Once again, Vegan Fashion Week put Los Angeles on the fashion connoisseurs’ radars as the ethical fashion capital. Last week, fashion professionals, celebrities and influencers could experience the celebrated movement with international vegan fashion brands and clean, cruelty-free beauty. This year, Vegan Fashion Week proposed three days of events and a unique show in partnership with Ukrainian Fashion Week hosted at California Market Center. A show placed under the sign of compassion, and an unprecedented support sent to the Ukrainian fashion designers.

Recalling the sad episode that Ukraine is going through the morning of the show. "Today is a hard day for Ukrainians," explained Aleksandra Kakurina, head of designer department for Ukrainian Fashion Week, who woke up under the bombs. "But we are resisting, our designers now share part of their time between making clothes for the army and their own collection. With Vegan Fashion Week, it is an opportunity for them to resist, to continue to show their work." 

This year, Vegan Fashion Week’s founder and creative director, Emmanuelle Rienda, presented a 'golden hour' sustainable fashion show under a natural light well illuminating the models in the Atrium – amongst other sustainability efforts, no artificial lights were added to the production to reduce the event's carbon footprint.

As a prelude to the show, actress Mychal-Bella Rayne, recent Golden Globe winner for her role in "Underground Railroad", read a poem titled “Imagine”, written for the occasion by Caroline Powell, a dedication to peace, imagination and compassion, before the arrival of singer vōx, whose mysterious voice and spellbinding choreography captured the audience's attention. 

The Korean vegan brand, Vegan Tiger, founded by designer Yang Yoo-na, was the first to take to the stage and showcased its new silhouettes, before Ukrainian Fashion Week lined up the creations of 11 Ukrainian designers including Chereshnivska, Dzhus, House Martin, Gorohova, Ochis, Oversized, Roussin, Sheezen, Palingenisy, Devohome, and Reviclo. Some brands which are not all labeled vegan, but all cruelty-free and sustainable. Fashion Show Partners for this edition included Dr. Martens, KVD Beauty, makeup brushes by Artis, and MOB Beauty.

Post-show, a star-studded event unfolded on the Rooftop Terrace with gorgeous DTLA views, cocktails and vegan treats from Miyoko's and Ladurée. Celebrities gathered to show their support including Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, Corey Feldman, Taryn Manning, Naomi Grossman, Wendie Malick, Debbie Levin, Deaken Bluman, Danielle Macdonald, Stephanie Corneliussen, Milana Vayntrub, Radhi Devlukia-Shetty, Tara Reid and more.

The City of Los Angeles presented Vegan Fashion Week with a Certificate of Recognition celebrating the movement for spreading the message of compassion as a pillar of world peace and highlighting the connections between humans, biodiversity, and our impact on the planet. 

Though not one of the major four, Vegan Fashion Week has been the launchpad for vegan fashion and a hotspot for messages that matter. As one of the most influential international fashion weeks, VFW has become a beacon of hope for an ethical and sustainable lifestyle, emerging and established designers, and is creating industry-wide change. It has also made a name for itself by pioneering collaborations between plant-based textiles, brands and industry leaders in its quest to end the use of animal-derived materials in the fashion industry. 

In addition to the fashion shows, Vegan Fashion Week presented a series of panel discussions and produced Vegan World: a sustainable fashion & beauty showroom featuring vegan brands including Nous Étudions, Sylven New York, Shoes 53045, Bohema, Fan All Flames, Sentient, Natalia Fedner, Wildling Shoes, Willa Phoenix, SoloVegan.