I Attended the World's Only Vegan Fashion Week
I recently had the opportunity to attend the world’s (currently) only vegan fashion week, and I want to tell you all about it.
I’ve been planning a trip to California since 2019 and was originally meant to go over in 2020 but thanks to our old pal Covid it had been on hold until things calmed down. We (boyfriend + I) finally got to book it for September 2022 and I spent every waking moment planning the itinerary for the trip. I was contacted by the lovely people at Vegan Fashion Week and invited to attend the event in Los Angeles and also be an Ambassador to tell more people about it. I was out of my mind with excitement as I’ve wanted to attend this event ever since it launched in 2018.
While its name is Vegan Fashion Week, the event was really only one day but they managed to pack a lot into that day. The event was being held at the California Market Centre in Downtown LA, right in the centre of the fashion district. There were panel discussions running all day on topics ranging from sustainability & ethics to digital fashion and social impact. I love panel talks like this, I always find I learn so much from the panellists and from the audience too. People were asking really insightful questions and we had some decent debates going on throughout the day. Some of my favourite panellists were Casey Dworkin, Founder & Designer at Sylven New York, Ashley Frohnert, Director of Social Media at PETA, Jimena Suárez, Founder & CEO at Sentient, and Corneil Montgomery, Ph.D, Social Impact Executive + Founder & CEO at Sovereignty Co. Impact Fund. Definitely worth checking out their socials and learning more about the work they do. They also had a showroom where you could check out vegan fashion brands showcasing their collections and accessories.
A quick outfit change later (I mean why only wear one outfit to fashion week right?) and we were sat on the front row waiting for the catwalk to start. Ok, so a guy did come round and ask those of us in orange wristbands to move to the second row, but for about 8 glorious minutes I sat front row at a fashion show. The show began with a poem being read out and then some singing and dancing from a performer (can’t find anywhere what their name was!) and then the models started walking.
The whole event was in partnership with Ukrainian Fashion Week as they are unable to host their events in their country due to the ongoing war. The theme was compassion, and it was really inspiring to see how VFW had welcomed in the Ukrainian designers and shared their platform to highlight their work and the innovations from their collections. 11 Ukrainian designers took part in the show, including Chereshnivska, Dzhus, House Martin, Gorohova, Ochis, Oversized, Roussin, Sheezen, Palingenisy, Devohome, and Reviclo.
I was really blown away by the pieces in the show, so much creativity and boldness, and all achieving that aspirational, luxury look and feel without any animal products whatsoever. The show felt like I was at New York or London Fashion Week, the production elements were very well executed and the location itself I thought was perfect for this show. Check out their Instagram page to see some high-res shots from the runway.
That’s one thing I think Vegan Fashion Week has really nailed. While the focus is on vegan fashion and sustainability, they haven’t lost that touch of glamour and fantasy that fashion shows are known for. The collections on show were fashion-forward, innovative and had real expertise and creativity behind them. I think sometimes vegan and sustainable fashion is still dominated by that ‘hippie’ aesthetic; earth tones, baggy clothes and slogan tees supporting animal rights. Don’t get me wrong, all that’s great, but most of us still want to retain our own personal style and enjoy the wide spectrum of looks that fashion can offer, and this is where events like VFW can really elevate the preconceptions of vegan fashion. After the show, there was a bit of networking and people taking photos on the ‘red carpet’. I spotted a few influencers from TikTok among the crowd, as well as Taryn Manning (Orange is the New Black), Tara Reid and (weirdly?) Jedward.
I would so love to see something like this replicated in the UK. Something high glamour, celebrity-endorsed and modern that really captures people's attention and makes them genuinely consider switching to vegan clothing.
What do you think? Would you attend a vegan fashion week event?