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Aboriginal Designers Get Set to Wow Olympic Fashionistas

The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games may be the world's biggest sporting event, but when you put thousands of athletes, spectators, and media together amid a maelstrom of excitement and activity, sport is only one part of the equation. Visitors to the Games looking to really experience the local culture inevitably sample everything the Host Nation has to offer such as the food, art and of course, fashion.

They will surely find what they are looking for when they visit the Fashion Showcase at the Aboriginal Artisan Village and Business Showcase. Located at the downtown campus of Vancouver Community College, the Fashion Showcase will run from February 12-16, 2010, and will showcase three of Canada’s most established designers and five of the country's most-promising design talents as they exhibit traditional and contemporary designs inspired by the rich history of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

"Aboriginal people see the Olympic Games as a chance to tell our story to the world. Fashion provides us with a unique tablet upon which to share our art, history and taste in fashion" said Brenda Baptiste, Director of the Aboriginal Business Showcase. "The goal for many designers is for their garments to move from the realm of cultural curiosity to mainstream fashion success that happens to be inspired by Aboriginal culture."

"My hope is that to the untrained eye on our culture, they see quality in what I do and the process of applying traditional art to a contemporary garment. Fashion is personal in that everyone who views something relates how it fits into their life. Success would be that they look at it and it fits in their life or they take it away because of ascetic quality instead of just something cultural," said Dorothy Grant, an internationally known Haida fashion designer.

In addition to Grant, the Fashion Showcase also features well-known designers Pamela Baker and Angela DeMontigny as well as up-and-coming designers Tammy Beauvais, Louie Gong, Kim Picard, Nadine Spence, and Tracy Toulouse. . The designers will offer their garments for sale to the public at the Showcase from February 12-16, and will also present their collections during a number of runway shows.


Runway Schedule

February 13    5:00pm-6:00pm | Premier Designer Showcase (By Invitation Only)
February 14    3:00pm-5:00pm | 4 Mini Showcases
February 15    3:00pm-5:00pm | 4 Mini Showcases
February 16    3:00pm-5:00pm | Emerging Designers’ Show

The Aboriginal Fashion Showcase is part of the Aboriginal Artisan Village and Business Showcase hosted by the Four Host First Nations. The goal of the Aboriginal Showcase is to provide a vehicle for First Nations, Inuit and Métis artists, designers and businesses a forum in which to engage with the vast number of people pouring into Vancouver for the Games.

Visit the Aboriginal Artisan Village and Business Showcase at 250 West Pender Street in Vancouver from February 12-28, 2010. Hours of operation are 10am to 10pm daily. Attendance is free of charge.