Kamloops fashion designer Delayne Dixon poses beside a mannequin showcasing a sequined dress she is making.

(SHANNON AINSLIE / iNFOnews.ca)

The home studio of Kamloops fashion designer Delayne Dixon is small and humble, yet the pieces of clothing created in it have made it to runways around the world with the latest collection heading to an exclusive celebrity boutique in Beverly Hills this month.

“I was contacted through my website which tells me the importance of networking and maintaining an online presence,” she said. “I’ve been working so hard for so long on my brand, this is an incredible opportunity, it's hard to believe it's happening to little me."

Dixon has poured her passion, time and disposable income into her brand since starting up her business over a decade ago and has taken her Kamloops-based modelling team to fashion week events in New York and Paris, had her pieces showcased in Vogue magazine and had her gold and black houndstooth dress worn on the red carpet at the 2022 Oscars.

Last month, her collection was hand picked by fashion agency BASIC PR to be displayed at the LA studio exclusively for celebrity stylists to pull for events, with roughly 11 to 15 designers’ collections showcased.

“I feel like I’m an anxious person and have imposter syndrome,” Dixon said. “I don’t feel I’m as good as people think I am but I also need to start owning it and be proud of where I’ve come because I’ve come along way."

She is currently creating the new collection for the studio and has to have 15 different designed pieces completed by early March.

“I work well under pressure and I refuse to mess this up, I’ll be working weekends, nights, I don’t care,” she said. “I’m grabbing this opportunity and not looking back.”

Fashion designs created by Kamloops designer Delayne Dixon are modelled by Emily Phillips (left) and Cambria Osborne with makeup by Mia Johnson, hair by Lora Minaker and accessories by Suzy Vintage.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Ptakatak Photography

Dixon’s studio has a couple of sewing machines in it, an ironing board, design sketches and a mannequin in a sequined dress.

“It’s a gun metal slate sequined flapper dress and for the faux fur hanging on the shoulder, I’m making these tiny little pom-poms to make polka dots all over,” she said. “I think a lot of the looks for this collection are going to be extra, I want to make sure it will get attention.” 

She said she gets her creative ideas by gathering information and inspiration from runway modelling and streetwear pieces she sees and then using them in her own ideas and details.

Dixon’s beginnings are as humble as the room she works so hard in. The 33-year-old was raised on a farm in the town of Fairview in Northern Alberta.

“There wasn’t fashion around me, and when I dressed more fashionably for school it wasn’t what people did there,” she said.

She was inspired by the television show What Not To Wear where she learned the basics of styling and how to put pieces together. After graduating high school, she took a degree program in fashion at an institution in Vancouver where she learned about marketing, drawing, advanced design and pattern making.

“I didn’t even know how to sew until fashion school, I wasn’t even an ‘A’ student,” Dixon said. “I think I might be the only one out of my grad class that continued down this career path.”

This newsprint pattern is a popular design created by Kamloops designer Delayne Dixon.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Delayne Dixon

After graduating the program, she jumped right into creating her brand, and designing and sewing together unique fashion pieces while working part time jobs to support her passion. Shortly after she moved to Kamloops to get away from the city and be closer to a half sister.

In 2019, Dixon went on a trip to Europe and when she returned her job hours were gone. She decided to put everything she could into her business and her brand.

“It was a big thing that happened to me, I’d lost my safety net, so I said ‘let’s just do this,’” she said. “I lost my job in September and by February I had a three-month campaign in Vogue Magazine.”

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Dixon submitted a different picture every month during the campaign that saw her Kamloops models showcasing her collections.

“The models are all from Kamloops, they’re the people I’ve built my brand with and have been there from the beginning,” she said. “They are friends and we all have support for each other.”

These days Dixon is busy filling orders for her pieces that can be found online here. She started assembling and manufacturing one of her best selling pieces with a manufacturer overseas, a skirt with a newsprint pattern on it.

“I think my dream would be to manufacture my best sellers to have in retail stores and online but then create one off pieces for my show room and red carpet events,” she said.

While the pieces Dixon creates are glamorous, the lifestyle she keeps to make it all possible is less so.

“I don’t really spend a lot of money, I don’t really shop for clothes for myself or go out for dinner because I’m putting all my time and energy into my brand, that’s just what you have to do.”

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Most of Dixon’s immediate family lives back home in Fairview, Alberta.

“I’m closest with my mom and she knows how hard I’ve been working,” she said. “I wouldn’t be here without family support, they’re proud of me.”

In the next six months, Dixon will go to Los Angeles to see the boutique.

“The Kamloops community has been so supportive of me, it makes me emotional to think about. Not everybody gets to do this and I’m grateful for it every day.”

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