Vancouver Alternative Fashion Week(End) – “VALT” – is a gathering place for a unique spectacle that sets it apart from anything you will experience inside other Vancouver fashion forums.
Art expressed itself freely in all forms and mediums, unabashed and unapologetic for displaying bold creativity, and presented itself with a flair outside of the confines of mainstream boundaries.
VALT has been the long-time vision and passion for Kat Ferneyhough and Kat Kozak, who made it their mission to bring Alternative Fashion to the West.
Teaming up with Vancouver creative powerhouses, Aaron and Kat Morris, these devotees of the alternative arts and cultural scenes unleashed show-stopping designs and performances upon the Avante Garde crowd, who gathered to usher in the next level of design, and to celebrate the intermingling of multi-tiered fashion, music, film, and performance art, during the weekend event.
“You are part of a movement; encouraging the world to challenge the conceptions of what defines beauty. You are witness to a catalyst; accelerating the appreciation for adventurous fashion and inspiring the public’s perception of wearable art. You are integral in this community, provocative and eccentric in its originality.”
Vancouver is truly an exceptional place. Here, having unique personal style, taste and interests is celebrated. That cannot be said for many places in the world… Vancouver is Alternative.
It is with a spirit of appreciation that we present this multifaceted niche affair: a parade of cutting edge fashion from unbelievably talented designers, plus a plethora of versatile musicians, incredible performance artists, thought-provoking short films and a gallery packed with engaging art.
#VALT2013 showcases three thematic evenings, each fantastical visions of the future: Utopia, Dystopia, and Techtopia. Utopia unveils a shimmering vision of ethereal beauty. Dystopia delivers dark apparitions of aesthetic design. Techtopia tests the limits of futuristic fashion and imagination. What future would you fashion?”
– Kat Ferneyhough, VALT Co-Founder & Creative Director.
Alternative Fashion Week, has been committing fashion anarchy in Toronto, New York, and London for many years. Sensing that the scene had plateaued in Toronto, and loving how much Vancouver IS Alternative, the team brought it here to us, and debuted VALT Weekend at The Iron Works Studio in 2012. In its second year in our Glass City, VALT 2013 transformed The Centre for Digital Media Hanger into three nights of gorgeous, glittering, twisted, thought provoking, fantasy-evoking, tumbles down The Rabbit Hole.
UTOPIA
VALT 2013 Weekend unfolded like perfect petals within the idyllic world that is “Utopia,” free from drudgery, where dreams come true and fantasy is reality.
“Utopia is the ideal future for many, a world in which humankind lives without toil or discomfort, with little to no effort being required for survival. A sweet and hopeful future that was the dream of the optimistic 50’s, 60’s, and early 70’s.”
I personally hosted the Opening Night of artistic bliss, and in Utopia, my inner Faery Queen emerged. A shimmering blue butterfly was beautifully hand-painted on my face by Kat Morris, VALT Co-Creator and Key Hair and Makeup Designer, who was at the helm of the design themes for each evening. She described to me what her inspiration was that breathed life into the Utopian models’ hair and makeup:
“I saw the models as enlightened beings – innocents/eloi (from H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine) very light and angelic. The white stripe on the forehead was very avatar/anime inspired, and I’m very much into that look right now. The Utopia models were the pure children of the revolution.” ~ Kat Morris, Hair and Makeup Designer.
With that, our journey into the Eden-esque Wonderland became a dizzying array of the etherial, the whimsical, and the deliciously fashionable world of UTOPIA
The joy of embracing the “Alternative,” is that one opens the mind to all possibilities. Rococo Acid Candy created opulent, flowing, ruffled gowns which were pieced together employing newsprint as a crisp, layered, medium. It was creatively cut, folded and twisted, painted into bright, shocking hues, then bejeweled with peppermints, rainbows of bubblegum, and jellybeans, which poured into trains, bustles and powdered wigs – evoking Mozart’s Classic Period gone mad with candy! All of this imaginative, delightful whimsy, was created by the students of The Art Institute of Vancouver.
Zollection
Zollection was an utterly charming collection of multi-layered, multi-coloured and paneled, jewel toned dresses, boot covers, fingerless gloves and turban-like hats. The girls staggered slowly down the runway like dress-up-doll marionettes, on imaginary strings tugged and played with. Very sweet and funky, in pastels panels and raw edges.
Scheherazade Banoo
Next, we stepped into the fantastical, elaborately wearable art sculpture head pieces, that burst from the unbridled imagination of Scheherazade Banoo. These are tribal masterpieces from another world altogether, including asymmetrical antlers, and empirially sky-scraping curled horns, twisted around luscious floral rose and orchid clusters, dangling tassels, beads, medallions, and delicately strewn cascading chains like a masterful spider’s dreamcatcher. The statuesque models walked as though in a balanced hypnotic trance, holding lanterns and silver balls, while the designer layered her own voice onto the show, cooing her original composition onto the darkly lit runway, while her pieces wowed the audience. Vancouver Burlesque sensation and model, Diamond Minx, braved the narrow runway on stilts. She was draped in a long white gown with black chiffon, carrying two lanterns in Libra-esque fashion, and was topped with an expansive headpiece of downy white ostrich feathers and sparkling branches, treading softly as though an ice queen in a winter night’s dream.
Scheherazade Banoo
By Kari Kanin
As the delicately decorated ladies awaited their turn on the runway in their ethereally frothy layers of white tulle and silk roses, I admired Kari Kanin’s cohesive yet varied collection. It invited something for everyone, from bride to fairy princess. I admired her breathtaking white and peach ball gown, a mermaid off-the-shoulder treasure, bell-bottomed trousers and top – juxtaposed with roses floating inside the dainty sheer sleeves – and a fluffy knee length skirt with a tulle laden crop top that hints at the soft skin beneath the layers. I asked the designer if she had one word to describe her collection, what that would be. In a thoughtful split second she smiled and replied, “Fairytale.”
Jill Smolken
Jill Smolken showcased her talents at draping and shaping pieces in a flowy, feminine fashion. The beautiful decoration of the female form in all it’s glory, with layers of rich fabric, lace tops, and creative cuts, in a palette of black, white and ruby red.
Skye Davies
“My debut ready to wear collection featured at VALT 2013 is primarily inspired by the women around me and how they see clothing as function as well as an expression of their individuality. This collection and future collections will cater to women with all types of bodies and continue to feature innovative fabric manipulation and dyeing techniques and stay local in production and raw material sourcing.” – Skye Davies, Skye Dyed Designs.
Photography by Nina Pak
Written for Miroir by Jacqueline Ryan