Emerging designers will join established industry professionals when Vancouver Fashion Week returns to the city for another season March 14 to 20.
As part of the fall/winter 2016 edition, fashion design students from LaSalle College will have the opportunity to showcase their creations on the runway. North Vancouver resident Amy Herndon, 20, is among five LaSalle students who have been selected to present their collections March 16 at the Chinese Cultural Centre in downtown Vancouver.
This season, all the student collections were inspired by "rhythm" and, fittingly, each designer's work will be accompanied down the catwalk by music performed by students from the Sarah McLachlan School of Music.
Inspired by "the smooth rhythm of RB and the austerity of the lone wolf," Herndon's collection of women's wear features faux fur and leather accents.
"I really liked the idea of connecting it to nature and the dark parts that are a little more mysterious and kind of flowy, but also very edgy," she says.
She worked with cocoon silhouettes and semi-circle shapes, juxtaposing hard and soft textures. The result is a versatile collection of garments that Herndon anticipates will appeal to a range of women. "Maybe not so much the girly girl - probably someone who is a little more edgy and likes statement pieces, but also has a little bit of a soft side," she says.
Vancouver fashion stylist Tracey Pincott is serving as artistic director of the student fashion show, while Lizbell Agency models will don the clothing.
Each of the five LaSalle College students will be dressing eight models.
Herndon's models will strut the runway to the music of nine-year-old DJ Naveya, a student in the Junior Sound Lab class at the Sarah McLachlan School of Music.
Participating in Vancouver Fashion Week is a huge undertaking for the students, considering they are also juggling regular coursework and some of them, including Herndon, are preparing to graduate this spring. But she was well aware of the demands when she applied to be in the show, having also participated in last season's LaSalle student showcase.
"I think I'm insane," she says with a laugh when explaining why she wanted to take part in the runway presentation again. She figured she had to create a graduate collection anyway, so she might as well parade her work in front of fashion industry professionals and the media. "It just happened that I had to make the collection faster and with more pieces" to participate in Vancouver Fashion Week, she says. Fortunately, Herndon doesn't shy away from deadlines "I'm very good under pressure; that's when I do my best work."
One of the biggest lessons she took away from the last edition of Vancouver Fashion Week is that snug garments can be challenging to prep for the runway.
"My last collection was very fitted and structural. There's was a lot of bugs that I had to work out trying to fit the models in such a short time period," she says.
As such, her current collection focuses on a much more relaxed fit.
"A lot of these looks, they're more flowy, they're more loose and semi-fitted and they would fit an array of body types."
Originally from Edmonton, Herndon started sewing at a young age and developed an interest in fashion in high school as a costume designer in the theatre program. Her work on The Miracle Worker in her senior year earned her an award.
"I was in charge of doing all that and it was so much fun and I learned so much," she says.
Once she graduates from LaSalle, Herndon has her eye on designing costumes for the film industry, but she's also interested in working for a fashion company or even starting her own label one day.
"That would be the end goal, but the steps in which to get there I'm not sure of yet."
The LaSalle College student fashion presentation takes place Wednesday, March 16 at 5 p.m. at the Chinese Cultural Centre, 50 E. Pender St., Vancouver. For ticket information and a full schedule of runway events, visit vanfashionweek.com.
