Three fashion designers enter a shoe store.

It’s to celebrate one of them, who organizes an annual festival dedicated to his designer shoes.

John Fluevog, Anna Sui and Dame Zandra Rhodes gathered in Vancouver last week for what’s called Flummunity Fest, a three-day gathering that hosts guest speakers and showcases new collections.

As part of the festival, Fluevog and Sui re-released their beloved ’90s butterfly-appliqué denim boots, part of Sui’s 2025 collection.

Between them, they have over 130 years of experience in the fashion industry.

The trio sat down for an interview with CBC’s On the coast guest host Jodie Martinson before the festival.

WATCH | John Fluevog, Anna Sui and Dame Zandra Rhodes:

Fluevogs fans celebrate Flummunity Fest

The distinctive shoes of Vancouver’s John Fluevog are celebrated by those who love them at the annual Flummunity Fest. Designers Anna Sui and Dame Zandra Rhodes join John Fluevog to talk about the community built around fashion.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What unites you in the styles you create?

JOHN FLUEVOG: The first thing that came to mind when you said that was old age.

We have all been through many decades of fashion. I started here in Vancouver in 1970. So things have changed, and they haven’t changed. But every ten years, or I would say every six years, there is a change and we have to adapt to it. And all of us, as designers, have done it. And for us to have endured all this nonsense that sometimes happens in the fashion industry for all these years is an achievement.

ANNA SUI: You think you’re in control, but there are bigger forces and the economy is always in flux. We kind of had to scramble to find resources, find materials, find workers, find people who really understand your product, find stores. It’s constantly evolving and we’re constantly finding a new way to do things. And today, with the Internet and e-commerce, this is a real upheaval.

Lady Rhodes, when I think of all of you, I think of color. What is it about color that is so central to what you do and what you see in their work as well?

LADY ZANDRA RHODES: Uplifting. I mean, I felt comforted in my bright orange Fluevog shoes as I jumped over to his house this morning so we could talk about our visit here, which was fantastic.

What do you talk about when you hang out?

FLUEVOG: Women are so different from men. When they meet, they do not know each other; They just met, and in a few seconds, things are going to get messy. Oh, I love your hair. What do you do with it? Oh, how long have you been doing this? How do you do what? It’s all about the hair, and men would never do that.

I think we have a lot of common experiences in our lives in the fashion industry. As Anna pointed out, it’s always the same, but it’s always changing. Few started out as a boutique business in Canada and are still around.

So if I have any claim to fame, it’s the fact that I’m still sitting here and still alive. And I hope that it will always be relevant because I think when you’re doing your own thing, as all three of us are, we have our own originality that makes it enduring. You have to stay with your own energy and your own vibe. I think that’s what all three of us have in common, and that’s why we’ve endured.

But Anna, is it all about shoes or is it about community?

SUI: It’s totally like they found their people. They found their tribe. They get to strut their stuff, and people understand and appreciate it, admire and envy it. I think it’s really kind of like you have the right look with the right people, that’s really why we all dress up, regardless of the message.

In some ways, Vancouver can be a bit of a dull fashion city. Sometimes we just wear waterproof boots and oversized raincoats. What have you noticed about the city’s fashion?

FLUEVOG: I guess occasionally I have to reflect and say I’m proud to be from Vancouver. I was born here at Vancouver General Hospital. Vancouver has not been known in the past as a fashion place, but that has changed because the world is changing and there is no reason for it to continue to be that way.

Yes, we are an outdoorsy place and that’s mostly the fashion here because of our weather. But that said, there was always a sort of west coast or funk feeling that I enjoyed that kept me in business and I thank Vancouverites and Vancouver for keeping me in business all these years.

What have you been working on?

RHODES: Well, every season Anna and I, apart from John’s whole collection, we produce new sets of shoes to wear and prance around. But they go with all my wardrobes. So that doesn’t mean you always have to have new things. The problem with Fluevog shoes is that they don’t date. It’s a bit like having Dorothy’s shoes.

FLUEVOG: We always go back to the archives, look at things, reinvent them, give them different twists. We do this because a shoe is only a foot long. The fashion industry has a lot to do with timing. It’s always a bit of a game and it’s always fun. I always like to look at the product provided in the samples that arrive in my office. They always excite me and keep me going.

SUI: I’m so lucky to still be able to do what I love, which was my whole life’s ambition.

RHODES: I think if you’re in fashion, you’re in it for yourself. I just released my book Iconicand it’s about the fact that I live my work, as soon as I leave school.

I think we are all very distinctive. We stand out without thinking about it. This happens naturally. And then you only realize it when others say, “Does it bother you that people stare at you so much?” And you think, “Well, I don’t really notice it.” I continue.

FLUEVOG: You just get a vibe. Each of us is unique. And I just loved discovering my own uniqueness. And like Zandra said, just go for it and don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. And maybe that’s why I stayed in the business all these years, because I didn’t really follow the trends. I do it here and there, but not much.