It’s hard to believe the Vancouver 2010 Olympic games will be coming to an end in a matter of days. We have experienced moments of frustration as athletes were disqualified for touching another athlete’s skate or entering the wrong lane in the heat of the moment. Our hearts sunk into our stomachs when the fatal luge crash ended the life of Olympian Nodar Kumaritashvili.
But it is important to remember that there have been moments of great triumph as well. Take the first gold medal on home soil by Alexandre Bilodeau, the flawless Ice Dance by Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, and the unexpected defeat over Russia in men’s hockey. But the things Vancouverites will remember for years to come are the people and parties.
And yes, it’s true: Vancouver has felt like a maze with miles upon miles of fencing and cattle call like lines, herding the masses to wait endlessly pretty much everywhere.
The zip line running through Robson Square has been a crowd pleaser – to watch at least. If you actually want to experience the magic of the 20-30 second ride you’ll have to wait in line for about 8 hours. I think we’ll be heading up to Whistler this summer, instead, thank you very much.
Rest assured the fashion community has not been left out. There have been countless events all over town to attend and even the provincial houses have been keeping it interesting.
On February 21, Alberta House had Paul Hardy in to share his inspiration for his 2010 collection and preview one of his signature pieces with Heather Marks. The established designer has dressed celebrities like Kate Hudson, Alanis Morissette, Bette Midler, Kelly Rowan, and Sarah McLachlan.
It is Ontario House, though, that has been touted as one of the best attractions, with stylish white and blue ropes hanging in the hundreds along the front of the building. But perhaps the best part of this pavilion are the vests (pictured with designers above), designed by Toronto Fashion Incubator’s in-house designers Jas Banwait, Paris Li, Mana Mojaver of MANAM, Sylvia Bora of Bora Birs, and Natalie Good/Rebecca Lipson of Andy Hall.
“The vest is an encompassment of five completely different styles – menswear, streetwear, eveningwear, funky and chic daywear,” says Jas Banwitt of Savillian (savillian.com). “Like Ontario, our diverse talents have been positively brought together to create a work of art! We have a lot of up and coming strong talent in Ontario. This vest represents the future of fashion.”
The vests, worn by 26 Ministry of Tourism employees including the Deputy Minister, are fashionable and functional, with hidden zippers and white contrast piping along the placket, a high collar, military-style epaulettes, and an optional cinching waist tie for women.
“We are extremely grateful to be awarded this incredible opportunity,” notes Susan Langdon, the Executive Director of the Toronto Fashion Incubator (fashionincubator.com). “The fashion industry is an important economic sector in Ontario and having a platform like the Olympics to showcase the calibre of local design and manufacturing is very meaningful to our community. It’s also the perfect occasion to show the world that although the TFI designers who came together to create the vests aren’t world-class athletes, they share that same Olympic spirit of teamwork.”