Doing sew well
Wilson returns to fashion show

Malcolm Gorrill
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Aug 04/00) - It was a hometown showing for a self-professed fashion designer wannabe.

Brandy Wilson of Inuvik modelled one of her creations, and had four friends -- Kim Merritt, Lisa Mitchell, Chauna Mitchener and Lisa Wiedemann -- model her outfits as well as she had her designs on display at the Great Northern Arts Festival Fashion Show.

"I was just so excited about the whole thing," said Wilson, who also took part in last year's show.

"It was very organized. The stage was set up, there was a backstage, there were names on everything, there was direction, there was an order of events. And there was music and lights, and that was really cool, too."

Wilson displayed long coats and skirts and wore a skirt of her own design during the event. She said for the past year or two she's been using satin a lot, and she talked about the design on her skirt.

"Five years ago I saw the most amazing Northern Lights and I just sat down outside and watched them. They were pink and green and white," she recalled.

"I've only just seen them green. And that night I saw them pink and green and white. They were shooting down and just moving so fast, and that's what the colours were in the skirt," Wilson said.

"I just want to take images from the North, like our 24-hour sunlight was on Lisa's (outfit), just the suns on it. And the raven was on Chauna's and the loons on the other Lisa's, and polar bears were on Kim's dress."

Designing comes naturally for Wilson.

"I always used to watch my mom sew, so it came to me naturally. Like I wanted to be a fashion designer, but then I always used to think, 'Oh, who's going to be a fashion designer from Inuvik?'

"So I had a few years of just sort of experimenting and finding out other things about other jobs, and then I realized, 'oh my God, I'm going to be the fashion designer from Inuvik.'"

Wilson said she doesn't consider herself a fashion designer just yet. She has studied for two years at the Alberta College of Art and Design. She hopes to transfer into the fashion design program at Ryerson University in September 2001.

Wilson said the GNAF is a very important venue for her and other artists.

"I always talk about the Great Northern Arts Festival to all my friends down south, just saying how amazing it is," she said.

"For me to be 23 and have been involved in two fashion shows," Brandy said, "it's just building my whole portfolio."