Vancouver’s Indigenous Fashion Week returns after 2-year hiatus
Rekindling joy in the face of grief is the goal of the 2022 Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week, which is returning to the city after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19.
For its third edition, VIFW will be spotlighting 32 Indigenous fashion designers from across the continent in a series of runway shows between Nov. 28 and Dec. 1 at Queen Elizabeth theatre.
One of those designers is the week’s co-producer Himikalas or Pam Baker, who is of Dzawada'enuxw, Kwaguilth, Tlingit and Haida ancestry on her mother's side and from Squamish ancestry on her father's side.
“When the potlatch was banned, when the government decided to place our kids in residential schools, everything was to be put away,” Baker told CTV News ahead of Monday’s premier event.
“A lot of the time the masks and the regalia were confiscated, so now as designers we’re able to showcase and walk with our ancestors to bring these pieces alive,” Baker said, adding the looks will range from haute couture to ready to wear and street wear.
Under Canada’s Indian Act, the Potlatch Law came into effect in 1880, abolishing culturally significant potlatch festivals and ceremonies.
“These celebrations, which local officers and missionaries described as ‘debauchery of the worst kind’ were considered by the Deputy Superintendent-General to have ‘pernicious effects’ upon Indians,” the legislation reads.
More than a century later, a week of fashion is defying past policies of Indigenous assimilation while honouring ongoing grief.
“For the Indigenous community, the last two years have been marked by grief. We lost many cherished elders and the gruesome legacy of residential schools saturated everything, so we decided to focus this year’s VIFW on joy and celebration,” Joleen Mitton, founder and co-producer of VIFW and All My Relations Indigenous Society said in a release.
“We hope that everyone who attends will feel festive to be in community, and see us triumphant. We’ve been here since time immemorial, and we’re still here.”
Those with plans to attend the VIFW opening night, which is keeping with tradition with the Red Dress Event in honour of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2S+, are being warned to prepare for an emotional evening.
“It’s for everyone who’s Indigenous and has gone missing,” said Milton, who is of Plains Cree, French and Scottish heritage. “Expect a lot of emotion, so come in with a good heart.”
Milton launched VIFW in 2017 and says she invited Baker to co-produce this years event to reflect the importance of mentorship in Indigenous culture.
“I am benefiting from her 30+ years of experience in the fashion industry, and in turn, I am honoured to continue paying-it-forward by formalizing our long-standing Mentorship Program.”
That eight-week program offers 16 Indigenous youth and youth adults a path to a career in event production with mentees to connect with Indigenous culture and ceremony through fashion.
Another program emerging from this year’s event is the Wisdom Circle, a group of Indigenous leaders from three Nations that will work to develop and maintain culturally safe and respectful events.
Throughout the week, attendees can shop for gifts from 40 Indigenous vendors and enjoy musical performances by artists including by The Wolfpack, Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Soul Shakers, DJ O Show and DJ Kookum.
While the opening night promises to be full of emotion, Saturday’s closer is dubbed Supernatural Kiki Ball and described as “an extravagant evening of runway divas, sickening vogue battles, bending realness, and seductive bodies in competition for grand cash prizes.”
Tickets are available on VIFW.ca
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.