It might have been the night before the 2018 Art Crawl, but Gibsons Public Market was already crawling with fans of locally made garments and accessories by Sunshine Coast artists.
It was the second annual Wear From Here celebration on Oct. 18 and drew standing-room-only attendance as six models strutted creations from 10 local designers, and clothing and accessory makers.
Again, it was a project 10 months in the making for the event’s organizer, fibre artist Verna Chan.
“I put out a call to artists last January and put out ads later, too,” Chan said after the event. “I like to showcase as many Sunshine Coast artists as possible.”
Some of Chan’s own work was in the show, including some shawls, a T-shirt, and stockings. Roberts Creek designer Gwen Austen’s work dominated the first portion of the hour-long show, with the help of some very young models wearing a total of 12 of her items, mostly children’s dresses.
Austen wrote in her brief biography that she was taught by her mother to sew on a treadle machine when she was very young but didn’t take it up again until she retired. When a goddaughter was born, Austen was asked to make a christening dress, and as she took on that task, she said, “I was hooked.” Her impressive inventory today is tangible proof of that.
Other designers featured were Joan Barrington, Ursula Benz, Sandy Buck, Michelle Iclef, Lynda Manson, Yvonne Catherine Stowell, Dorothy Thom, Janice (Junco) Williams and ocean willson.
“Wear From Here is really is meant to showcase Sunshine Coast designers and bring awareness to where people’s clothing is coming from and how it’s made, the materials, and the hours, days and weeks it takes to create these things,” said Chan, noting that many of the wool and alpaca fabrics in the show are locally produced.
Chan had hoped to display many of the items from the event in her own Art Crawl venue through the weekend, as she did last year, “but unfortunately this year, I ran out of time.” That’s understandable. The project that was diverting her attention for the past few months was her own busy campaign for a seat on Gibsons Town Council.
Campaigning won’t be a distraction in 2019, when Chan plans to put together a third consecutive Wear From Here event.
