Meet the Artists & Designers of Frocktails 2026
Six artists and designers shared work with us at Frocktails 2026, bringing fashion, drag, historical dress, textile art, upcycling and costume into the same room.
One of the things we were most proud of at Frocktails this year was the little exhibition we built into the room.
We wanted Frocktails to be more than a night of showing what we wore. We wanted to make room for the incredible creativity already happening around us, to show people work they might not otherwise see.
Some of these artists are our neighbours in the Sun Wah Centre. Some came to us through FABCYCLE. Some are people we work with every day. Every connection is different, and that is what made this showcase feel so special.
Inside the showcase
Walking into the Frocktails artist exhibition
Our Frocktails guests walked into the party through this hallway, with the artist showcase lining the entrance before the main space. It was the first thing people saw when they arrived, and we loved that the night started by walking through work made by artists from our community.
Artist 01
Valérie d. Walker
Valérie had just finished Guardians at SUM gallery on the fourth floor of Sun Wah, and we were incredibly lucky that the timing lined up with Frocktails. Valérie's work could stay in the building a little longer and become part of the night.
Artist Bio
Valérie d. Walker is a Renaissance Artist, alchemyst, transmedia maker, educator, curator, Indigo Griot, Radio-Wave creatrix and BIPOC Femme Afro-Futuristic transmitter.
She holds 5th level Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) and Chado (tea-ceremony) degrees with Urasenke-Kyoto & lifetimes of Indigo knowledge, she landed on Gaia in Honolulu and has travelled the planet in space and time.
Valérie holds a degree in EECS from UC-Berkeley and her MFA from NSCAD University.
Valérie’s artwork explores enviro-positive natural dyeing & printing, fibre-based responsive installations, tactile virtual spaces, solar-powered circuits, story-telling, epigenetic memories, environmentally healing studio processes, craft-based techniques, digitalia & imagining, programming, sensoriality, and Afro-Futurism.
Recent exhibitions include those at the Vancouver Art Gallery (Vancouver Special: Disorientations and Echo, 2021), Evergreen Cultural Centre (Transmissions, 2023), SUM gallery (A Generosity of Abundance, 2024), and Gallery Gachet (A Canoe is an Island, 2024).
Work shown at Frocktails
Work from Guardians
Valérie's work was all through the Frocktails space, across the walls around the party. It meant we were not looking at art in one little exhibition corner. We were actually spending the night surrounded by it, and it was beautiful to have the work become part of the space itself.
Artist 02
Dae LeeGrind
Dae came to us as a FABCYCLE customer, and through conversations we started learning more about Dae's work and all the things Dae makes. The timing lined up, we started talking about Frocktails, and it just made sense to bring some of that work into the showcase. Dae works with scraps, discarded materials and whatever is already around, which is very close to our hearts at FABCYCLE.
Artist Bio
Dae LeeGrind is a makeup artist , performer and multidisciplinary artist without much discipline.
She has been creating her entire life. From a young age she would repaint , rework , reimagine household items into art pieces. Thankfully she was raised in a household where this was encouraged. At 53 years old all of these skills have come to prominence in her endeavours as a burlesque performer.
She enjoys making headpieces, costumes, upcycling, and repurposing items. Transformation is a key theme.
She has no formal training in design or sewing. Patterns are impossible for her brain to understand but she sees shape, colour and textures. She operates purely on instinct, curiosity and the audacity to try.
Pieces shared at Frocktails
2 looks · swipe or use the arrows →So many ways to make
Different materials, different histories, different ways of seeing
We loved seeing all of this work together in one room. Historical pieces beside drag, costume, runway fashion, textile art, reuse and things made from whatever happened to be around. There are so many ways to make something, and seeing them together is the kind of thing that makes you want to go home and make something too.
Artist 03
Melanie Talkington
Erin and I have known Melanie for years through Vancouver's sewing and costume community. Lace Embrace Atelier, Melanie's shop at Main and 16th, has been part of Vancouver's fashion and costume world for decades. Bringing that depth of craft, history and textile knowledge into Frocktails felt really special.
Artist Bio
Melanie Talkington is the founder and creative director of Lace Embrace Atelier onMain & 16th in Vancouver, where she has specialized in corsetry, historical dress, and couture since 1997.
Her work is inspired by more than three decades of research and one of North America’s largest private collections of antique corsets and historical undergarments.
Through careful study of original garments, period patterns, and historical textiles, she creates reproductions and contemporary designs that celebrate traditional craftsmanship while remaining relevant for modern audiences.
A passionate advocate for textile preservation and sustainability, Melanie frequently incorporates antique lace, vintage fabrics, and reclaimed materials into her work, giving historic textiles new life through couture. Her garments have appeared in museums, exhibitions, film, television, and private collections, reflecting a lifelong dedication to preserving the artistry and history of dress.
Pieces shared at Frocktails
2 looks · swipe or use the arrows →
The L’Abeille Ensemble
Inspired by a French corset and petticoat, c. 1900
This ensemble recreates the elegance of the Belle Époque using heliotrope silk moiré and period construction techniques.
The corset is based on an original French corset bearing the label, L’Abeille (“The Honeybee”).
The coordinating petticoat celebrates the extraordinary decorative work found in French lingerie and fashion journals of the period. Inspired by illustrations published in Les Dessous Élégance, it features woven ribbon lattice baskets overflowing with ribbon roses, reflecting the lavish embellishment popular at the turn of the twentieth century.
The ensemble is completed with a coordinating hat designed by Debbie Wiecke, whose work complements the rich decorative language of the period.
Watered Rose Silk Ensemble
This ensemble features a reproduction corset inspired by an original German design dating to approximately 1903. Paired with a coordinating petticoat fashioned from luxurious French watered rose silk. Layers of lace flounces echo the graceful silhouettes illustrated in French fashion and lingerie publications of the era.
The petticoat draws inspiration from Les Dessous Élégance, a remarkable French trade journal documenting the artistry of fine undergarments at the height of the Belle Époque. Together, the corset and petticoat celebrate the exceptional craftsmanship, textile traditions, and refined elegance that defined French dress at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Artist 04
Ilona Verley
Ilona is one of our Sun Wah neighbours and an incredible performer and artist. Many people know Ilona from the first season of Canada’s Drag Race, and we were thrilled to have drag, fashion and performance represented in the Frocktails showcase.
Artist Bio
Ilona Verley is a Two-Spirit drag artist and activist from the Nlaka’pamux Nation whose work dismantles the conventional ideas of beauty, gender, and identity.
Rising to international acclaim as a contestant on Canada’s Drag Race, Ilona has become a leading voice for Indigenous and queer representation in fashion and popular culture.
Her signature style combines elements of ethereal beauty & childlike whimsy.
Ilona prides herself on blurring the line between fashion and drag / costume, believing both can live harmoniously!
Piece shared at Frocktails
Shared at Frocktails 2026
Ilona shared this look with us for the Frocktails showcase, bringing fashion, drag and performance into the room in a way that felt completely at home at Frocktails.
Artist 05
Peter Zuk
Peter is another Sun Wah neighbour, with a studio one floor down from FABCYCLE. The OVERDOSE cape has already travelled through NYFW and Tokyo Fashion Week, so having the piece here for our community to see up close was pretty special.
Artist Bio
Local designer Peter Zuk showcased this quilted cape as a finale piece for their debut collection 'OVERDOSE'.
The collection was picked up by the GFW (Global Fashion Collective) and electrified the runways of NYFW and TFW (Tokyo Fashion Week).
Acting as a launching pad 'OVERDOSE' earned Haus Zuk (Peter Zuk's design atelier) recognition amidst sought after publications including:
- FORBES - Top 10 up and coming designers.
- VOGUE CANADA - featuring Vancouver's Ilona Verley.
Since Haus Zuk's fashion journey they have innovated the world's first trans-inclusive jockstrap.
A flat-pouched traditionally 'masculine' cut jock named, Uphoria.
Wiith Haus Zuk you have home.
Not only for you, but your body as well.
Piece shared at Frocktails
OVERDOSE
Quilted cape showcased as the finale piece for the debut collection 'OVERDOSE'.
Artist 06
Erin Gravelle
Erin is our Studio Manager, a fourth generation seamstress and the kind of maker who can figure out almost anything. For Frocktails, Erin shared the Dream Coat made for a Metro Theatre production of Joseph and the Technicolour Dream Coat in May 2025. The coat has a reuse story behind it too, which made it a very FABCYCLE piece to have in the room.
Artist Bio
As the Studio Manager for FABCYCLE, and a 4th Generation Seamstress and Fashion Designer, Erin creates clothing in a very organic way.
Most of the time, not using patterns, there is an innate skill that works behind every piece she makes. Self proclaimed Textile Nerd, there is nary a fabric Erin has met that she didn't like.
This is the Dream Coat from the Broadway Play Joseph and the Technicolour Dream Coat.
It was performed at the Metro Theatre in May of 2025. This coat was upcycled from a 12 foot long scraps fringe cape that was made for EWMA (Enterprising Women Making Art) and their Atira Collection that walked Vancouver Fashion Week in Fall of 2024.
The lining is a gold metallic lame and the godet inserts are made of music note printed cotton.
Piece shared at Frocktails
Dream Coat
From the Broadway Play Joseph and the Technicolour Dream Coat.
The coat was performed at the Metro Theatre in May of 2025 and was upcycled from a 12 foot long scraps fringe cape made for EWMA and the Atira Collection.
Creativity grows when we share it
More than anything, this was about connection
We wanted this showcase to show how many directions creativity can go. Historical dress. Drag. Textile art. Runway fashion. Costume. Upcycling. A piece made from scraps in the free bin. There is no one way to be a maker.
Frocktails gives us a chance to bring people together who might not otherwise end up in the same room, to see each other's work, talk about it, learn from it and leave a little more inspired to explore something new.
We are so grateful to Valérie, Dae, Melanie, Ilona, Peter and Erin for sharing this work with us and with the Frocktails community.
Please take some time to explore these artists beyond this post. Visit the websites. Follow the work. Share it. Support it when you can. These artists are part of the creative community around us, and we want to keep finding ways to celebrate that community, connect people within it and make more room for all of us to inspire each other.
