Community Engagement Plan 

Commitment to Indigenous and Under-Represented British Columbia-Based Fashion Designers, and Vancouver’s Tech Community 

The Himikalas Virtual Showroom and Gallery Exhibition is a collaborative initiative grounded in Indigenous leadership and developed to uplift under-represented fashion designers in British Columbia. Led by Indigenous designer Pam Baker (Himikalas) and the Fashion Innovation Centre (FIC), the project integrates physical and virtual exhibitions to celebrate cultural identity, community-based design, and innovation in immersive media. The initiative also contributes to the advancement of Vancouver’s immersive tech ecosystem by demonstrating applied use of VR in cultural and creative industries. 

Community Collaboration and Cultural Protocol 

• Indigenous-Led Direction: Pam Baker, of Squamish, Musqamaqw Dzawada’enuxw, Kwaguilth, Tlingit, and Haida ancestry, co-leads the project. Creative and cultural decisions follow community-informed protocols to ensure respectful and accurate representation. 

• Designer-Centered Collaboration: Developed in collaboration with Pam and her network, the project also creates a model for engaging other Indigenous and British Columbia-based designers in future exhibitions. 

• Cultural Attribution: All scanned garments, accessories, and artworks will be properly credited and contextualized, based on input from participating artists and communities. 

Women-Led Technical & Creative Leadership 

• The project is led by Roz McNulty, CEO of FIC, ensuring women's leadership is central to both creative and production efforts. 

• Dr. Ian Lochhead, CTO and partner at FIC, oversees the immersive and technical implementation. ​

• A spatial computing expert based in​ VR innovation within the region. 

• Additional roles in scanning, modeling, and virtual production will be filled by Indigenous and BC-based women creatives and technicians. 

Public Engagement, Capacity Building & Tech Community Involvement 

• Exhibition during Indigenous Fashion Week: Launching during Indigenous Fashion Week, the project highlights Indigenous and BC-based designers on a prominent public stage. 

• Community Access Days: Targeted programming will engage Indigenous youth, schools, and design students across BC. 

• Mentorship & Learning: Youth and emerging designers will gain exposure to spatial storytelling, digital garment simulation, and immersive media workflows. 

• Vancouver Tech Community Support: The project contributes to local innovation through development and demonstration of immersive VR showrooms, fostering cross-sector dialogue between fashion, heritage, and spatial computing. It is part of the growing ecosystem of creators participating in initiatives such as Vancouver Spatial and other XR-focused meetups and collectives. 

Legacy and Continued Impact 

• All virtual assets and environments will be preserved for future use via FIC’s digital museum platform and Pam Baker’s community and educational networks. We intend for the FIC Virtual Showroom to travel to schools and institutions around the world.

• This prototype creates a sustainable model for Indigenous and BC-based digital fashion exhibitions and supports Vancouver’s role as a leader in meaningful immersive content creation. 

Overview of the Himikalas proposal and Existing Assets

This grant is a proposal for Creative BC Interactive Funding Grant. 

An ask for additional funds to further develop the Himikalas Interactive Virtual Showroom and the Gallery Show and Exhibits.

Wages will not be in kind but paid when the grant money is received from Creative BC - upon being awarded the grant. The money will go to the various expenses, and contract salaries in the interactive budget template. 

There is no money contributed by the team to the project. Just existing software, hardware, garments, artwork. FIC will provide the headsets for the interactive VR experience. 

Pam Baker will be showing the same garments and artwork in the real gallery space that is rented out and planned for in the budget. Other contractors will be added in the future including graphic designers, accountant, community manager and possibly even sponsorship. 

The goal is that we get the funding to show the designs and artwork of Pam Baker/Himikalas
and the interactive Himikalas Virtual Showroom by Roz McNulty and Dr. Ian Lochhead
of the Fashion Innovation Centre