There’s something fun about discovering the up-and-comers — whether they’re artists, musicians or, in the case of Vancouver Community College’s Fiat Mode XXIII Fashion Show, designers.
The grads of 2010 blew me away. And the fun thing about seeing 21 designers at one time (aside from the fashion overload) is the variety. Some, like Ana Jost, looked to the future with architectural pieces.
Others, like Blake Hyland, drew inspiration from the past. (Sketches found here.)
Blake crafted his rugged, textured menswear out of up-cycled fabrics sourced from vintage clothes (he’s a buyer for one of Vancouver’s favourite vintage shops Mintage). And the result was quite a spectacular show opener.
Some, like Karen Niven (pictured in her own design), crafted pieces I would wear all day every day. Her brocade dress was part of a collection inspired by 1950s Manhattan.
Some of the students kept it conservative. Leah Mosoff wasn’t one of them. Her modern, asymmetrical dress is draped with a nude-coloured cape that you wear in front. It’s gutsy. And I love that. (She was one of two VCC students to be finalists in Montreal Fashion Week’s Telio Design Competition.)
And speaking of capes, I fell in love with Fay Zhao’s graphic butterfly-printed beauty. Also a piece I would wear all the time.
All the work that went into these collections made me think of one thing: late nights spent at a sewing machine. Maybe that was also because the students’ sketchbooks were on display (Quito Quinn’s is pictured) to give the audience a glimpse of how these collections all began.
ConGRADulations, class of 2010! You guys killed it.
