VANCOUVER FASHION WEEK

Launch of the 2008 Fall/Winter Collections

VANCOUVER, B.C. – March 25, 2008: Now celebrating its 15th season, Vancouver Fashion Week is a highly successful and widely celebrated biannual event designed to nurture and showcase the fashion industry and its designers.

Like Fashion Weeks around the globe, Vancouver Fashion Week provides seasoned and emerging designers the opportunity to expose their talents to an audience of industry professionals as well as the fashion-minded public.

More than 9,000 guests attend the various shows, which are spread over four days. The audience comprises buyers for independent, chain and department stores, celebrities, members of the entertainment industry as well as those who want the latest images and information on the upcoming season’s must haves.

In past seasons, designs by Canadian and International fashion houses including Versace, Miss Sixty, Burton, Origami (director Baby Phat and Phat Farm), established Vancouver designers Manuel Mendoza and Chloe Angus, First Nation designers such as Pam Baker and Shannon Kilroy along with emerging Indian designer Sanjana Jon and Eastern European designer Gordana Radic of Croatia as well as dozens of recognized names trotted down the catwalks.

Preceding the event is a media luncheon, Monday April 14 at the hot exoticdowntown restaurant, Sanafir. Detailed information at the luncheon regarding show times, designers, and locations will be provided at this time. The gala by-invitation evening on Wednesday April 16th will be held at the prestigious boutique hotel Opus, in Yaletown. Each designer will have one model to introduce the guests to their collection. Emcee for the evening is radio personality Dawn Chubai, host of Citytv's Breakfast Televison. In addition, VFW will introduce singer/songwriter Kirk Maurice, a brand new talent whose songs evoke wanderings down the sometimes smooth,
sometimes rocky road of love. After the gala reception, the party continues at Bar None in Yaletown.

The Chapel Arts, a former chapel with Art Deco interiors, is the current mainstage for the event. The calendar will be dotted with after parties for those who want to celebrate the night away.

Vancouver Fashion Week partners with media, publications, and a bevy of artists such as hair stylists and makeup artists, giving them excellent exposure to a future audience and clientele.