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Variani Keeps 'Em Beautiful
By Tara Henley

It's a late-summer afternoon in the MTV Canada headquarters on Robson Street. The dark studio is packed with scantily clad fashionistas who sit in clusters, chatting as producers prepare for the station's first live fashion event: a showcase of Canadian designer Bian Variani's 2009 Urban Couture collection. Finally, after much anticipation, house music blasts from large speakers. A lone model makes her way down the narrow catwalk, eyeing the spectators with practised pomp. Next, hip-hop dancers flood the stage and break into an explosive routine. Half a dozen models saunter seductively down the runway in sleek ensembles. For the women: metallic-looking backless halter tops and formfitting gold-shag pants. For the men: open sheer shirts, naked chests, and streamlined black satin trousers with the top buttons left suggestively undone. This line is all about showing skin; playful sexuality is the accessory dujour.

When the runway segment has concluded, MTV plays clips of Variani's arrival earlier that day; screaming female fans flanked his limousine as the young designer grinned at the camera. Following this introduction, Variani makes his studio entrance to overwhelming applause. Clad in dusty rose!=striped pants and an oversize cherry-coloured leather motorcycle jacket, Variani busts a few moves for his hyped audience. The line between fashion and entertainment has officially been blurred.

Variani is known for his dramatic entrances. He is the only designer who has ever skydived into a show; he may well be the only one to have ridden a motorcycle onto his catwalk. "The typical catwalks run up and down, back and forth; you take your pictures, do your interviews," Variani explains. "Our shows are theme-related; it's more entertaining." His productions are energetic and incorporate elements of pop culture: hot club tracks, live acts, and professional dancers. This is fitting, since the demographic that Variani targets includes stylists, musicians, actors, and other celebrities.

Given his attention-seeking style, it comes as a surprise when Variani ambles into one of the Starbucks on Robson without fanfare, his larger-than-life persona momentarily discarded. He sits down over a Frappuccino and quietly answers the Straight's questions about his life and his work. He was born and raised in a small farming town of 200 people just outside of Winnipeg, he says. He had artistic flair from an early age; he competed as a poet in grade school. He got interested in fashion through his mother, who is also a designer. "As a little kid in a small town, there were no shopping malls or stores around," he says. "My mom would always make me clothing. As a kid you don't really like what your mom designs for you. So I tried to put in any efforts that I could and get involved and help her design."

His adolescence was characterized by adventure and experimentation, with interests ranging from writing to acting to serving three years in the Canadian Armed Forces. When he realized that he wanted to become a designer, he produced a retail line and drove across Canada selling it out of the back of his truck in order to raise enough money to study abroad.

Variani studied fashion in London, Paris, and Milan, and has been living in Vancouver for the past several years. "Vancouver used to be recognized for its nightlife, as a hot spot for fashion and entertainment," he says. "Since the early '80s, we've had a low drop. I wanted to come back out here and put a wardrobe of personality and character into our city."

Those eager to check out his latest collection might be out of luck. Variani doesn't sell to retail anymore; now his pieces are exclusive, custom-made garments. "As a designer, I feel my job is to make people feel beautiful," he says of his focused approach. "That's what I do. Each person has their own individuality. We try to find that individuality and express it through fashion. That might be affected by nightlife, culture, sex, friendships, experiences in life, music, or other trendsetters.

"We all have different avenues to express ourselves in life," he continues. "This is mine."