Vancouver’s premier fashion school showcases the work of emerging student designers

Vancouver, BC – This season’s Vancouver Fashion Week opening night gala theme is about all things forbidden, but there’s nothing taboo about the decade-long partnership LaSalle College Vancouver has with the city’s largest fashion event. 

Vancouver’s premier fashion and design school has showcased the work of emerging students at Vancouver Fashion week for the last decade, twice a year for two seasons, as a way to show off promising design students and give them the chance to immerse themselves in the fashion experience. 

This spring’s opening night launch of Vancouver Fashion Week on March 18, 6:30 p.m. at David Lam Hall will mark the 20th time a talented contingent of hand-picked students from the school has sent collections down the runway. 

“Our partnership with Vancouver Fashion Week over the years continues to support and celebrate the creative talent demonstrated by both current students and alumni. We are fortunate to have this relationship as it fosters opportunities that allow for our students and community to grow,” LaSalle College Vancouver’s Fashion Design Program Director, Katherine Soucie said, explaining the benefit of having fashion students participate in the biannual shows. 

LaSalle College Vancouver students – Prisco, Shaghayegh Tafreshi, and Valentina Valor – will be the only designers to show their entire collection at the Taboo-themed gala opening this year. Other designers will present sneak peeks of their work, but the innovative collections of the LaSalle College Vancouver students will be on full display. Students in the school’s Culinary Arts program will also be showcasing their skills, by creating canapés for guests at the event. 

Design student Prisco will present a genderless collection that celebrates the raw beauty of natural fabrics and effortless flow. Tafreshi’s collection is influenced by the merging of Western and Persian cultures coupled with architecture, which she previously studied. Valor is a Venezuelan designer and artist who merges art, history, and culture in her gender-fluid work, with the goal of making people feel confident.  

LaSalle College Vancouver is the only school that has participated in Vancouver Fashion Week for these many years in a row. Each season, three students are selected to show in Vancouver Fashion Week for that season. 

“The benefit of our relationship with LaSalle College Vancouver, given its commitment to the latest upcoming talent from Vancouver, is to provide students with a platform to show their designs to the world and give them an opportunity to build their name and their brands,” said VFW founder Jamal Abdourahman, who each year sponsors one of the student presenters in showcasing their work. “We take great pride in engaging with our local community in this way and in being a part of the LaSalle College Vancouver students’ journeys on the road to success in the fashion industry.”

LaSalle College Vancouver alumni Melissa Yin, Ryan Li, Amy Herndon of the label Ization, and Okuande Sanda of Q are also showing at Vancouver Fashion Week this spring. For the full range of show and openings, visit www.vanfashionweek.com.

About LaSalle College Vancouver

LCI Education traces its origins back to LaSalle College in Montreal, which was founded in 1959. Present today on five continents, the LCI Education network consists of 23 select higher education institutions, and some 2,500 employees offering instruction to over 15,000 students throughout the world each year. From one country to the next, LCI Education favours the harmonization of its programs, which makes for greater flexibility, better control over the quality of its services, and deeper respect towards the various cultures it works with.

Contact

Name of media contact: Hilary Quick
Title of media contact: Marketing and Communications Manager
Company name: LaSalle College Vancouver 
Contact phone number: 604 683-2006 extension 9034
Email: hquick@lasallecollegevancouver.com
Website: www.lasallecollegevancouver.com