An extravaganza of daring art and epitome of beauty, Vancouver Fashion Week 2018 brought together diversity in all shades and a spectrum of aesthetics. From urban chic footwear from Samuel Tick you can’t wait to wear, to picturing yourself as royalty in Madame Adassa’s collection, this year the variety was spectacular . If you didn’t get a chance to check it out, here’s what you missed from must sees to not-so- neat.

Must Sees

On the whole, everything during the week was maddeningly spell-binding. We witnessed haunting garbs that captured the dark imagination of Milena Rojas through masks, spiked headwear, plastic details on evening wear, and then we saw gowns from fantasy-filled fairy tales by Madame Adassa. VFW 2018 even displayed sportswear, eyewear, and embellishments fit for royalty. Here are my favourites:

Madame Adassa

This collection was awe-inspiring. Stunning models paraded to suspenseful Game-of- Thrones-esque music. They glided in extravagant gowns and golden crowns. Representing an international perspective in royal fashion through use of Eastern and African motifs, the dresses matched the models’ regal strides.

Romina Dorigo

An airy feel, both in the garments and to the ambiance, complemented Romina Dorigo’s collection that wooed with lace details, Victorian fluff. She blended androgynous fashion with tutu skirts. Strutting to a slightly tweaked version of Mozart’s Clarinet Quartet, the sheer and light fabrics danced in soft pinks, ivories and whites. These colours were rather popular this year with other collections such as Apparel Magazine New Zealand, Tracey Yue and ~Priere~ dipping into a similar palette.

Not For You

When considering more practical wardrobes, ‘Not For You’ was an out and out hit. Not only did I spot Miss J. Alexander (from America’s Next Top Model) sporting one of the jackets on Sunday, but it seemed many attendees were already adorned with pieces from the collection. Exuding a nonchalant hip hop cool vibe, the ‘Not For You’ collection was all jackets and tees, hoodies and oversized comfort chic. The collection by Zherui Huang provided similar practicality and sporty allure with added details of strings and zippers, blue accents and earthy mesh grey fabric, tempting the onlookers to get their hands on these must-have trends.

EmulEos

The ‘tougher than diamonds’ slogan and theme for this year’s collection was one to remember. EmulEos’ bedazzled outfits included metallic and emblazoned crystal details on dresses and pants, all outfitted with diamond visors instead of tiaras and boxing gloves and hoods – emphasizing the kick ass attitude of today’s empowered femme fatales.

Not-So-Neat

There was little that could be categorized as ‘not-so- neat’ at this year’s VFW. Though if we must divulge collections that we could do without, here is what you didn’t miss at VFW 2018.

Neubau

Despite the visual video display, this eyewear collection from Austria was underwhelming. It could be due to the expanse of the runway giving little visibility for showcasing eyewear frames, nonetheless, this one, in my view, was worth a quick bathroom break.

– Maira Hassan