North

Fort Smith, N.W.T. puts fur fashion on the runway

A traditional wolverine sunburst muskrat parka was just one of the items on the runway at the Gone Wild fashion show in Fort Smith, N.W.T. this weekend.

Eat your heart out Pamela Anderson.

That was the message from Fort Smith, Northwest Territories this weekend, where fur fashionistas showed off their wares at the "Gone Wild" fashion show.

A traditional wolverine sunburst muskrat parka was just one of the items on the runway, in an unusual show that paid homage to the traditional northern trapping lifestyle, by showing off the fashion that comes out of it.

Marnie Villeneuve got involved as a co-ordinator of the fashion show after Pamela Anderson's million dollar offer to stop the seal hunt in Newfoundland.

“We always have to listen to the people in the spotlight because they're famous or they have money,” she says. “The sad thing is is that why don't they have to listen to us as well?"

Lucy Tulugarjuk, an actress from Igloolik, Nunavut, modelled a seal skin amauti created by 80-year-old seamstress Atuat Akittirq. Akittirq won a Genie award for best costume design in the movie Before Tomorrow.

"For those who are against fur especially seal, this is my time to show them that I am proud to be Inuk and that I am speaking on behalf of the Inuit to say we will continue to stay strong,” Tulugarjuk says.