Vancouver's first Indigenous Fashion Week, produced by model-turned-social worker Joleen Mitton, showcases the work of Indigenous designers.
“When talent scouts plucked a 15-year-old Joleen Mitton from a crowd of faces at the PNE in 1999, she had no idea it would propel her into the globetrotting life of an international model. For eight years, Mitton was based in East Asia, living in Taiwan and Hong Kong and traveling to Korea and Guam while modelling for top international agency Elite. But while the lifestyle was a glamorous one, it ultimately proved hollow. “As a model you’re like a canvas for anyone, so you kind of get lost in who you are and what you’re supposed to be,” she says.
Facing an identity crisis after years of acting as a blank slate, Mitton left the fashion industry and returned to Vancouver in 2008 where she reconnected with her own Indigenous community and began mentoring Aboriginal girls in the Downtown Eastside. Now, the model-turned-social-worker is uniting her love of fashion with her passion for supporting and celebrating Indigenous culture with Vancouver’s first Indigenous Fashion Week, which debuts at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre this month.”
Indigenous Fashion Week runs every night from July 26 to 29, starting at 5:00 p.m. each evening at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. It will commence with an opening ceremony, followed by a Street Style event. For a Red Dress event the night of July 28 organized by activist Lorelei Williams, attendees will be asked to dress in red in honour of missing and murdered Indigenous women, before drawing to a close the following night. Tickets are free.
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Go Joleen Go!!!