Vancouver Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2016 wraps up this weekend after a successful week-long event! Vancouver Fashion Week had over 150 designers from around the globe debut their collections on the runway this year. Vancouver Fashion Week strives to deliver a fashion experience that celebrates Canadian and International designers. Many well known designers today initiated their presence in the fashion world through this event, providing them with global media coverage and exposure to industry professionals and partnerships. Not only is Vancouver Fashion Week a great way for designers to build their brand, it provides excellent opportunity for exposure and marketing towards target audiences and involvement in the local fashion community. This year, I was lucky enough to attend the event as both an industry professional, and a fashion conscious consumer. I was on the lookout for inspiring female designers who demonstrate leadership and success in the business world.
Meet some of my favourite female designers from this year’s line up:
I had the chance to sit down with a few amazing young designers, including Elena Bobysheva. Elena’s collection is a high-end, ready-to-wear label rooted in sustainability and animal welfare. Her Spring/Summer 2016 collection is inspired by geometrical shapes and contemporary art. “The fashion industry is striving, as a whole, to be more sustainable, including high and low end brands,” Elena explains. “While in school I noticed that a lot of high-end luxury brands seemed to be attached to some kind of cruelty towards the planet or to animals. I didn’t think that holding high economic status meant that it had to be this way.” After completing a double major in Business Management and Design at Columbia College in Chicago and traveling to Italy on exchange, Elena strived to hold her own values in the heart of her business. “I think it’s what separated me from other ready-to-wear high-end brands. I focus on quality and craftsmanship and combine my own philanthropy to better the world and change the fashion industry for the better.” Her advice for other young aspiring fashion designers and business women in general would be to do some soul searching and create something authentic to yourself in order to differentiate your brand and stand out to your customers.
Seafolly has quickly become one of the most recognized swimwear and beach lifestyle brands in the world. Seafolly’s motto, “life is for living” is an integral part of the Seafolly brand, offering fun, fashion forward, innovative swim and lifestyle wear. I spoke with Sharon Norris, a Seafolly representative from Vancouver: “Seafolly as a brand allows for self-expression and offers a range of swim and lifestyle wear to a diverse range of fashion groups.” Sharon explained the importance of style as a way for women to express themselves and the importance of incorporating a diversity of models of all shapes and sizes in to the fashion show. “There really is no ideal woman,” Sharon stated. “Seafolly recognizes that not all women are one shape or one age group and we wanted to show real bodies of real women having fun on the runway.” I asked Sharon to elaborate on her thoughts and share her advice for young women entering the business world. “Women are willing to do what it takes. Women will find a way around obstacles and get the experience necessary in the business world, or any other sector for that matter, to accomplish what they want. No experience is wasted experience.”
Olya Shishkina first began redesigning her mothers clothing with her twin sister in post-communist Russia. “There were no options for women at this time to express themselves through fashion in my country. I wanted to be different.” Olya studied fashion and design in one of Moscow’s top universities, and went on to graduate from a London-based university where her collections were highly acclaimed. “I am inspired by movement and light and wanted to create a collection with digital prints on simple silhouettes. I wanted to create something women like myself who wish to be different and stand-out from the crowd would wear day-to-day.” In regards to what she is most proud of, Olya expressed that she hopes to inspire girls to be themselves, be natural, and “not care what people think about you.” What caught my eye in particular about Olya’s collection was the use of casual footwear, such as Nike high tops and Keds, in contrast to her unique atelier cutting techniques and experimental designs.
Naoko Kuroishi describes her brand Ameri as a brand in which “sustainable fashion…utilizes natural materials and eco recycling to create effortless, classic styles.” Her Spring/Summer 2016 collection was inspired by the polluted atmosphere we live in. “As individuals who live on Earth, we’re encouraged to protect the land we live on, therefore everything in the collection is made by sustainable materials such as plastic bottles and organic cotton.” What sets Ameri apart from other designers is her brand concept “no rules for fashion”. “We manifest that one can express their femininity no matter what type of clothing we wear. The most important note to take on is to have your own style.” Ameri suggests garments which integrates different elements of fashion, creating something you have never seen before. Naoko believes every woman should be their own style icon and when asked who’s her own personal style icon, she responded “every woman that walks on the street”.