A lot of people will tell you Calgary’s fashion and arts scene is not the strongest in Canada. That may be true, depending on who you ask. But often, the people with the strongest opinions are not the ones spending time here. They probably were not at LOOK26 Gala: Off The Path.
When I first saw it, it was not through an invite or a press email. It just appeared on my Instagram feed, like one of those posts you see and pause on without really knowing why. I sent it to Hector, who shot these photographs, and immediately knew we just had to be there. There was something about the night that felt unexpectedly cinematic. It had the scale and anticipation of the Met Gala, but refracted through Calgary’s own creative language. Maybe it was the timing, maybe it was my lingering excitement around The Devil Wears Prada 2, but it felt as though two worlds I care deeply about were beginning to meet.
Fashion and contemporary art share more space than people like to admit. Not as opposites, but as long-term collaborators. LOOK26 understood that instinctively. Fashion is art. Art is fashion, and at LOOK26, that dialogue became the architecture of the evening.
Presented by Contemporary Calgary and curated by local artist duo DaveandJenn, Off The Path transformed the gallery into a dreamlike environment of layered projections, theatrical light, hidden clearings, and shadowy corners that felt almost cinematic in their construction. From my experience, it felt like stepping inside a living installation. Low lights, heavy atmosphere, and effects that made the entire space feel slightly unstable in the best possible way.
The night welcomed 1,200 guests and raised $1.2 million in support of Contemporary Calgary’s exhibitions and public programming. Those numbers matter, especially in today’s socio economic landscape. But I think what really resonated with me was how little the night felt like a traditional fundraiser, majorly because everyone there understood that they were participating in something larger than a gala. It was a shared belief in what Calgary can become when it takes its cultural spaces seriously.
The Dinner
The evening began with the Holt Renfrew VIP dinner. Just after 5 p.m., guests started to arrive and the room already felt slightly ahead of itself. The clothes were the first thing you noticed. Sculptural tailoring, theatrical silhouettes, looks that felt deliberate rather than simply formal. No one looked like they were coming straight from dinner. It felt like everyone had stepped into a version of themselves they had already decided on earlier in the day. You know we had to do interviews at the door, asking guests what they were wearing, much of which you can find on our Instagram andTikTok.
The Cabaret
Contemporary Calgary feels different the moment you enter for the cabaret. This year, TR/ST and Hermitess gave guests dynamic performances that shifted the tone of the space entirely. At the same time, an auction runs alongside it, which could have pulled everything back into a standard fundraiser structure. It does not. Instead, it becomes part of the environment.
What stands out most is how people are constantly moving between watching, talking, and listening. There is no fixed way to experience it, and that is what makes it work.
The RYAN GREEN After Party
By the time the RYAN GREEN After Party begins, the night has loosened. Sets from The Hacker, DJ Hannah, and Dan Solo carry the energy forward. Earlier, the night moved in a more orderly pace. Things had their sequence. Dinner, cabaret, performance. Here, those distinctions disappear. You are no longer moving through an event. You are inside it.
What I take from LOOK26 is not a single moment. It is the feeling that, for one night, Calgary was not trying to become something else. It simply was everything at once, fashion, art, and nightlife coexisting in the same space.
Featured Images: Hector Omooba
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Honorary Chairs
Bruce Kuwabara, OC
Linda and Mike Shaikh, CM
Peter Tertzakian
LOOK26 Gala Curators
DaveandJenn
Art Auction Curators
Mona Filip
Muriel N. Kahwagi
Auctioneer
Stephen Ranger
Auction Contributors
Morris and Ann Dancyger
Cheryl Gottselig and Yves Trépanier
Dr. John Lacey, CM
Jenna and Chad Larson
The Kenneth Lochhead Estate
Tiller Wolf Art Consulting
Bruce and Cathy Williams
Private collections
Artists
Susanne Aaltonen, Jen Aitken, René Pierre Alain, Sara Angelucci, Chrissy Angliker, Eric Atkinson, Dick Averns, John Barkley, Alana Bartol, Maxwell Bates, Michael Batty, Nancy Boyd, Kevin Boyle, Billie Rae Busby, Nathan Eugene Carson, Michael Coyne, Chris Cran, Curtis Cutshaw, DaveandJenn, Robbin Deyo, Mark Dicey, Amy Dryer, Megan Dyck, Marcel Dzama, John K. Esler, Erica Eyres, Rhys Douglas Farrell, L.L. (Lionel LeMoine) FitzGerald, Chris Flodberg, Jonathan Forrest, Yechel Gagnon, JoAnn Godenir, Ted Godwin, John Adams Griefen, Angela Grossmann, Julya Hajnoczky, Maggie Hall, Marcia Harris, Faye HeavyShield, Fred Herzog, David Hoffos, Jennifer Hornyak, Geoffrey Hunter, Sharie Hunter, M.N. Hutchinson, Joshua Jensen-Nagle, Kablusiak, Illingworth Kerr, Neshka Krusche, Bryce Krynski, Anda Kubis, Paul Kuhn, Marie Lannoo, Kenneth Lochhead, James Lumsden, Rachel MacFarlane, Andy Mamgark, Robert Marchessault, Caroline Monnet, Mark Mullin, Jennifer Murphy, Erik Olson, Pascale Ouellet, Stu Oxley, Ed Pien, Paola Pivi, Nelly-Eve Rajotte, Sabrina Ratté, Anthony Redpath, Nick Rooney, John F. Ross, Marigold Santos, Michael Smith, Cassie Suche, Han Sungpil, Erdem Taşdelen, Peter Tertzakian, Corri-Lynn Tetz, David Thauberger, Louis Trautman, Winnie Truong, Carol Wainio, John Will, Mary Shannon Will, and Tiffany Wollman
