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Vancouver Fashion Week SCAM ALERT: This website is a place to share your past or present Vancouver Fashion Week experience. This site is not intended to hurt the Vancouver fashion industry in any way but to stop the producer of VFW from exploiting students and recent graduates for their well meaning free labour, as well as exploiting emerging and established designers with sub par production. We have created this site because we support local and International designers and their efforts in creating real art, and do not want them to be cheated by the producer of VFW. The sooner he is held accountable, the sooner we can let the dust settle and provide Vancouver fashion designers with a proper platform. Please comment or share where you can and spread this site to your peers.
The reason why we are taking this matter so seriously is because we were exposed to a work environment where there was not one employee on payroll, and VFW was made up of only dozens of interns trying to train and manage each other in attempt to execute our tasks given to us by the producer without strategy or resources. Many of us were referred to this organization by our schools to gain work training from professionals, yet the structure did not support such an environment with not one pay-rolled staff to train or manage us, and we believe our schools, the city and the fashion industry have been kept unaware of this. At the very basic level, we are dealing with severe workplace exploitation, on top of much larger issues this organization has in the workplace, fashion industry and reputation of Vancouver.
But don’t just take our word for it, please look into it yourself.
Thank you for your support.
-Concerned People of Vancouver
TO ALL YOU NOT IT ALL ‘ANONYMOUS’ ; I Know best, Gal that knows stuff…& ALL
This is reeeeally interesting…
if your such a KNOW IT ALL so well why not post your real names on here & where you are big shots. Its cause this city is like a Village and everybody knows everybody and the last thing you want is it coming back to you…my name is Jen, I Do work at Holts, I work my ass off everyday to make a living and take care of myself & my daughter thank you very much and have nothing to hide. I drive a shitty ass car, live in a shitty ass apartment, and enjoyed my experience with VFW and the people I met there. I can’t speak for everyone however for all I know most of you had aspirations of grandeur yet no real life experience doing what your in search of. Looking at pictures or videos from New York & Paris & Los Angeles and all these major shows does not make you a know it all & just because they have major population centers over 10+ 15+ 20+ million in population compared to our 1 million in Vancouver isn’t how it must be everywhere when in reality the few do not speak for the many. All I’m saying is that clearly everything this city does is done with a grain of salt and not to be taken too seriously. I honestly couldn’t agree more with some here that the show can be done better yet am a realist where as I feel its still better than nothing and at least gives the city something to offer rather than complaining to the world …OH WHOA IS ME! JAMAL DIDN’T TREAT ME LIKE A PRINCESS OR GET ME ON THE COVER OF VOGUE & I KNOW BETTER BECAUSE MY UNEMPLOYED GAY FRIENDS SAY SO …MAKES U ALL SOUND LIKE IDIOTS…The majority of you all here miss the simple point that your bitching on forums, blogs, or chat sites will STILL not change the fact that it will all take place again and again and again. So with that in mind what will you do? The worst part is…almost hypocritical is that many of you still go down to the show and still watch it only to come back here and vent. Give me a Goddam break. If your lives are so fruitful and happy I still think it would be better spent educating the world about fashion in general & the great people & things that it can do…or better yet somebody stepping up and actually taking a crack at a show if you think you can do better. but until then…until I see a single picture or a single banner or a single flyer or a single show that goes longer than 1 consecutive year to come back here and hate on the hard working people who at least gave it a try to help further themselves is just pathetic. Anything fashion related in Vancouver that gives it a shot deserves to be commended. And all you end up doing is shedding light on how poor of character we as consumers and so called enthusiasts from this city accept fashion here…. no wonder no real big sponsors ever come here. SO TO ANYONE WHO READS THIS & HAS VOLUNTEERED FOR VANCOUVER FASHION WEEK, BC FASHION WEEK, ECO FASHION WEEK. Keep on doing what makes you happy, keep your eyes open, and don’t let anybody say you cant do anything you want, life is short and its what you do while you have a chance that counts… not what you run at the mouth, Au Revoir
BC Fashion Week was shut down awhile ago now for very sad reason, I don’t think anyone here talk about Eco Fashion week or making any comment about them? I think really got it all wrong. It’s about doing the right thing. As I stated earlier, if people know that he is making money and do not mind to help and use the name on your resume, by all mean it’s not my business but I feel that there are a lot of very good reputation organization and very well organized team that you can spend your time to help them. (and no I am not taking anyone side) If you really love fashion, maybe you should try montreal or Toronto? There is nothing wrong about how passionate you are in fashion but really, if you love fashion that much, pick organization to join wisely. If your information that you provided about your personal life is accurate, Jamal should pay you on top of paying Tyler 200/month.
Again, your opinion and our opinion seem to be very different and it’s ok. You may want to also read at big web site like this to get some more information, someone posted on this website and I don’t know if anyone really take a look at it. I did take a look at it because they seem to know what they are talking about :
http://www.elleuk.com/fashion/news/what-the-internship-bust-means
I am reading your comment again and frankly, I feel bad about all of us that we try to do the right thing here and hoping that we can help prevent others to get scammed. Clearly, they are people out there that think of this website is a joke rather than a website that we try to help others through our own experience.
I have not seen the pervert part throughout these years, but seeing only part of the individual who is abusing the community and pocket the money into theirs own pocket.Sadly, people don’t do enough research and only judged based on their short term experience knowing the person, new people coming to town, and be scammed, sad!
I know a lot of people throughout the years, those who have involved with VFW and who are no longer with them or even want anything to do or have anything to do with them, they may not be posting their comment on here but they all didn’t even bother to talk about it because they have nothing good to say about it, they all have their things to do, sad sad sad that people happily be blinded.
People think that we all are haters because we simply speaks out and stand up for our rights, and rather than seeing that many people still keeping their mouth shut, and mind their own business, as many of us speak up as we tend to care about what it mean by doing the right things.
Anyone who worship Jamal, should really do him a favor by teaching him to do the right things rather than encouraging him to keep on scamming.
One thing I have to say though, to be fair to him, he never tell people that he would pay them. He has always been being up front with them that he will not pay them, and people are ok with that, if you both have mutual interests then people shouldn’t be complaining about them not getting paid.
I just feel disgusted that when he makes a lot of money from the event and not paying people properly, I don’t think it’s fair. I never work for him, never have and never will, but I have been approached many times!! — I turned it down because I know enough about this whole operations.
Wow, this is seriously Haterfest Vancouver here,
well as someone who has volunteered for the event all I have to say is this.
While I could care less about the producer myself, the people were fantastic.
The simple fact that all you ‘ANONYMOUS’ Posters, bloggers, passerby’s on this site have gone out of your way to voice your opinions realize that HATE is just LOVE & ENVY at the same time. While everyone here can go on forever about their Good, Bad, whatever experiences the simple fact is this. its so easy to Talk the Talk behind your computers and act like you know. I don’t see a single one of any of you doing a damn thing about it or similar type show for that matter so all you do is give more attention to the show itself in the end whether you like it or not, it will do what it will do regardless. And you all just sound like an angry boyrfriend/girlfriend that just got dumped in the end.
Cheers
I have talked to a lot of professional people in the field, I don’t have any interest to identified myself because I am known in the community. I jumped in on this topic because I think it is the right thing. I have no saying about other “ANOMYMOUS” as I do have my very own reason. Keep your friends close….. so anyway, I don’t believe that it is right for people to use people for their own wealthy and fame and yet pretend to say that they are doing this for community sake. Now a days, people love to stand in front of the media wall so that they feel important when they are really not. Time change, networking is a good game but people should do it wisely and with dignity.
Many people who have worked for VFW has used that name to get to their next level and so they don’t have to care but will they stick around and work for free for the rest of their life? probably not.. I have been around the block, I have my own stuff and I don’t have to be a poser… never interested in doing that. I feel people want to use the big name to make up their profile or portfolio that why a lot of people who run the profit event can get away with freebies.
I have done my research, a lot of people in the “high profile” scene, have seen this website and they have nothing but bad to say about it… I guess we run into different people, different crowd, different scenes.
and yes, I do agree with you that you can gain many interesting friends and talented people and build them onto your network. However, I really don’t need to participate in the VFW or other event because I have my own circle, I work with people I trust, and snakes are not my friends.
TO ALL YOU MR & MRS NOT IT ALL ‘ANONYMOUS’
This is reeeeally interesting…
if your such a KNOW IT ALL so well why not post your real names on here & where you are big shots. Its cause this city is like a Village and everybody knows everybody and the last thing you want is it coming back to you…my name is Jen, I Do work at Holts, I work my ass off everyday to make a living and take care of myself & my daughter thank you very much and have nothing to hide. I drive a shitty ass car, live in a shitty ass apartment, and enjoyed my experience with VFW and the people I met there. I can’t speak for everyone however for all I know most of you had aspirations of grandeur yet no real life experience doing what your in search of. Looking at pictures or videos from New York & Paris & Los Angeles and all these major shows does not make you a know it all & just because they have major population centers over 10+ 15+ 20+ million in population compared to our 1 million in Vancouver isn’t how it must be everywhere when in reality the few do not speak for the many. All I’m saying is that clearly everything this city does is done with a grain of salt and not to be taken too seriously. I honestly couldn’t agree more with some here that the show can be done better yet am a realist where as I feel its still better than nothing and at least gives the city something to offer rather than complaining to the world …OH WHOA IS ME! JAMAL DIDN’T TREAT ME LIKE A PRINCESS OR GET ME ON THE COVER OF VOGUE & I KNOW BETTER BECAUSE MY UNEMPLOYED GAY FRIENDS SAY SO …MAKES U ALL SOUND LIKE IDIOTS…The majority of you all here miss the simple point that your bitching on forums, blogs, or chat sites will STILL not change the fact that it will all take place again and again and again. So with that in mind what will you do? The worst part is…almost hypocritical is that many of you still go down to the show and still watch it only to come back here and vent. Give me a Goddam break. If your lives are so fruitful and happy I still think it would be better spent educating the world about fashion in general & the great people & things that it can do…or better yet somebody stepping up and actually taking a crack at a show if you think you can do better. but until then…until I see a single picture or a single banner or a single flyer or a single show that goes longer than 1 consecutive year to come back here and hate on the hard working people who at least gave it a try to help further themselves is just pathetic. Anything fashion related in Vancouver that gives it a shot deserves to be commended. And all you end up doing is shedding light on how poor of character we as consumers and so called enthusiasts from this city accept fashion here…. no wonder no real big sponsors ever come here. SO TO ANYONE WHO READS THIS & HAS VOLUNTEERED FOR VANCOUVER FASHION WEEK, BC FASHION WEEK, ECO FASHION WEEK. Keep on doing what makes you happy, keep your eyes open, and don’t let anybody say you cant do anything you want, life is short and its what you do while you have a chance that counts… not what you run at the mouth, Au Revoir
For any of you reading this for the first time, there is nothing constructive offered here. Only a place to vent your frustrations and tell your horror stories.
No Tyler, we have been fooled! and we are done with that. We are not venting but we are trying to safe others…. if you want to be fooled, it is really not our problem, be one… I_KNOW_BEST
I’ll begin by saying that the reason I participated in VFW was not for fashion but for the event side. I cannot speak to the art and industry of fashion in Vancouver and would rather not associate myself with the outrage that many of the other commenters here clearly feel toward the production of this event in it’s current state.
I recently finished working with VFW2012 Fall/Winter. I volunteered as a sponsorship/event coordinator. I joined purely for experience and I was rewarded by seeing an event of that magnitude realized. I have goals that include events that require a similar amount of preparation and vision. I learned what to do and, yes, what not to do in certain situations. It was a valuable experience.
I had the pleasure of working with some very dedicated professionals. I say professionals, because I believe professionalism to be a determined mind-set rather than a dollar figure and a title. Meeting these people was by far the biggest benefit of participating. Thank you.
This blog was started anonymously 6 months ago. In that time we have seen another VFW come and go. It was run very much like the descriptions found here. If the fashion industry would really like something to be done it needs to do it now. There are some real, constructive and articulate points made here. Talking about how to fix it won’t make it any better and bitching solves even less. The arts community cried out when the beloved Vancouver Play House closed down, but where were they when the company was climbing into a million dollar hole? The city will not “save” this event for us.
Take action. There is huge room for growth with this event! I worked the sponsorship side. There is interest.
Thanks.
And for the love of pete, put your name on your posts!
We have our reason to not put the name on here….. and as I said.. when I choose the name “I KNOW BEST” – I meant what I said. You just started to join VFW.. so really you don’t know a lot of the history of VFW! #IM_JustSaying…
If he make hundreds of thousands, and pay you 200/week.. it’s nothing but I am glad to hear that out of thousands people that work/worked for him, there are tons that didn’t get pay. So if you enjoy helping him that’s great but please do not provide any misleading advertisement about VFW. Do your research…
@I KNOW BEST
Are you the site admin or what?
What misleading advertisement are you referring too?
I don’t know a lot of the history nor do I really care. As I stated before I joined to plan the event and I was happy to do it. The agreement was that it was an unpaid position. If Jamal makes that much money off these events it’s not really any of my business. It would be disappointing to find out that it is true, but I still made a commitment. No one forced me to do it.
It says “share your experience,” but apparently my experience is somehow invalid in your opinion? WTF?
The impression that I’m getting is that you only want to hear negative stories or have a good bitch session. Sorry to disappoint you with my opinion that if you really want to make a difference this blog won’t be enough to do it.
For the record it was $200/month.
Tyler Griffeth, you are so fake!
Obviously you’re an old man since you put two spaces after every period like typewriters are still in existence! I don’t think your know what you’re talking about!
So many of us had such bad experiences with VFW, and public record will show that many companies and individuals have taken legal action.
As for Jamal making HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS, that is also inaccurate. He is a scam artist that scams tens of thousands, not hundreds of thousands. The real issue here is the misinformation distributed internationally, scamming designers and exploiting interns. Vancouver has a way of ignoring everything, Hastings epidemic, Hells Angels, corrupt politicians, leaky boarders, leaky condos, the list goes on and on.
Do some THOROUGH RESEARCH, Tyler.
P.S. Glad to see people aren’t afraid to express themselves.
Tyler Griffeth, you are so fake!
Obviously you’re an old man since you put two spaces after every period like typewriters are still in existence! I don’t think your know what you’re talking about!
So many of us had such bad experiences with VFW, and public record will show that many companies and individuals have taken legal action.
As for Jamal making HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS, that is also inaccurate. He is a scam artist that scams tens of thousands, not hundreds of thousands. The real issue here is the misinformation distributed internationally, scamming designers and exploiting interns. Vancouver has a way of ignoring everything, Hastings epidemic, Hells Angels, corrupt politicians, leaky boarders, leaky condos, the list goes on and on.
Do some THOROUGH RESEARCH, Tyler.
P.S. Glad to see people aren’t afraid to express themselves.
You know I don’t follow many blogs. In fact this is my first. This is a joke. Congratulations @I KNOW BEST you’ve convinced me that this blog isn’t worth the keystrokes it’s taking to write this.
If any one would like to have a real discussion with a real person regarding this, you can tweet me @mrgriffeth (I even have the guts to put my real name in my twitter handle).
Regarding his income….. If you do the math about the ticket sales….. and the amout of volunteer and sponsors he get as his “freebies” you should be able to figure how how much he really make! VFW have been around for decade, it’s growing but Jamal is still Jamal – If you don’t put the stop to it, It’s nobody fault but ours! #JUST_SAYING !!
I don’t have any reason why would I make up the amount on how much Jamal makes, do some research or grab your calculator, do you know how much he charge for ticket? How much he charge to those designers? how many tickets he actually sell? how many per each season? and how many years he has been doing this!!
EASY MATH! RIGHT???? LOL
I_KNOW_BEST : No, I am not the site admin but I am glad people actually put this site together. It’s clearly that you don’t know shit about what you are talking about. If you want to support VFW and Jamal. You shouldn’t be on here but let me just say that you can always thanks us later. It will never be too late for you to learn, it’s a life experience.. we all did!
and also I think that if people really want to volunteer pick an event that you truly believe in. Your education is not cheap, you pay with your hard earn or your parent send you to school. If someone going to make money, they should also pay you or some people who have been putting the time for organization. If you truly believe in volunteer, why not look for BC Children Hospital, Cancer Center or Make a wish foundation.. those are much better way to volunteer for good cause.
and Tyler if you want to support VFW with your real twitter name.. knock yourself out, because my name will never want to associate with VFW, bad karma, bad vibe, bad reputation. My friend warned me before decade ago but I don’t just the book by its cover… I read that book!
WHY HAS THIS NOT BEEN PUBLISHED?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Vancouver Media, please wake up! This message is important!
Our company did A/V work for VFW several years ago. They defaulted on all their payments, and made many empty promises. The following year, we declined offering our services and one of our rental clients decided to take up the gig. They got burned big time, and were never paid.
These guys are smooth talkers and downright deceitful. Those are strong words, and I will choose them intentionally.
Word of advice: Stay away.
I am just very surprised of why nobody actually want to make this known to public. They still get away with a lot of things… poor media!
On my first day interning, Jamal invited me to dinner at a five star hotel after work. I said no. On my second day, he tried to walk me home. I haven’t been back since.
ha ha ha, good girl!
I have a lot of compassion having read through most comments here. Designers out there willing to collaborate. Contact me! I have no fee to show at this time
and if we have enough Designer come together, there are plenty of quality venues willing to provide to space for the advertising and the exposure that Designers are usually forking out at VFW for doing so (It goes both ways).
I have studied and worked for decades in Paris, Hong Kong, New York, South Africa. I am a Fashion and Interior Designer I speak 6 languages have lectured for ten years for tailoring and uniform Design at a Poly and have dressed some of the best Hotels in the world from Beverly Hills to New York and Hong Kong.
I would love to organize a REAL Fashion get together in Vancouver and do it right. And create a much more fitting name then VFW. I have connections, expertise and the passion for Fashion!
It takes the right marketing package quality photographers Artists to prepare – visual marketing attract the media etc..I have connections to some of the best. There are other fabulous spaces that can connect Fashion and Art etc not every event need to be in VFW locations. that usually are boring.
You can see my profile loud and clear online since 1995. http://www.visualsenses.com I am a multifaceted Designer and that is what it takes to perform in events such as these. I’ll put in my own line that I would make specially for the even to be part of it. You can write at the bottom of my page and we can plan a head.
Thank you! Best of luck
Many of you should submit a compliant to the Fair Practices Office with WorkSafeBC.
http://www.worksafebc.com/contact_us/fair_practices_office
This is a government agency that provides a confidential way for employees or interns to submit a complaint about unfair practices in the workplace. If enough of you who have interned there submit a complaint, the government will HAVE to do something!
I was about to volunteer some time with the VFW, but I DEFINITELY will not now!
I like you already!!
Hi all! I was an intern for the VFWfall2011. Personally I had a good experience at the shows, but not because it was well-organized, but solely because of the people I met in the team. We bonded over how incompetent the producer was and how unprofessional we must’ve appeared. Jamal/producer puts a lot of pressure on the higher ranked unpaid interns to get everything somewhat organized. The location was still unsure less than a week before the first show.
The shoes for the models were borrowed after having begged and had to be returned in “new” condition. The tickets were printed on the day of the shows, no proper promotions were made. All the aftershows were failures and lacked energy and structure. I refused to work in the preparation process, because I was hired 3 weeks before the shows to recruit and bring in international designers! It was impossible to get any designer to agree to come to a Fashion week that was only a couple of days away.
At first I was unaware of the unprofessionality and felt very pressured to work late hours… for what?! Nothing! All the work I was doing was useless, and is surely lost by now. There is no address book to refer to when contacting people, and whatever work was done for fall 2011 would be lost by the next seasons shows. There is no consistency and it is like the show starts from scratch each consecutive season.
Nobody wants to “work” there for 2 seasons, without having expenses covered and without being treated well. On the show days the ticketing people did not have proper tools to access the online booking service and people who had paid tickets(which could not be proven) did sometimes not get in, or were only let in at the very last minute. Furthermore, the tickets were overpriced for such a bad event. Backstage the volunteers were overwhelmed with the nervous and annoyed designers, who had paid big amounts of money to be part of VFW. Their disappointment was often let out on interns, who had to try to make everything better. But the interns were just university students who wanted to learn from professionals, but instead they had to find solutions to a huge variety of issues all by themselves. The models were partially highschool kids or drug addicted punks as well as friends of friends of the producer or even interns. It was a great show for the fact that undergrad students organized the event after having been given huge tasks from one person: the producer. Someone had the task of web design, another intern of organizing models, others the task to get designers, yet another intern was organized to look at the financials. So one person was responsible for each big event planning category. those people with those huge task fields made VFW to what it was in April 2011. They did nothing else but work, to make VFW happen. In order to be able to see the shows happen. If only one of those “higher-ranked” interns had decided to quit or leave, VFW would have not taken place, i’m sure. I was amazed by how good the shows were when I realized that none of my colleagues were employees. All of us were Volunteers. We were such enthusiasts that we worked so hard to get the show on the road at any cost, for ourselves.
Anyway, I hope this gives you an insight to VFW and scares you off from “working” there.
Vancouver is such an amazing city and has some great potential in the fashion perspective. However, with such a production, VFW cant develop into anything bigger or better. A show like that should be prohibited and an all new VFW should be called to life, with real event planners and coordinators of the fashion industry. As of today VFW is a game to the producer and everyone plays along!!!
BTW: Jamal lives in a hotel most of the time and he is the only one profiting from VFW!!!!
Its such as you learn my thoughts! You appear to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with some % to drive the message home a little bit, however other than that, this is magnificent blog. A great read. I will certainly be back.
WoW! Check this out on fashion interns in the UK having to be paid…
http://www.elleuk.com/news/fashion-news/what-the-internship-bust-means/%28gid%29/834579
Jamal would be in hot water! There is no VFW without the interns. They make up more than 99% of VFW. VFW patrons and Vancouverites don’t be fooled into thinking that you are supporting the fashion industry. I hope the city does something about this soon. Please, if you are reading this and work for the city, please let them know what is happening!!!!!
DO I hear a occupy VFW anyone?
And yes, I was an intern, and this last VFW was such a flop and disaster, I am staying unnamed and pretending I was never involved.
very true.
I have the Twitter log-in. Shall I tweet the link to this site?
Tweet it!!
I tweeted this awhile back once I saw this website…. I think the more people who read this and help spreading the words out, the better for this to be taken care off.
The new VFW fashion is coming soon…. he is still keeping money and take advantage of people… Lame!
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I wanted to write an unbiased, constructive account of my experiences at Vancouver Fashion Week over the last 2 seasons. By no way is this intended to undermine any and all of the hard work that the volunteers, models and designers put in every season. It’s because of these talented and devoted people that this event has come as far as it has.
Vancouver Fashion Week S/S 2012 (VFW2012) has just ended and after having attended the previous 2 seasons I boycotted the event this time around. The main reason was that I just got married and was on my honeymoon, but in spite of that, I would not have attended, and barring some major changes I do not plan to attend in the future.
VFW 2011 S/S was my first experience as a blogger at a fashion show. I went through the process of introducing myself and explaining that I would love to be invited to the week’s events. I went on to say, that coverage on my blog would be a good thing for them as well as a benefit for me. A sort of “I’ll scratch your back and you scratch mine” proposition. The powers that be at VFW agreed, and I received 2 press passes, one for me and one for my photog (at the time my ever loving and devoted boyfriend and now husband).
So, there I was, bright eyed and bushy tailed, making my way to my first Vancouver Fashion Week. The first night was the gala where all the designers gave a sneak peek of a look that they’d be showing in the coming week. Other than the fact, that for no apparent reason, I wasn’t allowed to bring my photog, everything seemed to be on the up and up. The next night however, was a different story. My boyfriend and I arrived early to check in, to find out that we weren’t on the list. After running down our contact, we got our passes and entered the event. Up next was finding our spots to set up. My photog in the “pit” at the end of the runway and me in the designated media area.
After asking a few staffers, we found our places and settled in for the first show. He snapped away taking pics of every look that came down the runway, in spite of being moved to make room for every other more important photographer. Meanwhile, I madly jotted down notes about each collection. At the end of each show came the ever necessary, Redistribution of Importance. Since all the shows were held in one room, different “important” people would be seated in the front row for each show, which would consequently result in the media people being moved around in every shuffle. Somehow, on a few occasions, I was seated in the front row…I think just to make sure there wasn’t an empty seat in the pictures.
Each and every night I would head home, have some dinner around 11pm (as I went to VFW straight from work), and begin editing photos and writing my articles from the day’s events. We would usually be up until 2 or 3 am to make sure the article and photos were posted for the next morning. Then we’d be off to bed to get up at 7am to go to work and then off to VFW all over again.
I received tons of positive feedback from the models, make-up artists, stylists, and even some of the designers, commenting that my coverage was some of the only coverage and pics that they could find. I gave free photos to whoever asked and received lots of lovely comments on my posts and twitter feeds. Even after all this work, I never received an ounce of feedback from anyone at VFW. No comments, no thank you’s, nothing! And all those “important” people in the front row, didn’t so much as mention VFW on their sites.
So, naturally with a job well done and some excellent coverage, I was ready and waiting for my invite to the Fall/Winter 2011 shows. Of course I’d be invited back, right?
i had a great experience with Jamal and VFW!
it made me who I am.
http://www.killa.ca
it is what it is .
It’s a training ground for designers and social climbers.
lol my 2 cents.
dont hate , you wont get no where.
Your 2 cents – precisely that.
then how come you are not showing?
Selling a brand like “C.P company” I am sure you were able to pay a few $ to be there. I have many professional years of experience and when I contacted Mr Jamal there were X requirements to be in the show. He never replied to my proposal.
I also style for a photographer who was involved in VFW and yes they are out on all lever trying to get a free run for OTHERS money and their own profit. It’s about time to start something new who said it needs to be called VFW…
Open to any suggestions and apply my expertise at it! I am YSL trained and have worked in many fashion capitals. YVR sadly is not one of them
That’s typical Jamal, but I am happy you shared your true story on this as i am sure we all did speak out and are trying to sort this out.
I posted a link to this site on most of the posts on the VFW facebook page…hours later comments were removed and no longer permitted.
Jamal is getting the message
You right..
I have modeled for vfw for the past three years, but last year I found out that the designers thought we were getting paid, turns out they fork up a small fortune to participate and they pay more to have more models. Us models don’t see a dime. Not even for parking, which sucks because you pay $100 over the course of the week to model for free. SCAM!!!!! Where is all the money going???????
Jamal’s back pocket. Some designers pay $5000 to present at VFW. Tickets to get in are also generally overpriced. I guess he has a big family to feed back in Saudi.
“In 2005″, tons of money earned, he pay nobody. One of a make-up artist complaint she was asked to work on 9 models, kit fee is $50. She ended up working on 22 or 30 models, she said done done done. One of his photographer (aka his pet) get free ticket to sell for their own benefit, pocket money.
Someone should email a link to this site to the 50 designers who are participating this year…
I truly am surprised that this website didn’t surface sooner if there have been SO many people who have been burned and felt overburdened by working with and for VFW in the past years. I remember going to a show while I was in school and it didn’t seem very put together, the runway was taped down and noticeable, it started late and had musical and lighting difficulties. I felt terribly sorry for the designer. I did have a weird experience with VFW a few years ago, it was the fall after I had just graduated school and I hadn’t really heard negative things about VFW, I hadn’t really heard much about it general, that probably should have been a sign. Anyways, I had some meetings with the man who runs it and he said he wanted to hire me, but never made it official, he had me help out, as a test, when they were looking for models to join the show. It was terribly unorganized and so many people didn’t know what they were actually there for. It raised a red flag, he said he wanted me to help with a VFW teaser fashion show the following week at a hotel, I really wanted to be involved so I said I would. I was in charge of dressing the models and making sure all the accessories and clothing were accounted for after the show was said and done. He said the show went great and that I did an amazing show and he really wanted me involved, but never contacted me after that day to hire me. It was a strange thing
yet there is still 50 designers showing this season…..
50 designers.
50 victims of a scam.
So sad.
Very well said and there would be more victim, around the world.
I mentioned your cause in my feature for BlackBook on Vancouver’s competing fashion weeks & welcome your comments there. http://ow.ly/6QNse
Great article! Thanks for the plug.
I have volunteered for VFW for a few shows, which have always been unorganized, running late, and unprofessional. Not to mention, embarrassing to be a part of, and for our city.
I am so glad to find this blog, As a future fashion grad in Vancouver, we all need to stand up and change our industry. We need a change and a fashion show run by a group of professionals who know what they are doing and who are knowledgeable in fashion.
Not only the VFW is not organized, if you know the word “Pig Style”, that’s the best word to describe on the personal side of it.
This blog is also on a website in the UK that discusses the ethics of unpaid employment. Check it out!
http://internsanonymous.co.uk/2011/09/27/is-vancouver-fashion-week-a-complete-scam/
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Fashion+Week+thrives+fresh+energy/5496064/story.html
^^^this blog made the paper!
Woah…Just read the article. If there is a single intern out there that got paid by Jamal for 2 out of 5 months for their efforts that he claims he does, please share that you did! I can’t believe VFW interns like you exist!
Jamal paid me a $200/month transit/phone allowance for Feb/March during VFW2012 Fall/Winter. This was to cover those expenses.
If you’re gonna say something at least put your name to it people.
Tyler, you must be special that he paid you. Maybe we all need to send him a bill. If he paid you and nobody else, you are lucky that you got his money.
200$ to cover a month.. work is around 30 hours a week. so what he gave you $200!?!?!??! that’s not even PAY
Pingback: Vancouver Fashion Weak. « kaitlin.michele.style.
Big support for all exploited VFW interns from the UK. Hope someone listens.
Thank You Mark! It seems like people are starting to take this seriously.
As a buyer from Los Angeles, I was shocked and appalled by the treatment of the designers, models, interns, etc. Jamal is a terrible producer, instead of focusing on making the buyer feel welcome, he barely acknowledged who I was or why I was there.
I’m sorry Vancouver, but it took a lot to convince my bosses that Vancouver had talent to bring to LA and unfortunately, it does not. At least, it doesn’t from what VFW was able to show. I also went to the Eco Fashion Week one and was so much more impressed by the quality of the presentation but also, the designers who were presenting.
Regardless, this is fashion, if you want to sell, you need to make an impression, and Vancouver just doesn’t give the right one. It needs to have proper funding and a solid team that does know what it’s doing. The interns work hard but they don’t have the right leadership. Only 1 was able to give me proper follow-up on a show and I offered her an opportunity to work with me for a week which she gladly accepted. It was amazing to see the difference in her attitude towards fashion after we finished working on a project together. She actually learned things from me and I set her up with a list of contacts and a great recommendation.
This is by no means a knock on how hard the intern team is working or that there isn’t potential in this city. However, it is unfortunate that this was impression that Vancouver is giving off to foreign buyers, and potential investment into the fashion industry.
I am not surprised by your posting, thank you for this. Sorry you experienced the bad, not the good things about our city Fashion scene. For those who complain about name, you set a good example as you put your name with your msg. I just don’t want to have my name to associate with this, I do my own thing but I always stand up and will speak up for the rights.
This site is a good read! While the comments bashing VFW and Jamal are hilarious, I think we need to focus on the ones with opinions and ideas to improve our city`s fashion industry (in terms of fashion weeks) We need to stop trying to copy LG, Montreal and Mercedes Benz. It is just not going to happen. Firstly because of budget, Without a title sponsor there is no way to afford an event of that caliber. And why should designers (who can afford a big show) show in Vancouver when they there are already those other options. Vancouver needs to find its niche….maybe this is where eco fashion week come in? green city…green fashion week? makes sense.
I am looking forward to the 3rd Eco Fashion Week. I had a great time at the past 2 and knowing the organizers are seriously putting all they have into the event, There could be hope for a successful fashion week yet! Mens fashion week seems to be genuine, but again…no real purpose
I admire whomever took the time to put this site together, it was long over due. Unfortunately, most of the meat of it’s content is here in the discussion board, and I guess I only wish more of us would be upfront about our identities (myself included) but ah — you can’t have it all, right?
The moment I came on board with VFW, I was apprehensive. Well, that would be putting it mildly. This was not an internship, rather, a volunteer position. Anyone who goes into this thinking it would be anything but — is sadly kidding themselves.
From the interview, to the coming days — I was pretty shocked at the lack of experience, knowledge, or connections involved with VFW. Like many before have outlined, the goals that were set out were completely unrealistic, and had zero direction. Meetings would be drawn out and pointless, and the majority of people in the “office” were busy working hard on Facebook.
I gave it about four weeks or so before I threw in the towel. I honestly wanted to love the position, and get something out of it — but it quickly became clear that this operation is fuelled on the talents and skills of the volunteer staff, and no one else.
How Jamal can make a living doing this as a job is kind of the most amazing part. Honestly, how does the guy do it? How has he not been exposed for the sham he’s set up? The Province ought to know that they’re sponsoring an event of this calibre — are they aware?
Vancouver doesn’t need a Fashion Week. I’m so happy I didn’t contact a single one of my personal contacts, or really even tell people I was working with VFW — because it would only be scoffed at by industry professionals.
Good luck, VFW. Really. ‘Cause I can’t imagine how the hell you’re gonna pull it out of the hat this season.
People who are serious about shutting down VFW should consider sending in a report to Work Safe BC.
http://www.worksafebc.com/contact_us/fair_practices_office/assets/15B3.pdf
Or, send a Fraud Report…
http://www.worksafebc.com/contact_us/fraud/fraud_allegation_forms/employer/default.asp
Agree! If not, KARMA is catching up with you know who.. lol.
As terrible as VFW is………..the fact that Jamal eeeks a living off this shit is impressive….repulsive, but impressive
Impressive? Define ‘a living’. He doesn’t make any real money. He destroys more than he builds.
We are not haters, we are just people who believe in doing the right thing. My name is “Karma”
Isn’t the real one “BC Fashion Week”? It’s closed to the public but the store buyers go to it.
No.
City of Vancouver. DO SOMETHING!
Hello,
It is unfortunate to say, but I was thrilled when I found your website. I was hired over the summer for an internship at VFW for their upcoming 51 cities online magazine. When I came in for the interview it seemed professional enough and I sat down and talked with several people. My first warning should have been the fact that EVERYONE I spoke with, with one exception, were interns. That is, I was interviewed by four people one of whom was an actually paid employee, the other three were unpaid interns. My second warning should have been in the interview itself when the one person who worked there chided me for taking courses while working at a coffee shop, wondering out loud if I would be able to fully commit my time to 51 cities given my already full schedule. Clearly, this person forgot that this was an unpaid internship and that yes, I would need some income in order to live. What followed over the next couple months-I was hired in June and I left in mid August, not exactly sure of the dates- was a runaround from all directions. By the time, I did write my first article for them several interns had come and gone and I was no longer known to the new interns. Further, I came to realize that the ENTIRE 51 cities project was intern run. There were 5 or 6 writers, all interns, and one editor, an intern. There was, however, the promise that one day if it became profitable there might be the possibility of ad revenue being shared. The supposed launch of 51 cities was to be September 1. Searching for it on Google I find nothing. Not only did they have the gall to try and put out a magazine produced by the labor of unpaid, overworked interns, but for those who did the work, edited their articles and put in the effort, there is no product. This is clearly, in my view, the Western version of labor exploitation.
Keep my name private.
Haha Sept 1st? By the time they got me roped in it was pushed back to September 20th! AND they gave me this half-assed business plan which I was I quote “not to share the entire document with the other interns due to its important content”. Important my ass!?!? It was the shoddiest most underdeveloped business plan of all time. I’m tempted to post it so you all can have a good laugh. Seriously I could have written a better business plan in 10 minutes I kid you not. Want to know what was under “Brand Identity”, arguably the most import aspect as you cant really have a business if you don’t know what your business stands for, absolutely NOTHING. I’m sorry but I can’t market a magazine if you don’t know what the hell this magazine is supposed to be about. Especially with no website or even web programmer and you want me to put my good name out there to contact these people? Oh HELL-to-the-no!!! No offense to whoever wrote it because CLEARLY it is not, nor should it be and intern’s responsibility to create a business plan.
A shame designers/interns waste their time with this show, and that it is covered by Vancouver’s major newspapers. No one in the industry has taken VFW seriously, ever. It’s a scam from top to bottom.
Oh and to people who are getting emails about suing…. you can’t be sued for libel if what you are saying is true. Plus if they don’t have money for interns, doubt they have money to sue
IMO, Eco Fashion Week is run properly and has real potential to become Vancouver’s “real” fashion week.
Awesome site, I hope that it will help make some changes to Vancouver Fashion Week. I came across it by clicking on a link in a tweet.
My Experience:
I was hired on February 10th, and remained with VFW until April 13th. The posting I came across was on the UBC job board. I applied for a marketing type position, and that’s what I was initially hired for. I was on the Social Media Team first, then strayed away to different duties because he had given 12 different people the Twitter password and it was too frustrating, so I talked to another girl and moved to the Design Team, where I was in charge of e-mailing Canadian designers and inviting them to be a part of VFW. I then moved to the Hair and Make-up team where I e-mailed make-up artists inviting them to volunteer at VFW. During actual fashion week I was told to arrive 5 hours before the shows and had no specific duties, I ended up handing out water bottles, and dressing models, I stopped going after the second day because I was tired of the long days and model wrangling.
In mid-May I was called by an “HR” person and invited to help out with a magazine that Jamal is now making……. 51 Cities? Have you heard about this? I don’t know if he’s still following through with it, but he was looking for writers and graphic designers, same scoop though, nobody is going to be paid, Jamal would get money from the ads.
Let me know if I can be of anymore assistance!
I was hired to work on 51 cities. It is a scam. All the writers are interns the editor is an intern, the photographers are interns. In fact it´s rather a brilliant, no risk venture for Jamal. We do the work, if its successful, then maybe one day we will get paid, if it isn´t then well, we are only interns so we are not owed anything for our work. I can´t believe this place hasn´t been shut down. They still haven´t launched yet, and I doubt they will.
Very true.. but I have more dirt to it.
Really happy to see this blog up. Hopefully it makes a differance, or at least gets the message out there. I had a major role in VFW of November 2010 and it was a terrible experience for me. As one of the first things I got involved in upon moving here from the prairies, it definately left me with a poor view on the Vancouver’s event and fashion industry (which I have since learnt to be pretty inaccurate.) It needs to be completely revamped or ended. It is an organizational hell and a PR nightmare. I personaly warn anyone I can against being involved.
I write for a blog and we covered the last VFW that took place and attended all the late, unorganized, badly produced shows over the summer. Though I am not an intern, I have a friend who was an assistant to a highly reputable designer from Korea. She was shocked and astonished with the lack of organization in VFW and said the designer who traveled across the world for this scam was also upset. He said ” I went from showing in front of 1000 people with a symphony in the background, to a poorly structured carpet runway.” I think VFW is a disgrace to the Fashion industry and especially designers who were invited under false pretences. I feel bad for the interns that had to work for VFW. I am glad you have started this site and I hope that it warns the rest of the future interns that get excited and then crushed by VFW management. The best advice I can give you is apply to be an intern for a specific designer or fashion house, it is a much better experience and one that you can learn from!
First things first… I commend that someone has finally publicly voiced this issue. Unfortunately, you’ve done it seemingly anonymously. You need to stand behind your words, (everyone on here) and post and discuss as yourself. Anyone posting opinions online anonymously will never be taken seriously.
VFW is nothing short of an embarrassing mess. The fact that this highschool quality event continues to occur and somehow represent our city (even if only by name) is a complete mystery and glaring failure of the city to not monitor and take an active role in the arts and related industries and stay abreast of these kinds of detrimental organizations.
I feel little empathy for the young string of interns who continue to get involved in this sham. Do 2 seconds of research and you’ll discover it’s reputation. The moment you meet Jamal in his ill-fitting mismatched suits and see how he presents himself should be clear warning enough. Unfortunately, no one seems to want to take responsibility for their bad judgment in getting involved at all.
Much like the film industry, far too many eager and naive people clamor to ‘get into the industry’ agreeing to work for free and align themselves with the bottom feeders and con-men of these respective fantasy-lands.
Let’s set something straight for once and for all:
This is Vancouver. There is next to no discernible clout or benefit to be gained by ‘interning’ in this city. Read that again. Like it or not, this is not New York. Interning in Vancouver is not remotely in the same realm of possibilities as interning in another established market.
Who in their right mind actually thinks Vancouver Fashion Week carries any clout, respect or weight in the minds of professionals outside of this city?
Show me one international magazine of note that covers Vancouver Fashion Week; and I don’t mean letting a local blogger go to the show then blog about it ‘for _______ magazine’. That is not coverage. I mean one single fashion magazine that sends writers, photographers, notable journalists or even industry professionals to attend, cover and then publish a multiple-page editorial on the event. Name one?
What about this event poses any benefit to anyone other than Jamal?
Name one career it has launched?
Name one real buyer that attends and puts those designer’s collections into stores?
Name one professional or celebrity of note that attends and supports it? Bringing more or any media coverage?
I, like many people complaining on here have been guilty of being an armchair activist when it comes to Vancouver’s Fashion situation or lack thereof. I’ve talked about the issues concerning VFW AND BCFW at length with both people that matter and people that don’t.
I threw my log into the fire when I created and launched StyleQuotient.ca. I do my part everyday to elevate the fashion perception and reality in this city. I have put Vancovuer’s style and fashion in front of the eyes of not just our locals, but the eyes of industry professionals, publications and fashion minds around the world. I stand behind my opinions, have no problem saying what I think and back it up with actual effort, professionalism and quality.
In this case, criticism is important and justified, but more importantly, something actually needs to be done about it. Either Vancouver has a proper, professional and city-supported fashion event or nothing at all. There are far too many half-hearted, low quality fashion events in this city and I rarely attend given the insignificance of each of them.
Here is my final constructive 2cents…
1. Vancouver needs a ‘Fashion Council’ made up of industry professionals and recognized by the city to oversee any such event.
2. In order to create this infrastructure, the city’s fashion professionals (not hopefuls) need to step up and get involved.
3. Local arts communities need to band together and support the fashion community to elevate to a professionally recognized stature.
4. The city needs to step in and look into VFW’s practises and track record. If Jamal wishes to continue hosting fashion events he should only be allowed to do so without the ‘Vancouver’ designation and the perception this creates.
6. Students and fashion hopefuls need to wake up and wipe the eagerness from their eyes and use their best judgement in accepting ‘opportunities’ and ‘internships’.
Lastly, given Vancouver’s relatively small size in comparison to other fashion markets, it is more realistic to consider a joint yearly event in partnership with other smaller markets on the west coast until each city has a footing substantial enough to host their own event. By substantial, I mean an event that has mutual benefit for the event producers, the designers and the fashion community that hosts it. Until then these are nothing but private talent shows.
Any fashion-savvy person with a milligram of taste and judgement will do as I have done… distance myself from this event and the people involved.
Regards,
Paul Melo
http://www.StyleQuotient.ca
I agree with Melo. I could tell Jamal was a scam the minute I met him! The city needs a Fashion Council, and VFW should not have ‘Vancouver’ in the name if it’s associated with a scam.
Trust me, my story is worst.. lol. No longer associate with, true colours after all this year. Heard the bad and was trying to focus the good but at the end.. it was too much, too greed and self-centred !!
I mean “years”, the insight? Knowing too much info and disgusted.
Woah!!! A real fashion professional finally! Hey Paul, hope the city reads your ’2 cents’. I was only an intern for 2 weeks and have never actually been to VFW but something was really wrong behind the scenes, thats for sure. Reached my limit after finding out all the figures we used for media were fake.
We were never exposed to a single professional in our esl classroom, so its good to hear some solid professional input finally! (pretty sure) Know who started this but understand why they didn’t want to reveal themselves. Tough spot for an intern to be in! Got an email from VFW saying anyone who takes part of this may be …blah blah blah for libel. even I don’t wanna reveal my name after this shell shock of an experience!
Also, cool blog! Hope to see you on the streets with your camera one day.
Well said, Paul.
As a local writer I can say that I do not cover VFW for my own blog or for Vitamin Daily because it is simply not worth it.
There DOES need to be a fashion council in Vancouver, to monitor the industry and make sure that tragic events like VFW do not happen. I would love to be part of some sort of council, but I think there needs to be government support too. Since Quebec is the only province that gives money to the fashion industry, I can’t see that happening soon.
Anyway, I URGE anyone considering an internship at VFW to find something else. Don’t do it! As a lecturer, I always tell my students not to, as it is on par with slave labour, and no one in the local industry will take this experience seriously. VFW is a joke.
Lastly, Paul, one thing I have to disagree with you on is the state of internships in Vancouver. There are companies worth interning for in Vancouver, but they have to be organized structures that can provide the student with a great learning experience. VFW is not one of these companies.
Well said Paul! I’m glad someone was finally unafraid to put their name out there and share their opinion. Bravo!
This is my first internship and I feel so much pressure to do well but I don’t know how because the is no instruction or strategy on how to complete my tasks. I think it is strange that there is nothing in our office and that no one talks to each other. I think we are all scared to. I really want to work in fashion though and I thought this would be a good step but now I really don’t think it was.
This has been my first experience interning and it has not been a good experience so far. After just a few minutes I realised that there is no guidance and young inexperienced people are expected to make themselves busy with pointless work. No one seems to be in charge and there are no boundaries! Do not waste your time, however good you think this will look on your resume, it is not a recognised internship!
I don’t know what the new designers think of vancouver fashion week but after attending the last fashion week, I feel sorry for anyone who gets sucked in. My middle school had a better stage and lighting for our fashion show. Some of the designers were very talented but with that backdrop and those models, even the name vancouver fashion week could not save them! The stage was a scroll of photo paper!!!!! Wow, that doesn’t seem fair when people are spending thousands…. where is the money going? Clearly not towards the production. Someone is pocketing big time.
Jamal does not care about Vancouver fashion at all. In fact, Im gonna go out on a limb and say he doesn’t care about fashion PERIOD.
I don’t know why he has done this for so long but it is not for the fashion, that is clear in his production.
And lets talk about production for a minute… what fashion show producer sits in the front row? That’s absurd! Would you be concerned if your pilot was sitting next to you in coach?
They also seat interns to fill the front row when the shows are dead, and he gets them to take off their name tags or put on a coat.
He cares about how many people he can screwed over, and how much money he can earns in his pocket. That’s about it.
if any fashion week wants to get noticed they are going to have put every start up penny they have into production….even if it means not turning a profit for several years
Interns interviewing interns interviewing interns interviewing interns.
Interns hiring interns hiring interns hiring interns.
Interns training interns training interns training interns.
Interns managing interns managing interns managing interns.
And the producer is nowhere to be found.
I interned on the design team and when I asked why we didn’t focus on Vancouver designers, I was told by the producer Jamal in front of the entire design team that it was because they were not good enough and that this year it was going to be ‘bigger and better!’. I find this such a stab to Vancouver’s back and somehow I don’t believe this answer given was the truth. There is now the Eco Fashion Week Vancouver which seems to have much better production and great local designers to boot! I feel like I am working a scam in some boiler room with no location, website, models, makeup artists, no concrete information! And I have to ask for money! Many of these designers are emerging and are really weighing how much it would cost and if they could budget it. I hate to think if anyone took out a loan to come for this ‘opportunity’ to ‘West Coast’s most prestigious event’, as we are told to tell them. Honestly, I have seen so many people try to talk to Jamal about issues or concerns and he just scoffs at everyone and is not open to any dialogue. I just don’t see how anything can change with him there because he is the only one that does not see these problems and said anyone who talks against his ’10 years of experience is an idiot’.
I wanted to go into the fashion industry to support all the local talent here and change peoples mind about Vancouverites only wearing sweatpants and ed hardy, but I never expected to not only have to leave my first work experience early, but be part of something that thought Vancouver Fashion designers were not good enough for. I can’t believe this is going on with the support of the city. I have never written on a forum before but this experience has drove me to it. Please do what you want with my comment.
This is a very interesting blog. I was just in the process of applying to do a week long unpaid practicum for VFW, and would be travelling to complete it.
I still may do it, just because I want the experience in Vancouver, but this is definitely giving me some things to consider and prepare for. I just hope that if I do get the practicum, Jamal is prepared to deal with ME!
Don’t worry about getting the practicum or not, because they basically hire anybody that sends in a resume. Free labor is what they’re after. In terms of dealing with you… he will listen to you and then tell you he will think about it. Nothing will be ‘dealt with’.
Good luck with that, you will be assisting in a scam. You should do it if you’re ok with stealing from designers and putting your name on a fashion show that looks like it was produced in an elementary school! Maybe you should read ALL the comments.
You WILL BE ACCEPTED, and if you still decide to travel for this practicum, we wish you luck.
NEWS FLASH!
November is too late for the 2012 buying season.
That’s alarming. I can’t buy past October.
that’s always been the problem with VFW, quite apart from anything else. The first season was a big production at Canada Place and was super pro, but even with that level of production, its timing will always make it a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.
This is abuse of the internship program and it should not be happening in Canada. I’ll be Tweeting this!
Vancouver fashion week was a total smooze, in that magazine reporters, or buyers were given junkets, etc, but the general audience got nothing but confusion, not only that as I was trying to bring my designs to the fashion week was quickly dismissed, and when I tried for one of the fashion stylist positions one had to have a whole lot of experience and a degree and the payment was zilch. You be very lucky for me to have anything to do with the fashion week. Even the wholesale fashion week is all over the place. The advertisement was distributed properly, but once you got there all one received was a huge disappointment, and I have been to three years in a row. Enough is enough. And when you have fashion shows somewhere else, one doesn’t find out until it is fully booked, I guess only the privledged are allowed to go. especially if one Chinese. as noted at the last fashion show.
I would like to stay anonymous but share my experience with VFW.
I have two experiences with VFW.
First experience: I was labelled as a “Front of House Staff Volunteer.” As a volunteer, I already knew I was at the bottom of the fashion week hierarchy. However, this did not mean that I didn’t know how an event should be run. I have never seen such an uncoordinated event with so much chaos ever in my life. I didn’t expect to see tent shows, as you do in NY Fashion week, or other major fashion capitals, but my expectations were destroyed. People who were higher up on this fashion hierarchy, did not even know what they were doing. Their “titles” went straight to their heads. Overall bad first experience. I would never have expected myself to have a second experience with VFW, but I did.
Second experience: I was given the title of “PR Intern,” if you could even begin to call my so called internship that. As an undergrad student in University, I already have a demanding time schedule. On top of school, I was asked to dedicate HOURS (and when I mean hours, I mean more than 24 hours a day) of time a week, beyond imagine, to help create databases from international media outlets. I was given the responsibility to take care of countries based on my ethnic background! Can we say rude? On top of that I was given small countries and expected to have over 300+ media outlets for all of them. Impossible task, especially when we are talking about undeveloped countries as well. On top of creating pointless, unrealistic databases that wasted my time, I was required to meet with Jamal from time to time for a “meeting” in which all he would do was sit there and criticize me about topics that did not even relate to my “internship.” When fashion week actually rolled around, I was given the task of being front of house staff AS A PUBLIC RELATIONS intern!! Are you kidding me? This is what I was doing as a volunteer. To top everything off, during fashion week, I would leave early because I had nothing to do and no one would even notice!! Talk about keeping track of what the people who are working for you are doing!
All in all, I felt like I wasted so much of my time with VFW. I learnt nothing and lost time I will never be able to gain back. I really hope Vancouver can attempt to create a fashion scene! I would love to take part in something like that.
Sincerely,
A Depressed Fashionista
Edmonton Fashion Week is just as bad!
Edmonton has 0 potential to be a fashion capital, though. It’s like doing a “Surrey Fashion Week”. Edmonton’s not even on the map.
We were approached to be corporate sponsors for the Vancouver Fashion Week, and let me tell you… they were asking us for up to $75,000! The minimum “fee” was something like $15,000. Keep in mind, this is on TOP of the thousand dollars (minimum) the designers are paying to even “showcase” their collections.
Those poor designers… They prey on the foreigners (hence why 90% of you who were hired as interns are ethnic). They hire the interns to contact designers from their “home countries” and recruit them to VFW. Dirty, sketchy, unethical. Keep in mind, these collections are being showcased AFTER buying season… which means no legitimate buyers will purchase items from a collection AFTER the coinciding season has passed! These poor foreign designers have no idea.
That shotty 3-star hotel costs them next-to-nothing. That piece of plastic they TAPE DOWN on the ground with DUCT TAPE costs nothing. Seriously, the duct tape probably costs more.
Even better? The event is a FIRE HAZARD. I am immediately related to someone in the fire department, and it is extremely illegal to pack that many people in that shit hole.
As someone who has been heavily involved in the Vancouver fashion world (IT DOES EXIST! Just NOT with VFW), I can honestly say it has a HORRIBLE reputation amongst “anybody who’s anyone”. The real fashion events take place all the time in places like Yaletown, False Creek and Gastown. Not the god damn Empire Landmark. There’s so much talent exploding in this city, and it sucks THIS COMPANY is at the forefront. I recommend checking out Social City Networking and LuvnGrace if you’re looking to check out GOOD, genuine fashion shows that are made for people who can appreciate art and fashion. These groups don’t pull in large profits by any means, yet throw lovely intimate events all the time and showcase local talent. I think they also do internships.
Canada: Unfair Internships are illegal there too
The Globe and Mail, a national Canadian newspaper, has an article about unpaid internships with interesting comparisons with the United States.
‘While most internships in Canada have traditionally been paid, tightening budgets and hiring freezes may mean some stipends for internships may soon disappear, says Bill Weber, Toronto-based head of human resources for Drake International. It’s one step away from what is already happening in the United States, where competition for jobs is even more ferocious – so much so that some eager interns are actually forking over thousands of dollars to pay for the privilege of an internship position.
It illustrates well where the road to unfair internships leads: more unfair internships. No wonder it’s illegal.
The editor of the Toronto edition of Metro, a free newspaper (based in Sweden, of all places), tells the world that it is about to break the law.
Earlier this month, the company’s Toronto office laid off four unionized reporters and columnists, saying it will instead use paid freelancers and wire copy for content, and its unpaid interns for copy-editing functions.
A Canadian lawyer recommends to employers to sign a contract with the intern:
A clear statement that the intern is not an employee and will not receive any remuneration.
Details of the training the intern will receive, how long it will last and how it benefits the intern.
Explicitly state that the internship brings with it no possibility of an offer of employment.
What the level of supervision will be and who will provide it.
Whether the intern’s performance will be reviewed and how.
An ability for the employer to end the internship and how it would be done.’
I wish to remain anonymous.
I worked with VFW last season. For me the most troubling matter was that my school referred me to the program, but my mentors were also interns. I learned absolutely nothing! Furthermore, schools need to be more accountable for where they send their students. If this represents a real-world work environment, then I’m not interested in working!
Fashion Week is designed to showcase new talent, but most importantly it is for buyers to pick-up new lines, except the show itself completely misses the buying season. The same school that sent me on this placement is the same school that taught me this! Vancouver Fashion Week is not part of the fashion industry or Vancouver Tourism, I later found out that it was incorporated and mismanaged by one man. More importantly employers need to follow a code of conduct.
We all talked about doing something like this last season, but nothing came together.
Thank you Vancouverfashionweak.com for doing this, I find it brave and honourable.
This blog is coward!
Coward is not facing the facts. This is exploitation. And if we don’t do anything nothing will change! Plus internship requires leadership. Am I to forget about the summer that I wasted on NOTHING? I’m down right upset. I hope the right people see this, I know my fashion program will find out. My parents are writing the school a letter, and I’m sending one to the Georgia Straight.
Enough!
For out side Canada, he charges $1200 min from the student designers, $2500 to new professional, and $5000 to established one. This price may already changed.
Jamal offers trumped up Job titles with no pay and lot’s if hours. No references are given after and only those who don’t ask for pay are asked to come back for the next season. VFW should be amazing with talented individuals from the Fashion Industry who are being paid their worth
At the very least minimum wage. This is a hot topic in the Canadian Government right now. It’s good to see a united front that stands up for themselves. Way to go Vancouver!
I have too many negative comments to share, all the above were wright on the ball. As a MUA, I worked the show 3 seasons…. all no pay nor any sort of compensation or credit.EVERYONE that I talk to in my make-up chair has a bad comment about the show and Jamal, including some pretty serious accusations of inappropriate conversations and touching of models. Models have been exploited big time in this City and he prays on them!
As of now, I discourage anyone from entering the show and I am truly happy to see this blog!
Many of us industry pro’s have talked about doing this, but you have and I do hope it sheds light on this major embarrassment!
I lasted 2 days. I wasted my time and need a new internship. Any suggestions?
You know why? Because people in this city go nuts about “VFW” , that’s stupid !
FINALLY I am so glad that this blog is happening! I feel sorry for fashion/film students in all of Vancouver who keep getting sucked into organizations and programs that are 99% RIP YOU OFF and 1% Name/Lies!! Vancouver is NOT New York, LA, Toronto, Montreal, Tokyo, etc; it is a place that is constantly trying to capitalize on it’s own precarious reputation as “Hollywood North” and an ‘exploding(?) fashion capital’.
And here’s the big secret: THERE IS NONE! N-O-N-E! The ONLY THING RELATED TO FILM/FASHION THAT HAS ANY CHANCE OF SUCCEEDING HERE IS THE WILLPOWER AND CREATIVITY OF INDIVIDUALS AND INDIE MARKETS!!!
Go forth and do your own thing, then move it to a more profitable/supportive city!! Vancouver is one step away from eating itself from the inside out with outrageous housing prices, rising taxes, low wages and hollow idealism!! Find somewhere worth your time and effort that the rest of the world gives a shit about, and the happier you will be
!!!!
I can’t believe i wasted so much time!!!!!!! aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!
WHY DID MY SCHOOL SAY THIS WAS A REAL ORGANIZATION!?!
As a recent graduate of Blanch McDonald in the fashion and merchandising program I had heard a lot of rumours from my older fashion friends. Thank you for confirming this because in the back of my mind I thought I would be missing out on something. Now I can rest easy.
I support the city moving on to a fresh start, and give us fashion graduates something to be excited about. This should be run by the city and by a panel of peers.
I wish to remain ANONYMOUS or under an alias if any of my quotes are to be published or used in an expose. Please respect my wishes, and don’t screw it up like Vancouver Fashion Week.
Length of internship: May to September, 2011
Position: Undergraduate student
I first heard of Vancouver Fashion Week through viewing their internship opening in my faculty’s job database. Having had previous experience in high school executing an act in a fashion show, and my interest in public relations, I applied, thinking there was a chance for me to get accepted due to my previous experiences, coupled with the impression that this would look good on my resume and see whether it could open up a new career path for me. Three hours after I sent in cover letter and resume I get a phone call for an interview downtown.
When I arrived at the office building Vancouver Fashion Week was located for my interview, I was greeted by Jamal Abdourahman, who led me to the office on the fifth floor. My immediate first impression was that the office was really small and improperly furnished for such a ‘prestigious’ organization. I was immediately taken to a small room where Jamal proceeded with the interview.
My first impression of Jamal was that he was haughty, and put great effort into being as intimidating as he could be. It was clear from his reading of my application, that he had not read my cover letter or my resume beforehand. He threatened that they were going to make sure “everything written on the cover letter is accounted for”, and that they take it extremely seriously; which although I thought was possible, it was highly unrealistic, considering the amount of interns the organization planned to hire. He also made attempts to put me on the edge of my seat; when asking me how do I consider my writing skills, I made the humble comment that I thought I wrote pretty well. I felt I didn’t need to say much, the achievements of my written communication are already written on my cover letter and resume. He then intimidated me, asking “you think you write well?”, which surprised me, although I simply answered yes as a reply. After considering my application for a few more minutes, he abruptly told me to leave and come back in an hour. “Go walk around or something, there’s a mall next door”. While I was displeased at the disregard for my time, I wanted the job; so I went out and came back in an hour’s time, of which it was confirmed that I got the position.
In my application, I put myself under consideration for either event management and/or public relations. Instead I was first put into a magazine side project, and subsequently in the designer’s team, where Jamal wanted me to contact designers from my home country. I took up the challenge, but I must be honest I was also a little disheartened; these positions were not what I signed up for.
During the job I faced numerous dysfunctional occurrences which I felt hindered my productivity and dampened my enthusiasm for the internship:
The VFW office has about 20+ college table-chairs, one computer, and a kitchen. That was it. No office supplies, little space, no records of past designers/contacts/external producers/buyers/media/journalists/socialites/industry professionals, NOTHING. Not even a properly functioning internet connection, which would disconnect randomly when there are too many people gathered and using it in a single room. Everybody that joined literally had to start from scratch. Later on I realized that this office didn’t even really belong to the organization; it was a room simply borrowed from an ESL course. In the latter part of my internship, Jamal required that everyone on the designer’s team went to the office at least 3 times a week, otherwise they would be kicked out of the internship. I found this both frustrating and unreasonable, because there was no resources the office could offer, and additionally effective communication regarding work was close to non-existent either way.
Next was the vagueness of our tasks. If I had a dollar for every time somebody in the office said they didn’t know what was going on, my wealth would have surpassed Warren Buffet’s by now and I would have just quit school. Nobody ever seemed to know what they were really doing. Deadlines and schedules were often loosely kept, or never followed up on. I was on the writing team in creating material to be put on the magazine, but the submission feedback date kept getting postponed, or Jamal would ignore the material sitting in his email, waiting for his approval, until nobody even knew what happened to the work we put in, nor where it was anymore. Templates for contacting designers/trade commissioners/institutions kept changing, and there are continuously errors that needed to be fixed in the designer packages. Errors like the season (F/W 2011 instead of S/S 2012)! Why was there nobody to verify these errors before they get sent out?! Moreover there is no protocol, nor any resources for us to reply to the designers when they return the invitation with their own specific queries. As I mentioned previously, no records were kept of this whatsoever. That needed to be compiled up as we went along and/or improvised on the spot. Nobody was informed/guided about these issues beforehand. I found this extremely embarrassing on our part, and unfair to the designers, which should not be expecting such lack of professionalism.
The turning point which capitulated my negative impression of the organization permanently was when I saw the video footage of last season’s show. The venue, despite it being held at a hotel, was small and shoddy. The catwalk was not a proper platform, but just laid out, seamlessly-joined-together sheets of plastic. The models, I was told, were volunteers hired off craigslist; for all I knew maybe they were even picked off the street on the last minute, considering that most of them had inappropriate body measurements for catwalk modeling, lacked the facial features/looks of high fashion models, and worst of all, none of them could walk! I could only watch in horror and thought to myself, “no wonder I’m getting no responses from my contacted designers. This production is utter trash! If I were a designer I would not want to showcase my collection here either”. Later on, I could only inwardly scoff when Jamal talks about how the designers should feel privileged to be on VFW; what really should be said was that Vancouver Fashion Week should be glad that any designers paid to showcase at all.
As for Jamal Abdourahman, he lacks the essential qualities quintessential for being an effective leader. From my experiences interacting with him as an intern, Jamal is rude, unrealistic, and unreliable. Rude, because he would often interrupt interns mid-sentence while they were explaining something, or interrupt meetings by interjecting his opinion when it was not asked for, be needlessly and unnecessarily intimidating (you can tell that he tries, by the way), or not give you his full attention. Unrealistic, because he expects you to put VFW as your no.1 priority; he expected me to have contacted at least 200+ designers during my first two months there. Not all of them have a website or email I could easily refer to, and to contact through internationally calling would mean I would have to pay the expenses out of my own pocket, which I am unwilling to do for an unpaid internship. Unreliable, because he was never there when we needed him to be; whenever crucial decisions needed to be made, he never seemed to be in the office. He promised to buy calling cards in order to contact foreign designers, he did not do that. He dragged me to the office at the last minute to meet a media person downtown in case any deals could be made, only to tell me after two hours of waiting there (with an additional half hour delay) that he “could not find her” and that the meeting was cancelled. He kept saying he will look at the chequing account to make sure the confirmed designers have paid, but even with the head of the designer team prodded him over and over again on this issue, he almost never took the time.
In the end, the main things I have learnt from the experience were not the things I expected to learn. I did not learn about actual event management and planning. I learnt nothing about public relations. However, I did learn about the importance of guidance and leadership in an the workplace, and what the lack of it does to the organization. I learnt about my reactions towards co-workers and a work environment which I didn’t like. And I learnt how important it is for an organization to have structure, goals, strategy, knowledge transfer, and standards; because Vancouver Fashion Week is an organization that has little to none of these qualities. And look how that turned out.
Very well said, your post is the truth about him!
if you want to be a fake fashion show con artist that’s fine, but don’t use Vancouver’s name!
this blog is a waste of time. whoever came up with this idea, or is here complaining, just go to the office and confront the producer, do something proactive to actually change the situation.
the producer is kinda creepy
No, he is not really creepy, he is a snake!
Trust me. Many of us have. He does nothing. That is the problem. So now its up to the city. This is the most proactive thing that has happened since i joined and then quit.
What office? The ESL class? LOL!
I didn’t think about the ESL class, yes, you are so right! You know why? If the student contact the designers from out of Canada, those designers would more likely like to showcase their work here, and so then they would probably willing to pay him, the more designers the better for him. He charges $1200 – $5000 per designer, depending on their skill level, so now if he runs that shows 4x a year, and get the people to sponsors and volunteers to with the event, good money, why wouldn’t he stop doing it, everyone else seem to be ok with working for him for free.
I agree jamal is a inappropriate. Why is he responsible for VFW? Does the city really know what’s going on? I took my internship from Korea and I can not tell my parents. Who can I talk to about this? I wanted real work experience.
He called me on a weekend asking if I wanted to go to a concert with him.
It was really weird, and I said “no thanks”. I didn’t go back after that.
He’s creepy.
I met Jamal at nightclub. He really weird..he asked me and my girlfriend that was with me to model for him fashion show. I thought he was just saying that.
I got this link this morning, at first I thought it was something funny.
This is not funny at all.
How could this go on for so long?!?
The city needs to step in!
I 100% agree that VFW is not organized very well. I had an internship that was not what I expected and a huge disappointment.
However, while I admire that you created a forum to talk about things, an anonymous website created by an anonymous entity allowing anonymous comments is a spineless way of fixing things. The only intent here is to hurt of even kill VFW. Should the goal not be more positive to ensure that VFW can continue in a more appropriate manner?
I would wish that VFW could continue in a more appropriate manner but the brand itself is tainted. If you have been a part of VFW and tried to contact sponsors yourself in downtown you will see that many refuse to work with VFW given its lack of delivery on promises to sponsors in the past.
It might be better to start fresh with a new brand and organization.
Pretty sure VFW killed itself. Come on, it is just a guy Jamal who incorporated the name and is using everyones trust in the name ‘Fashion Week’ and the city ‘Vancouver’ into thinking this is legit. But there is nothing ‘Fashion Week’ about this. Did you see the ‘catwalk’? Would you travel half way around the world to put your clothes on that? Honestly. He abused peoples trust in the brand ‘Fashion Week’, but if he was running this model under any other type of business with no paid employees and over 100+ free interns each season for 10 years, he would have been shut down a long time ago. He is abusing the fashion industry to the max!
The only spineless person here is Jamal.
He survives because he has some people who also used him and put the funding into this project, he will not last without them.
First of all, I would like to say that I admire the effort of this blog to incite communication. People should always be given a space to talk and share their ideas. What I find tremendously wrong with this particular concept of unmasking the “truth” about Vancouver Fashion Week is the manner in which it is being done. Communication is the key to every human interaction and can lead to great things, but not when it is not proactive and spurred simply out of hate and dissatisfaction. The best way to go about changing Vancouver Fashion Week, the organization that has so many flaws as pointed out by many of you, is by direct communication with the people who organize it, not through an anonymous (public) forum in which people can vent, but not contribute to solving any problems.
Moreover, the fact that this forum is public can generate much more problems and harm than solutions. First of all, Vancouver Fashion Week is not an organization that revolves around one man, and does not exist only for him. There are several designers, buyers, and media outlets that have now partnered with Vancouver Fashion Week in an effort to promote themselves and their businesses. These businesses are now being harmed by every single word on this page. It is not their fault that VFW might be less than what most of you expected out of an internship, and now because of rash decisions, their association with VFW may bring negative repercussions as opposed to the benefits they were expecting (and that they would, whether you care to admit it or not, definitely achieve given the public exposition VFW promotes).
Now bringing it even closer to us, the interns of Vancouver Fashion Week. You know, and I know, that the business is not run as we might have expected, but does your future employer know that? Now they do. The reason most of us joined the VFW team was to gain experience in areas we might have never been able to dabble in. We all know how hard it is to get a position that is not entry level when you are still in university or a recent graduate. Again, whether you care to admit it or not, you were given a chance to perform tasks that were above your level of expertise, were able to communicate with people you wouldn’t have been able to, and learned how to be resourceful and acquire different skills from the people around you. Because of the public character of this website, the many months I spent working at VFW trying to build up the three sentences in my resume might have been spent in vain. Who knows which future employers are going to stumble upon this website and decide that anyone who has VFW on their resume is unqualified?
If the aim of this website was to warn the future interns of VFW, then it might have served its purpose, but unfortunately it has a lot of potential to harm the interns that have already dedicated their time, energies, and name to VFW. Again, I agree that problems should be acknowledged, solutions proposed, and issues addressed, but I’m afraid this website might be doing the opposite of what it aims to achieve, and might end up hurting all the interns it is promising to protect.
True internship requires structure. Hierarchy. But this is only one layer of the shit cake. Look at the big picture buddy, it’s a type of exploitation and a scam. You’re concerned about your volunteered time and alignments? What about the designers that have no idea the show is being thrown together for a few grand and the producer is pocketing the rest? Have you checked with Revenue Canada to see what they have to say? Where are the big corporate sponsors? Put your ear to the ground, the city will tell you everything you need to know.
Sounds like you are suffering from Stockholm syndrome.
Thanks for your input, buddy.
I agree with you that there are problems with the organization, and at no moment did I say it was perfect. I understand that there is total lack of accountability, and thank you, maybe that is what we should be focused on, finding the problems, proposing proactive solutions to this problem, and asking valid questions because I don’t know what Revenue Canada has to say, I don’t know who the corporate sponsors are, and I don’t know where the money goes. But I do believe a future intern has the right to know.
What I don’t agree with is the method through which these complaints are being voiced, the possible lack of effect they may have, and the people who might be affected. The bigger picture is exactly what I am looking at because by taking an anonymous route and not directly confronting the producer of the show, not much is going to change. It is much easier to complain on a blog than take direct and immediate action.
Sounds like you should throw in the towel. Let it go.
Information is power.
I admire the people that use this blog to “take direct and immediate action”.
I understand your worry with where you and current interns etc stand but I am voicing my concern not out of hatred but because after working with VFW and talking to past interns from various seasons, the issues you have today are the same ones that they have had for many years and it seems that it impossible for change when the very basis of the organization is based on a scam. I understand you have invested time and so have I but my concern is that many people have, and if nothing is done many people in the future will have these same experiences. We come from a polite society here in Vancouver where we are afraid to hurt peoples feeling and would rather avoid conflict, but I think 10 years is enough. Imagine if Vancouver were to move past this and a talented group of professionals were able to truly produce a well respected fashion show.
http://summit.sfu.ca/item/771
Someone took the time to write an in depth final project in their Masters program at SFU that outlines all the issues with Vancouver Fashion Week. After another intern sent it to me, I understood that these are not just my frustrations. This is why I wanted a space to hear other comments, suggestions and solutions. I know this site is not perfect or polished but because I felt the work environment so stifling, I needed to connect with others to try and deal with this problem at hand. Many people have dedicated time and money into this season may not be happy with this site, but I do not want them or future designers, sponsors, interns etc investing so much with so little in return.
As I said earlier, ‘this site is not intended to hurt the Vancouver fashion industry in any way but to stop the producer of Vancouver Fashion Week from exploiting students and recent graduates for their well meaning free labour, as well as exploiting emerging and established designers with sub par production.’ I do not say this in a malicious way but from a place of concern for both interns and designers. Maybe the word ‘weak’ come across as bias, but it is not a reflecting whatsoever the individual interns volunteering their valuable time but more how I feel that this whole process is a scam of a not so master mind.
I will be happy to take constructive critiques with how to make this page more neutral if you would like to email me directly.
Thank you for your response and I appreciate your effort to make clear that this site is not meant to reflect the efforts of the volunteers. I hope that you understand where I’m coming from. As I said from the start, I think that conversation is exactly what we need, especially in order to fix something that might be beyond our powers as single volunteers, and especially when the concerns being written down are shared by so many people. Again, what I have a problem with is the method you have chosen to do this. I know that a website that allows for anonymity is the best way to get people talking, but it is also a place where there is zero accountability (and isn’t that one of the biggest problems we are objecting to?). I applaud your effort to get the ball rolling, to make people think about the problems that exist at VFW, to share opinions, and to mobilize themselves to take action. But how about a round table discussion involving the producers of the show? How about designing a business plan? Asking the producer for records of where the money is going? And how about waiting until after this show is done, because if there is no show, where is all the money that has already been spent going to?
If you are willing to organize an open discussion that aims to proactively change something, I would be happy to take part in it. Because you are right, “Imagine if Vancouver were to move past this and a talented group of professionals were able to truly produce a well respected fashion show.”
Sounds 3rd world.
-150 VOLUNTEERS RECYCLING THROUGH A BORROWED ESL CLASSROOM LIKE SOME PUPPY MILL WITH NO TABLES, COMPUTERS, PHONES WHILE HAVING TO SIT IN CHAIRS WITH A SMALL SHOULDER TO PLACE YOUR LAP TOP ON THAT CAN BARELY GET YOU THROUGH A UNIVERSITY CLASS, LET ALONE 8 HOUR WORK DAYS 5+ DAYS A WEEK. TAKES EATING AT YOUR DESK TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL.
- THE STALE RECYCLED AIR SUCKS ANY CREATIVITY OR ENTHUSIASM WE WOULD HAVE OUT OF US. COMMUNICATION IS AT AN ALL TIME LOW WHICH PREVENTS ANY EFFICIENT WORK REALLY BEING DONE. EVERYONE I HAVE MET IS EXTREMELY BRIGHT, YET THIS ENVIRONMENT SEEMS TO INSPIRE NOTHING OUT OF US. MAYBE ITS THE SMELL OF EXPLOITATION IN THE AIR.
- WE ARE GIVEN NO DIRECTION WHATSOEVER BUT ARE CONSTANTLY BARKED DEMANDS OF EXCELLENCE FROM A ‘LEADER’ WHO CYCLES THROUGH HIS CLOTHES SLOWER THAN SOME OF THE INTERNS COMING AND GOING.
-MY FIRST DAY ENTAILED ME GETTING THE JOB, THEN BEING ASKED TO INTERVIEW OTHERS TO JOIN THE FASHION WEEK TEAM…WTF! FOLLOWED BY AN INVITE FOR A DRINK BY THE UNNAMED ‘LEADER’ AT SOME HOTEL LOBBY. MY MOTHER WARNED ME ABOUT MEN LIKE THESE.
- I STAYED ON ONLY TO BELIEVE THAT THE MAYOR SUPPORTED AND CALLED THIS THE OFFICIAL FASHION WEEK, LATER FINDING OUT HE NEVER CAME TO A SHOW BUT ONLY AN AFTER PARTY. THE OFFICIAL LETTER FROM HIM IS CRUMPLED AND DECAYING IN THE CORNER, JUST LIKE THE ‘LEADERS’ OUTFIT ON DAY 4 AND MY TIME WITH THIS WHOLE EXPERIENCE.
I couldnt have said it more perfectly. The whole “organization” was a mess. I can’t even call VFW an organization as there was no level of organization to it at all.
Poor “interns” sat at their desks all day, a majority probably not even realizing their rights to take breaks or come in at times that worked best for them and not 40 hours a week. The positions were labelled as internships but for some it seemed like slave labour almost. I saw students working from foreign countries who probably did not even realize how much they were taken advantage of.
The producer had no idea what was going on and needed a student to manage his office and communications. He constantly passed on his responsibilities to others and never checked his emails (but always told you to email him if you had a question. That, or he told you to talk to someone else).
He wrote off anybody who had too many questions or who offered CONSTRUCTIVE criticism as having “a bad attitude” and he has the biggest “higher-than-thou” attitude I have ever seen in one person. He believes that because he’s put on previous shows he knows ALL and that he is right, every single time in every single respect. He becomes extremely defensive and threatened if you question him and he is never open to suggestion or new ideas. You do things his way or you dont do them at all. He is a very, very difficult man to work with and fails in every respect to learn from past mistakes. Anybody who has quit or told him that he needs to improve in certain aspects, he has written off as being jealous/incompetent/having a negative attitude.
He is also very rude and constantly cuts people off when they are speaking with him in order to answer his phone (or to make a call, mid-conversation) or to just tell you to see someone else as he is “too busy” (browsing facebook that is).
He has a budget from selling show tickets and charging designers fees yet he refuses to spend any money on production, media and advertisement.
I just urge all other undergrads, international students or recent grads to not be entranced at the prospect of working for a “prestigious, WestCoast event”. It’s a fraud and a sham and the conditions are not conducive to putting on a great show.
Be careful and be aware of what your rights as an employee (even an unpaid one) are. Don’t be afraid to speak up or leave if you feel uncomfortable. After all, you aren’t getting paid and the experience you seek can definitely be sought someplace where your hard work and enthusiasm will be better appreciated.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I HAVE BEEN SO CONFUSED.
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
He fooled the media very good, trust me on this. Only smart one will stop covering him and his event.
Fuck it man. This ‘internship’ was probably the most disorganized and pointless thing I did all summer. I thought I applied to do public relations, but instead I got put into a magazine side project and was writing instead. I tried to make it work, but organization, scheduling, was just non-existent. You get little to no assistance with your tasks, and you get basically driven insane by the lack of proper budget and the constantly-changing staff!
And Jamal. He think he’s the hot shit, like the next Russell Simmons, wearing flashy kicks to work and stuff, when he is just so not. He thinks VFW is the hot shit, and that people who want to be involved should feel happy that they’re accepted, not feel like they’re invited to be there; except VFW is not the hot shit, and after looking at a sample preview of the previous show, it’s clearly just a hot mess. He is an absolutely HORRIBLE communicator, he doesn’t keep promises, and anybody that requests things from him will most of the time not get what they need. When I first met him, I thought he had a distinct personality…but over time I realized, he’s really just a douche with unrealistic expectations for the show and the people who work to make it happen.
That said, Vancouver Fashion Week is just a poorly organized and shoddy production in general. The moment I saw the sample videos from the last show, I immediately understood. No wonder no designers want to come or be part of this! The models taken right off the streets/craigslist – which didn’t have high-fashion looks nor the walk to support them, the venue small, and the catwalk…it was like they just laid out a plastic sheet on the floor. There wasn’t even a platform! What big name/smart designer would pay to come here? None, of course.
Overall I’m just disappointed that my efforts goal of gaining meaningful work experience has amounted to shit. Dammit I don’t even know if I want to add this to my resume. I don’t know what will happen to my pride and dignity if I do.
This is my first internship and I feel so much pressure to do well but I don’t know how because the is no instruction or strategy on how to complete my tasks. I think it is strange that there is nothing in our office and that no one talks to each other. I think we are all scared to. I really want to work in fashion though and I thought this would be a good step but now I really don’t think it was.
Wow, is this real?
I had an interesting experience with Vancouver Fashion Week I must share!
On craigslist there was a posting looking for interns, as any fashion graduate would be, I was excited. I applied and was immediately granted an interview and within minutes I was hired and given a rather significant role. The first odd thing I discovered was that the office was an esl classroom and without computers! Everyone in the office did not know their exact role and the producer of the event Jamal inappropriately asked me to join him for a drink at the Four Seasons Hotel…then it all came clear…this is a pervert festival! Jamal is a poor Donald Trump! Girls beware, this is not a recognized organization or internship, don’t be fooled by this artificial Fashion Week. There are no job opportunities at the end of this Fashion Week…this man is single-handedly embarrassing our city!
Not sure about the pervert part, you must look super beautiful. But over all story, yes, it’s true story. You can judge the professionalism by everything around it!
I am reading your comment again and frankly, I feel bad about all of us that we try to do the right thing here and hoping that we prevent others to get scammed. Clearly, they are people out there that think of this website is a joke rather than a website that we try to help others through our own experience.
I have not seen the pervert part throughout this year, but seeing only part of the individual who is abusing the community and pocket the money into theirs own pocket.Sadly, people don’t do enough research and only judged based on their short term experience knowing the person, new people coming to town, and be scammed, sad!
I know a lot of people throughout the years, those who have involved with VFW and who are no longer with them or want to do have anything to do with them, they may not be posting their comment on here but they all didn’t even bother to talk about it because they have nothing good to say about it, they all have their things to do, sad sad sad that people happily be blinded.
People think that we all are haters by simply speaks out and stand up for our rights, and rather than seeing that many people still keeping their mouth shut, and mind their own business, those who speaks up tend to care about what mean by doing the right things.