Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week Launches in July

JOLEEN MITTON | IMAGE: VIFW

The first ever Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week (VIFW) will take place July 26-29 at venues around Vancouver. The new event aims to bring global recognition to local Indigenous fashion designers. VIFW "showcases the power and beauty of authentic Indigenous art and design by creating safe havens for talent development and staging fashion shows, arts and cultural events."

The event will include 40 Indigenous designers as well as events celebrating First Nations music, art and dance. In addition to showcasing Indigenous artists, the majority of models will also be of Aboriginal descent. First Nations activist Lorelei Williams will host a Red Dress fashion event to bring awareness to Canada's missing and murdered Indigenous women. 

“Having Indigenous people in the mainstream media will help a lot of Indigenous communities,” Joleen Mitton, VIFW producer, told The Georgia Straight, “but it will also help people who are not Native by showing them that we are still here.”