Since 2017, the annual Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week (VIFW) has served as an important platform for Indigenous designers to showcase their contemporary designs. More than just a series of fabulous fashions (although it is that), VIFW is a space created by Indigenous people for Indigenous people. Founder Joleen Mitton, who is Plains Cree, created it as an event that fosters community, collaboration, and even healing.
A prime example of the latter is the VIFW’s annual Red Dress Showcase, which was held Monday night as this year’s official kickoff event. “The Red Dress event is part of our healing process,” Mitton tells Vogue. “On the opening night of each VIFW, we come together as a community and honor our lost loved ones. We come together to remember and to celebrate.”
The VIFW’s Red Dress showcase is inspired by Métis artist Jaime Black’s REDress Project, a national art movement in Canada that uses red dresses to represent the thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S) people in the country. Indigenous groups in Canada continue to be disproportionately affected by violence; from 2015 to 2020, the average homicide rate for Indigenous victims was six times higher than for non-Indigenous victims.
At Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Indigenous designers were asked to create red designs to draw attention to this ongoing epidemic. “The red dress has become a powerful symbol of remembrance and a call for justice,” says Mitton. “Recognizing and addressing this issue is critical to the well-being and safety of the community.”
The striking color red boldly calls attention to the important movement, but it also has spiritual significance (in Native culture, red transcends the physical world). “Red represents the fire of our people – a flame that can never be extinguished, no matter how hard it gets,” says Yolonda Skelton, a Gitxsan designer who created a dress of precious metals and suede.
She also incorporated images of a phoenix into her design. “The phoenix itself is a symbol of rebirth, resilience and transformation. It represents the strength and resilience of Indigenous women, girls, and [Two-Spirit] people and their ability to rise above adversity.”
Skelton was one of six Indigenous designers who created a special dress for this year’s VIFW. Designer Rebecca Baker-Grenier (Kwakiutl/Dzawadaʼenuxw/Squamish) created a cape coat with her signature West Coast painting. It is from her We Are Warriors collection. “My collection is inspired by our ancestral warriors who were strong, courageous and tenacious in protecting our villages, communities and culture against colonial armies,” she says.
“Indigenous people have always fought to resist colonization and protect our communities.” Inuit designer April Allen also created a red shift dress paired with traditional matching moccasins. “My design serves as a symbol of remembrance and solidarity, weaving the meaning of this movement into every stitch,” says Allen.
Ocean Kiana, who is Ojibway/Anishinaabe, created several red looks for the showcase, including pieces such as traditional ribbon skirts. “I didn’t limit myself to a single dress – instead, each piece tells different stories from my life, interwoven with the deep connection we have to the land,” says Kiana. “The significance of the color red represents my identity as a Nishinaabe (Ojibway), as it is the color we use in ceremonies to represent the Manidoo (spirit). [I also used beautiful floral patterns inspired by my traditional territory, Biigtigong Nishnaabeg.
For two of the designers featured in the showcase – Helen Oro (Plains Cree) and Taalrumiq (Inuvialuit/Gwich’in) – the evening’s theme hit particularly close to home. Both have been personally affected by the epidemic and wanted to use their fashions as a call to action. “It was important for me to share the story of Frank Gruben, my relative who has been missing in our home territory of the Northwest Territories since May 2023,” said Taalrumiq, who created a traditional Inuvialuit design using sealskin and wolf fur. “I hope that by sharing Frank’s story, it will encourage someone to come forward with information that can help bring him home to his mother, family and community.”
Designer Oro shares an equally poignant backstory to one of the red garments she created (her lineup of looks was all red). “My 11-year-old nephew and I collaborated on a dress,” says Oro, who created all the beaded jewelry to go with her nephew’s design. “His mother, who was my little sister, was murdered about six months ago: Our collaboration is in her honor. His mother’s name was Kehiew Iskwew Fox, and part of the material he chose to use represents her name. This has been a healing process for both of us.
Individually, each Indigenous designer brought a sense of strength and resilience to the showcase, and Mitton says this diversity of perspectives and styles is exactly what fashion needs. “Showcasing diversity at the Red Dress event sends a powerful message of unity and solidarity,” says Mitton. “It emphasizes that the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people is a collective concern that transcends individual backgrounds.”
The VIFW founder hopes to make the Red Dress Show an annual tradition. Now in its fourth year, she has no plans to stop until the epidemic is addressed. “I hope the Red Dress movement continues to raise awareness and push for the justice that is so desperately needed,” says Mitton. “Fashion has a unique and powerful ability to convey messages, tell stories and evoke emotion.”
