Michael Thibault/The Ubyssey

Pterodactyls, leather and glitter galore were in abundance at the Adorned Creation fashion show last Tuesday night at Performance Works.

The graduating fashion class of John Casablancas Institute, a small elite fashion school in Gastown, impressed the crowd with a dizzying foray into deconstructing the creature.

Giovanni Amenta, an instructor at the school, introduced the show by exclaiming that the evening would be about “creatures that are beautiful!”

“The word creature, when you hear it, don’t you think of something a little ugly, a little unsightly?” he said. “We have this negative connotation to creature, but what this show is all about is going beyond our initial reaction. It’s going further, it’s showing the beauty, the mystery, the light and the metamorphosis to find adorned creation.”

And an adored creation it was. The show opened with a pterodactyl-like creature hidden behind sheaths of organza, making only a shadow visible to the audience. It continued to grow taller as it spun wildly out of control, eventually revealing the creature that our society has come to both idolize and loathe: the model.

Like animals hunting for prey, the models pounded down the runway revealing the dangerous, exotic, frightened and sexual side of young designers about to be set loose into the jungle that is the fashion industry.

From Prairie to Pleather

Jasmine Tindall’s previous knowledge of the fashion industry was limited to the clothes she chose to wear on her back. A native of Grand Prairie, Alberta, Tindall moved to Vancouver and entered the John Casablanca fashion program in September, naïve to what the program would entail.

“People come in and think, ‘Oh, it’s fashion, it’s so easy,’” said Tindall. “I didn’t know anything about it, but behind the scenes, wow, it’s crazy.”

John Casablancas’ offers a diverse fashion program where students learn both theory and application, taking classes such as marketing, styling, retail and elements of design.

Tindall showcased her first designs Tuesday night, presenting four original dresses. “I came into this not knowing how to draw anything, and now I know how to sketch garments, so that was really exciting, learning how to do all of that.”

Purely reflective of the designer, the pieces showcased a former prairie girl’s debut into cosmopolitanism. Working with the theme of “adorned creation,” Tindall paired bold prints and rough textures with muted western accents.

“I chose really edgy fabrics that you’re not sure if you can pull off or not,” she said. “The material that I used resembles what a creature is to me.” Tindall opened her segment with a flowing tiger printed gown accented with a pleated leather bodice.

Tindall closed the show with a dramatic, short, sequined number complete with shoulder pads. Like a scaled reptile, the dress embodied camouflage fit for the dance floor. “When you walk one way, it’s black. But walk in the other direction and it’s gold.”

“I really embraced sequins, they reminded me of scales,” she added. “A creature can really be anything.”

Showcasing the tame, the wild, and the sometimes bizarre, Adorned Creation was an entertaining evening that provided inspiration for embodying your inner creature and embracing all things glitter for your fall wardrobe.

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