Eight-day show puts city on fashion map
Beautifully clad models strut down the runway while hair and makeup artists work at top speed backstage. Designers rush to and fro as media fill the venue, ready to document every stylish step.
This isn’t a scene from some faraway fashion capital; this is what you can expect March 29, when Edmonton’s Western Canada Fashion Week kicks off for another eight-day showcase of local designers.
Edmonton’s biannual style extravaganza — now in its 14th season — has long been hailed a major achievement for the city’s fashion scene. But there’s more to the event than just glitz and glamour.
“Our goal is to create an industry here in Edmonton that fosters local talent,” says Sandra Sing Fernandes, WCFW’S founder and executive director. “If we don’t support our local designers we’ll lose them, and that would be a shame.”
Known for supporting emerging designers, models and beauty professionals from across the country, the fashion week is now receiving international attention as well. This season, designers from New York City, Ukraine and even Nigeria will be showing their collections, a feat Fernandes credits to WCFW’S robust growth.
“Having international designers calling us and wanting to show with us was pretty amazing. That means we’re making an impact that reaches farther than just our city.
“Not a lot of fashion weeks in small cities can boast that.”
International designers Angelique Chmielewski, Bano eemee (both from NYC), Olga Denogga (Ukraine) and Chuks Collins (Nigeria) will be hitting the catwalk this month, along with WCFW veterans Stanley Carroll, Malorie Urbanovitch and Derek Jagodzinsky, to name a few.
Jagodzinsky has shown his LUXX ready-to-wear collection at fashion week for the past two seasons and believes the event is an invaluable resource for emerging designers.
“It’s helped me put on shows and learn more about fashion and the process of creating a collection,” he says. “Western Canada Fashion Week is an amazing place to grow as a designer and gain exposure for your work.”
But more than just a place where designers can thrive, WCFW is looking to nurture the careers of all those involved in the arts.
“We need creative people; it’s what makes a city,” Fernandes says. “When a city lacks culture, people start to leave, but if we support our local talent and celebrate their many achievements — be they art, design or theatre-based — they’ll stay and make our city that much more culturally rich.”
Jagodzinsky couldn’t agree more. “All the big fashion capitals like Paris, New York and London support the arts and their (creative) communi- ties, and it’s really important for us to support local talent as well if we want to grow.
“As we become stronger as designers, we’ll be able to pave the way for younger generations of designers in Edmonton too.”
After years of struggling to get WCFW where it is today — with myriad designers, models, beauty professionals, volunteers and sponsors at its disposal — Fernandes says one thing with conviction: “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”