Bully Blocker Begins Day Three At Vancouver Fashion Week

Bully Blocker Begins Day Three At Vancouver Fashion Week

Bully Blocker Begins Day Three At Vancouver Fashion Week

OCTOBER, 2022, VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Fashion Week (VFW)Spring Summer 2023 continues, presenting an assembly of show-stopping designers. Like yesterday, the third evening of Vancouver Fashion Week Spring/Summer ’23 began with a brief introduction from event sponsor Bully Blocker, before opening straight into the first designer’s presentation. As always, VFW is a global platform for both local Vancouver and international designers, today including talent from Italy, Japan, Korea, and Australia.

Instituto Italiano Design opened the evening with three highly conceptual designers from the Italian Institute of Design of Perugia, Italy. Rossella started with a male model in a pin-tucked dress shirt tailored into a straitjacket design. Floor length looks followed by caged shoulders and massive upturned collars. Martina Boninti presented crinkled fabrics to the sound of resounding techno music. Bright magentas juxtaposed against neutral grey layered together demonstrate a talent for unconventional construction. The MCL showed an almost all-white collection focused on methods of tailoring with a conceptual twist. The show-stopping finale look was a beige knit balaclava cascading down below the model’s waist. Borga showed a collection of white gender-fluid streetwear. Bucket hats and reimagined puffer outerwear offered a stark vision of fashion. Barefoot models in structured tops covered knit sweaters complete with built-in ski masks and silky trousers. Further yellow and black details tied the entire collection together with a final look featuring a scarf with a deformed smiley face that read “Put on a smiley face”.

Should Eclectic began the show with two of the same looks side by side down the runway: flowy black dresses with floral accents lined in a sky blue. The collection, full of eastern influence, featured colorful silk dresses and separates. Also shown were kaleidoscopic prints as well as feather chokers. The designer walked out as the show finished in a fabulous shimmery tiger print jacket and an asymmetrical hem skirt.

YOD.+ presented “Infinity”, a collection of printed sportswear for men and women. The Japanese designer Yukari holds her passion for health at the centre of her design process. Vibrantly layered dyeing techniques produced cyber-looking textiles perfectly demonstrating Yukari’s ethos that “sportswear can be recognized as a fashion and not limited to an active lifestyle”. The collection included leggings, sports bras, long-sleeve shirts, and bomber jackets all covered in YOD.+’s signature prints.

Camila Frater, in a controversial act, sent models down the runway with bandages and bruised makeup. The New York City-based graduate of Parsons School of Design’s fashion melds 2D illustration with 3D construction resulting in a captivating collection that is almost post-apocalyptic in nature. The artists’ printing process and draping skills are evident.
Royal Roland presented a collection entitled “Luxury”, and the design duo truly delivered luxury on the runway. Fur-clad models sashayed down the runway revealing slinky sequined gowns underneath. Each look is another variation on the theme–Royal Roland proves its mastery of dyed furs. Toward the end of the presentation, the looks progressed into more wearable territory: parkas lined in lavish fur over basic separates.

Yuinoto graced the runway with a presentation chock full of reinterpreted outerwear shapes expressed with a soft feminine touch. Cascading white lace ruffles were overlaid with transparent deconstructed trench coats topped by dainty bonnets. The theme continued with more solid colours and textiles: a neutral plaid evolved into colourful pastel and jewel tones. Closing the collection was a lemon yellow confection: tiered ruffles cascading down a column dress cinched with a black belt.

Coco Création followed with a collection simply entitled “Anita”. Models wore sensually designed patchwork fashions. A masterclass in upcycling, each look embodied that one-of-a-kind energy. A bleak futuristic soundtrack accompanied the forward-thinking designs. Highlights included a structured chrome dress, thoughtful combinations of patterns quilted into whole pieces, and a finale look that had a bag with its own train.

Comedian and designer Mufaro Mbudzi delivered a conceptual collection, “The Flow State Diary”. It was immediately apparent that the fashion was a propeller of more significant social messages, including a nod to Mahsa Amini. Models came out in customized clothing emblazoned with messages that coincided with the spoken word track created by the designer. The show closed out with a final all-black look that spelled out the brand’s name Scheduled Meditation, as well as its 7 brand hashtags “#spreadesteem #freethechildren #loveyourdream #accessmatters #freetheroyalty #myshowmychoice #freethebeliever”.

South Korea-based brand #whysocerealz opened with a conceptual Squid Game-esque film highlighting how models were chosen for the event. In an emotional performance, the first model made up to look like the Joker from Batman, tore off his shirt before leading the second model by a harness. Designs included surrealist motifs such as a model wearing a dove embroidered jacket while holding onto a white dove. Other models demonstrated the vices of modern society by carrying boxes on their shoulders labelled “DEBT” and “NICOTINE”. The dramatic presentation brings VFW day 3 to an end.

About Vancouver Fashion Week (VFW)
Fashion Week has been dedicated to cultivating the success of both established designers and award-winning emerging designers with its global perspective and highly multicultural approach. Championing diversity as its greatest strength, Vancouver Fashion Week has become the second-largest fashion week in North America; and is one of the fastest-growing fashion weeks in the world. The team at VFW continues to provide its designers not only with a platform for their craft but also with ongoing opportunities for commerce and success.