The Journey To Molly: Showing at Vancouver Fashion Week

To say that 2022 was a whirlwind would be an understatement.
This year was pretty much the scene in my coming-of-age drama where all my life's efforts & accomplishments were highlighted into a 60-second montage and I got a glimpse of how amazing the future could be.
It was thrilling, and it damn sure was fulfilling!

When I look back at the year, I still can't believe I pulled off 3 major runway shows in a single year– New York Fashion Week, Miami Swim Week and Vancouver Fashion Week, but I'm super grateful to God for getting me through with the support system that I had because 🎤 I never woulda madeeee itt 🎶 

So without further ado, let's get into Vancouver Fashion Week! 

Only the second largest showcase of the most passionate and talented designers in North America, right after New York Fashion Week. 

Designers from all walks of life pretty much spend weeks, even months, in preparation to debut their collections to Fashion Editors, Retail buyers, Celebrity Stylists & Fashion Enthusiasts, in the hopes that this publicity will bring the much needed exposure to take their brands to the next level.

Okay. Okay...It's me.
I'm 'Designers'. Lol.

Anyway...

Since MOLLY was primarily known for Footwear, and I had secured a VFW package to display up to 20 looks at Vancouver Fashion Week, it only made sense to create a clothing collection that would mirror the eccentric nature of my shoes and allow me to express my complete love for design. So I spent a little over a week sketching an curating an array of looks until I narrowed it down to about 16 looks that I was somewhat pleased with.

Scouting dressmakers to work with who were available, affordable and could deliver the quality I was looking for in less than 2 months was seemingly impossible to do in Montreal, so I did the next best thing and decided to work with a clothing designer and brand owner from back home– Nigeria. 

Now if you know anything about Nigerian tailors, you know that they do not play when it comes to delivering top-tier, head-turning, neck-breaking looks!

So I did my due diligence and researched a few brands that I was interested in working with, and narrowed down my pick to Sewasimilara after discussing pricing, timeline, and considering their aesthetic. More than just being talented, Sewa was sweet, personable, and open to the idea of bringing my edgy designs to life for the showcase, so it seemed like a no-brainer.

I immediately booked a flight down to Lagos, and over the next few weeks, I and Sewa finalized the production details and went over the sketches to discuss what kind of fabrics and colour tones would be best suited to complement my footwear designs in The GR Collection. These meetings also brought about 2 additional designs by Sewa, finishing off my debut clothing collection with 18 looks.

Here's a Line Sheet of all the sketches, along with descriptions and the shoe designs that they were paired with:

If you know [another] thing about Nigerian tailors, you'd know that:
1. you gotta take their deadlines as suggestions, not facts 🥲
2. you'll get your clothes when they're ready, not when you need them 🥲🥲

Jokes on me, because I was so naive to believe that everything would be smooth sailing based off our initial meeting on August 20th, but the reality was:

1. The communication was quite a hassle
2. I had no opportunity to physically see some fabric swatches before the bulk materials were purchased
3. I barely got to see any of the designs in time to make modifications
And to top off this lopsided cake...
4. I ended up having to arrange for the collection to be picked up by someone else because the pieces were not ready by my departure date, so I literally was displaying my first ever clothing collection on some "Inshallah vibes" 😭

As much as it all could have been better, I'll definitely give props where it's due because at the end of the day... they delivered.

Compared to other Fashion Weeks I had participated in prior, Vancouver Fashion Week did not bring anything out of the ordinary– high quality runway images.

Opportunities I had anticipated to come from this huge showcase were pretty much nonexistent.

Almost $7000 spent strictly on participation, outside of the thousands of dollars associated with flying to Lagos to produce the collection with Sewa, flying to Vancouver, as well as the cost of accommodation... I can hardly see the rainbow at the end of this “pot of gold”.

Would I do it again? Not quite sure.
But one thing I know is that I'd definitely take the time to create the collection myself so that things are exactly how I envision.

In the end, win or lose, the experience will always be worth it in the eyes of a dreamer like myself.

Checkout a few of the runway shots below: