A Kamloops designer is set to showcase ‘fantastic womenswear’ at New York Fashion Week.

Returning to New York Fashion Week for the first time since the pandemic began, Canadian fashion designer Delaney Dixon plans to dazzle runway audiences with a “daunting” sustainable collection.

Dixon, from Kamloops, B.C., is set to bring eight local models to New York for the Sept. 9-14 event, one of the world’s four biggest fashion weeks.

Over the past decade, Dixon, 30, has designed clothes for online clients around the world and exhibited her work at fashion shows in Amsterdam, New York and Paris.

Emmy-nominated Hollywood TV host Rasha Goel wearing one of her dresses on the Oscars red carpet in March sums up the highlights of her career.

“There was a picture online… of her doing an interview and then Kevin Costner and his [wife] They were behind her,” Dixon said on CBC. Day break Kamloops. “I’m a big fan [his TV drama series] Yellow stone.”

‘spices’

Originally from Alberta, Dixon said she began studying marketing at the University of Vancouver, but switched to fashion design only because she had loved it since high school.

“I didn’t know how to sew when I was a kid,” she says. “But I was always interested in fashion, especially at the end of high school – I was really into everything.”

Dixon says she loves creating “distressing women’s clothing.”

“I definitely like it spicier,” she said. “I use a lot of black and red and fake leather [and] Faux Fur – It’s definitely a cool thing.

She is inclusive in her designs, makes every piece up to 6XL, and uses sustainable fabrics whenever possible.

Kamloops model Emily Phillips, who shows at New York Fashion Week, said she approached Dixon two years ago about collaborating because she loves his “amazing” sustainable designs.

“We live in a world where … fashion is always thrown around with ‘fast fashion’ companies,” Phillips said.

“[Dixon] She uses sustainable produce as much as she can, and sources from people who support good labor laws.

This will be Phillips’ first appearance at New York Fashion Week and she says she’s been practicing a lot for the Big Apple catwalk.

Dixon said she was excited about what she described as a fun “monster event.”

“I really enjoy the atmosphere of all the people,” she said.

“Backstage is so much fun. It’s so hard … I’ve been working on this set for six months and it all comes down to this 15-minute runway show.”