Nicole Bridger is back and bringing practical style to the British Colombia Fashion Week runway. 40 minutes after the show's scheduled start time, audiences hustled into the Chinese Cultural Center's dark studio and waited for the electro-pop music to start. With a packed house and an antsy crowd, Vancouver's veteran designer sent out her first model.

Starting the show off modestly, Bridger unveiled her casual and Eco-friendly day wear. Lululemon owner Chip Wilson helped Bridger fine tune her low-carbon-footprint fashions during their Oqoqo fashion collaboration while Vivienne Westwood showed the designer a thing or two about feminine style during their time spent together in London.

Loose fitting fabrics and colors that reflect the natural hue's of spring seemed to be the on-going theme throughout the show. Bridger played up her flowing ensembles by belting the shirts with a harness-esque strap and balanced the silhouette out with chunky heels. The styles, however, failed to please some of the fashion savvy folks sitting around me, causing them to call the clothes "bland" and "unoriginal". Despite the slow start to the show, Bridger quickly changed gears and brought out her top-guns.

Dresses that oozed sex appeal was how BC Fashion Week's Thursday night show ended. Half-way into the show, a somewhat stunned audience witnessed some beautiful, bright numbers strut out onto the pristine white runway. These ensembles were a good prelude into the stunning white number that was the evening's last look. The dress was long, tailored and fit for Carrie Bradshaw herself.

Overall, Bridger has found herself a good fashion niche, nestled somewhere between contemporary and everyday. With more and more retailers across North America picking up her line and plans to open her own boutique in Vancouver, Nicole Bridger shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

BC Fashion Week: Spring Collections ran from September 22 - 29th, 2008.
Photographs by Jenn Perutka.