Vikki Lenola is a model, dancer, influencer, publicist, and animal rights activist. She is also the Producer and Director of The Vegan Fashion Show, a nonprofit organization with educational events across Canada. She has an academic background in Business and Environmental Studies.
Vikki has been a speaker at various events with hundreds to tens of thousands of attendees. She spreads the message about kinder, more sustainable fashion. This ranges from ancient natural materials like cork or kapok, to the latest innovative next gen materials.
Vikki Lenola’s images and endeavours are regularly featured in top news and celebrity media like Forbes, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, OK Magazine, Fashion Week Online, The Sun, and many more. With so much familiarity being in the spotlight, she now shines a light on client of her public relations firm, Lenola PR.
Company: The Vegan Fashion Show
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Vikki Lenola: Thank you. I’m excited to be here and to share a bit about my journey and the work I’m passionate about.
I’m the founder and director of The Vegan Fashion Show, Canada’s only educational fashion show dedicated to promoting sustainable style through an evidence-based, animal-free lens. We spotlight designers who are leading change, and we educate our audiences about innovative materials from ancient plant-based fabrics to next-gen leather alternatives that avoid plastic. At its core, the show is about proving that fashion can be ethical, diverse, and cutting-edge, without compromising on style or values.
I’m also the founder and head publicist of Lenola PR, where we specialize in securing digital media coverage for talent, purpose-driven brands, and changemakers. Our work supports clients who are doing meaningful things in fashion, wellness, and advocacy, and who want to be seen and heard in a way that aligns with their values.
My background is in Environmental Studies and Business, and I’ve spent over a decade working as a model, dancer, influencer, activist, and speaker. Everything I do ties back to one mission: using media, creativity, and events to promote a more compassionate, sustainable world.
What inspired you to prioritize sustainability as a core pillar of your business, and how do you ensure it’s more than just a buzzword in your strategy?
Vikki Lenola: Sustainability isn’t just a trend to us – it’s a responsibility. The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world, and much of that harm comes from animal-derived materials, yet animal agriculture is still often left out of the sustainable fashion conversation. That’s a major oversight. Animal agriculture is one of the leading drivers of climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, ocean acidification, overuse of antibiotics, zoonotic disease, and more. And yet, many sustainable fashion advocates simply aren’t aware of this connection. The Vegan Fashion Show was created to change that.
The idea actually began as part of my senior year seminar while studying Environmental Studies at the University of Waterloo. I wanted to take what I was learning and apply it in a way that was practical, creative, and educational. From the very beginning, our goal has been to bring evidence-based, animal-free solutions into the spotlight because true sustainability must include both environmental and ethical considerations.
We are selective in the designers we feature. This is unlike many other fashion shows that will take money from just about anyone who can pay. Our designers/ brands are standouts for various reasons such as using ancient, natural plant materials like lotus silk or kapok, or using next-gen materials, including plastic-free options. We also like to show off vegan fashion a variety of cultural backgrounds. Vegan fashion can be for anybody! There’s something for everyone.
Our first couple of years, we had standalone events and donated $10,000 to a Canadian organization called Animal Justice. Since then we’ve done several shows in partnership with larger events across Canada. Our biggest focus is on providing evidence-based education. This is for everyone that participates in the show, as well as the audience. Each show includes segments about alternative materials and explain why certain choices matter. We want people to understand what they’re supporting, not just be impressed by aesthetics.
By prioritizing both education and innovation, we’re ensuring that sustainability is more than just a buzzword – it’s a standard we’re helping to redefine.
What’s one specific sustainability initiative in your company that has delivered both environmental impact and measurable financial returns?
Vikki Lenola: While we operate as a nonprofit, one initiative that’s had a clear impact is documenting everything we do on video, from runway shows to education segments. This content not only educates the public on sustainable, animal-free fashion, but it also helps attract sponsors, designers, and audience members who see the value and professionalism of the show. It’s been an effective way to grow our reach and financial support while reinforcing our educational mission.
How do you navigate pushback from stakeholders such as investors or board members who prioritize short-term profits over long-term sustainability goals?
Vikki Lenola: As a nonprofit, we don’t have investors in the traditional sense, but we do work with sponsors, collaborators, and community members who come with different priorities. I’m a firm believer in taking the long view – something I’ve always stood by, even in my academic work where I focused on addressing root causes rather than applying short-term “band-aid” solutions.
In practice, this means being clear and consistent about our mission from the beginning. Whether it’s a sponsor, designer, or volunteer, we set expectations early so there’s no confusion about our values – particularly our strict sustainability and ethics criteria. For example, we only allow designers to participate if they meet our clear, non-negotiable standards. That might limit our pool in the short term, but it protects the integrity of the show and builds long-term trust with our audience and partners.
Pushback is rare because we lead with transparency. And when it does happen, I find it’s often a matter of education – once people understand why we take a firm stance on certain issues, they’re more likely to respect it. Ultimately, staying rooted in long-term thinking helps us avoid compromising our values for temporary gains.
What’s the biggest obstacle you’ve faced in embedding sustainable practices into your operations, and how did you overcome it?
Vikki Lenola: The biggest obstacle we’ve faced in embedding sustainable practices has been the lack of funding and capacity. Most funders in the vegan nonprofit space are focused on food systems, so fashion often gets overlooked. Even though we are addressing many big issues and learning through fashion can be a gateway for people to learn more about veganism. People who would otherwise not be reached. Fair enough, though as by far, the vast majority of animals suffering in the world are animals exploited for food. We also don’t have a large enough board to receive certain government funding. This leaves it difficult to secure the kind of financial support that would allow us to scale our work more efficiently.
On top of that, we’re a very small team, and most of our work is volunteer-led. While we’ve had incredible people contribute their time and talent, volunteer turnover is a real challenge—many simply don’t have the bandwidth to commit long-term, especially when the work involved is highly detailed and strategic.
We’ve overcome this by being extremely resourceful and intentional. We prioritize high-impact activities, like creating strong educational video content and staying visible online to attract aligned sponsors and collaborators. And we’re always looking for ways to build relationships with mission-driven brands who see the value in what we’re doing, even without big budgets behind us. It’s not easy, but staying focused on the mission helps us push through.
Looking ahead, what emerging sustainability trend or innovation do you believe will reshape your industry, and how is your company preparing to lead in that space?
Vikki Lenola: One of the most exciting and impactful sustainability trends reshaping fashion is the emergence of next-generation materials—especially leather and fur alternatives that are plant-based, plastic-free, or made using technologies. We’re seeing everything from biodegradable faux furs to spider silk made from precision fermentation, to lab-grown dinosaur leather (technically not vegan but leaves our living animals alone). These innovations have the potential to phase out some of the most harmful materials in fashion but only if people know they exist and start asking for them.
That’s where we come in. While material innovators are doing the hard science, The Vegan Fashion Show is doing the outreach. We help get the ball rolling by showing what’s possible, connecting designers, consumers, and industry professionals with the latest alternatives and spotlighting brands that are already leading the way. Our events serve as a launchpad to drive demand and shift public perception around what sustainable, cruelty-free fashion can look like.
We’re the only fashion show in Canada dedicated to this type of education, so we take that responsibility seriously. If we weren’t making noise about it, many people wouldn’t discover these solutions on their own. It still surprises me how many people even those who are vegan are just now learning about apple leather, pineapple leather, or cactus leather. These were some of the first next gen materials and the innovations have come so far since then.
Our role is to keep amplifying these solutions, making them visible, stylish, and accessible—because awareness is the first step toward meaningful change.
