ITALIAN CONNECTION: Vetrina Moda’s Rachel Kapsalis hosted her annual spring fashion show. The purveyor of fine Italian-made women’s clothing once again welcomed a capacity crowd of fashionistas and loyal customers to her West Georgia Street storefront for the designer-do — a cocktail mixer and runway romp detailing her latest fashion finds from Milan buying trips. Kapsalis’ foray into Vancouver’s retail scene came accidentally. The fashion enthusiast’s opportunity came when good friend Franco Nigro, who owns Quorum, moved his menswear shop from Yaletown to Georgia Street. Under Nigro’s mentorship, Kapsalis leased a nearby storefront and, before the ink was dry, was on her way to her first buying trip in Italy to stock store shelves. Labels such as Versace and Gianfranco Ferré commonly hung from her racks. That was 17 years ago. Today, the official dresser to society darlings and the city’s best dressed continues to build the store’s clientele, providing customers with personalized service — a trademark of her boutique salon — and added collections by John Richmond, Maria Grazia Severi and Tomaso Stefanelli to her luxury line-up. Her partner Nigro will commemorate his store’s 25th anniversary later this year.
IN THE SWIM: Under the guidance of coach Tom Johnson, UBC’s swim teams from 1998 to 2007, aptly named the Decade of Dominance, won 10 consecutive men’s and women’s CIS championships and produced 42 international competitors, including Olympians Brian Johns and Kelly Stefanyshyn. The trio, along with 125 members of UBC’s men’s and women’s swim teams of that era were inducted into UBC’s Sports Hall of Fame. More than 800 student athletes, faculty and alumni attended the 2015 UBC Big Block Awards and Sports Hall of Fame Dinner, which featured the largest-ever class of inductees. Every swimmer of that golden period entered the Hall of Fame under the team category. Johns and Stefanyshyn were welcomed in the athlete category, while Johnson was the inducted in the Builder category.
SPORTS FREE FOR ALL: KidSport Richmond hosted its second annual Creating Community Champions fundraising dinner. Held at the Hilton Vancouver Airport, a capacity crowd gathered for the three-course dinner and celebration of grassroots and elite sport. One of 41 B.C. chapters, KidSport aims to grant families in need opportunities for children to participate and experience the benefits of sport. Some of B.C.’s top athletes were on hand for the fundraising dinner, which featured keynote Jon Cornish, running back of the Calgary Stampeders. Among athletes making the scene were B.C. Lions alumni Angus Reid, Jason Arakgi, and Lui Passaglia; Canucks alumni Kirk McLean and Darcy Rota; basketball players Pasha Bains and Ron Putzi; and Olympic snowboarder and KidSport director Alexa Loo. Since KidSport Richmond’s inception, the non-profit has granted more than 1,200 applications to pay for registration fees and equipment to underprivileged kids aged 18 and under. Organizers aimed to score $50,000 from the charity event.
