their own Blushing Designs. After reading a recent interview about the new collection, I was really anticipating viewing this show and was not disappointed.  While the designer does offer separates, Klassen is best known for her passion to create beautiful, feminine dresses. They range from the more curvy pin-up style dress with flared skirt to body skimming sleek silhouettes in vibrant jewel tones.  The designer lets the fabrics and silhouettes speak for themselves by keeping to the philosophy of less is more. Simplicity at it's best. What I especially enjoyed seeing this season is the inclusion of a few more looser designs for women like myself not blessed with a great waistline.

Blushing Designs


If you want to check out some of the upcoming shows running through Sunday - tickets are available at TicketZone

Comments