SHOW OFF

SHOW OFF (Friday April 17th at the Roundhouse) promised to showcase street wear, high-end denim, and urban and contemporary fashions alongside the lifestyle that this sort of apparel represents. It certainly delivered in terms of entertainment value. The Tito Deville Band opened with an energetic performance and a talented b-boy troupe provided a lively intermission show. Proceeds from the event benefited Family Services of Greater Vancouver.

A plethora of local labels and retailers put on fashion show segments, including:

• Boys' Co
• DIPT
• Freshmans
• Goodfoot
• Stussy
• Paris Angel Fashions
• Ultra Men's Wear
• Merder Tees
• F as in Frank
• Mental Wealth
• Hawks Ave

I'll be upfront here and say that I'm the wrong person to be reviewing a streetwear show. Not being a sneakerhead or a denimhead, I really didn't appreciate the details as someone more knowledgeable might have. Now, that being said, here are some of my favourite fashion highlights from the evening. (All pictures are by Yvonne Chew.)

From Paris Angel, the striped armwarmers, minidress with a black cutout overlay, and silver leggings are on trend but just unique enough to set you apart from the black latex legging-clad crowd.

Channel a bit of Moulin Rouge glamour in high-waisted satin shorts with suspenders, also from Paris Angel.

Hawks Ave showed a collection of comfortable-looking streetwear separates embellished with signature hawks and chevron patterns. This teal hoodie dress with dolman sleeves is stunning.

F as in Frank walked the fine line between pure fun and campy 80s nostalgia with lots of acid-washed denim, neon, and candy-coloured rompers.

Christopher Bates's ULTRA collection at Vancouver Fashion Week SS09 was inspired by Depeche Mode and Eurotrash. It seems as though he's still in thrall with this design inspiration, although his SHOW OFF collection is more Anglo-philic and less continental. I enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek references to the Union Jack, chavs, and British schoolboy uniforms.

I love this hoodie: the national colours of Brazil plus an all-over hexagon pattern...can you say "soccer"?

This dapper slim-cut suit reminds me of Johnny Depp in From Hell.

This post is also cross-posted on Stylefinds.