Vancouver Fashion Festivals & Events

Multiple popular fashion festivals and events take place in Vancouver each year. Below we list three of the best the city has to offer.

Major fashion events in the City of Vancouver include Vancouver Fashion Week in the spring and fall, Vancouver Independent Fashion Flair in the summer, and Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week in the fall.

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Vancouver Fashion Week | Vancouver Independent Fashion Flair | Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week | Other Information

Fashion Festivals in Vancouver

Fashion festivals take place all over the world and are a fun way to both see what’s trending, and for designers and models to express themselves.

Vancouver is home to a number of different fashion events each year. Below are some of the biggest in the city.

Vancouver Fashion Week

Vancouver Fashion Week takes place twice a year, in both the spring and fall. In 2024 the spring week was from April 23rd to 28th. The fall week is from October 22nd to 27th.

This year is the 24th anniversary of Vancouver Fashion Week. It was founded by fashion producer Jamal Abdourahman and today it’s one of the longest-running events of its kind in Canada.

The festival features works from over 50 designers, many of whom provide designs for both the spring and fall festivals when they participate. Events take place throughout the week at David Lam Hall located at 50 East Pender Street.

Tickets for Vancouver Fashion Week in 2024 cost $75 for a single day pass, or $580 for a VIP pass which includes two seats in the front row.

To learn more, visit the Vancouver Fashion Week website.

Vancouver Independent Fashion Flair

Vancouver Independent Fashion Flair (or VIFF, not to be confused with the Vancouver International Film Festival), hosts the Elevate Fashion Festival each summer. Elevate is a big one-day celebration that took place on Sunday, August 18th in 2024.

This year’s event happened in the D6 Lounge at the Parq Vancouver Hotel downtown. The festival began at 2:00 pm and ran until midnight.

Elevate features the work of over 20 local designers with dozens of models on the runway. There are also DJs playing tunes, a Canadian-Filipino art exhibition, pop-up designer stores and more to explore.

Tickets cost $100 for the whole day in 2024. Guests could also buy a pass for just one “segment” for $60. The event was broken up into four segments, each about two hours long and beginning at 2:00 pm, 4:30 pm, 7:00 pm and 9:30 pm.

VIFF Fashion is dedicated to spotlighting local designers, brands, and creatives. The mission of the organization is to celebrate and showcase the talent of local artists and to provide them with global exposure while fostering a vibrant local fashion and art community. VIFF is committed to creating memorable fashion events that push the boundaries of conventional showcases. In addition to Elevate, they have fashion-art events at other times of the year too.

For more details about VIFF and its events, check out the Vancouver Independent Fashion Flair website.

Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week

A multi-day event held at Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week (VIFW) happens from November 20th to 23rd in 2024.

VIFW first took place in 2017. There were some gaps between then and the second and third events (in 2019 and 2022), but since then it’s been an annual event.

The festival showcases Indigenous models and designers from across the country. Last year’s festival included the chance for a group of Indigenous youth to walk the runway wearing shawls that they created themselves.

Each night at VIFW has a different theme. Below is the list of themes from this year’s event.