2023/24 SMOC Board of Directors

Melanie McIntosh - President

Melanie joined the SMOC Board of Trustees in 2016. She is the Associate Fashion Program Director and a fashion marketing instructor at JCI Institute. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Fashion Merchandising Communication. With over 16 years experience in education, she has taught fashion retailing, marketing, fashion history, merchandising and entrepreneurship. Her previous experience includes retail management, and merchandising consulting, as well as marketing and professional fundraising for a public art gallery. Melanie has trained, coached and managed teams throughout her career, and is a personal coach to creative entrepreneurs at Inspire.ca

Ivan Sayers - Curator

Kelly Millin - Vice President

Lynne Fisher - Interim treasurer

Marlo de Vaal - Marketing

Marlo de Vaal’s career in fashion began in her high school’s theatre department. She holds two diplomas, in Costuming for Stage & Screen, and Fashion Marketing. She worked briefly in the Vancouver film industry before pivoting her career to fashion. Weaving between her love for fashion and costuming is the belief that clothing tells a story. She now works as a Fashion Buyer at a local boutique and in Digital Marketing for local fashion businesses. Marlo started writing fashion-in-media articles for SMOC’s newsletter in February 2021, and in April 2022, joined the Board of Directors as Marketing Director and Editor of the newsletter.

Angela Clarke

Angela Clarke is the Curator at Il Museo, Italian Cultural Centre.

Melanie Talkington

Melanie Talkington has always been fascinated with historic costume and collected antique objects that felt precious and needed protection. She was enthralled by the intricate detailing, delicate laces and buttons, including the amazing interior structures of Victorian clothing.

She acquired her first antique corset in 1997. Using historical patterns from her collection, Melanie started a business reproducing corsets. Lace Embrace Atelier specializes in bespoke corsetry, crafting authentic corset patterns for people all over the world.

Melanie also teaches corsetry at Capilano University in addition to producing corsets and costumes for film and television. Some of her work has been in Suckerpunch, Once Upon a Time and A Series of Unfortunate Events plus many other shows.

Angela Champ

Jonathan Wells

Lara Damabi

SMOC Honorary Board Members

“An honorary member shall be a person who has been selected by a majority vote of the Board of Trustees for this special category, because of his or her exemplary service to the Society.”

The Board of SMOC is pleased to recognize the contributions of individuals who have demonstrated support and service in ways that have cemented our Society as inclusive, diverse, educational, and representational.

Ivan Sayers - Curator

Ivan Sayers is a fashion historian who specializes in the study of women’s, men’s, and children’s fashions from 1650 to the present. He graduated from UBC in 1969 with a BA in Classical Studies. A long-time resident of Vancouver, he worked at the Vancouver Museum from 1970 to 1990 and was its Curator of History from 1976 to 1990.

Sayers has one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of historic clothing in private hands in Canada. He has produced fashion shows, lectures, and exhibitions all over western and central North America. He commonly jokes that his collection is so vast, he sleeps in the dining-room of his three-bedroom home.

“History Is My Thing; Fashion Is Just the Medium” Ivan Sayers interview by Ana-Maria Gheorghiu

"Ivan Sayers, Fashion Historian: A seasoned collection" Interview by Craig David Long

"We Talk Fashion" an interview with Historian Ivan Sayers

www.IvanSayersEvents.com - a website with Ivan Sayers’s schedule of events

Donna Bryman

Donna stood as President for nine years, plus carried on various Chair duties. She has made many personal sacrifices and logged hundreds of hours to ensure the continuity of the Society. As past President, Donna continues to volunteer and manage a team of dedicated volunteers in the ‘Collectibles’ room of the Society at Hycroft and organizes the collectibles sales tables at events.