A model presents a creation by designer Rebecca Baker-Grenier during the Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week. This year’s event included collections by more than 30 designers.Alana Paterson/Supplied
A sea of red swept through the Queen Elizabeth Theatre as patrons nestled into their seats for the opening night of Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week on Nov. 19. The crowd arrived in their finest attire, hued in varying degrees of crimson for “Red Dress Night,” in honour of the thousands of murdered and missing Indigenous women in Canada.
“It’s crazy to see everybody up there,” VIFW founder Joleen Mitton said as she scanned the cheering audience. “Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week started in 2017, and look at where we are now. This is wild.”
Where VIFW is at now is a sold-out event that generates buzz throughout the city. Its opening night of remembrance and resilience was not only about solidarity and reflection, but also an acknowledgment that progress is only possible through community and remembering one’s roots.
Baker-Grenier’s newest collection, Our Roots Run Deep, meshes unique custom fabrics with materials such as satin and organza.Alana Paterson/Supplied
Mitton is dedicated to her heritage as Plains Cree and a descendant of the Sawridge Nation in Alberta, and has drawn on those roots to grow a movement that’s blossomed into an internationally celebrated fashion show.
VIFW is now recognized as one of the first major Indigenous fashion weeks in the world and has brought global recognition to Indigenous designers and artisans from across Turtle Island (North America).
Among the more than 30 designers showing at this year’s event were Yolonda Skelton of Sugiit Lukxs Designs, who has presented collections at VIFW several times since its inaugural edition; Lesley Hampton, an Anishinaabe designer known for her focus on mental health, body positivity and Indigenous identity; and Dorothy Grant, a renowned Haida designer who received the Order of Canada in 2015 for her work melding Haida/Northwest Coast designs with haute couture. A new book releasing next month, Dorothy Grant: An Endless Thread celebrates the work of the Haida designer, who began her career in the 1980s.
At the beginning, VIFW was a small-scale endeavour without a proper venue, with Mitton essentially running a one-woman show aided by just a handful of volunteer helpers.
A piece from Rebecca Baker-Grenier’s collection.Alana Paterson/Supplied
The organization now employs upward of 200 primarily Indigenous staff and is hosted at one of the city’s most prominent entertainment venues, with about 2,000 annual attendees and coverage in major publications such as Vogue and Elle Canada. In addition to runway shows, VIFW also hosts a makers market featuring 40 artisans and vendors, where attendees can purchase Indigenous-made goods directly.
“We now have an ecosystem that we’ve created,” Mitton says. “I think that’s the North Star of VIFW, to make sure that Indigenous people feel comfortable in the lands they’re living in, which are their homelands. To feel like we belong here, we have a place here, and fashion is something that has helped to connect us all. It’s helping to move our people and our culture forward.”
Designer Rebecca Baker-Grenier credits the event with elevating her career. The brand-owner – who has Kwakiutl, Dzawada’enuxw and Skwxwú7mesh ancestry – debuted her first full collection at New York Fashion Week in 2022 after an appearance at VIFW. She has presented at VIFW annually since, as well as at SWAIA Native Fashion Week in Santa Fe, Vancouver Fashion Week and Indigenous Fashion Arts in Toronto.
Her practice is intimately connected to her ancestral roots. She has been crafting powwow regalia for herself and her family since the age of 11, and has designed regalia for B.C.-based dance company Dancers of Damelahamid since 2016.
Ms. Baker-Grenier credits VIFW for helping to shine light on Indigenous fashion, both within the community and beyond it.Alana Paterson/Supplied
“I’ve made a lot of connections [at VIFW], landing interviews, connecting with celebrities…but something that lands close to my heart is making connections with all of the people who come to fashion week, building relationships with the models, meeting community members,” she said. “For me, it goes beyond just my career. It hits close to my heart.”
This year, Baker-Grenier presented her newest collection, Our Roots Run Deep. The presentation looks at the “relationship between waterways and the neighbouring forest systems, the cultural connection within this relationship and the impact of colonial and extractive practices on these relationships,” she said.
Designer Reggie Harrold presented her work at VIFW for the first time this year.Alana Paterson/Supplied
The collection is bold and expressive. Meshing unique custom fabrics with materials such as satin and organza, each piece that came down the runway was more striking than the last. A cedar skirt adorned with beads and abalone left an impression, while bone beads accented leather and repurposed denim. It was a beautiful representation of what it would look like if you could wear nature.
Baker-Grenier applauds the event for helping to shine light on Indigenous fashion, both within the community and beyond it.
“There’s a growing excitement around Indigenous fashion that makes it a really exciting place to grow relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people,” she said.
A piece from Reggie Harrold’s collection.Alana Paterson/Supplied
Designer Reggie Harrold’s dream came true this year when she was offered the opportunity to present at VIFW for the first time. She said that giving designers a platform to showcase their talents is crucial to their growth and recognition in the fashion industry at large.
Harrold knows fellow designers who have gone on to show their collections at New York Fashion Week after presenting at VIFW, like Baker-Grenier. Two of her friends who also previously showed at VIFW, designers Little Feather and Taalrumiq, have been on Project Runway Canada.
“It’s so inspiring to see how fast this industry is growing and that more Indigenous designers are finally getting the recognition they deserve,” she said.