A grand stylish soirée took over a popular Vancouver art hub to celebrate the opening day of a fashion-forward exhibit.
The Vancouver Art Gallery's first big public party in years on May 26 debuted an impressive collection of couture, streetwear, sneakers, and designs that linger on the edge of fashion and contemporary art, from big-name designers to B.C.'s own Indigenous artists.
As guests arrived to the function, titled Art Party, they flaunted voguish looks on a red carpet before continuing into the glamorous art gallery where live models posed in Indigenous designs, seen during last year's Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week, and a DJ played music made by real mushrooms.
The event's theme, Fashion Fictions, coincided with the art gallery's latest exhibition of the same name which "explores how fashion defines our visions of the future," explains the Vancouver Art Gallery, and party guests were the first to see the exhibition before it opened to the public the next day.
The vast collection features over 50 designers such as Balmain, Comme des Garçons, Alexander McQueen, Iris Van Herpen, Caroline Monnet, Nike, SCRY, Scarlett Yang, and many others.
Fashion lovers and art admirers can wander between two floors of mesmerizing designs and themed rooms, from a large hall dedicated to creative puffer coats and clothing to a wall of encased sneakers spotlighting the widely popular subculture.
The exhibit itself is made up of three themed sections: Material Futures, which showcases work featuring technology and scientific innovations, Aesthetic Prophesies, which highlights the designers' blending of cultural traditions and conjectural creations, and Responsibile Visions, which dives into how fashion designers incorporate sustainability, upcycling, and reuse of materials into their pieces.
"Featuring a diverse range of garments, footwear, accessories, headpieces and wearable technology, much of the exhibition is comprised of work produced in the last ten years – exemplifying fashion designers’ responses to the unique cultural conditions of the 2010s and early 2020s," notes the art gallery.
The exhibit is on display until Oct. 9.
Fashion Fictions
When: May 27-Oct. 9
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery - 750 Hornby St
Cost: General admission $29; free admission on the first Friday evening of every month
@vancouverisawesome check out this impressive collection of couture, streetwear, sneakers, and cutting-edge fashion🤩 🎥 @Maria Diment #vancouverfashion #vancouverisawesome #vancouverstreetwear ♬ original sound - Vancouver Is Awesome
