PRIDE in Fashion: sometimes it's just about being fabulous

On Thursday, July 30, gay culture strikes a pose at Celebrities Nightclub in Vancouver Pride Week's fiercest event, PRIDE In Fashion.

Featuring some of the city's top male models, a performance by the urban dance collective House of LaDouche, music and images from four decades on the gay club dance floor, and high-drama styling by The Lounge Hair Studio, PRIDE In Fashion reminds us that Pride isn't always about rights: sometimes it's about being fabulous.

"Pride started in 1969 when patrons at a NYC gay bar called the Stonewall Inn fought back against a police raid, starting six days of riots that resulted in gay visibility rising to the surface," says PRIDE In Fashion's co-producer, Guy Babineau. "A radical new subculture filled with fresh images and iconography emerged-there's nothing fashion likes more than a little rebellion! Pop artists like David Bowie mixed and mashed gay culture, and fashion has never looked back. Today, style-conscious young performers like Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert from American Idol are doing it all over again!"

Babineau has written extensively about both fashion and gay issues for most of Vancouver's leading publications. He teaches in the Fashion Program at the Art Institute of Vancouver. TJ Ngan, PRIDE In Fashion's other co-producer, has been a photographer and creative director in fashion and the gay media for many years. They wanted to do something extraordinary to commemorate forty years of Pride. Celebrities, Western Canada's biggest gay club, is the perfect venue.

Fresh from Milan and appearances in ad campaigns by top designers such as DSquared, male model Bartolomeo is among those participating in the event. House of LaDouche hits the runway too. Lead choreographer Jojo Zolina, who has performed with Nelly Furtado, K-OS, Jordan Knight and The Roots among others, fuses dance styles including vogueing, whacking, house, reggaeton and more. Music is by DJ Quest.

PRIDE In Fashion
Thursday, July 30
Celebrities, 1022 Davie St., 604.681.6180
Doors 9 pm, Show starts at 11 pm, club open until 4am
Tickets are $20 in advance at Little Sister's Bookstore (1238 Davie St.), Priape (1148 Davie St.), Boys'Co (1044 Robson St.) and online at Celebritiesnightclub.com or $25 at the door